If you have ankylosing spondylitis (AS), you are probably familiar with the daily burden of dealing with pain and fatigue. But good habits can help reduce your worst symptoms. That’s why it’s important to lead a healthy lifestyle that includes drinking enough water.
According to Mayo Clinic. This process makes the spine stiffer and can affect a person’s posture.
“I have stiffness at the top of my neck. A couple of years ago I had problems with my knees, but now everything is under control, ”explains Lovein Cohen, AS patient, advocate and health coach. “Fortunately, AS doesn’t slow down what I need to do on a daily basis because I don’t let it do it.”
Part of Cohen’s regular daily routine includes drinking plenty of water, especially during the hot months. “In humid weather, I notice swelling in my feet or knees,” she says. “I notice more stiffness in my body when I don’t drink enough fluids.”
Here’s what you need to know about how proper hydration can help with AS symptoms.
Why dehydration can affect a person with ankylosing spondylitis
Because AS is an inflammatory disease, any type of stress on the body can aggravate the symptoms. Spondylitis Association of America.
“People with AS tend to be a little more sensitive to certain stressors, and dehydration can certainly be one of them,” he says. Hillary Norton, MD, rheumatologist and medical director of the Santa Fe Health and Rheumatology Center in New Mexico. “Anything, whether it’s mental or emotional stress, physical stress, all of these things can really affect the immune system and cause additional outbreaks, additional disease activity, when you have something like AS.”
Dr. Norton, herself an AS sufferer, is in a unique position to help her patients cope with the same disease she lives with.
“There is nothing better than having something to help you understand what your patients are going through,” she says.
Water helps joints and bones
Although there is little medical literature on the relationship between hydration and AS, doctors know that adequate hydration can help keep joints and bones in good shape.
“To my knowledge, I don’t know of any research specifically on dehydration and AS, but I can say that in my clinical experience, stressors of any kind can trigger the onset of the disease and negatively affect a person with AS,” Norton says. . .
According to Arthritis Foundationstaying hydrated is important for flushing out toxins from the body, which can reduce inflammation.
Water also helps your body produce synovial fluid, a layer of fluid that cushions your joints and prevents friction when you move. And proper hydration is also vital to maintaining the health of cartilage, the tissue that lines joints.
Even your bones are made of 31 percent water. Drinking enough water can save bones healthy and act like shock absorber for the brain and spinal cord.
Symptoms of dehydration may be overlooked in AS
Norton says some signs of dehydration can mimic typical AS symptoms.
“If someone is slightly dehydrated, it can cause fatigue. This can cause fog in the head. It can cause muscle spasms, and when we have a flare-up, we can definitely have these symptoms,” she says. “It can get a little tricky if you’re a little dehydrated. Is it from dehydration or AS? So you start to wonder about these symptoms,” says Norton.
Mayo Clinic defines dehydration as the use or loss of more water than you consume so that your body does not have enough fluid to perform normal functions.
According to Cleveland Cliniccommon signs of dehydration may include:
- Headache
- Confusion
- Fatigue
- Dizziness or lightheadedness
- Weakness
- Dry mouth
- Muscle spasms
- reddened skin
- Chills
- High heart rate combined with low blood pressure
- Loss of appetite
- Constipation
- Dark colored urine
- Thirst
Treatment of AS and dehydration
Some medications can make AS patients more vulnerable to the effects of dehydration.
“If people take NSAIDs [non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs] for their AS and they become dehydrated, which can be dangerous for their disease,” says Norton. NSAIDs such as ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin) and naproxen (Alev) and other prescription drugs commonly used for the treatment of AS symptoms.
How much water should you drink?
There are no specific hydration recommendations for people with AS, but National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine offers the following:
- Adult women should consume 2.7 liters (L) or about 11 cups of water per day.
- Adult men should consume 3.7 liters or about 16 cups of water per day.
These measurements refer to your total water intake, which can come from both drinks and the foods you eat.
Spondylitis Association of America also warns that drinking more than two alcoholic drinks a day increases the risk of developing weak bones. Alcohol can also cause side effects when taken with certain medications.
Tips for preventing dehydration in AS
Some simple tricks can motivate you to drink water at regular intervals throughout the day.
“I always keep a glass or bottle of water on my nightstand. When I get up in the morning, the first thing I do is take a few sips to make sure my day off starts well,” says Cohen.
She also explains that the bottle she drinks from can encourage her not to go astray. “Sometimes I like to drink from a large glass jar instead of a glass. It can hold more water at a time and makes drinking water more fun.”
Other tips for preventing dehydration include:
- Add flavor to your water. Squeezing a lemon or lime can spice up an ordinary glass of water.
- Try a tracking app. Apps like Daily without water or daily water can help you record your fluid intake.
- Use a measuring bottle. Measured water bottles can be useful tools.
- Set an alarm. Try setting an alarm on your phone to alert you that it’s time to drink some fluids.
Bottom line about water and AS
Drinking enough water is important for everyone, but it’s extremely important if you have an inflammatory disease like AS. Water keeps joints and bones healthy and reduces inflammation, which, along with a healthy lifestyle, can help relieve symptoms.
“I just tell my patients that in addition to the medications we use, everything else we do is important to keep us healthy and hydration is definitely one of the things we have to be careful about.” Norton says.
But the main thing is moderation. Although rare, drinking too much water can potentially lead to a serious medical condition called hyponatremiawhich leads to a dilution of sodium in the body.
Talk to your rheumatologist or dietitian if you’re not sure how much water you should be consuming.
