[alaskanlaughter]

Before i head to bed, i wanted to ask a question to everyone....I see alot of people drinking GALLONS of water per day and i know it's important...My problem is that, whenever i drink large amounts of anything (water, soda, coffee etc), i have to go pee ALL.THE.TIME...literally, like every 5 minutes if i'm drinking the recommended amounts of water per day...i know it's not an overactive bladder because when i pee, i'm actually peeing a good amount every single time...I've been this way all my life, even childhood i remember drinking juice on road trips and having to stop to pee ALL the time!

on the other hand, when i dont drink the recommended amount (which is pretty much always), i dont have that problem of having to pee all the time...so i know it's directly related to how much liquid i drink...and i dont feel dehydrated at all...probably because i regularly consume very little liquids

when i work, alone in a room with students, i cant leave the classroom unattended to go pee so therefore i dont drink much....or i time my coffees etc to when i know i have additional staff with me...and if i drink alot, it affects what i do during the day, like i'll go pee, come back and stir something on the stove for a few minute, go pee again, go check the mail and water the plants, go pee again...repeat indefinitely

does anyone else deal with this? how do you drink gallons of water and still function within your life?

[mlgibson]

From my experience, whenever I begin drinking the amount of water I actually should be, or more like I do now...the same thing happens. For about a week I seem to have to go urinate every 15-20 minutes.

I was told the reason this happens is because your body needs to adjust. But after about a week of this, it stops even though I am still drinking nearly 80 ounces or more of water each day.

How long have you been drinking more water?

[pointless2011]

I have the same problem, but I have been drinking tons of water for about a month or so. Maybe my body still didn't adjust, but it is annoying. I do have a job that requires me to stand or walk around without going to the bathroom for about 7 hours ( well I have a 30 min lunch and one 10 min break) but it's very hard drinkings a lot and not being able to go out.

[BlackDaisy85]

Originally Posted by alaskanlaughter

Before i head to bed, i wanted to ask a question to everyone....I see alot of people drinking GALLONS of water per day and i know it's important...My problem is that, whenever i drink large amounts of anything (water, soda, coffee etc), i have to go pee ALL.THE.TIME...literally, like every 5 minutes if i'm drinking the recommended amounts of water per day...i know it's not an overactive bladder because when i pee, i'm actually peeing a good amount every single time...I've been this way all my life, even childhood i remember drinking juice on road trips and having to stop to pee ALL the time!

on the other hand, when i dont drink the recommended amount (which is pretty much always), i dont have that problem of having to pee all the time...so i know it's directly related to how much liquid i drink...and i dont feel dehydrated at all...probably because i regularly consume very little liquids

when i work, alone in a room with students, i cant leave the classroom unattended to go pee so therefore i dont drink much....or i time my coffees etc to when i know i have additional staff with me...and if i drink alot, it affects what i do during the day, like i'll go pee, come back and stir something on the stove for a few minute, go pee again, go check the mail and water the plants, go pee again...repeat indefinitely

does anyone else deal with this? how do you drink gallons of water and still function within your life?

I have the same problem, which is why most of my life i have refrained, almost naturally, from hydrating myself appropriately. you have to make peeing a part of life, otherwise you can decide to live without adequate hydration, and risk retaining water and not flushing out your liquids. Make the choice

[Porthardygurl]

Yes its true..you will pee and pee and pee upon consuming water..however..what happens is...eventually your bladder adjusts to holding more urine and so your body is able to deal with holding larger amounts for an extended amount of time.. So its not an over-active bladder..its more like an under-active bladder..because your bladder isnt used to you consuming that much water in a sitting... So..the plan of action: drink lots..and over a few weeks you will notice a definitive decrease in bathroom trips..Just ask any pregnant women..

Now as for your issue with not leaving the classroom..i would suggest drinking the majority of your water after work..until your body gets used to you drinking that much and you stop going as often.

[JayEll]

First, you don't need to drink more than a couple of quarts a day, about 64 ounces (8 8-oz. glasses), so anyone who is drinking "gallons" is drinking more than they have to. Too much water is not better.

Second, other beverages count, like diet soda, tea, etc.

Third, it's easy to get into the habit of not drinking water--you don't "feel" dehydrated until things get really bad! So I have had to reverse the habit and learn to drink a glass every hour or so. Not a huge glass, just an 8-oz. glass.

Finally, after years of not drinking enough water, I developed kidney stones. You really don't want this to happen!

You will get so you don't have to pee as much as you get used to it--but I want to stress that peeing is normal. It seems like a lot of women go around dehydrated just because they don't want to find a bathroom or stop what they are doing and pee. But it's normal to pee! What's not normal is not drinking enough fluids because of a desire to avoid that.

Jay

[Chubbykins]

Coffee, tea and cola are diuretics. Try quitting ALL liquids except water for 5 days while drinking only little water (an amount you would be comfortable with) and after 5 days add one glass of water per day until you reach your goal.

If you stop cafeine drinks your bladder will work slower after five days.

Also eat less chocolate

[Esofia]

How much were you drinking before, how much are you drinking now, how long is it since you changed how much you're drinking, and how many times do you urinate in 24 hours? If it's a while since you changed to drinking more and you still haven't adjusted, then I'd recommend keeping a chart for a few days of how much and when you drink and urinate (yes, urinating into a measuring jug is as much fun as it sounds), and then go and see a doctor. Urinating every five minutes is not normal no matter how much urine you pass.

[Skittlez]

When I drink soda I swear the stuff goes right through me. I notice I pee a good 2-3 times more often than just water. It's crazy!

[abejune23]

i drink lots of water too and the same thing happens to me. i probably use the toilet about 3 times before bed and sometimes use it as often as 6x throughout the night. but i drink water pretty regularly, so i dunno why my bladder's not adjusting..... like other people said, diuretics like coffee make you go use the toilet more, so if you cut back on those, it'll help a little i guess?

[alaskanlaughter]

i pee much less often when i drink coffee or soda....but i dont drink alot of those either because i have to pee too often from those too...but when i'm drinking the recommended water or higher (i see ppl post who drink 100+ ounces a day) my whole life is affected by it

how do you guys deal with that? like if i'm drinking alot of water, i'll go pee and get in the car to drive 5 miles to the store...by the time i get there, i have to pee so bad it hurts...so i hustle the kids inside and immediately go pee...we go shopping for the few things on my list and i have to pee so bad it's insane so we check out and i go pee again...drive home 5 miles and have to pee again...i hate it...i know where every bathroom is everywhere that i drive around town....i hate that drinking that much water/coffee/etc affects me like that...what are your tips for dealing with that?

[BlackDaisy85]

i really hope the bladder gets accustomed to holding it in there! cause i dont know how id deal with that for my whole life honestly i wish i didnt have to

[Kahokkuri]

I just started increasing my water intake within the last two weeks and have noticed a huge change in my urination patterns. I used to pee three or four times a day (morning, afternoon, late afternoon, night). I was probably drinking 15oz of liquid a day (8oz of coffee and 7oz or water or milk).

I've started aiming to drink 3L of water a day (in addition to one 8oz cup of coffee in the mornings). I absolutely have to pee more, about once for every 15oz of liquid I drink. Fortunately, I still have a relatively epic ability to hold it in for a long time. I may get the urge to pee as soon as I finish my Nalgene, but if needs be, I can hold it in for a few hours.

I would also advise you to avoid caffeine as much as possible. I stick to my 8oz a day, which works fine for me, but caffeine is a diuretic that will make you need to urinate more often and dehydrate you.

[ELBS717]

I really understand what you mean... I try to drink more to stay hydrated, especially whenever my lips feel dry because I am a chapstick-o-holic and it's one of the first indicators of dehydration... but my current job makes it quite difficult to go to the restroom so often! I am a grad student in fisheries, so my research is on a small boat for up to 10 hours a day. We can't just pull over anytime we like, not to mention that depending on the particular lake, there may be houses everywhere and no public restrooms! Ugh. Another problem I've encountered is having to get up to go to the restroom in the middle of the night, up to four times a night depending on how much I drink before I go to bed (or how late my dinner is). All of this has pretty much led me to 1) never drinking on the boat (which can be unhealthy when it is hot out...) and 2) stopping consuming liquids around 6pm at night. Hope you figure something out!

[kaplods]

After my mother was hospitalized for water intoxication (sodium depletion caused by drinking too much liquid. Mom was only drinking a little over a gallon a day, but she was eating a low-sodium diet and was on a blood pressure medication that spares potassium, and washes out sodium), the kidney specialist called in to treat her, told us that neither my mother or I should drink more than 3 liters of fluids per day (because we're both on the same medications, and both don't eat much added salt). He also told us almost no one needs more than 3 liters of fluid - all fluids - per day unless they're an extreme athelete. Even very large people don't need much more fluid than smaller people, because there's not much difference in fluid needs or kidney/bladder capacity.

He also told us "everything" counts including coffee, tea, sodas, soups, wine, beer and other weak alcoholic beverages - because even the ones that are diuretics contribute more water than they take away. It's even theoretically possible to get all your fluid needs from foods, especially fruits and vegetables, but almost no one in the modern world eats enough produce to get their liquid needs met by food (I think I've come close in the summer with watermelon).

I do tend to drink about 3 liters of liquids, and if I'm eating something very salty, or it's very hot, I may push it to a gallon.

For potty purposes, I do tend to time my beverages though, because my system is and always has been like clockwork. Twenty minutes after a beverage, I'm in the potty.
So, if I'm not going to have access to the potty, I stop drinking half an hour before and I don't drink until it's convenient again (or I'm so thirsty I can't help it).