Karwa Chauth and Waterless Fasts: What a Long Day Without Water Does to Your Kidneys and Bladder

Karwa Chauth is one of the hardest fasts in the calendar. It begins before sunrise with sargi and, in many families, continues without a sip of water until the moon appears at night. That can be fourteen to sixteen hours with no food and no fluids.

Every year around this time I want to say something to the women who keep this fast, and to the husbands, mothers-in-law and daughters who stand beside them. I am not writing to argue with a tradition that matters deeply to you. I am writing so that nobody ends the day in an emergency room.

What the Body Does Without Water

Your kidneys keep filtering blood through the day. When there is little water coming in, they conserve it: you pass less urine, and what you pass is dark and concentrated. Blood pressure can drop, especially if you also stand a lot or cook through the day. Dizziness, headache, and a pounding heart are the common signs that you are low on fluid.

For most healthy women, one day of this passes without lasting harm, and a good meal and plenty of water at night restores things. For some women, it is not so simple.

Who Should Be Careful

Women with a history of kidney stones: Concentrated urine is the setting in which stones form and grow. A small stone that has been sitting quietly can begin to move and cause pain during or after a long fast.

Women who get urinary infections often: Less fluid means less flushing. A mild infection can flare up, and burning, urgency, and fever may appear that night or the next morning.

Women with reduced kidney function: Dehydration can strain kidneys that are already working near their limit, and in some cases cause a sudden drop in kidney function.

Pregnant and breastfeeding women: Their fluid needs are higher, and an untreated urinary infection carries more risk in pregnancy. This is a time to speak to your gynaecologist and urologist, not to push through.

Women who take blood pressure tablets or water tablets, or who have diabetes: These medicines and conditions change how the body handles fluid and salt. Do not stop any medicine by yourself. Ask what to do about the dose on fasting days.

Making the Fast Safer

If you have checked with your doctor and are keeping the fast, a few steps lower the risk.

At sargi, drink water slowly and well, along with water-rich foods such as cucumber, coconut water, fruit, and curd. Skip heavy salt, because salt makes you thirstier through the day. Avoid strong tea and coffee in the morning.

Through the day, rest in a cool place, avoid heavy work in the sun if you can, and do not hold your urine for hours when you do feel the need.

When the moon is seen and the fast is broken, begin with small sips of water, then a glass, then food. Gulping a litre on an empty stomach may make you feel sick. Over the next few hours, drink steadily.

Warning Signs After the Fast

Please get help the same night, and do not wait for morning, if you have:

• Severe pain in the side or lower back, or pain that keeps coming in waves.
• Fever or shivering, with or without burning while passing urine.
• Repeated vomiting, or you cannot keep fluids down.
• Passing very little or no urine for many hours after you have started drinking again.
• Fainting, confusion, or extreme weakness.

If Your Doctor Advises Against a Waterless Fast

Many families are willing to adapt when a doctor explains a real health risk. Some keep the fast but allow water, juice, or fruit. Others are advised by elders or their priest on what is acceptable. That decision is yours and your family's, and I would never ask you to choose between your health and your belief. What I ask is that you make the choice knowing the risks.

If you are unsure whether you are one of the women who should be careful, a short consultation before Karwa Chauth is worth more than any home remedy. For more on preventing stones, see What To Do When Kidney Stone Pain Strikes Suddenly and Why UTI Cases Spike in Vidarbha.