I just had to share - I used to not be great about making sure I was drinking enough. If I made it to the 64 ounces that have always been recommended - I'd be excited and feel accomplished.Well my parents always told me to drink drink drink (not alcohol of course <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif" border="0"> ), and I got really sick this year so I finally listened - I drink 120 ounces a day and WOW I had no idea what a difference it would make. Apparently the mucus sucks up a LOT of water, so that 64 ounces that has always been recommended is no where near enough - I can't believe how much easier it is to clear my lungs now. The stuff just comes right out! I have been able to get out plugs that look like they've been in there for ages (sorry for being graphic).So please please please drink as much as you can. I try to drink a glass of water for every hour I'm awake, plus juices, etc. I can't tell you how much this has changed how I feel. Some days I can tell 120 ounces isn't enough because I don't pee that much - so I'll have to drink more. I've also found gatorade or pedialyte to be great too because we need to replace sodium and just drinking a ton of water can actually be unhealthy because it'll flush the sodium out. So ask your doc about this - but I add salt to my juice to help, and drink things with electrolytes in them.Trust me on this one. And avoid alcohol at all costs - it is SO bad for people with CF.Piperpmcp@comcast.net
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Get your fluids!!!
- Thread starter anonymous
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knifewieldingmonkey
New member
I started drinking bottles of water everyday at lunchtime instead of things like cola and dr pepper, i think i feel much better. But also i do enjoy going and drinking a very nice cold pint of beer and well usually end up drunk <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif" border="0">but as always i take a pint of water before i go to sleep, even when i am so drunk i don't know how i managed to get water in the glass and then more water in the morning and still good
Thanks for posting this. My hubby has CF and doesn't really talk to me much about what's going on so this helps. I will definitely try to get him to drink more water, which he doesn't drink much of. I've been telling him for months that I can tell a huge difference with his breathing when he's been drinking alcohol and he never admitted it until a few weeks ago. He doesn't drink often like he used to but he swore he would cut way down after the last incident where he felt bad for days after having ALOT to drink. I will make sure he drinks more water at home.
Piper I usually drink about 2 litres of water a day and it does seem to loosen things up. As far as alcohol goes, I do notice that it is harder to breathe when I drink. My doctors have not told me that alcohol is bad for cfers, maybe you can tell me why?Dave 29w/cf (workout partner)
AbsintheSorrow
New member
Just my guess...A lot of CFers have trouble with heartburn/acid reflux.. and alcohol can irritate that. So when I drink I tend to get a little bit of chest pain via my reflux.
Alcohol is just as bad for CFers as smoking is. Alcohol is a diuretic. It sucks up all of the extra fluid you have in your body and makes you pee it out. It takes any moisture you have in your lungs and sucks them dry. I know if I have even one sip of champagne - I will immediately feel my chest constrict. Even one beer a day is bad. You simply can't drink enough water to replace the fluid that alcohol takes out of you because as CFers we have enough problems as it is keeping the proper amount of fluids in our bodies. Don't you notice how thick your mucus is when you dry out? If you drink alchol, you will immediately cause the mucus in your lungs to thicken so you can't cough it out as easily, it then traps bacteria in your lungs and causes further inflammation and irritation and infection in your lungs. This is factual information. My doc has told me not to touch the stuff. You know how your friends get headaches when they drink? It is because the alchol has sucked up the water in their body, so they are extremely dehydrated which causes bad headaches. If it does this to a non CFer - imagine how much worse it effects us. If you drink as much water and other non-alcholic, non diuretic beverages (diet sodas are diuretics as well) you will thin out your mucus and you will cough that crap out of your lungs easier. I am sorry if I sound like I'm preaching but it amazed me what a difference it made for me to drink the equivalent of 15 glasses of fluid a day as opposed to the recommended 8. I hope this helps.Piper
Piper,I do dring a lot water so I am not worried about that and I tried to find information on alcohol and CF patients on the net but could find anything. If you know where I can read this factual information you are talking about I would love to get my hands on it. I do dring ocassionally and I do find it harder to breathe when i drink and it is harder the next day to cough the junk up but I would like to know if there is any proven long term effects. Dave 29 w/cf
knifewieldingmonkey
New member
Well i done an exam todayMe and the lads in class finished really early at 11am and we went to the students union, went to a bunch of bars ad ended up at another students union and i finally got home about 9pmSo u can imagine i was pretty drunk, but i don't feel crappy as i know when to stop and here i am right now on my 3rd pint of water, and should have a full recovery by the morning !
Hi Piper,I drink a lot of water!!! I have been doing this for 20 years now. I started drinking a lot of water when I first started working. I was amazed at how it kept my lungs clear. I always joke that I started the bottled water craze. Back then I was the only one drinking water!!!Tammy 43wcf
Alcohol is as bad as smoking? I don't think so. I drink 2-3 times a week and I don't feel it affects my health very much. The only thing that drains me is if I make it a late night, 2,3,4 in the morning and miss a dose of meds. I'm too old for those late nights now and much prefer happy hour, so that's good. Happy hours get me in bed at a decent hour and I don't miss my meds. Cheers!
AbsintheSorrow
New member
Both aren't really good for your health... but smoking is worse... as we can all imagine. Drinking is tolerable, as long as you're not a wino on the side of the street with a liquor bottle in a brown paper bag.