Hivemind question for my manuscript...

What would be some of the physical manifestations of not drinking any liquid for nearly 24 hours? (I've done 24-hour fasts from food in my life, but never from water.) I have a character in that position, and I'm trying to describe his predicament in more detail than "he was as thirsty as he'd ever been in his life." Would his mouth be dry? Would he feel lightheaded?

Hmm, I've had to do 12 hour water fasts for certain medical tests. My tongue started to develop little dry spots that hurt as did the inside of my cheeks. My lips were dry and and cracked and painful as well until I thought of using chapstick. Don't know what happens the second 12 hours.

Not lightheaded at the point, but really low energy. Throat starts hurting too. As did my sinuses, but I have sinus problems anyway.

Fortunately I did not have to cough much, but any time I did have to cough that hurt too.

Only one of my parents' cats climbed the tree. The rest were content to attack the cat-proof ornaments we hung near the base (fabric and styro we wouldn't miss) or considered the tree an alien invader to be avoided.

Amarna loves to bat at the unbreakable ornaments at the bottom of the tree, but her favorite thing to do is to just sit under the tree and zone out looking at the lights. She also likes to use the branches to hide behind while stalking things and then leaping out from underneath catch them.

Thanks, Typo! That helps a lot.

I wasn't in great health at the time, and needed a lot of water anyway. So those may not be typical symptoms for 12 hours.

Well, my character is in prime physical condition, but the reason he's had to fast for nearly 24 hours is he's been running for his life and then hiding. So he's exerted himself a lot more and been under more stress than if he'd been fasting for religious reasons or something.

Hmm - I suspect that even so, these would later than 12 hour symptoms for someone in prime physical conditions. If he is used to getting plenty of water though, by 24 hours his lips would probably be bleeding unless he had access to some kind of grease.

Sucking on a smooth stone (or using chewing gum, if it were in period) is one way of relieving thirst, at least in the sense that there's something liquid going from throat to stomach, so it's treating a symptom rather than relieving the cause.

It's also possible to lick at dew and condensation, and get a little relief.

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