H20 HELP

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MissAnjy
MissAnjy Posts: 2,480 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I see people preach constantly about drinking water. I NEVER have (during my weight loss regime). When I was pregnant with twins, I drank water, and lots of it. So much so actually that people around me were concerned with the amount of water I was ingesting and the fact that I couldn't stop. I would drink jugs upon jugs of water, guzzling it like I was dehydrated ...daily. I would be up in the night & I would drink 2 bottles of water in the span of 5 minutes before climbing back into my hospital bed. I was in the hospital for high blood pressure which was related to the fact that I was retaining water. I held on to all the water I drank, very rarely using the washroom to release it. By the time I gave birth, I had gained over 100lbs (85 of which was water and dropped off in the week following the birth). By the end, my legs were so heavy and swollen, they were the size of (my now) waist & I had to use 2 hands and ALL my strength to lift my legs to a bending position. I was put on diaretics (which weren't helping much) and was in & out of the hospital for the BP for 2 weeks (after a long 3 week stay IN the hospital). I went home with a prescription of diaretics (which didn't help at all) and kept on those for months and months.

After my pregnancy, I stopped drinking water completely and went back to pop (was only drinking water for the health of my children). I lost all the weight.

I slowly started to gain weight after the diagnosis of my children (won't get into that here & now) so that's what brought me eventually to MFP. Since starting MFP, I've lost nearly 40lbs. I've never touched water. A couple months back, I decided to re-introduce water into my diet. I drank water consistently for 2 weeks (no pop, no juice, etc). I kept my diet the same, exercise the same, etc. In those 2 weeks ... i GAINED 11 pounds and you could physically see my body swelling. I stopped drinking water AGAIN and dropped 11+ plus some that next week.

Fast forward to today. I started drinking water again 13 days ago (yes i'm counting) when I started my new workout regime (clx and c25k). I've slowly learned to LOVE water and choose it over pop these days. Problem is, I'm GAINING once again. My body is bloating & swelling AGAIN from the water intake. I don't understand it. People keep telling me that "drinking water will help your weight loss" and I've never heard anything different. However, EVERY single time I drink water as opposed to pop, I gain incredible amounts of weight. Right now I am + 6lbs (after 13 days of drinking water, eating on target & working out religiously & yes you may check my food diary if you must). It's frustrating to me.

Where do I go from here?

My husband asked me today "With the amount of water you're ingesting, how are you NOT peeing?"

EXACTLY! How am i NOT releasing this water? Yesterday, I drank 2 bottles of water (500ml each) & didn't pee at all for 6-7 hours afterwards. Came home, drank another 2-3 bottles (500ml) and didn't pee at all. I do not wake up in the night to pee. I don't have to rush to the bathroom in the morning to pee,etc. So far today, I've had 2 bottles of water (500ml each) and an ice capp and I have no urge to pee AT ALL. I'm seriously confused as to why my body doesn't let go. I know some people will say "watch your sodium" HOWEVER, when I was in the hospital (when this problem first occurred ... read above story) I was on a LOW SODIUM diet. They kept me pretty much sodium free in the hospital, so clearly NOT the problem.

I'm lost. Do i stop drinking water? Do i continue? I'm really lost.

Replies

  • ObviousIndigo
    ObviousIndigo Posts: 382 Member
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    I am assuming since you were in the hospital for this very reason that the doc's are aware of this trend? I am curious as well. Usually when you change your fitness regime you will retain some water and 6lbs can be about right.... The part that bothers me is the not peeing. This tells me that your kidneys aren't doing what they should be doing. Just a weird question.... when you do pee do you have the feeling of having to pee when you go or do you just go cause you figure you should? I would suggest getting your kidneys checked.

    On a side note I hve heard that eating a whole cucumber each days combats water retention.
    Also, you could mix as little as 1tbsp of pure cranberry juice per 1 liter of water you drink per day.

    If you have never really been a water drinker your body could be taking the time to adjust.
  • MissAnjy
    MissAnjy Posts: 2,480 Member
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    I am assuming since you were in the hospital for this very reason that the doc's are aware of this trend? I am curious as well. Usually when you change your fitness regime you will retain some water and 6lbs can be about right.... The part that bothers me is the not peeing. This tells me that your kidneys aren't doing what they should be doing. Just a weird question.... when you do pee do you have the feeling of having to pee when you go or do you just go cause you figure you should? I would suggest getting your kidneys checked.

    On a side note I hve heard that eating a whole cucumber each days combats water retention.
    Also, you could mix as little as 1tbsp of pure cranberry juice per 1 liter of water you drink per day.

    If you have never really been a water drinker your body could be taking the time to adjust.

    I've since switched doctors (my other doctor is M.I.A and is apparently pretty scandalous currently) and haven't been able to get my medical files, so my current doctor has no record of anything, & has no clue about my history. When I do pee, I do have to go. My body is strange these days. I had issues after my pregnancy with feeling like my 'bladder was falling out' (quite literally). When I run, I can feel my bladder moving around & it feels as though it'll fall out. If I do any plyometrics (jumping jacks, jump rope, basically anything to do with jumping) I'm doomed. Even if I've peed 2 minutes before, if i jump, I feel my bladder drop, and i'll "pee my pants" in so many words. It's horrifying. I don't do cardio videos anymore because of it. It's too uncomfortable.
  • MissAnjy
    MissAnjy Posts: 2,480 Member
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    Maybe i'll continue drinking the water for this month & see how it ends up. I want to give it another shot (keep giving it a chance) because I FEEL healthier & "cleaner" when I drink water as opposed to pop. However, if i'm going to feel bloated all the time & look swollen, I can't say I WANT that, y'know!?

    After starting a new program, how long would it generally take to stop retaining the water in your muscles? Maybe 13 days isn't long enough to go by?
  • ObviousIndigo
    ObviousIndigo Posts: 382 Member
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    Maybe i'll continue drinking the water for this month & see how it ends up. I want to give it another shot (keep giving it a chance) because I FEEL healthier & "cleaner" when I drink water as opposed to pop. However, if i'm going to feel bloated all the time & look swollen, I can't say I WANT that, y'know!?

    After starting a new program, how long would it generally take to stop retaining the water in your muscles? Maybe 13 days isn't long enough to go by?

    Sometimes it can take a month or 6 weeks for your body to adjust (depending on what you are doing)
    Maybe instead of going all out on the water intake try drinking 2 cups of water a day for a week and then 4 cups/day for a week and then so on. It could be that your body feels like it is being bombarded with all this water, which it is not used to but it knows it is good so it is holding onto all of it because it is not sure when it will get it again.

    Look at drinking water the same way as you are starting runing. ANYTHING that is different from the norm takes time to adjust to.
    I understand the Bladder issues. It sucks. I was like that for 3 years after my second child and now it has gotten so much better. I can jump and run and sneeze without peeing my pants. There is hope in that regard:)
  • MissAnjy
    MissAnjy Posts: 2,480 Member
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    hahaha thanks for giving me hope that I can one day sneeze normally again :D

    I'll continue feeding my body the water it desires and see how that goes. I don't want to stop because it is great after a long workout to drink a couple bottles of water. I like how I feel with it, so I WANT to continue. Please body, COOPERATE :D

    Thanks!! :)

    Here's to hoping I lose those 6lbs + some!!
  • britanygtc
    britanygtc Posts: 8 Member
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    Have you ever suffered a head injury? I know that sounds like a weird question, but there is a condition called SIADH that messes with the pituitary gland and makes you retain water like crazy and lose sodium. This does sound like it could be an issue wih the kidneys, but the doctor can run a bunch of tests to figure that out.
  • MissAnjy
    MissAnjy Posts: 2,480 Member
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    Have you ever suffered a head injury? I know that sounds like a weird question, but there is a condition called SIADH that messes with the pituitary gland and makes you retain water like crazy and lose sodium. This does sound like it could be an issue wih the kidneys, but the doctor can run a bunch of tests to figure that out.

    I've had 2 concussions in my life. Both when I was much younger.
  • MissAnjy
    MissAnjy Posts: 2,480 Member
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    I know when I was in the hospital they said that my potassium was extremely low. I ended up having to take potassium drinks twice a day and eat a banana with my meals. I don't recall them ever saying my sodium was low. Just iron and potassium as far as I'm aware.
  • lilmissy2
    lilmissy2 Posts: 595 Member
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    Your blood sodium can be high in SIADH. Blood electrolytes are a very tricky thing to understand. Not that I'm saying I think it is that.

    It does sound like you have some pretty big continence issues though. I think you should probably talk to your doctor about it. I have never heard of anyone (patients who have conditions causing fluid overload) seeing a difference in fluid retention based on the type of fluid they drank - usually it's a case of fluid is fluid.
  • R_is_for_Rachel
    R_is_for_Rachel Posts: 381 Member
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    honestly, i think you should see a Doctor because if you're drinking that much -then you should be needing the loo.

    Only other thing i would suggest is that maybe you don't recognise when you need a wee? i used to have a similar issue with my bowels-in that i didn't recognise the feeling of needing the loo until the last moment when i would suddenly need to rush to the loo.
    So maybe every 4 hours or so, go to the toilet and see what happens!
  • jasonweinberg
    jasonweinberg Posts: 270
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    yes you should definitely be seeking medical care to find out why your body is having such a hard time with normal regulation of fluid retention levels. something is not right.
  • Mindful_Trent
    Mindful_Trent Posts: 3,954 Member
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    yes you should definitely be seeking medical care to find out why your body is having such a hard time with normal regulation of fluid retention levels. something is not right.

    I agree. Drinking water is a normal part of being healthy. You may not *need* it to lose weight, but your body does need it to really be healthy. Water is critical to every system in your body. If your body isn't handling water the way it should, that's something a doctor needs to look into.

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