• HEALTH & RECOVERY
    Welcome Guest
    Posting Rules Bluelight Rules Thread Directory 1 Thread Directory 2
    Mindfulness Links Addiction & Mind
    Sober Living Partner Program (SLiPP)
  • H&R Moderators: streaM Freak

drinking 2 gallons of water a day is this good?

The Doc.

The Doc.

Bluelighter
Joined
Mar 25, 2014
Messages
2,726
Location
Canada
hello I have been wondering if im doing any damage to my body cause I drink about 2 gallons or more of water each day to stay hydrated and keep my bowel movements moist cause I am prescribed opiates and suffer from terrible constipation if I let things go. I eat healthy vegies fruit and it drink meal supplements like boost. I don't drink anything besides water maybe a juice or pop once a day at most but I was thinking is all that water good for my kidneys???
I used to pee every 20 minutes when I first started drinking all this water but now I hardly pee and it burns a lot and I feel my kidneys being weird not a pain or anything really but on the verge of something going wrong it seems. I may be freaking myself out after that episode of house last night where the girl couldn't pee no matter how much water she drank but I was hoping somebody knew if that much water could be hurting my body.

thank you:)
 
the amount of water wouldn't hurt your kidneys. it can be a problem if you flush too many of the minerals out of your body. i've heard of people drowning themselves by drinking water. but see your doctor if you are concerned. i dunno, i have always had at least a gallon a day my whole life, cause i just love drinking water. never measured it, maybe 2 gallons. hasn't been a problem that i know of. knock wood.
 
Drinking 2 gallons of water a day is fine, but frequent burning/pain is something you should worry about. It could be anything from a drug side effect, to a urinary track infection, to cancer.

Are you a male or female? Do you take any drug/medication/supplement? Does your family have a history of urinary or genital problems? (Kidney stones, UTI, prostate enlargement, etc...)
 
im male and as far as I know that's a no on the genital problems but I never knew my dad all I know is his side of the family gets heart attacks at age 40-50 and my moms side they all have IBS and stomach issues that get worse as they age something I my doc thinks I have inherited which is why we are so careful about keeping my gut flora healthy as possible while she prescribes me opiates.
 
that's good to hear 2 gallons isn't overdoing it and the burning sensation seems to come and go ive gotten tested for it seems everything UTI's STD's(or sorry STI I meant to be correct)but nothing has shown up when I mention it may be due to the opiates to my doctor she dismisses it saying not possible or un heard of but I just say okay ill deal with it since I do have a high tolerance to pain and its not too painful at all but its affecting my sex life now as it burns like a mother when I ejaculate or pee but it comes intermittently. ive tried not taking painkillers but it just hurts more so I end up taking them again after a few days my doc says my dose is so low anyways I don't see that coming from it. But im thinking it is I mean I was on heroin for years and I got problems like this but a lot more sevre and noticeable such as not being able to pee and needing to use a catheter on myself to relive my urine along with real bad burning sensations after peeing and ejaculating.
 
I would also consider adding senokot S to your medications.. its a laxative and stool softener and if you dont already take it you will likely be very happy if you do.

Drugs & Medications - Senokot-S Oral

I know that 8 glasses of water (that equals a gallon with us pint glasses) is what diabetics are encouraged to drink a day to help prevent kidney problems so you may try cutting it down a bit to see if this causes positive results.
 
Be careful of losing electrolytes drinking so much water. Make sure you get enough NaCl and K (potassium) in your diet.
 
Thanks never sick and everyone else:)

I take miralax daily which seems to work pretty good and I keep senokot on hand for the days I feel I'm not purging my body properly my doctor said to go to the regular senokot cause I don't need the Softener if I'm taking miralax daily.

So I guess I'll eat lots of banana's and try to cut down on the water but it has really helped my stomach issues by drinking all that water I have to find a good middle ground I supose.
 
RhythmSpring said:
Be careful of losing electrolytes drinking so much water. Make sure you get enough NaCl and K (potassium) in your diet.
Click to expand...

^ this


also can help to add a sports drink powder to your water. There are probably lot's of good ones geared toward electrolyte and fitness (although watch out for unwanted stimulants), for convenience I just use gatorade powder (red seems to have the most tolerable food coloring ingredient IMO), and I add less than the recommended serving to bottled water, can also add a tiny bit of salt.

great idea with the bananas
 
2gallons should be fine.

I watched a hospital programme once where a girl died from drinking about 8 litres of water for a competition, it killed her because it flushed out all the natural salt and sugar out of her liver, and it caused some other problems I can't remember.

It's the same kind of thing like bad fats, realy there isn't such a thing as a bad fat because you need good fats and bad fats in certain amounts, it's just if you have too much of a certain thing, that's what can make it bad for you.
 
1 gallon = 3.8 liters for anyone interested..

~8 liters a day is pretty excessive. We recommend our patients drink between 2-4 liters a day, maybe a bit more depending on activity/weather. Going every 20 minutes is not normal, and your urination decreasing despite drinking 8 liters combines a sensation where your kidneys are is not either. Go to the doctor if you haven't already. You might be chronically washing out your kidneys, which would not be good.
 
Last edited:
Really that's what I was worried about. I've seen my doctor and she says I'm fine she ran tests and insists every thing is fine. I don't know its surly not normal for a 23 year old to have burning when he pees.
 
Can you go specifically to an internist or urologist, or another gp? Normally I would say to trust her, but burning isn't normal, nor is the constellation you describe. Has anyone used a sonogram to have a quick look at bladder/kidneys? What did they test? Did you pee in a cup or have blood taken?
 
I would have to find one but it would be a good idea to go find one I should get on that. I always thought it was normal for your body yo become accustomed to large amounts of water and slowing the frequency you have the urge to urinate but from the sounds of it that's not normal at all.
 
Uhh, I live in the desert, and lift and ride in the hot desert air daily. 2 gallons is too much water. Your kidneys are likely suffering from some form of edema being that flooded. Which can explain the funny feeling you are getting.

Also it's not just electrolytes you are flushing out with your water intake so high. You are also likely flushing any sort of beneficial flora in your upper intestinal tract as well as likely flushing the other nutrients and proteins out before they can be processed fully. Easy way to check, is your fecal matter green? If so cut back on the water, and if it's dark brown you need to add more fiber, since you're on opiates.
 
Holy shit, why is nearly everybody saying 2 gallons is okay?
From what I've learnt, over 3 liters a day is a lot for your kidneys to process, but in your case you require more fluids because of the opiates.
I would personally recommend a maximum of 4 liters.
Of course it also varies with the amount of heat in the area you live in and the amount of exercise you do.
If you live in a hot area and exercise a lot, go for 5 liters maybe, but 2 gallons?!
 
Yea ha bit too much well I just think the more I drink the less chance there is I will be constipated but obviously I need to find a balance. And yes I'm in Canada so I pay nothing for medical services (most services)
I also figured it was excessive but thought I needed more than the average person cause of the opiates.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top