Keeping busy is the best way to restrict fluids for those on dialysis

If you asked me what was the toughest thing about dialysis, I would say the fluid restriction. Restricting all fluids put together to a litre a day, which is the typical fluid volume most people are allowed is very difficult. Many people give different suggestions on how to limit fluids. Use a one litre water bottle and drink only out of that, squeeze a lemon in a glass of water and freeze it in an ice tray and then suck on a cube when thirsty, limit salt etc.

These options are great. However, I think the best way to restrict fluids is to keep busy. Working full time obviously, is the best option. If not full time, at least part time. If working is not an option at all, then find something productive to do that keeps your mind occupied. Everyone needs something to look forward to. In the book, ‘Being mortal’, Atul Gawande recounts how adding a vegetable patch and some pets to a home for the aged improved outcomes dramatically for all the people staying there. Everyone started looking forward to doing some work for the patch and the pets. They had something to do. They had something to look forward to.

In dialysis, apart from the mental benefits in terms of being productive, limiting the fluid intake is an added advantage. If you believe it is thirst that is causing you to drink more water, think again. This is completely a mental game. The mind is like a spoilt child. Tell it that you cannot have something and it will crave only that. If you keep it busy with something else, it will forget about what it cannot have.

Most people I know that have survived long on dialysis have been working. It need not be a regular job. It could be anything. It does not have to pay anything either. The mental benefits are far greater than anything else that you may gain from this.