Water water water water Water!

[HJR]

Well for a few weeks now I have been watching my water intake, when I first started I use to actually have to put effort into drinking 8X8 but now it goes down with ease. I do spread out drinking water throughout the whole day.

But now it seems I tip a little bit over 8X8 I'm sick today and I find myself drinking a bit faster. So if I keep going at the rate I'm going now I will drink 10 8 ounce glasses. Is that bad? I have been reading around and find no answers other then forum answers and have read that even 12 8 ounce glasses of water is ok. But I did also read that 3 gallons of water a day could kill you don't know how true that is though... 3 gallons being 48 glasses of water. I also remember being in college and seeing people carrying around a whole gallon of water like it was nothing...

So I'm not so much worried but I'm wondering you'lls views on this? I guess just trying to reassure my self that it's ok.. sometimes I get a bit panicky

[altria]

You can drink as much water as you want as long as your body is not retaining it,that's were people get in trouble.The body should get rid of it's excess of fluids,if not then you should seek medical advice.

[OLP]

hey,
what is 8X8? i think three gallons is a little much bro, unless you are a pro. athlete that looses that amount through sweating.
i heard of a girl that drank a lot of water during a mushroom trip, she got 3 gallons within a couple of hours though, water got into her lungs, you will be fine though. but ask your local doc.

[AD1184]

Eight eight-ounce glasses is only four US pints, a bit more than three Imperial pints, two quarts, or just shy of two litres for those who use metric. This is not an unhealthily large amount of water and not dangerous. However, the idea that you must get this much water daily from pure water alone is a myth. Water is in all drinks and in a lot of food. I drink about two litres of water a day.

Acute water toxicity is very rare. It either affects those who drink an enormous quantity of water that would be very difficult in a normal frame of mind to drink (such as those who are on drugs, such as ecstasy, which can cause an extreme thirst) because your body would normally be telling you to stop, having long have been sated in your appetite for water by that point. Or it affects people who partake in activities like marathons or triathlons. They can become extremely dehydrated, and if they drink only water to re-hydrate themselves without adequate sodium intake the electrolyte balance in the blood is upset, causing a condition called hyponatraemia. It can be fatal. But it you are not doing 'iron man' triathlons and not taking drugs, you need not fear water intoxication. Just trust in the body's natural thirst, and that your body will tell you when to stop drinking long before it becomes dangerous. If anything, de-hydration is a bigger worry, particularly in hot climates.

[SactoLady]

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A woman who competed in a radio station’s contest to see how much water she could drink without going to the bathroom died of water intoxication, the coroner’s office said Saturday.

Jennifer Strange, 28, was found dead Friday in her suburban Rancho Cordova home hours after taking part in the “Hold Your Wee for a Wii” contest in which KDND 107.9 promised a Nintendo Wii video game system for the winner.

“She said to one of our supervisors that she was on her way home and her head was hurting her real bad,” said Laura Rios, one of Strange’s co-workers at Radiological Associates of Sacramento. “She was crying and that was the last that anyone had heard from her.”

It was not immediately know how much water Strange consumed.

A preliminary investigation found evidence “consistent with a water intoxication death,” said assistant Coroner Ed Smith.

John Geary, vice president and marketing manager for Entercom Sacramento, the station’s owner, said station personnel were stunned when they heard of Strange’s death.

“We are awaiting information that will help explain how this tragic event occurred,” he said.

Initially, contestants were handed eight-ounce bottles of water to drink every 15 minutes.

“They were small little half-pint bottles, so we thought it was going to be easy,” said fellow contestant James Ybarra of Woodland. “They told us if you don’t feel like you can do this, don’t put your health at risk.”

Ybarra said he quit after drinking five bottles. “My bladder couldn’t handle it anymore,” he added.

After he quit, he said, the remaining contestants, including Strange, were given even bigger bottles to drink.

“I was talking to her and she was a nice lady,” Ybarra said. “She was telling me about her family and her three kids and how she was doing it for kids.”

Jennifer Strange, 28, was found dead Friday in her suburban Rancho Cordova home hours after taking part in the “Hold Your Wee for a Wii” contest in which KDND 107.9 promised a Nintendo Wii video game system for the winner.

Woman in water-drinking contest dies - US news - Life - msnbc.com

This was all over the news here in Sacramento, when it happened, in 2007.

[bart5050]

They only case of water toxicity I know of was in the news about two years ago.
This idiot radio station had a water drinking contest.

Never mind, i see you posted the article.
Good job.

[Flight]

Constant water intake can cause severe electrolite depletion as well as a rupture in the stomach lining.

It was all the rage a few years ago, see when you were accused of being a witch, or just being interrogated they used to tie you down to this wooden.. Thing, and one would observe and question you while the other forced you to drink water. Being forced to lay on their backs, it was relatively easy to asphyxiate, but quite a few died from internal ruptures and the afore mention electrolite issues.

I'm sure you would normally vomit before occured though, so.. Drink away.

[Xeno]

Excess thirst is a symptom of diabetes...
If it's not thirst and it's just habit you've gotten into, I don't think it's that dangerous. As AD said, it's hard to drink enough water to die from.

My dog suffered from water toxicity after breaking into a water pipe (literally breaking into it), and he drank until he threw up multiple times, and then carried on. He was suffering from liver failure so wasn't in a fit state of mind.

If you're concerned about water intake, just gradually reduce it. It's a bullshit myth - oddly perpetuated as truth even in schools that you need x pints of water.

[bart5050]

There is a dehydration quick test.
Gently pinch up a fold of skin at your wrist.
If the skin takes more than 30 seconds or so to smooth back out, drink some water.
If it does so in less than 15 seconds, you are ok.
Those who drink alcohol on a regular basis tend to take a little longer than those who don't.

[Dee]

It was a health fad some years ago that the body needs ??so many glasses of water per day. I remember it being six to eight glasses. I tried to match my intake with that which the 'health authorities' were trying to push at that time. I struggled to drink the so called 'normal' amount, having to rush to the loo every half hour and to the point of making me feel nauseous. Didn't last long!! Oh, and ingesting other liquids like tea, milk or juice was not accepted as going toward your daily intake. It HAD to be water!! Twaps!!