I Thought I Was Just Tired — Turns Out I Was Dehydrated

Last month, I kept blaming my exhaustion on work. Long nights, too much coffee, and endless scrolling — the usual suspects. But one day, after nearly fainting during a morning walk, I realized it wasn’t burnout. It was dehydration.

It’s strange how something as simple as not drinking enough water can make you feel like your life’s out of balance. When I started reading about it, I found a clear explanation in an article from AskDocDoc (https://askdocdoc.com/articles/992-dehydration-meaning
). It explained that dehydration happens when your body loses more fluid than it takes in — something I’d heard before, but never really felt until it hit me.

What’s tricky about dehydration is that it hides behind other symptoms. You might feel moody, anxious, or mentally foggy. A few social posts I came across really hit that point home.

On Threads, I saw a post (https://www.threads.com/@askdocdoc/post/DPg1pq-jtv9
) saying, “It’s wild how dehydration can mimic stress or fatigue — sometimes it’s not burnout, it’s just your body needing water.” That line stuck with me.

Then a friend shared a LinkedIn update (https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:share:7381350218744770562
) where a wellness coach admitted she’d been mistaking chronic tiredness for “stress at work.” And honestly, who hasn’t done that?

Scrolling through X (https://x.com/1881713393369030656/status/1975584434897183202
), I found someone pointing out that “you don’t have to feel thirsty to be dehydrated.” That one hit differently — because by the time thirst shows up, your body’s already struggling.

And of course, social media isn’t always wrong. A Pinterest post (https://www.pinterest.com/pin/928445279439185703
) showing a simple graphic — “Drink for your brain” — got me to refill my bottle immediately. Even a small Facebook story (https://www.facebook.com/122099392514743210/posts/122142732026743210
) about how drinking more water boosted someone’s focus made me wonder why I wasn’t paying attention to something so basic.

Since then, I’ve started taking hydration seriously. Nothing extreme — just a few small shifts:

I keep a water bottle at my desk and refill it twice before lunch.

I swapped one afternoon coffee for a glass of water.

I check my urine color — weird habit, but a reliable signal.

The result? Fewer headaches, better focus, and honestly, a calmer mood. It’s not magic. It’s just biology finally catching up with care.

The truth is, most of us are slightly dehydrated most of the time. We confuse it with tiredness, boredom, or stress. But drinking water is one of the simplest self-care habits we can build — no special app, no supplements, no cost.