This is a continuation of a long topic, addressed by post number rather than by page. Start at post 1.
Constipation and hydration: dehydration makes constipation worse. Increasing fluid intake is the first intervention for constipation alongside other measures.
The reasoning is more useful than the number, which is why I have shown it.
On headache: the maintained page in the documentation commons covers the general case with citations and a review date, which is more reliable than any reply here including this one.
Adding salt to food is the intervention most consistently reported as helping and is also the one least likely to cause harm.
I would put a moderate confidence on that and no more.
The most useful posts here describe what was measured, what was changed, and what happened, in that order.
Everything in post #62 holds. The case it does not cover is the one I have.
Symptoms attributed to electrolytes here are non-specific and overlap with dehydration, low intake and poor sleep. Attribution from symptoms alone is unreliable.
Adding the boring version of headache, because the interesting version keeps getting posted and the boring one is usually right.
Check the ordinary explanations, in order, and stop when one of them accounts for what you are seeing. Most of the time the second one does.
Post #67 answers the question as asked. The question underneath it is different.
The confident answers on headache and the well-sourced answers are not the same answers, which is the most useful thing I have learned reading this category.
I read post #66 twice before replying, because I had assumed the opposite.
Cramping is the symptom most confidently attributed to electrolytes and has the weakest evidence linking it to them.
I would rather say I do not know than round it up to an answer.
Post #69 and I disagree about the size of the effect, not about the direction.
Commercial rehydration formulations are designed for a specific purpose and are not equivalent to a sports drink, whatever the marketing suggests.
Not the whole picture, but the part of it I can speak to.
Taking post #69 at face value and following it one step further.
Filing a mild objection to the consensus on headache. Mild because I might be wrong; an objection because nobody has addressed the case that does not fit.
On headache, I would rather understate and be corrected upward than overstate and be quoted. That is a house style here and it is a good one.
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The headache that turns out to be dehydration
The headache that turns out to be dehydration Writing it up because I had to work it out twice and would rather nobody else did. Reporting what I changed and what happened, with the caveat that I changed two…
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+143 | 158 | 7.8k | 6mo |
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Dizziness on standing: the ordinary explanation first
Posting this under the heading it deserves: Dizziness on standing: the ordinary explanation first Everything below is what sits behind that. A hydration and intake question, with the figures, since this one…
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+22 | 26 | 27k | 15mo |
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About the Hydration & electrolytes category
Fluid intake, sodium, potassium and magnesium, and the very ordinary causes of week-two malaise. This post is a community wiki: any member at trust level 3 or above can edit it, and every edit is recorded…
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4 | 3.6k | 18h | |
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Electrolyte supplements: which ones do anything — a second dataset
Electrolyte supplements: which ones do anything — a second dataset Writing it up because I had to work it out twice and would rather nobody else did. Posting a small dataset on Electrolyte supplements. It is…
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2 | 59k | 15mo | |
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Follow-up: Sodium, potassium and magnesium when intake drops
On the subject in the title: Sodium, potassium and magnesium when intake drops Working notes rather than a conclusion. A hydration and intake question, with the figures, since this one is unanswerable without…
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+8 | 12 | 335 | 7mo |
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Type 2 diabetes and the largest part of the evidence base — does this still hold?
Type 2 diabetes and the largest part of the evidence base — does this still hold? I have a specific reason for asking rather than idle curiosity, and the context is below. Trying to work out what would count…
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+17 | 22 | 4.5k | 1d |
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Why side effects reset at each escalation and that is not a failure — the long version
The question in the title: Why side effects reset at each escalation and that is not a failure — the long version I will give what I have already checked below so nobody repeats it. A narrow question about…
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2 | 46k | 17mo | |
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Follow-up: Sleep quality changes during weight loss
On the subject in the title: Sleep quality changes during weight loss Working notes rather than a conclusion. A follow-up question about Sleep quality changes during weight that I did not know to ask the…
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+74 | 80 | 4.4k | 14h |
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Osteoarthritis and mechanical versus metabolic improvement
Osteoarthritis and mechanical versus metabolic improvement Writing it up because I had to work it out twice and would rather nobody else did. Asking about osteoarthritis and mechanical versus metabolic…
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+2 | 6 | 30k | 12h |
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Obstructive sleep apnoea and a hard endpoint in this class
On the subject in the title: Obstructive sleep apnoea and a hard endpoint in this class Working notes rather than a conclusion. I was wrong about obstructive sleep apnoea in a thread last spring and I would…
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+120 | 129 | 1.8k | 13mo |