The Forestry Forum

I've been on blood pressure medication (Coreg) for a few years.  Recently, the pressure has ticked back up a bit (probably due to a poor diet as much as anything - too much prepared and fast food).  My general practitioner added Hydrochlorothiazide (diuretic - water pill) to the mix.  Coupled with a little bit of manual labor, I had severe issues with dehydration. 

On Saturday, I knew I was losing too much water.  It was fairly humid, but not that hot.  I stayed dripping wet all day.  I input just shy of two gallons of fluid including a gallon of Gatorade, but couldn't get ahead.  By about 2:00 PM I was feeling a little funky.  I thought this medication was causing me problems so, for a benchmark, I had stepped on the scales before leaving home that morning.  When I got home that evening, I stepped back on the scale to find that I had lost 12 pounds during the day.  I had muscle cramps to let me know for sure.  I rehydrated overnight and was back close to normal weight by morning.

One of the potential side effects of that med is severe dehydration.  Guess I had that side effect.  The literature also said to stay out of the sun.  Don't think that is practical in my line of work.  I'll talk with the Doc and chart another coarse.  Maybe I'll just improve my diet and circumvent a number of issues.  I don't care to die from a heat stroke trying to prevent heart issues.  Please beware that medications can cause side effects.  I've never been one to look at all of the potential issues with a medication, but this one bit me.  Take care.

Wudman    

I was on that drug Hydrochlorothiazide also called HCTZ which is a thiazide diuretic (water pill). I took it for many years for blood pressure control until I got the gout. When I got gout I looked up the most likely causes and thiazide diuretics were at the top of the list so my doctor took me off of that pill. The advantage of HCTZ is that it is potassium sparing as compared to Lasix. However HCTZ also causes an increase in Uric Acid levels which is the indicator for gout.

The sensitivity to sunlight is a completely different thing and not necessarily related to sun stroke. It has more to do with your skins ability to block sunburn. In other words some heart medications interfere with the pigmentation of your skin which allows you to sun burn easily. Nothing to do with hydration.