Too Much Water?

[Corkdarrr]

So I saw a new MD last week and he did an overall eval. He told me that my urine wasn't concentrating and that it is possibly because I drink too much water.

I dunno..it seems like most of my life I've struggled to drink enough water to satisfy the 8-10 glasses a day recommendation. And now I've noticed I'm thirstier (especially when glutened), and I've been drinking more water. I thought it was good for me. And it's not like I'm forcing it down - I'm genuinely thirsty!

Comments? Thoughts? Is it possible to drink too much water?

Courtney

[trents]

I suppose your doc checked you for diabetes?

Yes, it is possible to drink too much water. It dilutes your electrolytes (sodium, potassium).

Steve

[CarlaB]

Now that I'm healing I drink a lot less water than I used to. I used to be constantly thirsty. Try drinking something with electrolytes. I like Propel because it doesn't have a lot of sugar and seems to quench my thirst when I'm glutened or suffering from d. Plain water when I have that unquenchable thirst never seems to do enough. I used to be so thirsty all the time I'd even dream of drinking!! And in my dreams it was always a large Coke with a lot of ice I seldom drink soda, and it's not something I really like!!

[flagbabyds]

i drink propel all the time, it really does quench your thirs and stuff much better than plain old H2O which i think does nothing for you

i like the berrry flavors the best

I thnk that you also should be testsed for diabetes if you havent already because it can make you very thirsty all the time.

[Corkdarrr]

Diabetes was definately in the back of my head - which is why I mentioned to the dr that I've been peeing much more frequently than I used to.

They didn't find any sugar in my urine so that ruled out diabetes. He said it could be something else that's related to diabetes, but I can't remember what it was called.

Usually things like Gatorade or soda just make me MORE thirsty. I LOVE my water. I'm the girl carrying around my Liter bottle of Aquafina (and peeing every half hour!!!).

I definately notice after I get glutened that I get much thirstier. I think my body is trying to cleanse itself. But in general over the last few months it seems like I'm drinking more water (hence more peeing). Maybe it's the overall cleansing?

I'll give the Propel a try in a few weeks as I'm coming off this elimination diet - I am really avoiding anything with..well, anything in it.

Thanks!

Courtney

[CarlaB]

Courtney, that used to be me, the girl with the liter of Aquafina. I always have switched over to Propel when dehydrated though. I've been to the hospital too many times for dehydration!

[tarnalberry]

If you're not eating enough, and you're very active, and you're not getting enough balance of electrolytes, then it's possible to drink too much, but it's difficult. Are you drinking 2 gallons of water over the course of 8 hours while sweating without replacing eletrolytes? If so, it could well be a problem. You might want to ask your doc for some more specifics.

[Corkdarrr]

Courtney, that used to be me, the girl with the liter of Aquafina. I always have switched over to Propel when dehydrated though. I've been to the hospital too many times for dehydration!

Carla, this may be a really dumb question, but then what's the difference between being thirsty and being dehydrated?

If you're not eating enough, and you're very active, and you're not getting enough balance of electrolytes, then it's possible to drink too much, but it's difficult. Are you drinking 2 gallons of water over the course of 8 hours while sweating without replacing eletrolytes? If so, it could well be a problem. You might want to ask your doc for some more specifics.

Tarnalberry, I wish I could say I was working out. Sadly that's the last part of my plan to go into effect. Or that has YET to go into effect...

I dont' know if it's two gallons..it's difficult to measure especially when I'm working. I just have two pint glasses of ice water set up on either end of the bar and refill as needed. At home I drink bottled water...maybe 6 or 7 a day? I should keep better track.

The dr just seemed concerned that my urine wasn't concentrating

That just sounds so funny.

Courtney

[JenKuz]

I had a conversation with a med student friend the other day, about dehydration and homeostasis. She said that your body becomes accustomed to your normal amount of water intake. So if you drink a ton of water everyday, over time, your body will start to give you "thirst" signals when you're not really dehydrated. If you persistently don't get enough water, your body will acclimate to it (to a point, until genuine dehydration sets in, the kind that can put you in the hospital). And apparently, the more you drink, the more your body gets used to flushing, so you can actually become dehydrated with more water in your system than someone who drinks slightly less water each day. It's a really fine line. So there are people who will drink a ton of water most days, but then have one day of travel, or work, or hiking or whatever, where they drink very little all of a sudden. I guess that's worse than simply drinking less all week, so that it's not such a shock to the system when you do drink less. As long as you're always getting just enough, of course.

If you want to try drinking less water, its possible that your thirst signals will lessen over time. But if you reduce your daily intake, you should do it very gradually. And before you start, obviously, you should keep track of how much you actually drink.

Antihistamines and anti-nausea medications like benadryl and phenothiazine can cause thirst.

I think your doctor may have mentioned diabetes insipidus. It actually has nothing in common with diabetes mellitus, except the excessive thirst. It is a problem in the kidneys where they make you pee a lot regardless of how much water you drink. If you are peeing a whole lot, this could be a problem. If this is what you have, then if you reduce water intake, you will keep peeing the same amount. Eventually this would result in dehydration, so you'd need to monitor yourself very carefully to make sure that didn't happen. If you reduce water intake and you pee less, then you probably don't have diabetes insipidus.

You might try taking kidney support herbs, but *be careful.* Most of these have diuretics, which will make you even worse. You want the herbs that support the kidney, not necessarily flush it out more. I think cranberry should be good for this. Horsetail could be good. And while we're at it, marshmallow root or flower and l-glutamine are both good for soothing mucus membranes, and helping them heal. Nothing to do with kidneys, but good for celiacs

[kalanfan]

You can actually get drunk from drinking to much water.....it has something to do with brain swelling......in one of my nursing classes my teacher told me about a psych patient that was on water restictions cause he'd drink himself drunk....mind you it has to be ALOT of water in a short period of time but i found that really interesting.....

[CarlaB]

When you're thirsty I would bet you have a certain amount of dehydration since thirst is a late indicator of needing water. The dehydration I'm talking about is the kind where you have to go to the hospital emergency room and get an IV. When I get glutened I tend to get pretty severely dehydrated quickly, with or without diarrhea, so I start drinking Propel. Finally finding out about this celiac has explained a lot of mystery emergency room visits! No one ever thought to ask WHY I was dehydrated ... they only gave me an IV and sent me home like it was normal!!

[tiffjake]

Its called "Fluid Overload" and I have done it....dumb story....I really wanted to get that 10 glasses of water in, so I drank all 10 tall glasses within 2 hours, and I had a terrible headache and felt really sick. I called the nurse, and after running through all of the normal questions I told her how much water I had just gulped and she told me about fluid overload and told me to eat a banana and take a nap. I did, and when I got up, I had to pee really bad, but I was fine. I don't gulp the water down anymore....

[Corkdarrr]

I had a conversation with a med student friend the other day, about dehydration and homeostasis. She said that your body becomes accustomed to your normal amount of water intake. So if you drink a ton of water everyday, over time, your body will start to give you "thirst" signals when you're not really dehydrated. If you persistently don't get enough water, your body will acclimate to it (to a point, until genuine dehydration sets in, the kind that can put you in the hospital). And apparently, the more you drink, the more your body gets used to flushing, so you can actually become dehydrated with more water in your system than someone who drinks slightly less water each day. It's a really fine line. So there are people who will drink a ton of water most days, but then have one day of travel, or work, or hiking or whatever, where they drink very little all of a sudden. I guess that's worse than simply drinking less all week, so that it's not such a shock to the system when you do drink less. As long as you're always getting just enough, of course.

If you want to try drinking less water, its possible that your thirst signals will lessen over time. But if you reduce your daily intake, you should do it very gradually. And before you start, obviously, you should keep track of how much you actually drink.

Antihistamines and anti-nausea medications like benadryl and phenothiazine can cause thirst.

I think your doctor may have mentioned diabetes insipidus. It actually has nothing in common with diabetes mellitus, except the excessive thirst. It is a problem in the kidneys where they make you pee a lot regardless of how much water you drink. If you are peeing a whole lot, this could be a problem. If this is what you have, then if you reduce water intake, you will keep peeing the same amount. Eventually this would result in dehydration, so you'd need to monitor yourself very carefully to make sure that didn't happen. If you reduce water intake and you pee less, then you probably don't have diabetes insipidus.

You might try taking kidney support herbs, but *be careful.* Most of these have diuretics, which will make you even worse. You want the herbs that support the kidney, not necessarily flush it out more. I think cranberry should be good for this. Horsetail could be good. And while we're at it, marshmallow root or flower and l-glutamine are both good for soothing mucus membranes, and helping them heal. Nothing to do with kidneys, but good for celiacs

That's the one - diabetes insipidus.

This is really all very interesting... I will definately start keeping track of how much water I drink on a daily basis.

Thanks all

Courtney

[TestyTommy]

Extreme thirst was one of my celica symptoms. Other people too --- there are several threads about it on this site. After about 8 months without gluten I'm drinking a lot less, but still more than normal.

One caution: drinking lots of water can actually make you thirstier! i ended up in the hospital with hyponaetremia, which is what happens to you if you drink too much water ---- the concentartaion of sodium (salt) in your blood gets too low, and water can no longer move into your cells. Your cells get dehydrated, even though you're drinking tons of water! So your body signals "I'm thirsty", you drink more, and you make things even worse.

So listen to all the people who remind you to watch your electrolytes. I'll actually drink salt water (or pour salt straight on my tongue) when I drink a lot of water. Pay attention to your body craving salt. If your body asks you for salt, feed it. We've been brainwashed into think all salt is bad for you, but if you're eating like most celiac (lots of fresh foods, not much processed crap) you may not be getting enough salt.

(BTW: Yes, I was tested for both diabetes and diabetes insipidus many times; that was not the problem. It was celiac. Too bad it took them 8 years to figure that out. . . .. )

[CarlaB]

I usually put a pinch of salt into my water, too. I had been just putting it into my mouth as you mention, but someone told me it had to be dissolved in the water to act as an electrolyte.

Salt is a necessary nutrient ... I have been told by a doctor and two nutritionists to start salting everything with good quality sea salt. Americans who eat junk food get way too much, but those of us who eat healthy can be deficient.

[Corkdarrr]

So far today I've only had about 85 ounces of water...that's not even close to a full gallon (128oz). I will probably have at least one more bottle of water (16.9oz) before I go to bed.

This is just the first day I've really kept track of how much water I drink, so we'll see where it goes.

That doesn't seem like that much, does it?

-Courtney

[tarnalberry]

You can't evaluate it on it's own. What have you been eating? Are you getting the right amount of minerals/salts to go along with that quantity of water?

[skipper30]

That is SO interesting that you should post on this...my mom is in the process of being diagnosed with DI and I told her that she also needed to get the WHOLE celiac panel done regardless of that the doc thinks!

Thanks for sharing your information!!

[Corkdarrr]

You can't evaluate it on it's own. What have you been eating? Are you getting the right amount of minerals/salts to go along with that quantity of water?

I don't know...I suppose everything is skewed because I'm on this "special" diet right now.

In the last week I've been eating mostly fruits and veggies, some rice, hummus...

But that's just the past week. I think up until then I'd been getting plenty of salt. Hm.

[CarlaB]

I don't know...I suppose everything is skewed because I'm on this "special" diet right now.

In the last week I've been eating mostly fruits and veggies, some rice, hummus...

But that's just the past week. I think up until then I'd been getting plenty of salt. Hm.

I bet your not getting enough sodium to balance out all that potassium, unless you're salting your food.

[Corkdarrr]

Good eye, Carla! I've been eating a ton of bananas. But I do salt my food, just not excessively like something deliciously simple and prepackaged (oh, to spend four minutes preparing dinner instead of 40!)

But I think what is difficult about this is that I had noticed this a month or two ago - before I went on the elimination diet. And I know I was getting plenty of salt then. Not nearly as much potassium. But plenty of salt. It's very difficult to diagnose in hindsight.

I guess I'll just do what I do for everything else and wait. I mean, I suppose there's no way to tell at this point. But I'll keep monitoring my water intake either way. Just for fun!

[Aerin328]

I'm not a dietician, but 8 x 8 oz glasses of water is what they say normal full water intake should be which I guess is 64 oz (vs the 85 oz + 1 bottle of water you drank yesterday). But really, it shouldn't matter how much water you drink as long as you are intaking enough sodium, potassium, etc.

[chrissy]

think your doctor may have mentioned diabetes insipidus. It actually has nothing in common with diabetes mellitus, except the excessive thirst. It is a problem in the kidneys where they make you pee a lot regardless of how much water you drink.

just to clarify (or confuse?) diabetes insipidus is a pituitary problem, not a kidney problem---although the kidnes are obviously involved.

just like others have said, drinking too much water can cause you to lose water. i have read before that if you are retaining water, you should drink more so that your body will flush----but don't quote me on that!LOL!

[MistressIsis]

A diabetic friend told me Aquafina & another bottled water actually has just enough sodium in it to keep you thirsty so you keep drinking their water. I dunno how true thatis but it's a thought.

Also you can actually die from drinking too much H2O. I remember a case a few years ago of an MIT student that died from drinking too much water too fast as part of a hazing.

[prinsessa]

So far today I've only had about 85 ounces of water...that's not even close to a full gallon (128oz). I will probably have at least one more bottle of water (16.9oz) before I go to bed.

This is just the first day I've really kept track of how much water I drink, so we'll see where it goes.

That doesn't seem like that much, does it?

-Courtney

I don't know, but that sounds like a lot of water to drink in one day. The recommendation used to be 8 8oz glasses of water a day (which would be 64oz), but now doctors are saying that might be too much. I would try to slowly cut back on water and see how you feel. I would also try to drink something with electrolytes (such as gatorade). And ask your doctor about diabetes insipidus just to rule that out (like others suggested).