How long until you get dehydrated?

[lifeistooshort]

Just wondering how long it takes for the body to become dehydrated. I have caught some sort of vomitting bug and am unable to eat or to retain fluids since yesterday evening. Each time I eat or drink I am sick although I have tried taking tiny little sips.

I am also pregnant and am wondering on the effects on the baby. How long do you think I can leave it and hope that thing will improve before I have to do something? And what would the "do something be"?

How pregnant are you? Do you have any other symptoms (temperature high/low, high pulse, feeling faint, cough, lethargy)?

If you're worried then best bet is to call NHS Direct and get advice. If there is concern that you are dehydrated enough that it could problems for either you or the baby then it would a case of giving you so IV fluids to get you hydrated again.

Fingers crossed you feel better soon.

I am about 16 weeks pregnant. On top of that I was under medication for pneumonia which I cannot seem to keep down either. I feel a bit faint, very crampy and can't really leave my bed but do not think that I have any temperature yet.

I suppose if I am still sick tonight, I will call NHS direct. I don't really want to go to the doctor at this stage as whatever I cought is obviously quite contagious, but at the same time, I don't want the baby to have any problems

Please call NHS Direct and get checked out.

What happened to me is a worst case outcome from an infection that you might not have, but I'd really hate to hear it happened to anyone else...
At Christmas I was 8 months pregnant. I then came down with a cough and a bit of a sniffle, lost my appetite and felt lethargic a couple of days later and then started with D&V early in the morning of the 31st. Later that evening I started with flu-type shivering/shaking and we called NHS Direct. They got the out of hours GP to come out for a visit, and he was concerned enough about my blood pressure to call an ambulance to take me to hospital for IV fluids. Later that night we discovered our daughter had died.
We subsequently found out from the lead swine flu MW, who was with us when she was born, that V(&D) is what she sees as a key symptom of swine flu - and when the tests came back I was positive. I was also diagnosed with pneumonia.

As I said, this really is the worst possible case scenario - but I'm feeling a bit paranoid. As they suspected I might have swine flue I was admitted to an isolation ward. If you think you might need treatment then please don't let fears of giving what you have to others stop you finding out or getting it.

Always better to be safe and over cautious I think. Dont worry bout it being contagious - these are healthcare workers they know how to protect themselves and are the first immunised against most things. Just head to doctor/hospital. Being pregnant they will just check you over for safetys sake anyway and if you need it give you fluids. If you do have a flu or bad cold then the fluids will really help!

hmmm. somewhere in one of our mountaineering first aid books, it says you'll get graded signs of the degree of dehydration. Starts off with thirst (obviously), then dry lips, mouth, headache, vision problems, dizziness , sickness et c. (I could have the order incorrect so please don't take my word for it). These are on top of the standard whether you need to pee / colour of your pee checks. Obviously, the grade of dehydration is also impacted by the length of time you're suffering it (presumably environmental factors play a part). So a dry mouth and not needing the loo for ages could be just as bad as quickly feeling dizzy from not drinking. There are also considerations like salt/mineral loss which are more marked if you're vomitting.

I read somewhere that the amniotic fluid gets changed once or twice a day - so baby needs you to be hydrated to be comfortable.

Anyway - the upshot of it all of it is that if you're thirsty, you're already dehydrated. Dry mouth / lips and you really need to be doing something about it now. If you're getting anything more and can't hold fluid down, then you really need to see someone smartish. They can get you back on an even keel amazingly quick.

Hope you get better soon.