Drinking 5 litres of water per day

18% Normal
11 Comments

Is it normal to drink five litres of water per day? On a typical day I will drink 14-16 relatively large glasses of water, which comes up to about five litres, this is excluding water I get from food and the three or four cups of tea I usually have each day.

I found an online calculator which said that for my weight (97lbs) I should be drinking 1.5 litres of water. But if I go more than about ten minutes without water, my mouth starts to feel extremely dry and I start to get a headache. I have to carry a 750ml water bottle with me wherever I go.

Is it okay to drink this much water?

Voting Results
18% Normal
Based on 11 votes (2 yes)
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Comments ( 11 )
  • KacyWatson
    3 years ago

    Water intoxication is actually a thing and it's much more lethal than alcohol poisoning.

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    • Tommythecaty
      3 years ago

      I had a non lethal case of it once. By fuck does it make you sick, it’s like the worlds worst hangover.

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      • KacyWatson
        3 years ago

        How are you still alive?!

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        • Tommythecaty
          3 years ago

          It was really hot day and just kept drinking water. For some reason the thirst didn’t go away, and stupidly I didn’t realise this was because I’d been consuming far too much. It just came on like full blown hangover. It can kill people but more often just makes them very sick for a day.

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          • KacyWatson
            3 years ago

            I think you are real lucky.

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  • Boojum
    3 years ago

    Excessive thirst (and, obviously, the frequent urination that results form drinking a lot) is a symptom of diabetes.

    There could be other causes too, both physical and psychological, and some medication is known to give people cotton-mouth. The important point is that drinking too much water can be just as harmful as drinking too little.

    There is something called water intoxication, which results from drinking so much water that the electrolyte balance of the blood (the dissolved salts in the plasma) falls to such a low level that neurological functions are disturbed. Most commonly, this happens with idiots who decide to have a water-drinking contest.

    There was also a case in the UK several years ago now where a young woman misunderstood the advice that those using Ecstasy should be careful to avoid dehydration, and she guzzled so much water that the potassium levels in her blood fell to such a low level that she had a heart attack.

    Since your water intake is spread over the whole day, it's probably unlikely that anything that dire is likely to happen to you, but you'd be wise to think of this as more than just an annoyance or a quirk and instead seek medical advice.

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  • LloydAsher
    3 years ago

    Only if you want to dilute your blood and die. That or you have an underlying medical situation that you need to check out with the doctor.

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  • bythebyiwannadie
    3 years ago

    dude you may have diabetes. You also mentioned you were only 97lbs, losing weight without trying is a symptom as well as thirstiness, skin dryness. Do you ever get blurry vision or a tingling/numbness in the hands and feet?

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  • have_a_good_day
    3 years ago

    If this was da hood we'd open dat cap up for you. You drink that water, yass queen

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  • olderdude-xx
    3 years ago

    Its OK as long as you are sure that you get proper electrolytes and nutrients so that you don't unnecessarily deplete your body of water soluble things it needs. That usually takes some effort to do though.

    Drinking that much water routinely is not normal (it occasionally happens for most people now and then).

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  • donteatstuffoffthesidewalk
    3 years ago

    only normal with liquor

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