Her new water tablet has her up four times a night, so now she won't drink anything after lunch. Is that dangerous?

#1tomsdaughter(Joined Jan 2025 · 31 posts)September 29, 2026, 9:52 pm

She was started on a water tablet three weeks ago by the heart clinic, for ankle swelling and her breathing. The swelling is better, I will give it that.

But she is up to the toilet three or four times a night now, which after the falls last year terrifies me, and her solution has been to stop drinking anything after about two o'clock. Tea at breakfast and a glass at lunch and that is it. She says it is common sense. I am not sure it is, but I also do not want her on the landing at 3am four times. Which is worse?

#2stephen_58(Joined May 2026 · 7 posts)September 30, 2026, 7:24 am

My mother did the same thing with drinks to stop the night toilet trips and ended up in a right state, confused for two days. Turned out she was dried out and had an infection on top. I would not let it go.

#3dee1972(Joined Apr 2025 · 24 posts)September 30, 2026, 7:40 pm

Ring the clinic or the GP and tell them exactly what you told us. The timing of when the tablet is taken is the sort of thing they can look at, but only if somebody tells them what is happening at night.

#4Dr Nadia FarhatMedical moderator(Joined Nov 2024 · 54 posts)October 2, 2026, 1:16 pm

You are right to be uneasy, and this is a common and genuinely tricky situation, so it is worth saying clearly: cutting fluids sharply to avoid night time trips is not the safe answer, even though it feels like common sense.

The reason is that older people get dehydrated more easily than younger ones. Thirst becomes a weaker signal with age, and a water tablet is already moving fluid out of the body. Dehydration in an older person can bring dizziness on standing, constipation, urine infections and confusion, and dizziness on standing is itself a falls risk. So restricting drinks can trade one fall risk for another, and add a few more problems on top. Stephen's mother is the version of that story nobody wants.

What to do is ring whoever prescribed it, the heart clinic or her GP, and describe exactly what is happening: when she takes the tablet, how many times she is up at night, and that she has stopped drinking after lunch. The timing of a water tablet, and whether the dose or the choice of medicine is right for her, are questions for the prescriber and the pharmacist, not for me or for this board, but they are very answerable questions and the clinic will want to know. Do not change the time or skip a dose on your own.

Meanwhile, the night risk can be reduced in ways that do not involve thirst: a light on the landing and in the bathroom, a clear route, a commode or urinal by the bed if she would accept one, and getting up slowly, sitting on the edge of the bed for a moment first. Eating, drinking and weight loss has a section on dehydration and what it looks like, and falls at home covers the night time setup.

And the same day line, because it matters with a water tablet. If she becomes newly confused, very drowsy or dizzy, has a fall, or is passing very little urine, ring her GP that day, or NHS 111 out of hours. Breathlessness that is getting worse, chest pain or a sudden change in her breathing is an emergency call.

#5tomsdaughter(Joined Jan 2025 · 31 posts)October 3, 2026, 6:30 pm

Rang the clinic this morning. A nurse rang back by four, asked a lot of questions about the timing, and the clinic is looking at it. In the meantime the instructions are clear: drink normally, which Mum has accepted from a nurse in a way she would never have accepted from me.

#6tomsdaughter(Joined Jan 2025 · 31 posts)October 12, 2026, 8:05 pm

Update a week and a bit on. The timing has been changed by the clinic, which I will not go into because it is hers, and she is now up once or twice a night instead of four times. Commode by the bed, which she called undignified for exactly two days. Drinking her tea in the afternoon again. Thank you, all of you.