DEAR DR. GOTT: I’m writing in regard to the woman who has a problem with frequent urination. I used to have the same problem. I would have to go so frequently that my husband sometimes followed me into the bathroom to see how much I was really going. I finally had a cystoscopy but there was nothing wrong. After a few more months, it was discovered that my body creates very small kidney stones, too small to really analyze. I was told to drink more water. I started drinking a pitcher a day (eight 8 oz glasses). Much to my surprise, I started urinating less frequently and have gotten up less often at night. I urinate more volume when I do go but it seems to have conditioned my bladder to tolerate the great amount between times. Seems that sometimes doing the opposite of what would make sense works.
[Read more...]
More water lessens frequent urination
Is fall related to plethora of problems?
DEAR DR. GOTT: Three years ago my 15-year-old granddaughter had a classmate pull a chair out from under her at school. She fell and landed on her elbow. Since then she has had one eye lose vision in one side and then it came back six months later. Mayo Clinic could find nothing wrong. She also has constant pain in her breastbone, feelings of suffocation when trying to sleep, nausea, pressure on her heart, and catches about any illness going around. She has been to seven different specialists and nobody has come to a conclusion as to what is wrong.
My daughter went to a reflexologist last night and came back saying her pH is around 2 (no test was performed) and she has a yeast infection in her body. (One specialist told us she had a bacterial infection but he didn’t know what type it was.) Without my daughter saying anything, he perfectly described all of her symptoms. [Read more...]
More water means more water
DEAR DR. GOTT: I have read your comments over the years about the amount of water to drink and reviewed your comments on your website. Having tried drinking more water than I usually do a couple of times, I gave it up after spending too much time needing to urinate. I do drink two mugs of coffee, 2 mugs of decaffeinated tea, four ounces of juice with breakfast, eight ounces of wine before dinner, and six ounces of water with dinner every day. Occasionally (not every day) I also have a small glass of water if I feel thirsty. My diet is full of vegetables, fruit, meat, iced cream, etc. I love whole wheat but it causes more bathroom visits so I gave it up. I am 83 years old and in good health. My only prescription is diltiazem.
I had a Life Line screening a while ago and the girl (nurse?) who took blood from my finger could not get enough blood for the tests the first time so she punched deeper into another finger. [Read more...]
Causes for a white tongue
DEAR DR. GOTT: I have a problem with my tongue turning white. I brush the coating off each morning, but by nighttime, I have to do it again. I can’t understand why this happens. It is worse when I eat a lot of sweets. What do I need to do? I like a pink tongue.
DEAR READER: The white coating to which you refer is the result of inflammation of the tiny projections on the surface of your tongue, caused by dead cells, bacteria and debris. There are several reasons for this generally harmless condition. The first is dehydration. Then there’s excessive alcohol consumption and smoking. [Read more...]
Daily Column
DEAR DR. GOTT:
Your recent response about fainting, weakness and lightheadedness was incomplete. Very often fainting is caused by dehydration and the cure is simply the intake of water. This will save a lot of worries and expensive testing. Dehydration can occur most often in the dryer climates of the United States, primarily to people who just moved there. The elderly seem particularly susceptible since they may be unaware of the powers of the sun and humidity without proper hydration.
DEAR READER:
Sometimes the simplest solutions are best. While I attempted to cover all possibilities, I failed to step back and “kiss” — Keep It Simple, Stupid! Thank you for suggesting this remedy that will likely help some individuals.
Drinks such as Gatorade that contain electrolytes might be beneficial for faster recuperation. I must stress, however, that if symptoms fail to disappear rapidly, medical intervention is critical.