never drinks water, how does she survive?

[lolard.]

Hey all. New to these forums. I was wondering if anyone could help me out - One of my close friends almost NEVER drinks water, not even while taking her pills at night. She drinks vanilla coke or regular coke(not diet) all day, sometimes a cup of coffee (maybe once or twice a month), and sometimes alcohol(hard liquor, like gin or vodka, and mixes it with coke or other soft drinks).

I've been her roomate for a few years now, and its VERY rare she drinks more than a few sips a day of water. Myself, on the otherhand, am the COMPLETE opposite. All I drink is water, I haven't drank alcohol or soft drinks since high school.

As far as her diet, she is currently overweight(weighs about 210 lbs), and tends to eat about twice a day, with some snakes in between. She doesn't tend to eat things with much water in them - she will have a lot of assorted nuts(for snaks), chicken, and vegetarian imitation meat(less)foods, like morningstar chick and sasuage patties. She rarely eats salad, and mostly lives off of peanutbutter and jelly sandwiches(wheat bread).

She doesnt exercise, and doesnt work(lives off of social security.

She has a lot of unfortunate mental problems(and takes pills for them), including:
Mild schizophrenia, multiple personality disorder, depression, and bi-polar.

My question(s), is basicly how is she surviving without drinking any water,and is there anything anyone would sugest I can do to get her to start drinking more water and exercising more?

I've tried a lot to get her out the door to go for a walk with my by our pond, or to just go to the apartment pool to go swiming, or to go for a quick bike ride, be she is always not into any of it - always lazy.

Thanks for any comments/sugestions/help anyone can give.

-Chris

 

[Daniel Kim]

Hi Chris,

A good friend of mine is just as you describe, with similar problems. It's great of you to care so much about your roommate.

There is plenty of liquid in what she drinks, even though it is far from the best liquid source. It's her own choice, so best not to try to get her to do anything. At least one of the meds she is on may cause carb craving, from what I know of psycho-tropic drugs.

You probably can't change her at all. Just directly tell her your concerns for her and why, and leave it at that. It would be way better if you asked for her company and then accepted her response and go about your business rather than for her to think you are just trying to change her (which lowers self-esteem).

She has to want to change, and it is likely that the meds she is on for her mental problems have side effects that cause weight gain as well as slow her way down. They usually cause low thyroid levels too, which has the same symptoms. Few doctors take care of the thyroid levels properly.

You can ask her about her meds and look up the side effects for your own curiosity, but it is the meds that help her remain stable, and it is dangerous to stop them. Don't suggest that.

If after you share your concerns she is interested by herself to see if there are meds with different side effects, that is a possibility.

But if she is stable I would stay out of it. With her mental problems it is very difficult to get stable, and starting a med change experiment could start a tragic path for both of you. Leave well enough alone. Learn to understand the drugs and her mental condition and be thankful she is stable enough to have a roommate for years. That's unusual and fantastic!