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c-horse
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Feb 23, 2002, 3:35 AM
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I tried an interesting (trans: stupid) experiment on Thursday afternoon. I normally drink between 1 and 2 gallons of water a day - which seems to be a good thing. Around 3pm, after drinking over a gallon during the day, I drank a gallon of water in about 20 minutes. I was curious as to what effect it would have on me.
I guess it was a slow news day.
Anyway, here are the results - about 10 minutes later, I felt "reasonably uncomfortable" for 10-15 minutes. After that, I felt fine/normal/great (all are the same for me, generally). Of course I peed about every 20 minutes. What was potentially interesting to the denizens of rc.com, is that I went climbing that night at the gym.
Around 7pm, I finished stretching and started climbing. Although I felt great/normal, I had no strength at all! It was as if my muscles wouldn't respond to the signals from my brain. Moves that I normally can do all day long were unattemptable. I would sit on the start, and my brain would do the first move to get on the wall. My muscles were oblivious. It was a really strange feeling.
After about an hour of quizzical failures, I decided that my hydration experience must have messed something up, and I stopped for the night.
Anyway, thought it was a weird phenomenon, and figured I'd share and see if anyone else has had similar experiences.
C "water water everywhere, and every drop I drank" Horse
[ This Message was edited by: c-horse on 2002-02-22 19:43 ]
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fiend
Feb 23, 2002, 3:58 AM
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You can die from this.
Quote:
What happens is that as the athlete consumes large amounts of water over the course of the event, blood plasma (the liquid part of blood) increases. As this takes place, the salt content of the blood is diluted. At the same time, the athlete is losing salt by sweating. Consequently, the amount of salt available to the body tissues decreases over time to a point where the loss interferes with brain, heart, and muscle function.
The official name for this condition is hyponatremia. The symptoms generally mirror those of dehydration (apathy, confusion, nausea, and fatigue), although some individuals show no symptoms at all. If untreated, hyponatremia can lead to coma and even death.
source and more info
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beta
Feb 23, 2002, 4:31 AM
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Super cool link Mark,
Makes sense that the over ingestion of water would have detrimental affects, I've always had the other problem, not enough.
Take heed everyone, there is a fine line of too little and too much.
climb high, swing hard.
beta
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colin
Feb 23, 2002, 5:36 AM
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Withtout clicking on that link i'm guessing mark is talking about sodium depletion (sp?). IT IS DEADLY! If you're going to drink that much water (god knows why you would) have some salt tablets that they sell at the pharmacey.
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daisuke
Feb 23, 2002, 6:42 AM
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or drink gatorade or something of the sort, only problem with that is that gallons of gatorade cost gallons of money!
D
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kahuna3602
Feb 23, 2002, 7:52 AM
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I was diagnosed with hyponatremia four days after racing in a half ironman in 95+ degree weather. After depleating all of my sodium, potasium, calcium and glycogen, I felt incredibly thirsty so naturally I drank. I wound up with zero elements in my blood and some of the worst pain I've ever experienced. The good part is after 6 hours of trying to figure out what I had, it only took 3 IV's to set it straight. That and I had to watch what I ate. It was very, very unpleasent. Don't do it!
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floof
Feb 23, 2002, 10:50 AM
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Instead of the nasty salt tablets, I suggest eating a super carne asada burrrito from the roach coach across the street. Ask for hot sauce cause the mild is really mild. The burrito has more connective tissues than normal, but sometimes I enjoy the chewiness. It's like Wrigley's gum, but it's a cow tendon.
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c-horse
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Feb 23, 2002, 12:31 PM
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Wow - I feel like I dodged a bullet! Here are a couple other links on hyponatremia.
http://www.rice.edu/~jenky/sports/hyponatremia.html
http://www.spinalhealth.net/hyponatremia.html
Thanks for the data, everyone - won't try that again. I can imagine the emergency room visit :
"Did you just run a marathon?"
"No, I just drank a gallon of water."
"Why on earth would you do that?!"
"Because I'm an idiot."
C
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miagi
Feb 23, 2002, 3:42 PM
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Wow I never knew that. Good thing i saw this topic because there was a post I read that said if you drink alot of water before a climb you have alot more energy and wont burn out as fast.
Any of you know a link or something that tells whats a good amount for the day?
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coach
Feb 23, 2002, 4:50 PM
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Don't know what the right ammount for climbing would be but I used to do a lot of road cycling (competitive) and the rule of thumb was one liter for each hour in the saddle. Amazingly on a 100 mile ride I would almost never have to pee as I would be sweating it out almost as fast as I drank it in. You would not drink water on a ride of that distance but gatorade or powerade or any of the other drinks to restore chemicals, not just fluids.
Climb On
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bigevilgrape
Feb 26, 2002, 6:13 PM
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i heard a story of a father killing his son by makeeing him drink large quantities of water. it was a punishment for something.
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camhead
Feb 26, 2002, 8:12 PM
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Yup, sodium depletion is a bitch. I do a lot of summertime desert backpacking, and in addition to drinking 2+ callons of h2o a day, I injest gatorade, pretzels, saltines, anything to keep the sodium up.
Always drink enough water; if you are thirsty than you need it. But if it is hot and dry enough to require more than a gallon a day, you should take special care to keep your sodium up.
P.S.
those old salt tablets are, however, a bad idea. They are simply too concentrated.
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woodse
Feb 26, 2002, 11:04 PM
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I've heard that this can cause bladder infections if done regularly. I've also heard that people are actually addicted to drinking mass quantities of water because it causes similar sensations as being drunk. Anyways I'd cool it with the water.
woodsE
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tcollins
Feb 27, 2002, 12:14 AM
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You definitely need to be careful with this. I wouldn’t take a salt pill though unless it was last resort. If you eat a normal diet you should be fine. If you’re out in the extreme heat for a long time maybe add a slightly saltier food to your meal, salami works well if you like it. I spent a week in rafting the GC and the guides almost force feed us due to their fear of hyponatremia. I later read that if you have been acclimated to a hot climate your body will learn to release less salt through the skin (maybe urine too, I can’t remember). I had been living in Phx for 3 years at that point and packed on 8 lbs. I haven’t found any ‘scientific’ reading on that fact however, but I hope it would explain my lbs for an active week. Just be careful and remember your urine should not be too clear or too dark.
Also, Gatorade is rather cheap at Costco/Sam’s Club in powder form when you can find it. It’s almost all I drink since I don’t like soda.
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gekolimit
Mar 12, 2002, 10:53 AM
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who'd thought a bit of water could kill a man.
Here in singapore i'm sure you can never drink enough!
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radistrad
Mar 12, 2002, 2:27 PM
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My understanding is that one should drink a 1/2 ounce of water a day per pound of body weight. 64 ounces in a gallon (I think), 2 gallons is 128 ounces, do you weight over 250 lbs.?
I also have hear that the body can only use (process)2 ounces of water an hour.
I did not click the link, and my numbers are not for some one who is exercising.
My doctor recommends 6 to 8, 8 ounce glasses of water a day, I think that is what the FDA also recommends.
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treyr
Mar 12, 2002, 10:43 PM
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yeah to much water is not a good thing
Trob
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