I've not heard of drinking that much hurting you. The water intoxification deal is usually when someone consumes a massive amount of water in a short period of time. Sometimes downing a lot of water while working out can cause some problem...though I don't remember what it does. Yet drinking it throughout the day...I've never heard of anyone having a problem from it. HOWEVER...it COULD be indicative that you ALREADY have a problem. Most people just don't or can't drink that much. Perhaps you're more thirsty than normal because of some other medical problem and I think THAT is why you need to see a doctor. Diagnose any possible problems early.
For myself, I refill 25 oz. bottles that I keep on hand. I drink 3 to 5 a day, depending. If I'm out in the park for several hours, jogging, etc. and its 85+ degrees, I can usually go through a couple bottles just from that. And then I consume my usual 3 throughout the rest of the day.
If you ask a doc let us know what you find. I drink a lot of water also but always have except for during the diet Pepsi phase in college...
I do workout a lot but this is my water breakdown pretty much minus other drinks like coffee or wine
2 16 ozs glasses of water before work
5 16 oz bottles at work, really try not to drink more than that as I don't get anything done otherwise
1 16 oz bottle at the gym
3-4 16 oz glasses of water throughout the evening
I do always end up getting up at least once during the night.
so I would estimate I go through around 12 16 oz containers of water which is um something like 192 ounces, probably more or less depending on the day, less on the weekends I guess because my day is much less structured. I'm generally always pretty thirsty but am not diabetic as I was actually worried about that last year when I wondered why the heck I drink so much water.
For what it's worth I have no health problems that I know of, blood tests last year were all within normal ranges. How would someone even go about finding out if they have mineral deficiencies?
Heather do you know WHY you're drinking so much water? Is your body craving it? Or maybe you've convinced yourself that more is better? Do you have a high-salt diet?
It's almost winter here, and our day starts at around 8ºC (46ºF). At the moment I drink between 2 and 2.5 litres (67 - 84oz) per day - and my body feels like it functions well at that level.
During summer, when the temperature gets up to 40ºC (104ºF) I have no problem drinking 3 litres (102oz). Any more than that and I begin to feel bloated. I also find that the scale reflects water weight for me after drinking more than that - so I've worked out that's my optimum level of hydration.
I also space it out through the day, and try to drink small amounts regularly. As other people have said, the problems of water intoxication happen when you drink too much in a short period of time.
Your body only needs about half of what you're drinking, so maybe if the urge to keep drinking 6 litres/day continues it would be worth having a chat with a doctor.
I usually drink between 5 and 6 liters a day also, with no diabetes, all normal blood tests, no problems with water intoxication. I've been doing so for a year with no negative side effects...my body likes to be very well hydrated! I lose better, have clearer skin, and feel better than the days when I drink less. I checked with my doctor, and he said it wasn't a worry, so I think its ok. Do check, though, to see if your own doctor agrees with mine.
Thanks everyone, for all the input thus far - I have a doctor's appointment, but not until next Monday I WILL let you know what he has to say, though
As for my saying it is not a thirst thing - I didn't mean that I am not thirsty at all, I just meant that I know it isn't diabetes - I was checked towards the end of last year.
I'll be sure to post with the doc's comments on this!
If you're drinking that much water, I think you should at least be able to recognize the symptoms of water intoxication, so that if you experience them you will know to go to the emergency room immediately, because water intoxication is possible for many people at much lower amounts of water than otherwise expected.
If you're on any blood pressure medications, or diuretics or if you're prone to low electrolyte levels (or if you are a serious runner) or have any kidney problems, water intoxication is possible on a lot less water than you think. My mother was hospitalized with it last year, and she was drinking about 6 quarts of liquid (including water, milk, and coffee). Like a lot of dieters she was told that coffee doesn't count or even that she needed to drink additional water to compensate for drinking coffee.
I am on relatively low doses of 2 blood pressure medications, and my Mom's kidney specialist said I could be at risk for water intoxication as well, and probably shouldn't ever drink more than 3 quarts a day, especially since my sodium levels are almost alway a bit below or barely within normal levels.
I do sometimes drink quite a bit more than I probably "should," especially in summer, but because of what happened to Mom, I've made sure that both my husband and I will recognize the symptoms of water intoxication should they occur.
My nutritionist recomended 64 ounces a day plus 8 ounces for every 25 lbs. over your ideal weight. Also add 8 ounces for every 15 min. of exercise.
This seemed to work for me. I include everything non-carbonated and caffeine free into my intake.
Terrie
good gracious, i don't think i drink anywhere near those amounts of any fluids all day. i may have a 4 ounce cup of tea when i get up, then i have a 16 ounce cup of coffee at work in the morning, then at lunch i start with water. at work i usually only drink one 20 ounce bottle of water. then i go home and may end up getting another 10 ounces of water or maybe tea before i go to bed. i just don't drink that much. on a work out day, i probably get 2 20 ounce cups of water a day...one a work and one at the gym. i don't even think i end up drinking more than 50 ounces of anything all day long. :-(
Hi again - just thought I'd put this in a context that makes sense to me: this works out to roughly a 16oz glass for every hour I am awake... (eg. 16oz x 14 hours = 224 oz = 6.6 liters)
There is something called Water Intoxification. You can Google it to find out more. When I asked a registered Dietitian this very same thing, she told me she has only known of one person who had this happen. That person drank like 160 ounces of water AND like a 6 pack of diet soda in a day.
A woman just died from this after a radio contest. Although Im sure this is not your issue, they have some interesting facts here.
Because of how close a call Mom had, I tend to stick my nose in (and sometimes get it bitten off) on this issue. Except for arthritis, mild to moderate high blood pressure, and a borderline thyroid issue (all very common to thin and overweight women over 45) she was in good health, and she had no idea what water intoxication was, let alone that she was at risk. The symptoms came on suddenly, and it seemed to be a severe flu, but even so my dad called the ambulance right away because her mental confusion really concerned him. And even though she received treatment right away, she still was in the hospital for a week and several specialists were rushed in.
When my husband and I were called (8:00 pm), we were told to rush down (a 5 hour drive) because she was so seriously ill (they had not yet determined that it was water intoxication, or if so, why her kidneys were failing).
Her kidney specialist said that while it is still rare, he has been seeing alot more water poisoning cases in relatively healthy people, and not just the usual groups (people with serious kidney disease, marathon athletes and OCD patients who drink water compulsively, and drug users trying to dilute their urine to pass a drug screen). He said he thought the increase was mostly due to new medications and dieting-related water myths, encourageing excessive liquid consumption. The one that concerned him the most was not "counting" anything but pure water. He stressed that any food or beverage containing water "counts" so whether you're consuming plain or carbonated water, coffee, tea, fruit juice, sodas and fruit drinks (whether they contain sugar or artificial sweeteners) milk, soup, jello, fresh fruit......
It ALL counts. And that 2 quarts of any liquid over and above solid food, was probably all that anyone "needed" unless they were extreme athletes (who might need to drink more, but also could need to replace electrolytes along with the water). The effects can be sudden (like the woman in the water drinking contest) or cumulative (over days or weeks, your electrolyte balance is tipped into a danger zone).
That doesn't mean that if you want to drink 3 or 4 or 8 quarts you're necessarily at risk, but you should at least consider the possibility. And if you drink beverages such as coffee, that you haven't been counting, you should at least know that your body IS counting them.
Thanks, kaplods, for relating this scary incident!
HeatherAngel, I'm pretty sure you only need to drink an 8 oz. glass of water every hour, and perhaps not even that much. That is what I have been told to drink by my urologist because if I don't drink enough water, I develop kidney stones. But he did not say to go over that amount.
I WILL let you know what he has to say, though 
