# Medicos - How to "Stay Hydrated" - Soda DOESN'T Work? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 14, 2017, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medicos-how-to-stay-hydrated-soda-doesnt-work/788915 "2017-06-14T01:53:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2017, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medicos-how-to-stay-hydrated-soda-doesnt-work/788915/41 "2017-06-15T16:59:19Z")
> [@usedtobe](#): > > I am in the process of switching PCPs and Medical Centers. > > The current PCP has some bizarre ideas as to who gets to tell me what activities I may engage, but that is another topic. > > I am told the water is fine, but if I add sugar, citric acid, and carbon dioxide to it, it becomes worthless. > > If it had caffeine, I could see a problem - but plain old Lemon-Lime (7-Up, Sprite, et al) is a problem? > > I have no problem switching to plain water a few times a day, but: > > Is there really that much difference? > > Did my parents lie when they gave us 7-Up for sniffles? > > Does “clear liquids” actually mean “Water only”? No, they are full of shit. Yes,heavily sugared or caffeinated or alcoholic beverage hydrate less than water. It takes some water to process the sugar. But other than hard liquor or maybe espresso shots, they all hydrate just fine. My dad used to go fishing with some Portuguese guys out of San Pedro, and a 2 day trip. They only had black coffee and red wine to drink. Out in the SoCal sun, doing hard work. Obviously they all died. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2017, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medicos-how-to-stay-hydrated-soda-doesnt-work/788915/42 "2017-06-15T17:22:16Z")
> [@usedtobe](#): > > PCP asked about my hydration habits. > > I replied “I am sucking on soda all day”. As long as we’re comparing, sucking on soda all day is harder on your teeth than drinking water. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2017, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medicos-how-to-stay-hydrated-soda-doesnt-work/788915/43 "2017-06-15T17:47:31Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > As long as we’re comparing, sucking on soda all day is harder on your teeth than drinking water. Sure, but fruit juice is likely even worse. ---
**Author:** ![usedtobe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ec9cab/32.png) [@usedtobe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/usedtobe)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2017, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medicos-how-to-stay-hydrated-soda-doesnt-work/788915/44 "2017-06-15T18:06:49Z")
My teeth are gone - quack, cheap, small town orthodontist fractured the enamel by pounding the too-small rings onto the tooth. 50 years ago. I just sent my “PCP” (who refuses to treat me but rejects soda as a source of water) an email demanding she find someone who will at least talk like a MD and put patient’s sleep over “Max dosage” (which is set quite low to give defense if it kills somebody). I have been with hours of death on at least 5 occasions. Minor nicks and ills are too numerous to remember. I have a ton of “Medical Horror Stories”. UCD has, in 8 years, doubled the count of such stories. Fed enough morphine to induce Acute Renal Failure! Refuses to use medical speak with me, and objects if I use it. Lock me up because I reserve the right to chose time, place, and method of my death. That idea has been bouncing around sine JFK was President. Not exactly acute, triggered by trauma. ---
**Author:** ![Grestarian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grestarian/32/3227_2.png) [@Grestarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grestarian)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2017, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medicos-how-to-stay-hydrated-soda-doesnt-work/788915/45 "2017-06-15T20:33:55Z")
> [@kiz](#): > > I’ve always thought it was the sodium in soda/pop, not the sugar. Sodium makes you thirsty, so you can end up drinking a lot of soda/pop without actual hydration. This myth has been largely debunked. See “Goodbye, Salt. We hardly knew ya!” Furthermore, more recently some actual studies have been underway with space station inhabitants’ diets and the results are quite the opposite of the myth-based predictions. > [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > Presumably any unspoken concerns about sugar that your doctor may have can be avoided by drinking diet soda. This, too, is becoming debunked by recent studies. Furthermore, there are studies suggesting the sugar substitutes are worse for your general health than sugar. –G! [Playing Donny Downer today] ---
**Author:** ![Chisquirrel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6bbea6/32.png) [@Chisquirrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chisquirrel)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2017, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medicos-how-to-stay-hydrated-soda-doesnt-work/788915/46 "2017-06-15T20:34:03Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > Well, yeah, I can’t say I have, in fact. You know who else we have no pictures of drinking water? ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2017, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medicos-how-to-stay-hydrated-soda-doesnt-work/788915/47 "2017-06-15T20:37:12Z")
> [@Grestarian](#): > > This, too, is becoming debunked by recent studies. Furthermore, there are studies suggesting the sugar substitutes are worse for your general health than sugar. Cite? ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2017, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medicos-how-to-stay-hydrated-soda-doesnt-work/788915/48 "2017-06-15T20:51:29Z")
> [@Grestarian](#): > > Furthermore, there are studies suggesting the sugar substitutes are worse for your general health than sugar. Are these _scientific_ studies? If they are, please produce them. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2017, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medicos-how-to-stay-hydrated-soda-doesnt-work/788915/49 "2017-06-15T20:52:34Z")
> [@usedtobe](#): > > I have been with hours of death on at least 5 occasions. Minor nicks and ills are too numerous to remember. So, perhaps your current plan of “sucking down soda all day” is not the best? ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2017, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medicos-how-to-stay-hydrated-soda-doesnt-work/788915/50 "2017-06-15T20:55:49Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > So, perhaps your current plan of “sucking down soda all day” is not the best? Don’t blame him, blame the doctor. That seems to be the theme in all of his posts. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2017, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medicos-how-to-stay-hydrated-soda-doesnt-work/788915/51 "2017-06-15T20:55:57Z")
> [@Grestarian](#): > > This, too, is becoming debunked by recent studies. Furthermore, there are studies suggesting the sugar substitutes are worse for your general health than sugar. I have never seen such a study. However, there are studies which show possible dangers from drinking too much diet soda. If you swill a couple-three two liter bottles a day of HFCS soda, then undoubtedly diet is better for you. Of course, just plain water is best, but if you hate the taste and thus dont drink enuf, then do go for mineral water, sparkling water, flavored water or even diet. ---
**Author:** ![anomalous1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e56c9b/32.png) [@anomalous1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anomalous1)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2017, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medicos-how-to-stay-hydrated-soda-doesnt-work/788915/52 "2017-06-15T23:33:11Z")
There is an allure to having an older doctor, from a different era, I suppose I assume they were raised better somehow. I am frightened as hell when I get a check up and its someone my age or a few years older. I went to school with the likes of these people and knew some who went to medical school and became doctors. Seeing who they were, how they acted and the poor slapdash decisions they made when I knew them made me wonder. If they acted this foolish and are still as doctors going out to parties and doing reckless things, what if that bleeds over into their work, some of them were really morons and its a wonder how they made it through medical school. Edit: I am 29 ---
**Author:** ![UDS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecae2f/32.png) [@UDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2017, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medicos-how-to-stay-hydrated-soda-doesnt-work/788915/53 "2017-06-16T00:38:57Z")
What makes you think the older doctor was any different at that age? ---
**Author:** ![usedtobe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ec9cab/32.png) [@usedtobe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/usedtobe)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2017, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medicos-how-to-stay-hydrated-soda-doesnt-work/788915/54 "2017-06-16T00:41:23Z")
UPDATE: UCD just told me that there is no doctor in their employ who will treat me. I believe this is “Medical Abandonment”. I do wish I had the money to go after these morons. ---
**Author:** ![Arcite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/67e7ee/32.png) [@Arcite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arcite)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2017, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medicos-how-to-stay-hydrated-soda-doesnt-work/788915/55 "2017-06-16T00:48:47Z")
Those who are posting in this thread offering **usedtobe** reasonable advice about his health and about dealing with the medical system, with the apparent expectation that he will actually take it, might want to do a search on his posting history. ---
**Author:** ![usedtobe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ec9cab/32.png) [@usedtobe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/usedtobe)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2017, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medicos-how-to-stay-hydrated-soda-doesnt-work/788915/56 "2017-06-16T01:03:23Z")
actually, I do take advice. I have not pushed for benzos or opioids. It is just that every “adequate replacement” so far prescribed has been inadequate. The “sleepers” do nothing except at dangerous levels, and the MD has given up trying to find something which will work. I have begun physical therapy for my right shoulder/arm. It looks promising. The entire department is now, I am told, unwilling to provide me any treatment except more “nibble around the edges”. I have not had a decent night’s sleep since the night before the acute renal failure brought on by a UCD doctor. It comes down to “Oops! We broke him. don’t do anything to aggravate his kidneys”. I will trade a year off my life just to be able to sleep. Ya know, for people who are worried that I may kill myself, they are certainly putting me in an untenable position, with “no way out”. No, I am not even close. I enjoy a fight. ---
**Author:** ![usedtobe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ec9cab/32.png) [@usedtobe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/usedtobe)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2017, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medicos-how-to-stay-hydrated-soda-doesnt-work/788915/57 "2017-06-16T01:10:31Z")
I am looking for things which work. I have had insomnia every night since about 1964. Roll that around in your head. I have tried 3 “sleepers” since Feb 22 - one worked for about 2 weeks (an anti-psychotic). The other work only in large dosages. Not even I am stupid enough to take mega dose of inadequate medicine just to make it actually do something. I went through that with every new “Now available OTC” preparation. It worked for a couple of weeks, then required more than therapeutic dose to get any relief. I used braces for elbows and wrists instead. ---
**Author:** ![usedtobe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ec9cab/32.png) [@usedtobe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/usedtobe)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2017, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medicos-how-to-stay-hydrated-soda-doesnt-work/788915/58 "2017-06-16T01:13:57Z")
For what it is worth: the over-40’s tend to be more results-oriented. The 30-and-under worry about procedure more than result. This is what happened with last MD - "I will not provide any med in greater than recommended dosage. Whether it works or not. ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2017, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medicos-how-to-stay-hydrated-soda-doesnt-work/788915/59 "2017-06-16T01:14:54Z")
> [@DesertDog](#): > > Could be wodka. Vodka. That’s what they drink, isn’t it? Never water? On no account will a commie ever drink water, and not without good reason. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2017, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medicos-how-to-stay-hydrated-soda-doesnt-work/788915/60 "2017-06-16T01:46:29Z")
> [@usedtobe](#): > > UPDATE: > > UCD just told me that there is no doctor in their employ who will treat me. > > I believe this is “Medical Abandonment”. > > I do wish I had the money to go after these morons. “Medical abandonment”? _Again?!_ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medicos-how-to-stay-hydrated-soda-doesnt-work/788915.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medicos-how-to-stay-hydrated-soda-doesnt-work/788915.md?page=4)