While it’s true that most people could likely benefit from drinking more water, there are certain situations in which it’s possible to overdo it. If you’re at risk of overhydration, knowing the number-one sign you»re drinking too much water may help you avoid more serious symptoms in the future.
Meet the experts: Natasha Trentacosta, M.D., a sports medicine specialist and orthopedic surgeon at Cedars-Sinai Orthopaedics in Los Angeles; Michael Klein, M.D., a kidney specialist with WMCHealth in Hawthorne, NY and an associate professor at New York Medical College.
“Overhydration is when there is an excess of water intake compared to water loss,” Natasha Trentacosta, M.D., a sports medicine specialist and orthopedic surgeon at Cedars-Sinai Orthopaedics in LA, previously told Prevention. You can also develop symptoms of overhydration if you’re drinking so much water that your salt and electrolyte levels drop dramatically. The good news is that most people don’t need to worry about overhydrating. “Your body is very effective at adjusting,” Michael Klein, M.D., a kidney specialist with WMCHealth in Hawthorne, NY, and an associate professor at New York Medical College, has explained. “Once you reach adequate water levels, your body just gets rid of the excess very efficiently, assuming a state of normal health.”
That said, people with certain kidney and heart conditions and those taking certain medications are at risk of overhydration. “Mild water overload often is asymptomatic,” said Dr. Klein. But when it does create symptoms, Dr. Klein says that the most common one is something you might not immediately tie to your water intake. “There is a tendency to develop gait instability and increased falling,” he says. “Someone might not suspect this is due to water overload but they might present to a hospital with confusion, dizziness, or falling and their sodium is very low.”
Dr. Klein notes that this is common in older women who have been prescribed a thiazide diuretic (a.k.a. a “water pill”) for high blood pressure but are continuing to drink the same amount of water they always have. Per the National Library of Medicine, these meds block the reabsorption of sodium in order to lower blood pressure. And in some people, they can cause hyponatremia, a condition in which sodium levels drop dangerously low. “If you hydrate with water in a situation where you’re lacking in total body salt, you will end up generating dangerously low serum sodium, and you get a dilutional effect,” Dr. Klein explains, which is what can lead to loss of coordination and an increased fall risk. “I always follow up within a week of prescribing a drug like that,” he adds.
Per the Mayo Clinic, certain antidepressants and pain medications may also cause hyponatremia and increase your risk of overhydration. Whenever you’re starting a new medication, it’s crucial to discuss all the possible side effects with your physician to make sure you’re making any necessary lifestyle tweaks that will help you live your healthiest life.
Read the full article here