serious water retention will not go away

millaxoxo

so i had a cheat weekend (my birthday) 2 days of maybe 400g+ of carbs. gained 10lbs, no big deal most of it is water.
it happens often so im used to it. but it will not go down, and i know i did not gain 10 "real" pounds. i drink a gallon or more a day, sodium under 1800mg, and have done sweaty cardio 2 days in a row. also have lowered my carbs to 50g for a few days. still wont go away.
any time i eat over 120-135g of carbs a day i bloat and retain 10 pounds of water, i have tried so many things, even diuretics, epsom salt bath, intense cardio, light cardio, if i go extremely low carb it will go away but it is very unpleasant and not something i like to do.
and yes i am positive it is water, it is very jiggly and ripple-y.

food allergy perhaps?
i have no other solutions
i take enzymes as well and dont eat much dairy

Shellz31

I don't know if this will help but when I have water retention problems I try to eat as much potassium as possible and that seems to help my body let go of the fluids.

nxd10

I've had this problem. In fact, I was just traveling and am just getting over it now.

Raw pineapple does wonders for me. It is a natural diuretic.

My mom suggests sitting in a hot bathtub and drinking cold water. It seems to work. I have no idea why.

ALH1981

I get this from carbs too - i want answers also!

SaveFileCorrupt

Second that on the potassium. Also to drink plenty of water, retention is often the result of slight dehydration. Your body will hold on to that which it believes to be scarce.

DLittlefield7

I also have trouble with the water retention. I walk every day, and drink ALOT of water. I am not losing any weight. And retain alot of water. I take potassium pills though, so it should be helping some, right?!

rogerbosch

I had this issue after taking creatine last year (not much, 2 grams a day)… Water started piling up, especially in abdomen and ankles… When I stopped it, what happened is shown in the chart below (weight is in kg). I got so scared of the sudden weight loss I went to the hospital for a check-up… They couldn't figure it out either. Nothing wrong though… just water loss.

aelunyu

In my experience, water retention problems are genetic. Short of dropping water, dropping sodium, and playing with potassium, you cannot get your body to respond in a way that lets you shed water from under the skin. You can certainly dehydrate yourself to solve this problem like bodybuilders do, but generally if it's subcutaneous it's there til it goes away on its own. There are drugs out there and diuretics that achieve water loss, but this is not a major health issue, so I wouldn't worry about it.

meg516

i have the same problem too! I can go up 5+ lbs in water weight one day and it won't go down for days. and you KNOW you couldn't have put on 5 lbs in just a couple of days!

startheory

Try squeezing the juice from a whole lemon into a glass of water. This helps me with water weight gain every single time.

tekwriter

If you keep your carbs under 100 for the day it should work. You don't have to go waaay lo carb.

jennifershoo

You retain 10lbs of water?! Holy *kitten*! That sucks!

jennifershoo

I had this issue after taking creatine last year (not much, 2 grams a day)… Water started piling up, especially in abdomen and ankles… When I stopped it, what happened is shown in the chart below (weight is in kg). I got so scared of the sudden weight loss I went to the hospital for a check-up… They couldn't figure it out either. Nothing wrong though… just water loss.

Wo!!! That's scary!

jennifershoo

OP, try drinking dandelion tea, it's diuretic and taste good (to me at least!).

coco3382458

so here is a really dumb question (sorry, Im new to here and to living healthy) but how do you know you are retaining water?

SteelySunshine

so here is a really dumb question (sorry, Im new to here and to living healthy) but how do you know you are retaining water?

Press into your calf like around the shin area, if the impression stays a bit that's water retention. Also any sudden weight gain should be suspected as water retention. I gained like 5 lbs in one day. Pretty sure I didn't go over on calories by 17500 in one day even though I don't log ketchup most the time. Then there is the opposite that can happen a few days later a sudden loss of 5 pounds and same thing, probably didn't burn 17500 calories even though I didn't log that quick trip down to the park with my dog so she could do her business and I could go to a movie.

rogerbosch

so here is a really dumb question (sorry, Im new to here and to living healthy) but how do you know you are retaining water?

Press into your calf like around the shin area, if the impression stays a bit that's water retention. Also any sudden weight gain should be suspected as water retention. I gained like 5 lbs in one day. Pretty sure I didn't go over on calories by 17500 in one day even though I don't log ketchup most the time. Then there is the opposite that can happen a few days later a sudden loss of 5 pounds and same thing, probably didn't burn 17500 calories even though I didn't log that quick trip down to the park with my dog so she could do her business and I could go to a movie.

lol this cracked me u p!

Momwidomski

I take a potassium pill every day as I take a diuretic in conjunction with Captopril for hypertension. My hypertension is hereditary, not from diet. I would agree the added potassium does help and so does staying away from gluten. Whole grain bread is better than whole wheat bread, etc. I never drank a lot of water before MFP, I do now. Drinking more water keeps you "going", not what I used to think that it would all store on my body as water weight.

millaxoxo

i have tried dandelion tea, only one glass though, made me pee more but did not see a difference

and yeah it sucks i can literally almost fit my hole hand when i press into my stomach

it feels like a water balloon...

millaxoxo

i use a wedge or two but ill use a whole lemon tomorrow ! thank you.

i feel like i have tried everything though haha
stupid carbs >:(

LearnFromTheRed

I'm glad someone started this thread before me as I have exactly the same issue. The difference is that I suspect mine is hormonal.

I started becoming very ill three years ago and to cut a really long story short I was diagnosed with endometriosis. Ever since having the laparoscopy to diagnose this, and them messing about trying to find an effective treatment, I've had massive water retention problems - to put this into perspective, I've gone from 8st 8lbs to 11st!!

Hitting 11st was absolutely soul-destroying and that's why I came here. I've always been quite strong, had muscles and a good recovery rate, but these days it is covered in a layer of water. The insides of my thighs and just above my hips looks quite literally like someone has sewn water balloons under my skin. If I could get rid of the water I would probably be far closer to my goal than I dare think about!

I shall give potassium a try as I've not done that before...