Can't Retain Water...

Also I suggest slowly adding salt to your diet. Too much you will get bloated ><

because I am constantly thirsty and light headed and peeing every 5 minutes! LOL.... I dont retain much of it at all and its becoming unhealthy

Well of course you are peeing every 5 minutes if you drink that much water. I would be worried if someone was drinking 18 glasses of water and didn't pee that much. As the water goes through you, it does its thing...there are tons of things water does for you...and then carries waste out of your body as urine. You may think you are not "retaining" much water, but the body is using what it needs.

I also want you to know there is such thing as drinking too much water. If you are on any medication you can dilute them to the point that they don't even work. Drinking too much water can also get your electrolytes out of whack. I was drinking too much water and my sodium and potassium became low. The doc said I was flushing them right out of my body. I don't know what you are trying to accomplish by drinking that much, but I really think it is a bit excessive.

You should talk to your doctor...You may be diabetic.

Also ask about kidney issues such as CKD. I agree about increasing your salt, so long as your BP is low/normal. Maybe (sorry if this sounds rude) you have a bladder issue if you need to pee that often. Probably not if your body is not reacting normally to being given water but also worth asking your doc when you're next there.

Retaining a certain amount of water is GOOD. Retaining all or none is BAD. You may be low in sodium. Your body needs the perfect amount of sodium so it can keep the water in you body. Try looking at your sodium intake to see if it's too low
And try finding healthy ways in adding salt to your diet

Hope this helps and teaches everyone about retaining water

I agree with this. I tried to check your diary but its not open for viewing. You need to retain a certain amount of water for your body/organs to function properly. Too much makes you bloat.. and too little, well makes you pee all the time regardless of the amount you drink and still feel dehydrated. Assuming your doctor has advised you there is no medical reason for your thirt and constant urination, then I would say this would be the next thing for you to look at.

I think constant thirst can be an early sign of diabetes - I hope they have they checked for this ?

Definitely, definitely go back to your doctor and get tested more thoroughly. Not sure how you were checked for diabetes, but make sure you're get A1C1 tested. Any tests to check your kidney functions would also be good. Lots of diabetes in my family, so, can tell you it's important to make sure you're really okay.

And, if all that is okay, make sure they help you figure out what's going on. Too serious of a problem for your doctor to ignore.

i suppose you have been tested for diabetes mellitus (type 1 or 2) as thats the common one. i have diabetes insipidus. this is nothing at all to do with sugar, insulin or diet. i have a tumor on my pituitary gland which means i don't make the anti-diuretic hormone needed to retain any water at all. i was pee'ing every 5 minutes, day and night. i was exhausted. fortunately i saw a locum doctor who got me tested for DI. i now take a synthetic hormone which has helped to alleviate the constant trips to the toilet and never ending raging thirst.

ask your doc about this too.

eta also, polydipsia (increased thirst) can be habit. maybe if you've been drinking a lot of water to stave off hunger, you think you are always thirsty.

That doctor needs to do a 24 hour urine study on you and some simple blood work to see if you are either experiencing SIADH or Diabetes Insipidus or find another reason you are losing h2o.

This is the absolutely not the place to get advice about something as medically serious as this can be,

How much water are you drinking?

I have had 18 glasses of water so far today

Our body has been figuring out how much water it needs for about 4 million years. The body is in a continuous struggle to achieve "homeostasis". The brain figures out what we need and it motivates us to get it what we need. We feel a hunger sensation in the stomach so the brain acquired food. We have a full sensation in our bowels so we have a bowel movement.

You get the picture.

When we respond to what our body wants, our body will tend to operate pretty well. Per above, we've been upright for about 4 MM years, right?

Along comes advice to drink a lot of water. The body doesn't want it but the "owner" is still pouring all of this water into the body. Since our species has no mechanism to store extra water, you get a full sensation in your bladder and out it comes.

While I understand the reasons why people are urged to drink water by every credible diet source, I also understand that the body doesn't need that water (again, by every credible source). Drinking a lot of water while dieting can help cut down on the urge to eat (since the stomach is full, it doesn't send the "feed me" signal to the brain): it reduces hunger pangs (the stomach has something in it so it stops sending the "feed me' signal); and some folks get constipated when they lose weight and drinking water can help with that issue.

Other than that, the best medical science that we have says you should drink to thirst* (understanding that, in seniors, the thirst mechanism starts to lose it's sensitivity but, please understand, humans have been dead decades before the age of what we call "senior").

Simple answer - let your body tell you when it needs water and you'll do fine.

http://www.scientificamerican.com/podcast/episode/0bd1cf72-e411-2ee5-a4cdee3447e81c93/

Google this - heinz valtin in the american journal of physiology

http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2010/12/08/the-myth-behind-drinking-8-glasses-of-water-a-day/

For athletes, have a look at the book "Waterlogged", by Dr Tim Noakes. He covers a lot of ground on this topic but he does for good reason — people drink so much water that they end up dead.

But he also delves into why we are told that we should drink, drink, drink and that's compelling story, too.

Again, I understand the reason to drink, drink, drink but it simply doesn't stand up to scientific scrutiny.

Zombie thread.

Hopefully the op has got answers by now :laugh:

Just my two cents as to what it could be

1) Psychogenic polydipsia. Some people just have a compulsion to drink water excessively but if you are deprived of water for a few hours then your urine should start to concentrate again and turn yellow

2) Diabetes mellitus (most likely type 1 since you are young). Your body can't get glucose into your cells so it functions to pull water out and also prevent your kidneys from reabsorbing water due to the same effect.

3) Diabetes insipidus (most likely central unless you are taking meds like lithium or demeclocycline in which case, nephrogenic would be more likely). Basically your body either isn't making sufficient amounts (central) or doesn't respond properly (nephrogenic) to ADH/vasopressin.

You need to go see a doc. They need to do blood work to check your serum electrolytes and probably do an oral glucose tolerance test to assess for diabetes mellitus and a water deprivation test to check for diabetes insipidus.

Humans cant retain wtaer, we are not camels,

Not like extra food that turns in fat, water, once hydrated will simply be passed from your system

from 2011!