Is there such a thing as drinking too much water?

[Corey123]

I was talking to a friend this evening and I told her that I drank a lot of water today and for the past week since I've been diagnosed with diabetes.

But it's not the disease that's making me drink lots of water, as the case may be. I'm doing it to cut back on the sugar intake from sodas, fruit drinks and those squeeze-bottle drinks the kids buy, which was all I used to drink and very little water.

Now, I'm drinking water all day, every day. Is there something wrong with that? My friend seems to think so.

She told me that drinking too much water can kill you! Is that true? Does anyone know this for a fact or as heard of anyone dying from drinking too much water?

I was always on the believe that water is good for you no matter how much you drink a day. Is this true or is it and old wives' tale?


~Corey123.

 

[licia]

I've heard of people who drank too much water and it removed electrolytes from their system. I don't have any facts to back it up. I think those affected really went to the extreme. The usual 8 8 oz glasses a day (unless you work outside and perspire an awful lot) seems to be sufficient for most people. I sometimes drink more than the 64 oz, but not much over that. I've also heard that a good amount of water to drink is to take half your weight in ounces and use that as a measure (i.e. for someone weight 150 lbs, 75 oz of water). If someone can drink Cokes all day long, one after the other, it would seem water would be much better than that.

 

[GB]

I can tell you from personal experience that it is absolutely true. Drinking too much water can be very dangerous.

I once drank too much water and ended up coming very close to passing out. There are documented cases of people dying from it. For those cases death happened very quickly.

The saying is true, too much of anything is not good for you.

 

[auntdot]

Sounds like you are replacing other sources of water, i.e. sodas and juice drinks, with water.

If so, you are probably fine. Seems you are just cutting out excess sugar.

But also some electrolytes, so it is possible you are overdoing it, but heck if I know. That would require more information than you have given.

And this is not the forum to go into detail to get medical advice.

If you are a diabetic you have to be under the care of a doc.

Have no idea how severe your diabetes is, hope it is relatively mild, but all diabetics need to be on a diet tailored for his or her condition.

Sounds like you are making a good start, but your question should be addressed to your physician, or the dietician/nutritionest or appropriate person he/she recommends.

Take care of yourself and God bless.

 

[Michelemarie]

I seem to remember learning about this in a microbiology class a couple years ago- something about the water content of cells in the body - too much causing the cells to burst - however, I also remember the professor saying it would take ALOT of water to do that ---- for what its worth - that is what I remember.

 

[Andy M.]

How much are you drinking? If you're just replacing the soft drinks with an equal amount of water, I can't imagine it would be a problem. After all, soft drinks are 99% water.

 

[Corey123]

Sounds like you are replacing other sources of water, i.e. sodas and juice drinks, with water.

If so, you are probably fine. Seems you are just cutting out excess sugar.

But also some electrolytes, so it is possible you are overdoing it, but heck if I know. That would require more information than you have given.

And this is not the forum to go into detail to get medical advice.

If you are a diabetic you have to be under the care of a doc.

Have no idea how severe your diabetes is, hope it is relatively mild, but all diabetics need to be on a diet tailored for his or her condition.

Sounds like you are making a good start, but your question should be addressed to your physician, or the dietician/nutritionest or appropriate person he/she recommends.

Take care of yourself and God bless.

I AM a diabetic (new to the disease), and it IS relatively mild (borderline). Was diagnosed last week.

The doc at the Joslin Diabetes clinic also recommends 64 ounces of water a day as well.

She didn't say whether to exceed that or not, so I thought that I was staying within the limit. To the best of my knowlledge, I had water four times today and one diet soda. I ate a salad at a McDonald's and had a 16-oz. bottle of water with it.

In torridy hot weather, people DO tend to drink a lot of water. I was just trying to find out when it becomes too much a day.


~Corey123.

 

[Michael in FtW]

Yep - is true! It's called Hyponatremia, or more commonly Water Intoxication. There have been cases on the news not too long ago about some college students who died from it during fraternaty initiations where they had to consume massive quantites of water within a relatively short period of time.

I'm with auntdot - don't know how much water you are drinking, what your sodium intake is, how much you are sweating, enviromental stress (heat and exercise) conditions and workload, etc. ... and what your actual medical condition is. And, this is not a medical forum ... I do know a bit about such stuff but would never begin to offer medical advice.

Only advice I will make is - talk to your doctor. He/She will be able to advise you about how much water you should be drinking per day.

PS: seems you posted after I started typing this reply .... 64-oz is about what I drink per day, if I'm indoors - more if I'm outdoors and sweating, but then I bump up the salt intake to compensate for sodium depletion (thank heaven for Gatorade!)

 

[Michelemarie]

I love reading posts from you Michael in FtW - they are always so good!

 

[Corey123]

I love reading posts from you Michael in FtW - they are always so good!

Educational as well!

I never thought that I'd actually hear of anyone dying from drinking too much water.

I do know that durring the summer months, the humidity drives the heat up to astronomical and unbearable temps, especially on very hot days and nights, making peole sweat much more ofter and harder - opposite of the wind chill in the winter.

The torrid heat also drives up the need and desire for one to want to try to quench his or her thirst for something refreshingly cold, be it beer, soda, juice or water as long as it's cold. The colder, the better.

Even if they were to just jump into some water at the beach or a backyard pool, that's a relief. Water is the first thing anyone would think of to cool down. But I'm mainly drinking it because it's been said to help in trying to lose weight as well as helping to keep the kidneys functioning properly.

Yes, I drink a diet soda now and then, but even that, I try to control. I just think water is better for you.


~Corey123.

 

[wasabi]

Thank you. I learn something new on this site everyday.

 

[BigDog]

I've heard so many different variations to an answer for this, I don't know what is right! Here's what I have heard, and generally subscribe to.

1. According to my first responder instructor, who is the president of a national EMS organization, a paramedic, and who knows what else short a doc, a properly hydrated person should have to go about every hour. Now that isn't to say you can't hold it longer if needed, but that's the general time frame. It's pretty broad, yes.

2. The "water rule" I try to follow (and generally succeed at) is drinking one half (1/2) ounce of water for every pound you weigh. For example, a 200 pound person ought to drink 100 ounces (just a bit shy of a gallon) of water a day (200 multiplied by 1/2). To fit with the 8 glass rule, you'd have to be less then 130 pounds. I haven't been that weight since I was entering high school!

Strictly to this 1/2 ounce per pound, I probably fall a little short. I'm typically good for at about a gallon a day. I keep a couple 20 ounce bottles for water for when I am at work, and I usually drain them at least twice each, sometimes thrice. Then counting what I drink at home, I'm pretty dang close one way or t'other.

 

[Corey123]

I imagine that there are different theories to this perspective.

I just capped off the drinking for the day with a glass of milk, so I'll start back with the water again tomorrow and try to calculate just how much I drink.


~Corey123.

 

[Silver]

From what I've read (and I'm no specialist by any means), it takes A LOT of water to cause any problems being frequent potty trips. Also, in my experience, heavily increasing water intake does induce frequent potty trips but those do reduce as your body becomes accustomed to the amount.

I believe the "excessive" water amounts were something in the neighbourhood of 8 gallons or something similarly ridiculous. I know MANY people who do not find it at all difficult to consume two gallons or more per day (these people also exercise quite a bit). I'm Canadian, so I always have to do the conversion in my head, but I probably tend somewhere towards 2 - 4 litres any given day, depending on the amount of exercise that I do (0.5 - 1 gallon'ish/day).

I (nearly) guarantee, in my non-medical/professional/personal knowledge of your circumstances, that drinking a gallon or so every day will not negatively impact your health. This is, of course, subject to any personal health issues you may have beyond diabetes.

Either way, good luck.

 

[GB]

Something to keep in mind is that if you are thirsty then you are not drinking more than you should. If you are thirsty then you are already dehydrated.

You can run into a problem when you are not thirsty and are drinking too much. Like others have said, it does take a LOT to get into trouble. When I had my problem I had probably drank 4 liters of water that day and close to that amount many previous days in a row.

 

[Corey123]

Wow, that was a whole gallon!!

Yes, in most cases, the more water or any other liquid you drink, the more you are forced to make frequent potty trips. Almost as if you were gorged on drinking alcohol.

I just had the first 8 ounces of water for the day a few minutes ago.

Water also helps curb the appitite between dieters' meals by making you feel full, thereby discouraging any chances of you possibly overeating when you DO eat a meal, or from getting something terribly sweet or fattening such as a glazed donut, cheeseburger or French fries.


~Corey123.

 

[daisy]

Yes, if you drink too much water it can kill you. The recommended amount per day for adults is about 2 litres (that's roughly 4 pints) - more if you're digging ditches or running marathons in the heat. That's total fluid intake - not just water. A litre or so over that, you're probably OK, depending on how much you're sweating, the weather and other factors, but beyond that it becomes very risky indeed.

 

[Jikoni]

I drink a lot of water, certainly not gallons and gallons.I do my 6 glasses recommended water 'dosage' But in the night I still do get thirsty and have to drink water. Not everynight, most nights though, and I never go to bed without a bottle of water by my bedside and make sure the same for my children. I have noticed that after a frozen over pizza, my children will wake up to drink water in the night(sodium related I guess).Anyway, I found this site interesting.http://www.deq.state.mi.us/documents/deq-wb-wws-HumanWaterReqs.pdf

 

[mish]

Corey, since you have diabetes, I would consult with your physician and pose the questions to him/her & not take web advice.

Diet (i.e. salt intake), dehydration, medication, alcohol, and climate can all have an effect on your body & its' needs. Who's to say how much is too much or best for you.

One of my best friends drank water, soda, gatorade 24/7 -- it was drink and pee, drink & pee. She was also on meds. Her kidneys finally shut down. She was on dialoysis (sp) for awhile, stapled up, and hardly any place to put a shunt, until she passed away. Don't want to scare you, but get it checked out with a physician. What is 'normal', or daily recommended for one person, does not apply to everyone. My best.

 

[jennyema]

I never thought that I'd actually hear of anyone dying from drinking too much water.

Boston Marathon 2004. A woman died right after the race (or on the course) because she drank tons of water and did nothing to replace her electrolytes.

But that is a different case from yours ...