Keep water visible across the week.

Why hydration deserves attention

Nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea are among the commonly reported gastrointestinal effects of GLP-1 medicines. The UK medicines regulator warns that vomiting and diarrhoea can sometimes lead to severe dehydration requiring hospital treatment.

A tracker cannot determine whether you are medically dehydrated, but it can help you notice that drinking has fallen below your usual pattern or that you are losing fluid through repeated symptoms.

What to record

Choose a method you can follow consistently. You could record each drink, use a small number of daily check-ins, or note only when your routine was disrupted. Useful context includes:

• Approximately what and how much you drank.
• Whether nausea, vomiting or diarrhoea made drinking difficult.
• Unusually dark urine, reduced urination, dizziness or marked weakness.
• Hot weather, exercise, travel or illness that changed your normal needs.
• Any fluid limit or special advice provided by a clinician.

The goal is to create a useful record, not to force a universal target. Fluid needs vary, and some heart, kidney and liver conditions require personalised advice or fluid restriction.

Make drinking easier to remember

Prompts can be linked to ordinary moments such as waking, meals, work breaks or returning home. Keeping a suitable drink visible may help, as can carrying a bottle when away from home. If nausea makes drinking difficult, ask a pharmacist or clinician for advice appropriate to your medicine and health history.

Do not rely on an app prompt when symptoms are worsening. A reminder is useful for routine support, but persistent vomiting, inability to keep fluids down or signs of significant dehydration need clinical assessment.

When to seek help

Contact a healthcare professional promptly if you are repeatedly vomiting, cannot keep fluids down, are urinating much less than usual, feel faint or confused, or are concerned about dehydration. Severe symptoms, collapse or rapidly worsening illness may require urgent medical help.

Severe, persistent abdominal pain—particularly if it radiates to the back and may be accompanied by nausea or vomiting—can be a sign of pancreatitis and requires urgent medical attention, according to the MHRA.