can drinking a lot of water hurt your kidneys?
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Although uncommon, it's possible to drink too much water. When your kidneys can't excrete the excess water, the sodium content of your blood is diluted (hyponatremia) — which can be life-threatening.
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Excessive water consumption may lead to depletion of potassium, which is an essential nutrient. This may cause symptoms like leg pain, irritation, chest pain, et al. 6. It may also cause too much urination; when you drink lots of water at once, you tend to urinate frequently.
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The medication could cause you to become dehydrated (e.g., lithium). The medication could damage the kidneys or lead to kidney stones if too much of it reached the kidney at the same time (e.g., indinavir). Water helps to “dilute” the extra medication so that too much medication does not go through the kidneys at once.
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Drinking too much alcohol can lead to gastritis, which causes the lining of the stomach to become inflamed or swollen. Though this isn't directly related to the kidneys, the pain may be felt in the upper abdomen and associated with kidney pain.
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Not drinking enough water can cause pain in one or both kidneys. Water loss happens through sweating, vomiting, diarrhea, or too much urine. Conditions such as diabetes can also lead to dehydration. Severe or chronic dehydration builds up wastes in your kidneys.
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Drinking too much water too fast, also referred to as “water intoxication,” causes an imbalance in sodium and other electrolytes, and water moves from your blood to inside your cells, making them swell. This type of swelling, particularly inside the brain, is serious and requires immediate medical treatment.
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Even without binge drinking, regularly drinking too much too often can also damage the kidneys. The damage occurs more slowly. Regular heavy drinking has been found to double the risk chronic kidney disease, which does not go away over time.
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Drinking too much water could be surprisingly hazardous to your health. Drinking too much water can be unhealthy and even lead to death in extreme cases. When you drink more water than your kidneys can handle, you can upset the balance of sodium levels in your blood — this is called water intoxication.
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Drinking water is crucial. But it's possible to drink too much water and become overhydrated. Overhydration can lead to falling electrolyte levels, which can cause headaches, nausea, and muscle weakness. If your lips, hands, and feet are swollen you may be drinking too much water.
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What causes water intoxication? When you drink too much water, it can cause hyponatremia, which happens when your blood sodium concentration becomes very low. If you drink more water than your kidneys can flush out, it'll dilute the sodium in your bloodstream, causing cells to swell.
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Not drinking enough water – not coffee or pop – but pure water, can lead to fatigue, slow down metabolism, affect cognitive functioning, and contribute to the formation of kidney stones. Lack of hydration has also been noted as a contributor of joint pain.
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The result is too much water and not enough sodium. Thus, overhydration generally results in low sodium levels in the blood (hyponatremia), which can be dangerous. However, drinking large amounts of water usually does not cause overhydration if the pituitary gland, kidneys, liver, and heart are functioning normally.
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TORONTO: Drinking too much water can cause excess fluid accumulation, leading to dangerously low sodium levels in the blood or hyponatremia - a life-threatening condition that can result in brain swelling, scientists warn.
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Chronic dehydration can damage your kidneys. According to Mayo Clinic, prolonged or repeat occurrences of severe dehydration can cause kidney issues such as kidney stones and even renal failure. Though this side effect is rare, children and the elderly are more at risk of kidney damage from dehydration.
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H2O helps prevent kidney stones and UTIs. Kidney stones and urinary tract infections (UTIs) are two common medical conditions that can hurt the kidneys, and for which good hydration is essential.
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People with blood in their urine should ALWAYS consult their doctors. If you have a urinary tract infection or a kidney stone, you should drink a lot of water; blood in the urine also means that you should avoid acidic drinks such as coffee, tea, or citrus juices, all of which can irritate the bladder.
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However, the general rule is that the kidneys can only excrete about 1 liter an hour. So the speed at which someone drinks water can also change the body's tolerance for excess water. If you drink too much too fast, or your kidneys don't work properly, you may reach a state of overhydration sooner.