Water retention help/advice?

Water retention is infamous in my family, and both of my parents bloat up in places if they've ate too much salt, not countering it with extra water. For me, my thighs blow up like carnival balloons, and my abdomen could rival a three-months pregnant belly! It's very sore and uncomfortable, and just feels so gross! Generally it starts to go away after a few days, but it could take a lot longer for the scale to tell the difference.

I used to be just TERRIBLE with not drinking enough water- until I turned seventeen I had only been drinking one or two glasses a day, then switched to four or five. That's what I'm at pretty much now at nineteen, but my water retention is still awful. I have a hard time drinking more than what I do now, I just end up feeling all sloshy and nauseated but people keep saying it's the best way to help. In general I've cut my salt intake at home, but sometimes fast food is tempting and we all know how shaker-crazy some restaurants get with the salt.

If anyone has advice on how to drink more water without feeling like a water balloon, or on how to deal with water retention in general that'd be just fantastic!