Patient's question:
The night before last, my colleagues and I had hot pot for dinner. It might have been because the lamb at their place wasn't fresh enough. After eating, I started having diarrhea when I got home that night, with severe stomach pain. I didn't take any medicine. The next morning, everything I expelled was just water. I went to the hospital today for a thorough check-up, and the doctor said I was dehydrated. What does dehydration mean?Doctor's answer:
Your description of the situation, where persistent nausea and vomiting lead to a reduction in body fluid volume, thereby causing a decrease in effective circulating blood volume, is known as dehydration. During nausea and vomiting, in addition to water loss, there is also a significant loss of electrolytes such as potassium, chloride, and sodium! Therefore, patients with dehydration may frequently experience poor skin elasticity, sunken eyes, fatigue, dizziness, and even multiple episodes of shock and loss of consciousness. Thus, treatment not only involves fluid replacement but also requires replenishing blood volume and electrolytes.