drinkin too much water, off topic but can it be bad for me?

[MR_T]

so its been hot as hell around here and I have been drinking a ridiculous amount of water 3 gallons/day. My co-workers give me crap for carrying around a gallon jug at work, can this be bad for me. How much water is too much?

[Bojangles69]

Wow thats really a lot. I'd think shortterm not a big deal but longterm would have to cause some serious strain on your kidneys.

I thought I drank tons of water and find you drink around double what I do a day.

[200byjune]

dont worry. people make fun of me and say my muscles are just water i tell them to touch it and there like woah so then i just say stfu. then the next day someone must of been admiring me there whole night thinking about me that they said my skin is just packed full of water thats way its so hard. its not bad. if your sweating drink. trust me youll no if your drinking to much. i drank 7 gallons before and i felt like i was ganna die

[IronReload04]

well, what is your pissing like? if your piss is crystal clear and you are pissing very often, ya, you may be giving yourself problems.

the worst thing that can happen, is, your brain starts retaining fluid, so much that its to much for your skull and you die. or, electrolyte balance is thrown off, resulting in various neuroligical problems.


so, if you are pissing very very frequently, you are drinking to much. but if your in the heat, and your sweating out what your taking in, fine maybe.

[edmen2]

you only need to worry about eloctrolyte imbalance as long as your output is what your input is u wont experience fluid overload. some salt tabs should do the trick.

[Ir0n]

[Misery13]

you can over hydrate and mess up your kidneys...

[KatsMeow]

You are ending up putting too much strain on your kidneys, and in the long run it would be a huge price to pay to be on dialysis...
Buy an air conditioner. Where the heck do you live? I live in Florida, granted its not as hot as some places because we are surrounded by water but good god...I think i would get sick if i tried to drink that much in one day.

[jsinur7]

from what i learned you have it backwards... the less you drink the more the strain on the kidneys as what it is straining is more concentrated and therefore tougher to work with... it's not how much fluid goes through, it's how much concentrated garbahe goes through.. all that water should keep his kidneys working great... there is no danger as long as he is pissing and sweating.. only roblem with overhydration is not expelling the extra water.. your blood becomes water logged and too thin to carry oxygen and you can die as many have trying to do contests to see who can drink more before pissing.. water is good for you as long as there is no dam in the cycle...

[jsinur7]

oh, but definately through in some pedialyte or gatorade in the mix, as once your kidneys have nothing to clean they will start dumping electrolytes too... it's notthe kidneys in danger, it your electrolyte balance...

[jsinur7]

A Californian woman has died after taking part in a water-drinking contest, but why is too much water dangerous?

We are regularly advised to drink more water: it clears skin, reduces tiredness and aids concentration.

But the death of a woman in the US after taking part in a water-drinking contest shows you can have too much of a good thing.

Jennifer Strange had taken part in the "Hold Your Wee for a Wii" game, which promised the winner a Nintendo Wii. Afterwards she reportedly said her head was hurting and went home, where she was later found dead. Initial tests have shown her death is consistent with water intoxication.

Drinking too much water can eventually cause your brain to swell, stopping it regulating vital functions such as breathing, and causing death. So what happens?

WHO, WHAT, WHY?

A feature to the BBC News Magazine - aiming to answer some of the questions behind the headlines


Water enters the body when we drink and is removed primarily in the urine and sweat. The amount of water in the body is regulated to control the levels of certain compounds, such as salt, in the blood.

If you drink too much water, eventually the kidneys will not be able to work fast enough to remove sufficient amounts from the body, so the blood becomes more dilute with low salt concentrations.

"If you drink too much water it lowers the concentration of salt in your blood so that it is lower than the concentration of salt in cells," says Professor Robert Forrest, a consultant in clinical chemistry and forensic toxicology at the Royal Hallamshire Hospital in Sheffield.

Confusion

The water then moves from the dilute blood to the cells and organs where there is less water. Professor Forrest likens this to the effects seen in science-class experiments.


Actor Anthony Andrews was treated for water intoxication in 2003
"If you put salty water on onion skin the cells will shrink, if you put too much water on it the cells will swell," he says.

This swelling is a problem in the brain.

"When the brain swells, it is inside a bony box so has nowhere to go," he says. "The pressure increases in the skull and you may get a headache. As the brain is squeezed it compresses vital regions regulating functions such as breathing."

Eventually these functions will be impaired and you are likely to stop breathing and die. Warning signs included confusion and headaches.

Symptoms would normally occur very soon after drinking the water, but if the gut is absorbing the water more slowly then it can take longer.

Drinking several litres over a relatively short period of time could be enough to cause water intoxication. Those most at risk include people taking ecstasy, as the drug increases thirst and facilitates the release of anti-diuretic hormones so more water is taken in but cannot be excreted. Also, elderly people because their kidney function may be impaired.

Treatment for drinking excess water is "relatively straightforward", says Professor Forrest. It includes giving patients diuretics to help decrease their water load, or using drugs to reduce the swelling caused by excessive water.

Hot


He says the real problem is diagnosis. Because patients can be very confused they are often mistakenly thought to have taken drugs.


Ursula Arens, of the British Dietetic Association, says water is essential for a variety of bodily functions, for example to excrete waste products such as urea.

We lose water all the time and so need to replace it and in normal circumstances should aim to drink about one and a half litres every day, she says. During hot weather or exercise more should be consumed as dehydration can lead to bad breath, tiredness and a higher risk of bladder infections.

"If you are going to the toilet more than once every two hours or so that might be too much, especially if your urine is clear," she says, but adds that drinking too much water is unusual.

[KatsMeow]

Of course not drinking enough water is going to be more harmful when it is too concentrated. But it could be a lot better if supplemented with electrolytes.