I posted this the day before the hacking situation and didn’t initially realize this post was lost when the system went down. Though I said that I wouldn’t repost anything, I’m reposting this because I think it’s a valuable thing to have on hand.
These are notes that I made for myself that I’m sharing. I’m obviously not a health care practitioner and like all that I post about, this is what I would do if I found myself with a family member dehydrated to help them.
Here are several versions, basically all the same idea:
Homemade Oral Rehydration Solution
1) 1/2 t. salt, 2 T. honey/ sugar, 1/4 t. potassium chloride; 1/2 t. trisodium citrate (can be replaced by baking soda), 1 quart clean water
2) 3 T. sugar/honey, 1 t. salt, 1 quart water
3) 8 t. sugar/honey, 1 t. salt, 1 quart water
Here are signs of dehydration: weakness, headache, fainting, dryness of mouth, decreased saliva, lack of/decreased urine that is dark and highly concentrated, sunken eyes, loss of skin elasticity, low blood pressure (especially upon sitting up or standing), fast pulse when laying down or sitting up.
If you suspect dehydration is developing, administer the rehydration solution by mouth. If the patient is too ill to drink, give drop by drop, work up to a teaspoon if possible. Don’t stop until patient can keep down one quart.
How much solution is needed? Adults and large children should drink at least three quarts of oral rehydration solution a day until well. Each feeding: for a child under 2 – between 1/4 – 1/2 large cup; for older children – between 1/2 – 1 large cup.
If the child vomits, wait ten minutes and then begin again. Feed slowly, small sips at a time by teaspoon. The body will retain some fluids and salts needed even though there is vomiting. Extra liquids should be given until diarrhea stops.
Hopefully none of you will need this, but as I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, this was very helpful to me when my dd8 got dehydrated on Shabbos and started repeatedly throwing up.
Avivah
I thank you for the recipes for rehydration.
I wanted to point out that if it does not seem to help that there maybe a more complicated reason for the failure to rehydrate.
My daughter had e coli poisioning and her kidneys shut down-the salt in the solution likely could have worsened her situation but we did go to the hospital in time for radical intervention1 thank
G-d she recovered well!
Bottom line – oral rehydration fluids should work within a short period of time – if there is no change or worsening of the situation- a trip to the ER is prudent and crucial!
That’s an important point – this isn’t to use instead of medical care, if medical care is necessary. But it can be helpful if used early enough to negate the need for medical care, or to keep the person hydrated until they reach help.
Also, this was posted originally directly in response to my post about the flu – since a large percentage of deaths caused by the flu were due to dehydration. I can’t address other medical issues that might lead to dehydration and need to be treated differently.