Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with diuretic

Please don't suggest booger sugar

piedmont — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 18:28:55 -0800

What will help me stay awake without having to see a man about a horse every 20 minutes? I know sleep is the obvious answer, but I've got a moderate haul to make to get to the event, and will likely not be getting much sleep the night before. Most energy drinks and coffees run right through me. I'll be keeping alcohol intake on the low side in general and avoiding beer entirely.
It's been a while since I consumed caffeine in any form save for my morning coffee or the occasional energy drink. Will caffeine pills or those "5 Hour Energy Now" majobbers have less of a diuretic effect than a drink?
Most nights it's not a concern, but this is one of the few nights a year when I will actually want to stay up late. All legal options welcome, and all non-stimulant tricks are also welcome.

Our big old dog is becoming incontinent -- How can we all be happy together?

valannc — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 06:05:32 -0800

My 11 year old male shepherd-mix is in congestive heart failure, but doing very well on medicine. He has a good outlook for many months of high quality living. The diuretic medicine causes him to pee in the house occasionally -- because I can't get him out the door fast enough. We live in a condo and he has to go out on leash. We can't leave the house for more than a couple hours or he will need to pee. I welcome any tips on managing incontinence for large male dogs. We saw the vet recently and had dog tested for urinary tract infection. He will need to take the diuretic for the rest of his life, and I expect the incontinence problem to get worse as his health declines. My husband and I plan to care for doggie at home as long as he is happy and pain-free. When the vet tells us it's time, we will say good-bye.

Here is what I am thinking about:

Dog Walking Service --
We have slowly been introducing a dog walking service, but our dog is protective of the house. It will take a while before he is comfortable letting the walker enter the house when we are not home.

Wee wee pad --
The vet recommended we train the dog to use a wee wee pad as his designated indoor pee spot. Anyone have experience doing this with a large dog? Does it really minimize the mess? I swear he pees a quart sometimes. It looks like these wee wee pads are disposable. Are there any washable, reuseable options?

Belly band --
Does anyone have experience using a "belly band" -- a wide elastic cumberbund that helps a male dog hold his urine longer?

Water bowl --
The vet tells us the dog must have water available at all times. He drinks a lot! I keep two big bowls for him.

Training --
It could be his advanced age, or possibly the drugs... the dog is no longer good at communicating his needs. He used to run to the door when he needed to pee. Now he will only stand and look at me. I'm getting better at reading his face. I'm wondering if there is a positive reinforcement technique to teach my old dog how to specifically communicate when he needs to go out.

Will Diet Coke make me gain or lose weight in the short term?

web-goddess — Tue, 08 Aug 2006 00:39:43 -0800

Any jockeys or prizefighters in the house? I've read repeatedly that Diet Coke and other diet soft drinks have both sodium - which makes the body retain water - as well as caffeine - which acts as a mild diuretic. Which effect is greater? Will drinking a diet soda cause a net gain or loss in your weight a few hours later? First off, I'll admit that this is totally prompted by an upcoming Weight Watchers weigh-in. I'm not trying to game the system, but I would like to be sure I'm not going in there carrying any extra weight. It sure seems like when I have a Diet Coke (after drinking normal water), I end up going to the bathroom a lot more often. So in a hypothetical situation where you wanted to weigh-in as light as possible, would it be better to A) just drink water, B) drink water and a bit of caffeine, or C) drink nothing at all? I've done some Googling and while I can find references to both the "water retention" and "makes you pee more" effects, I can't find anything that suggests whether they cancel each other out.

I'd just like to stress that I know Diet Coke isn't healthy and if I were a truly good person (that was sarcasm), I wouldn't drink it at all. But dammit, I've lost nearly fifty pounds in the past year and I need to feel like I have one tiny vice left. I've just always wondered whether I should cut it out on Weight-In day or not. (I know that the net effect is likely to be miniscule, and I'm truly not the type to obsess about 100g... but I just wondered.)