Can you drink too much water?

DaniiDean
DaniiDean Posts: 162 Member
edited September 25 in Food and Nutrition
So I did about an hour of running today and throughout the day I have drank so much water. Where I live in the UK it has been so hot too so I have drank more than I usually would. I have drank about 10 pints of water today.

This may sound weird but I feel drunk... something is not right!

Is there a limit on water consumption? I feel ruined

Replies

  • dalzinho
    dalzinho Posts: 52
    10 pints of beer will make you feel drunk.
  • DaniiDean
    DaniiDean Posts: 162 Member
    10 pints of beer will make you feel drunk.

    1 pint of beer makes me feel drunk but I am serious something is not right
  • Jade_Butterfly
    Jade_Butterfly Posts: 2,963 Member
    Yes you can definitely drink too much water be careful! The general rule is drink 1/2 your weight in ounces and no more than that! Hope this helps! :smile:
  • Water is a good thing, but DON'T use it in lieu of a meal. If you're feeling a little dizzy, your blood sugar may have dropped after the run, or simply from the heat. Try naturally juicy fruits - apples, oranges, pears - and see if that helps with the 'drunk' feeling. If not, I'd suggest a decent small meal/snack like some tuna on spinach, or a half a chicken breast. See if the protein and iron help. good luck!
  • too much of a good thing is always bad, In fact, there is such thing as water poisoning, and it can be fatal. If you don't feel well I would suggest taking it easy and try not to drink as much tomorrow. I always aim for 8, 8oz glasses a day and that generally seems to be good.
  • crzymmaah
    crzymmaah Posts: 4 Member
    Yes you absolutely can drink too much water. It's called water intoxication or hyponatremia. It is basically low sodium in your blood. In very rare cases it can cause death. Look it up on the internet.
  • EZGruv
    EZGruv Posts: 215 Member
    Yes, you can drink too much water. Google 'Water Intoxication'.
    10 pints is 160oz. Way too much in my opinion.
  • dancingnancies
    dancingnancies Posts: 255 Member
    too much of a good thing is always bad, In fact, there is such thing as water poisoning, and it can be fatal. If you don't feel well I would suggest taking it easy and try not to drink as much tomorrow. I always aim for 8, 8oz glasses a day and that generally seems to be good.

    yes this is true, you need to be careful, you can actually 'drown' your brain by drinking too much. if you continue to feel strange, i would go to the doc. feel better!!
  • Meganne1982
    Meganne1982 Posts: 451
    Yes actually but it's a lot. There was a woman when the Wii came out that took part in this "hold your wee for a wii" contest, and the contestants had to keep drinking water and she died. It wasn't from a full bladder either it was some sort of "water poisoning", though I'm sure not being able to relieve herself was part of it. Plus it was an obscene amount of water.
  • JennDoesKeto
    JennDoesKeto Posts: 244 Member
    yes you can get water drunk. there was a lady in tampa florida that died after drinking too much water in a contest. she drank too much too fast. not trying to scare you. i drink 1/2 my body weight in oz in water and have never felt "drunk", hope you feel better!
  • lauble
    lauble Posts: 47
    You can absolutely drink too much water. It is called water intoxication. Google it. You can also look at these links.

    http://chemistry.about.com/cs/5/f/blwaterintox.htm

    http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/water/NU00283
  • eeeekie
    eeeekie Posts: 1,011 Member
    That's about 20 cups of water. I've drank 21 cups of water in one day. I don't think that's too much water especially if you were craving it.

    It could possibly be your work out and also...I know it's been warm there lately and you just might not be used to that particular warmth?

    They say it's not how much you drink but how fast you drink it that may effect you but I think you'd have to seriously drink TONS to cause any damage.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_intoxication
  • JennDoesKeto
    JennDoesKeto Posts: 244 Member
    this was taken from discovery health....

    In January 2007, hours after competing in a radio station contest to win a Nintendo Wii, 28-year-old Jennifer Strange was found dead in her California home. The station's "Hold Your Wee for a Wii" challenge awarded the game system to the contestant who could drink the most water without having to take a trip to the bathroom. According to preliminary autopsy reports, Ms. Strange apparently died from drinking too much water too quickly, resulting in a condition called water intoxication.

    At its most basic, water intoxication occurs when a person drinks so much water that the other nutrients in the body become diluted to the point that they can no longer do their jobs. You've probably heard the term electrolyte before, whether in reference to sports drinks (which provide electrolytes in addition to fluids) or to certain conditions, such as bulimia or diarrhea, that cause dangerous "electrolyte imbalances" in the body. Electrolytes are simply salt ions (atoms with an overall positive or negative charge) that cells use to move fluids and nerve messages into and out of cells and throughout the body. Without electrolytes, the body can't function (see What are electrolytes? for a more detailed description). Water intoxication causes an electrolyte imbalance that affects concentrations of the ion sodium, and it leads to a condition called hyponatremia.

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    In cases of water intoxication, it is extreme hyponatremia that can ultimately cause coma and death. If it's caught early, treatment with IV fluids containing electrolytes can lead to a complete recovery; but untreated, hyponatremia is fatal. Water intoxication is basically one form of hyponatremia -- the condition can also be caused by excessive sweating, severe burns, prolonged dehydration and certain liver and kidney problems, among other diseases and conditions.

    When a person dies from hyponatremia as a result of water intoxication, the initiating factor is a severe sodium imbalance that causes massive cell damage. Sodium is a positively charged ion, and its role in the body is to circulate the fluids outside of cells. As a result, sodium helps regulate blood pressure and maintain the signals that let muscles operate properly, among other things. Cells actively maintain a precise sodium concentration in the body. Inside the cell, there are more electrolytes; outside the cell, there is more water. Cells keep sodium levels healthy by moving water and electrolytes into and out of the cell to either dilute or increase sodium levels in body fluids. But when someone drinks a tremendous amount of water in a short period of time, and the water does not contain any added electrolytes, the cellular maintenance system can't handle the level of sodium dilution that occurs.

    The result is that cells desperately try to increase the sodium concentration in body fluids by taking in tremendous amounts of water. Some cells can swell a great deal; others cannot. Brain cells are constrained by the skull and can end up bursting with the pressure of the water they are taking in.

    The exact amount of water intake that can lead to water intoxication is unknown and varies with each individual. Symptoms of water intoxication actually look a lot like the symptoms of alcohol intoxication, including nausea, altered mental state, and vomiting. Other symptoms include headaches, muscle weakness and convulsions. In severe cases of water intoxication, coma and death come fairly quickly as a result of brain swelling. The condition is quite rare in the general population, but in distance athletics, it's a known risk and is often avoided by drinking sports drinks instead of water during training and events.
  • I read that people shouldn't drink more than 20 liters of water in a day, but I don't think 10 pints is too much water, but i'm not sure how that converts. the "drunk" feeling i've had before, but it was from pushing my body really hard. if you worked out hard on a hot day, maybe it's just a bit of heat stroke or something? but either way, be careful.
  • missy1970eb
    missy1970eb Posts: 1,209 Member
    i drink about 7 pints, and has been fine for me:smile:
  • DaniiDean
    DaniiDean Posts: 162 Member
    Oh my gosh I am so freaked out right now, I have been peeing loads too. Oh man this is awful
  • lauble
    lauble Posts: 47
    There is absolutely a limit on how much water you drink. If you drink too much water you can dilute the sodium and other electrolytes in your body (hyponatremia, etc...) and it can be fatal. This is especially true if you drink too much in too short a time I think.
  • go get a gatorade or something filled with electrolytes. like that article said (guy posted above), long distance runners drink that instead to keep everything operating like it should. or if you feel really horrible, go see ur doctor.
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