Just an opinion...but it seems like your system would flush (no pun intended) out the extra water....I can't really imagine that it could be bad for you. Just curious - but why are you drinking so much?
Yes, you can. Just off the top of my old nurses head I can think of two reasons.
1. A very health adult kidney can process up to something like 15 liters of water a day. For simplicity's sake that's about 15 quarts. Depending how old you are and what kind of shape you're in ... I'm not sure how many adults have kidneys that healthy. Keep in mind that we've been processing chemicals and pollution and crap, through those kidneys, for 30-40-50 ???? years.
2. The water that your body is made up of is mixed with minerals and electrolytes. There's a balance involved. You can wash out too many of these and cause an imbalance. And you can do the same thing by diluting your bodily fluids too much. You can easily do a google search to see the hazards of electrolyte imbalances.
When we have a patient who cannot take anything by mouth (provided they were properly hydrated to begin with) we give them about 3 liters of IV fluid in 24 hours. I'd say that's a good rule of thumb. 3 liters a day.
I remember a kid my son knew when he was younger who drank a whole lot of water one day when it was really hot after a sports game and he had kidney failure because of an undiagnosed kidney problem. Luckily, he recovered ok.
I've heard too much water can also dilute your electrolytes (sodium, potassium, etc.) but I don't know if that's true.
I stand corrected - here's a page that agrees with SusanB - well, it suggests 64 oz of water a day. It does mention overhydrating - "Higgins said it is possible to drink too much water, which leads to psychogenic polydypsia, or water intoxication."
This page, however, bumps it up to a gallon a day for body builders.
I was thinking that SusanB's 3 litres might possibly be a little low for someone who is exercising....
I remember reading in the newspaper that people have died in marathons drinking too much water. It washes out electrolytes and salt out of your body. If too much is washed out,then you're in trouble. That's why drinks like Gatorade are recommended for sports instead of water.
This is coming from a water lover too! I loove water.Looove the taste.But a gallon or two a day? I could never do that.
Maybe check for diabetes? Lots of water drinking and thirst is a sign of diabetes... But that was ruled out for me. I don't wanna scare you.You might just be a water addict like me.
I saw an eppy of "ER" once where a guy was trying to flush drugs out of his system and he went into Kidney failure because of it... Irrevent, I know... But yeah....
can u drink too much water???
Are you really that thirsty?
