Too Much Water?

[2kids4me]

The key is how fast you drink it. Rapid drinking of a large amount of water causes cells to swell with fluid (the brain being the most vulnerable), electrolytes get screwed up - affecting the heart rate.

The kidneys are fine tuned organs that can balance water intake and get rid of the extra - if they have time to do it. Drinking 8 x 8 oz glasses of water throughout the day may cause some additional loss of sodium but not water intoxication (the official name of water overload). if however - someone chugged back the same volume of water in an hour or 2 the kidneys cannot process the extra fluid - it stays in the cells (swelling them) thus causing water intoxication. Athletes and infants are prone to the negative effects of large volumes of water.

Diabetes insipidus results from failure in the pituitary gland (various causes) to produce antidiuretic hormone which acts on the kidney. If the hormone is not prodcued, the kidney is unable to concentrate urine /hold fluids back.

It is diagnosed by withholding water for a specified time and checking the specific gravity of the urine at intervals. If the urine stays dilute = DI... if the urien becomes more concentrated then the pituitary is working and another cause for the dilute urine is investigated. There is a condition called psychogenic polydipsia - it does not mean you have psychological issues - only that there is no physical cause and you like to have glass of water on hand and habitually drink water.

Hope this helps

[Nancym]

Here's what a kidney specialist has to say on the topic: Open Original Shared Link

[trents]

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

You're still exceeding the standard recommendation of 8x8 oz. of free water per day. And with your special diet of lots of fruits and vegies (which are high water content items) you are getting even more. Why are you on this special diet?

Steve

[Corkdarrr]

Steve,

I've been watching my water consumption the last few days and it hasn't been as high as it was the 85oz day. Even when I worked last nite which is where I thought I woudl drink the most.

I thought it was 8-10 glasses...although obviously there's plenty of skepticism out there now about even the 8x8 recommendation.

I'm doing a liver detox/elimination diet per my fabulous kinesiologist up north who I only ever get to email. We are trying to figure out what else could possibly be bothering me, and giving my digestive system a break at the same time. I'm right in the middle of it right now. Next week is the last week and then I gradually add things back in and see what happens.

I hadn't considered the water content of fruits and veggies - good call!

Courtney

[Jane G]

Hi Courtney,

I found this site by searching "thirst" and "celiac," because I too am trying to find out about the strange thirst I have. I'm not officially diagnosed with celiac, but I have the same gastrointestinal symptoms and respond well to a diet that avoids the same things. (Actually, I avoid most carbs -- following the "special carhohydrate diet"). I've mentioned my thirst to a number of doctors and have gotten no explanations. I'm not diabetic. It's very odd.

(I do urinate a lot, but that's been going on for decades, whereas this thirst and gastrointestinal problem began within the past two years.)

Jane

[ArtGirl]

Would you all like another take on the thirst issue???

Courtney, I'm not saying this is YOUR problem, but just wanted to mention it.

For a number of years I've always had sort of a dry mouth and felt like I was thirsty all the time - don't have diabetes, etc. etc. I've always kept water with me and can easily drink a gallon of water a day.

In another thread on this forum, other autoimmune diseases were discussed, and one in particular stood out to me - Sjorgren's Syndrome. I looked it up and it basically is that the moisture secreting glands - tear ducts and saliva glands - don't secrete enough so the mouth and eyes are dry most of the time. They have determined that this syndrome is directly related to eating wheat.

This fit my symptoms to a tee. Now, if my mouth is dry (and I've had adequate water to drink) I am able to ignor the thirst sensation and am not drinking so much all the time. I still get at least the 8x8 glasses a day, but just don't go overboard anymore. I still have the dry, itchy eyes and dry mouth now and then, but it is gradually getting better the longer I'm gluten-free.

[Jane G]

Thanks for your comment. I guess I should clarify: the excessive thirst I am talking about is sporadic. It seems to precede (and last a few days beyond) excessive bowel movements (which are not technically "diarrhea" because the stool is somewhat formed).

I'm not dehydrated, and it's not the result of the bowel movements, since it precedes them.

[tiffjake]

Thanks for your comment. I guess I should clarify: the excessive thirst I am talking about is sporadic. It seems to precede (and last a few days beyond) excessive bowel movements (which are not technically "diarrhea" because the stool is somewhat formed).

I'm not dehydrated, and it's not the result of the bowel movements, since it precedes them.

I always have thirst issues when I get "glutened". It is one of my FIRST signs of gluten in my food, before a stomach ache, and before the "D". I have always thought it was my body trying to "flush out" the gluten, so it makes me thirsty, so I can have the diarrhea. I don't know if that is because I get the bad "D", or if it is some how other related to "glutening", but I do know that it is not diabetes.

And I do know that you can drink too much water AT ONE TIME. Over the course of the day, you can have X amount of water, but to have all of that at once is not good. I have had roughly 60 ounces of water within 2 hours and got very sick. I was told that it was "fluid overload" and was hard for my body to process (they didn't go in to detail, but probably like 2kidsforme wrote). I was told to space it out, don't have more than 8 ounces at one sitting (how you define sitting, I don't know, but I take it to mean within one hour).

Just my experience.

[Generic]

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!!

I get the same thing, but we knew what was wrong with me. I think what happens is you just don't absorb well. I know I still have some issues even now. If I drink alot I'm in the bathroom every 10-15 minutes.

-Laurie

[Corkdarrr]

Haha...I was just going to put up another thread! How funny that this one is active again.

I was just going to say that apparently some woman died from drinking too much water recently. She was part of a radio contest for the new Nintendo Wii. It was called like Wee for Wii or something witty like that. My boyfriend read about it or saw a little news blib.

Anyways, to answer my own original question, apparently you CAN have too much water.

And I definately think it has to do with the body wanting to aid itself in flushing out the gluten. That's also one of my very first symptoms. It definately makes sense if you think about it logically.

I will have to google the whole Sjorgren's Syndrome thing...very interesting. But my thirst also seems to be sporadic.

Courtney

[tiffjake]

Haha...I was just going to put up another thread! How funny that this one is active again.

I was just going to say that apparently some woman died from drinking too much water recently. She was part of a radio contest for the new Nintendo Wii. It was called like Wee for Wii or something witty like that. My boyfriend read about it or saw a little news blib.

Anyways, to answer my own original question, apparently you CAN have too much water.

And I definately think it has to do with the body wanting to aid itself in flushing out the gluten. That's also one of my very first symptoms. It definately makes sense if you think about it logically.

I will have to google the whole Sjorgren's Syndrome thing...very interesting. But my thirst also seems to be sporadic.

Courtney

Yeah, I heard about that on the news today and thought about this thread!! She DIED from drinking 2 gallons of water!!! They called it "water intoxication" in the news story. Weird.....

[Nyxie63]

Courtney,

One more thing to consider. Looking at your signature, I saw that you were dx'd with adrenal exhaustion earlier this year. Did they test your aldosterone levels? Its the hormone secreted by the adrenals that regulates your sodium/potassium level. Its possible your aldosterone might be out of whack and your thirsty for that reason. Just a thought.