The Symptom That's Actually Just Thirst

For most of my life, water was an afterthought. Something you had if there was nothing more interesting going on. Tea was interesting. Coffee was essential. Wine, frankly, a personality. Water was what you gave the dog.

Then midlife arrived and quietly changed the terms, and it took me an embarrassingly long time to catch on.

I'd have a day out in the sun, come home feeling like I'd been left on the line to dry, and put the whole sorry state down to my hormones.

Foggy head, aching legs, a mood that could curdle milk. Classic menopause, I'd think, and reach for a coffee to perk myself up. Which, looking back, was a bit like trying to put out a fire with a box of matches.

Here's the thing nobody sits you down and explains. A good chunk of what we wave off as "just menopause" in the warmer months is your body quietly asking for water, and us handing it a flat white instead.

And this year of all years, it matters. We’re having one of the hottest summers, the kind where you barely notice how much you're sweating because you're too busy enjoying the sunshine. Lovely. Also a recipe for running yourself dry without the faintest clue you're doing it.

So let's sort it out. Not with rules and charts and a scary app that pings at you all day. Just the useful bits, the way a friend would tell you over a cuppa.

You're losing more than you think

When it's hot, you sweat. Obvious, I know. But it's not just water going out the door. It's salts too, the electrolytes your body leans on to keep everything ticking over nicely.

Now add a summer of hot flushes, and those sweltering nights where the bedroom feels like a sauna. The losses add up far faster than you'd ever guess. You can be doing nothing more strenuous than sitting in a deckchair and still slowly running yourself down.

This is why, on a really hot day, plain water sometimes doesn't quite hit the spot. You keep drinking and still don't feel quite right. That's often not a water problem. It's a salt problem. Your body's asking for both, and it only got half of what it needed.

The eight-glasses rule is a bit of a fib

We've all heard it. Eight glasses a day, no more, no less, or you're doing it wrong.

The truth is nobody really knows where that number came from, and it was never gospel. How much you need depends on the weather, how much you're moving, what you're eating, and you.

A tiny woman pottering in the shade needs a very different amount to one who's been gardening in full sun since breakfast.

So please don't sit there forcing down pint after pint because a fridge magnet told you to. Your body is cleverer than a fridge magnet.

The goal isn't a magic number. It's simply topping up more often than you probably are now, especially in weather like this.

What actually counts

Here's a lovely little secret. It doesn't all have to be water.

Your morning cup of tea counts. Your coffee counts too, mostly. That old line about coffee dehydrating you has been wildly overblown.

Yes, it's a mild diuretic, but the water in the cup more than makes up for it. So your first brew of the day isn't undoing you. It's just not doing quite as much heavy lifting as an actual glass of water would.

And then there's food. Loads of it is basically water in disguise. Cucumber, watermelon, strawberries, tomatoes, courgettes, oranges. When you eat a big summery salad, you're drinking without lifting a glass.

Wine, I'm afraid, sits in the other column. I'm not here to spoil your rosé in the sunshine, and I'm certainly not one to talk. Just know that it works against you rather than for you, so a glass of water alongside it isn't a bad shout.

Little habits that actually stick

None of this works if it feels like homework. So here's what genuinely helps, no willpower required.

Have a glass of water before your first hot drink, not instead of it. You'll have topped up before the day's even got its boots on.

Keep water where you already are. A jug on the desk, a bottle by the kettle, a glass by the sofa. We drink what's in front of us and forget what isn’t.

If it's a scorcher, or you've been sweating buckets, water on its own won't quite cut it. A bit of salt in your food, or an electrolyte drink, puts back what you've lost.

And make it nice. Cold water with a slice of lemon, a few mint leaves, a bit of cucumber. You're far more likely to reach for something that feels like a treat than something that feels like a punishment.

One honest word before you go

Water fixes a lot. It doesn't fix everything.

If the fog, the fatigue or the headaches are hanging around no matter how much you drink, please don't just keep topping up and hoping.

Have a proper chat with your GP. Sometimes it really is your hormones, or your thyroid, or your iron, and those deserve looking at properly. Hydration is the easy first thing to rule out, not the answer to absolutely everything.

But it's a brilliant place to start. It's free, it's simple, and it might just hand you back a version of yourself you thought had wandered off for good.

So next time you're convinced it's a full-blown Menopause Day, capital M, capital D, try this first. Pour yourself a big glass of water, put your feet up for half an hour, and see how you go.

You might be pleasantly surprised by who turns up.