Took Mom to Urgent Care and they sent us on to our ER for 7 hours of tests for fatigue and generally she didn't feel well at all. It turned out that she was severely dehyrated. Receiving fluids by IV did wonders for her. So now we have discovered that she only sips her water when previously she drank water like everyone else. I see this is the beginning of dementia and forgetting to take care of various things in her life including drinking water. I would appreciate getting feedback from you all about how to get her to drink more water than the less than 2 cups per day she was "sipping" throughout the day. With much frustrating encouragement I have gotten her to drink 4 cups per day and even 5 cups one day. But she never does it on her own. Have tried many things such as decaffeinated tea, flavored water, she loves her daily 8 oz Glucerna shake that contains 6 oz of water. Just wish she could have a permanent IV entry port in her arm that I could give her a quart of fluid a day.Thank you all for contributing to this wonderful website.
There are some fairly good water substitutes. Soda without caffeine, green tea in the bottle, flavored water, sparkling water, and similar drinks are good. If you are concerned that she has a bit of nausea, ginger ale helps to calm the stomach.
I always had better luck with small bottles of refrigerated water and other drinks. We were able to keep him reasonably well hydrated until the last couple of months of his life, when no amount of encouragement could make him drink more.