Why does dehydration make you tired

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Finding the right balance of fluid intake can improve overall health and may contribute to better sleep without numerous trips to the bathroom or waking up feeling dehydrated. Hydration is important for most systems of the body, which is why dehydration can have diverse symptoms, including effects on sleep.

People who are suffering from significant dehydration often find that they feel extremely tired, lethargic, or fatigued.

Other symptoms of dehydration, such as headaches, dry mouth and nasal passages, and muscle cramps may cause discomfort that makes it harder to sleep well. At the same time, excess hydration can contribute to sleeping problems. Frequent urination at night , known as nocturia, can interrupt sleep with repeated trips to the bathroom. Nocturia can be especially problematic for people who struggle to fall back asleep after getting up from bed.

There is also evidence that a lack of sleep may contribute to dehydration. In a study of nearly 20, adults in both the United States and China, people who slept only six hours per night were found to have significantly higher rates of dehydration than people who slept eight hours. While this was an observational study and cannot prove causality, that the association existed in two distinct cultural contexts adds weight to the findings.

In addition, there are potential biological explanations for why poor sleep can affect hydration. Most water loss happens through urination, but the body also loses fluid through the skin and from respiration, which is known as insensible water loss.

Over a full day, about milliliters of water are lost from breathing. A large component of that loss happens during sleep, although the amount can depend on whether a person breathes primarily through their mouth or nose. In the latter part of sleep, circadian signals cause the body to produce a hormone called vasopressin that promotes water retention. If sleep is interrupted or cut short, though, this natural process may be disrupted, interfering with the hormonal signals for water retention.

As a result, sleep deprivation may directly contribute to dehydration. Getting a sufficient amount of high-quality sleep is an important part of preventing dehydration. The body goes through multiple complex processes during sleep that enable recovery for overall health. Sleeping well often starts by making sleep a priority. A common principle of sleep hygiene is having a consistent sleep schedule that provides enough time for you to get the sleep that you need.

Limiting late-night use of electronic devices, developing a relaxing bedtime routine, and using a comfortable mattress are other examples of positive sleep hygiene that can help you rest well. By maintaining hydration throughout the day, you have less to worry about when bedtime rolls around.

Tips for healthy hydration include:. To avoid this, try to make sure that you can easily maintain a comfortable temperature through the night. Certain medical conditions, including kidney disease , can increase the risk of dehydration. Older adults and children are also at higher risk for dehydration. Electrolytes are a key component of the hydration equation. You need precise ratios of them in order to maintain healthy fluid levels and to fend off dehydration and signs of fatigue.

When it comes to how to stop feeling tired, one of the most important considerations is staying hydrated. The best way to avoid dehydration that can cause fatigue is to drink an oral rehydration solution like DripDrop ORS. An oral rehydration solution contains medically relevant amounts of electrolytes your body needs to stay hydrated. Like an IV — which is a saline solution containing water and sodium — oral rehydration solutions contain the precise amounts of electrolytes, including sodium and potassium, which your body needs to avoid dehydration and the resulting tiredness.

It needs essential minerals, known as electrolytes, to help maintain proper fluid balance and hydration both inside and outside of your cells. These electrolytes — which include sodium, potassium, calcium, and magnesium, among others — play an important role in your body. You need electrolytes to move your muscles , send neurotransmitter signals from your brain to various organs, and retain and regulate healthy fluid volume levels.

Sodium in particular plays an important role in hydration and thus keeps you from feeling fatigued as the result of dehydration. It also works closely with glucose in the sodium-glucose cotransport system to increase the rate at which your body absorbs electrolytes and water, helping to provide faster dehydration relief. In this system, glucose helps your body absorb essential electrolytes like sodium more quickly. In turn, sodium helps to manage fluid levels and induces thirst, helping to restore proper electrolyte and fluid balance.

DripDrop ORS provides a precise ratio of electrolytes including sodium to help remedy dehydration. When you're in a state of dehydration, no amount of water is enough.