Water Toxicity....and Don't argue with me

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  • auntiebabs
    auntiebabs Posts: 1,754 Member
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    Does this help?
    Is it less than what you were taking in?
    Not a hard and fast rule, but...

    The nutritionist I went to said ONE 8oz. glass of water per 25 lbs of body weight.

    So if you weigh 125 lbs you 5 glasses should be fine.
    if you weigh 350 lbs. you'll need about 14 glasses.

    The article AnngieG33 linked to was interesting and thought provoking
    http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=eight-glasses-water-per-day
    My take away from this is that not only is everyone is different, but a lot of external factors impact your needs as well, like working out, temperature, humidity and medication.
  • mrsdizzyd84
    mrsdizzyd84 Posts: 422 Member
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    OP. I'm sorry you fell ill, and I hope you are doing much better.

    It isn't necessarily how much water you take in per day, but rather how much your drink within a short period of time. You can experience water toxicity without having exceeded the daily recommended value if you take it all in in a short period.

    I sometimes get a bit dizzy/faint if I drink say 6 cups of water over 2-3hours. Part of my problem is that I'm on a diuretic as it is, so my kidneys are already working a bit harder. My electrolytes are already at risk of being lower as is my sodium (this is the intended result of taking a diuretic). This is why my pills come with a warning to drink enough water, but not too much (whatever that means).

    In the end, everyone is going to be different depending on any underlying health issues or their particular body chemistry.

    The way things work for me is that I have about 8oz. of water in the morning (with my diuretic). Then I make breakfast and have about 2 cups of tea between breakfast and lunch time. At lunch I may not drink anything at all with especially if my lunch is high in fruits and veggie (they already have high water content). In the afternoon I usually have another cup of tea with my snack. Then I have about 16oz of water with my workout, and that is it for me for water in the day. This works out to be drinking about 48 oz of fluids plus whatever I get from my food. If I stick to this I generally feel hydrated enough, but not dizzy, etc.
  • cathyAprice
    cathyAprice Posts: 81
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    working in healthcare since 1998, I've always been told that every BODY is different...you can measure if you're getting adequate water intake by the color of your urine--light yellow is the appropriate measurement

    CHEERS TO YOUR HEALTH!
  • arewethereyet
    arewethereyet Posts: 18,702 Member
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    I have a close friend on here who was drinking a lot of water and the same thing happened.

    To me this is a nice warning to listen to YOUR body. Of course you had no idea this would occur, as you were not drinking gallons of water.

    I hope you feel better!! ((((((((((((hugs))))))))))))))))
  • Getting_Fit_4_Life
    Getting_Fit_4_Life Posts: 401 Member
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    Wow! Very interesting. Thanks for sharing.

    I used to work in a hospital where some patients had to be monitored for water intoxication. They can literally go in the bathroom put their mouth on the faucet and just keep drinking water until they pass out. In some cases, they drink so much water and it affected their electrolytes that they become mentally unstable, more so than they already are. Usually these patients drink something like 3-5 gallons of water withing 10-15 minutes or so.
  • ScatteredThoughts
    ScatteredThoughts Posts: 3,562 Member
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    OP. I'm sorry you fell ill, and I hope you are doing much better.

    It isn't necessarily how much water you take in per day, but rather how much your drink within a short period of time. You can experience water toxicity without having exceeded the daily recommended value if you take it all in in a short period.

    Very true. I have heard of at least one person who died as the result of drinking a large quantity of water in a very short time frame.

    OP - I am curious as to how much water you were consuming, and within what time frame.
  • LilMissFoodie
    LilMissFoodie Posts: 612 Member
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    Also, the "if you're thirsty you're already dehydrated" thing is a myth. Drink when you are thirsty, if you aren't thirsty, don't drink. Urine should be pale yellow, clear means you are drinking too much.

    Your body does do a very good job of telling you when you need water so you get thirsty. Unfortunately, it doesn't distinguish between whether you just need more water or whether you need more electrolytes to store the water which is why people will often find that the more water they try to drink the more thirsty they will start to feel through the day.

    Sorry this happened to you OP.
  • brittanyjeanxo
    brittanyjeanxo Posts: 1,831 Member
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    Boy, almost everyone here seems to have a medical degree ;) this thread actually reminded me I'm thirsty.

    OP, I totally understand feeling defensively and testy. After spending three days in the hospital getting poked and prodded every hour, just to find out they wanted me to see a psychiatrist, I can definitely relate. Sometimes, people don't realize, they can make it seem like they are undermining what happened, making it seem like "Oh, there's something wrong with you, it cant be what the.people.with actual medical degrees said." I hope that you are feeling much better, and I hope nothing like that happens again. Best wishes
  • badgerbadger1
    badgerbadger1 Posts: 954 Member
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    It's not dehydration, as you all know, it was over hydration of water without electrolytes. I drink about the same amount a day, but I count everything fluid that goes down the trap, coffee, tea, almond milk etc. You are lucky to be alive, there is no cure for water toxicity as it's really a severe electrolyte imbalance (Mainly sodium, but other too). When you put too much water in, it pushes all the electrolytes out of your cells to try and create an equilibrium between the cells level of water & electrolytes, and the outside extra cellular environment. At the same time your kidneys cannot excrete all the extra water out fast enough into your urine which dilutes your blood electrolyte level. Result is toxicity, or hyponatremia.

    Here's what I have learned about water intake from research & studying about human physiology & anatomy in college. First off, don't drink purified, distilled water. Ever. That is the worst possible thing to drink. Why? It lacks vital nutrients and minerals (yes, unpurified water has minerals & nutrients that contribute to electrolyte balances). That's not to say drinking treated water or bottled spring water is bad, they have the minerals. Secondly, we don't need to increase our water intake unless we are sweating a lot. If it's hot, or if we are working out hard, then we need to add back what we lose. Another tip I found (but can't locate the source at the moment) is to calculate your actual water needs. A good recommendation is to take your body weight & divide it by half. That is the number of ounces per day you should drink. If you are working outside, sweating a lot, don't forget you need to replenish the fluid that is lost through perspiration. We sweat all the time, either sensible (the kind that you feel) or insensible (the kind you don't feel) and we exhale water vapor with every breath.

    I am in no way arguing with the original poster. I am agreeing with you, and adding more information for those who want to disagree. I'm all for drinking water, but I am a huge advocate for educating people on the danger water poses when they flood themselves with it. Thank you for sharing your story, I'm so sorry that happened to you. I hope this is a good warning to others to be mindful about hydration and the dangers of over doing it. Take care of yourself :flowerforyou:


    Hypernatremia or hypernatraemia (see American and British English spelling differences) is an electrolyte disturbance that is defined by an elevated sodium level in the blood.[1] Hypernatremia is generally not caused by an excess of sodium, but rather by a relative deficit of free water in the body. For this reason, hypernatremia is often synonymous with the less precise term, "dehydration".

    Sorry to disagree....hypernatremia or hypernatraemia....a/k/a Dehydration.


    You are confusing HYPO and HYPERnatremia. That poster was correct. If your actual diagnosis is water toxicity, you were hyponatremic. Our kidneys are extremely effective at managing the amount of fluid in your body, therefore, if you drank too much in a day, you'd simply pee it out, not become waterlogged. You'd either have to consume vast amounts of water in an extremely short period of time or there is another physical reason you are retaining water.
  • cynlee1626
    cynlee1626 Posts: 23
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    I'm sorry to hear this! I hope you get better real soon! I have heard of this and even heard of a lady dying from drinking too much water. I have been wary of that for years.
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  • JenniferMZ
    JenniferMZ Posts: 8
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    Physically, I don't think I could stomach 8 glasses of water a day. Haven't since trying to force myself when I was little.
  • takehimaway
    takehimaway Posts: 499 Member
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    I'm so glad you're okay. -hugs- Water intoxication scares me pretty much more than anything, except for maybe dry drowning, which makes me think that I have a deep rooted fear in water, as I'm also afraid of wet drowning.. -rambles on-
  • kikislove2
    kikislove2 Posts: 71 Member
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    How horrible. I have heard of this before and actually heard of a woman that passed away from it. So very glad you got medical attention when you did.
  • becoming_a_new_me
    becoming_a_new_me Posts: 1,860 Member
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    Water that is too cold cannot be absorbed and will flush your nutrients. Are you getting enough potassium and MSM? Water in and of itself is not enough if you are working out. Dehydration comes not only from not getting enough water, but not getting the nutrients that are in water. Sports drinks can contain potassium, but are also high in sugar. I can hear where you are coming from, because I once was diagnosed as dehydrated while drinking PLENTY of water! I found that not getting the minerals from the water were the true issue, not the addition of water itself.
  • firesoforion
    firesoforion Posts: 1,017 Member
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    Eek! Glad you're ok but sorry to hear that! I've been skeptical of drinking too much water, because I've heard of some studies saying that drinking too much was really bad for you. A lot of people don't get enough, but the key is getting enough, not overdoing it. I think it's really good you're spreading that message as well.

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