For the last 30 years my approximate fluid intake has consisted of a large mug of espresso in the morning, 8 pints in the evening and a litre of water in the glass beside the bed at night. Not exactly accurate but near enough.

I have changed this significantly in the last couple of months by dropping approx 40 pints a week and drinking about 3-4 litres of water a day.

I have also upped the amount of exercise I do by adding an hour a day most days on a crossfit trainer during which I probably drink another litre of water.

Seem to be peeing more than normal which I guess is to be expected. My insides definitely feel different to how they did but not sure if that is an improvement or not.

Basically the question is (of course) will I die?

Yes.

Probably (hopefully) not yet though.

You can fatally overhydrate but you’d need to really drink a large amount of water in a short time for that. It doesn’t sound anything like what you’re doing.

No.

Probably. Are you not fitted with a hole to let out excess water? I know i am.

EDIT: Sorry, didn’t read your entire post OP. You clearly have the same hole i have.

Yes, you can die. It’s called Hyponatremia

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-24566222

There have been some deaths in marathons that are suspected to be due to runners drinking too much.

I guess the weird feeling and slight sloshing is just where I am not used to having a belly full of water during the day.

Seems strange that when I go out on the beer I can comfortably hold 8 or 9 pints before needing a pee and with water it seems to be 1 pint in and 1 pint out

Mate of mine got into a bit of bother by drinking too much water / fluids over a prolonged period. Can’t remember the exact details, he’s not dead but didn’t do his kidneys any favours in the end.

A large mug of espresso, or a large mug of an espresso with water or steamed milk on top? Big difference!

I think a large mug of espresso is more of a concern than 8 pints 🙂

8 pints of beer a night for 30 years? As in 112 units a week?
I’d suggest you need your lfts checking.
Polyuria (peeing a lot) is also a symptom of diabetes. Are you thirsty?
Off to the docs with you…

Yes, it’s apparently killed a number of people who’ve taken ecstasy and who’ve subsequently over-hydrated.

Also, a fair few people on the Titanic may have been killed by over-hydration…

*tongue firmly in cheek*

I think a large mug of espresso is more of a concern than 8 pints

Beg to differ!!

8 pints in the evening – water or beer?

(water) I have a pint when I wake up, pint at bedtime and about 3 during the day.

The rest is Espresso 8)

You used to drink 8 pints of ale *every night* ? 😯

Yes it’s called drowning 😆

It’s because selfish people like WCA who are either dying off or stopping drinking 8 pints a night in the local that the industry is going through such a hard time…

8 pints of BEER? I had a hangover from drinking 4.5 the other week 😆

I actually counted them in a post-mortum analysis as I woke up thinking ‘that must have been a heavy night’.

Should your name be changed to FormerWorldClassJakey? Because 8 pints/night for 30 years is alcoholism pure and simple.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leah_Betts

Yes.

I remember watching England batting somewhere very hot back in the 90s … Graham Thorpe came off, over-hydrated and ended up pretty ill.

Has served as a reminder to me ever since.

there’s an optimal color of urine that should indicate if you are drinking too much, completely clear probably means that you are drinking too much.

Yes you can. As indicated above it’s called Hyponatremia. I know someone who ended up in hospital for several days due to this – he’d been attempting the Paddy Buckley Round in Snowdonia and was drinking lots of water but nothing with salts and not eating much either.

Edit: urine colour – should be a pale straw colour, deep yellow => dehydrated; clear => over-hydrated.

Not that good for you to drink a lot of water before bed, encourages you to get up for a pee which breaks your sleep.

3-4 litres a day is really quite a lot of water, I try and do 1-2. Definitely good news you’ve cut down on the beer, aside from the liver damage think of the calories.

Drink a few cups of water. Takes longer than cold water and comes out darker…

Seems strange that when I go out on the beer I can comfortably hold 8 or 9 pints before needing a pee and with water it seems to be 1 pint in and 1 pint out

The mechanism’s different. With alcohol it takes a while for the body to realise it’s being poisoned and do something about it, which is flush it out. Water is used as required

Some fluids are diuretic (cant spell it properly) these make you pee more than other fluids.

So you can drink the same amount of fluid and feel a different need to pee depending what you drink.

Great that you’re not boozing as much, but sounds like you’re drinking a lot more water than you need. Alcohol has a diuretic effect, so will make you pee more than you need to. If you’ve cut the alcohol, but are peeing more that does suggest you’re over hydrating. General (therefore not applicable to everyone) recommendation is about 2 litres of water a day. You shouldn’t really need to up that significantly unless you’re doing something pretty extreme.

Also a litre of water for an hour on a cross trainer is definitely too much. Drinking to thirst is probably the better way here, your body will regulate how much you take in and how much it holds on to. This is a good read: http://scienceofsport.blogspot.co.uk/2007/10/fluid-intake-dehydration-and-exercise_26.html

I dunno, but I put 3x of those high5 tablets i my camelback the other day after feeling a bit lethargic the day before and putting it down to low electroloytes (I’d drunk, eaten and rested enough, but I was peeing like a racehorse).

Got about 20 miles into the loop (without having to stop every 20min to pee and with plenty of energy) and realized they were the caffeinated ones. Kind of like the alertness of drinking many espressos in quick succession, but without the buzzing feeling as it was built up over 3 hours. I’ll stick to the plain ones from now on!

Back on topic, dangerously over hydrating is probably difficult, but running low on electrolytes seems to have as much an impact on my performance* as being dehydrated does.

*relative, I’m not Wiggins

Brilliant that you’re posting about drinking too much water when you had been drinking 8 pints a night.

I’d cut the booze totally mate, after 30 years of doing that 16 pints week is still way to much….32 units a week? Alcoholism territory still. Two pints max a week if you don’t want your liver to cut out soon.

“+&k me! I don’t do 8 pints a month!

For the last 30 years my approximate fluid intake has consisted of a large mug of espresso in the morning, 8 pints in the evening

DrP

DrP – I am surprised that you are surprised, you have seen me at the BBB 🙂

I know I have been running a bit high on the booze but I am cutting down significantly. Heading in the right direction* and still holding my nerve at the moment.

Coffee is down to just one of the stove top espresso pots of Lavazza each morning. Used to be 1 – 2 of the 8 cup cafetieres on top of that a few years back. Again, heading in the right direction and still holding my nerve at the moment.

The advice seems to be that I am drinking a bit too much water now so I will moderate. My pee is still coming out post-it note yellow so I doubt I have done myself to much harm.

*Checked my count for last week and it was only 8 bottles of beer plus 2 wine so better than I thought.

87,600 pints!

87,600 pints! Could have bought a bike for that much!

And I missed out the Whiskey years…

DrP – I am surprised that you are surprised, you have seen me at the BBB

🙂

I wasn’t aware BBB behaviour spilled into everyday life..!
Look after yourself chap – not much good can come from that kind of abuse on teh body, though it seems like you’re heading in the right direction 🙂

If you want to chat..ping me a mail

xxx

DrP

only 8 bottles of beer plus 2 wine so better

assuming you mean 2 bottles of wine, that’s still a decent chunk, certainly more than the recommended max, although probably pretty average I think…

DrP – Thanks for the offer but I kind of have a handle on it. The BBB is my moderation weekend, I can’t have too much as I am meant to be in charge of it 🙂

assuming you mean 2 bottles of wine, that’s still a decent chunk, certainly more than the recommended max, although probably pretty average I think…

Yeah – more than good but better than before. If I try to go totally dry it gets less pleasant. Best attempt so far for a few years.

The 2 liters of water a day has no scientific basis. Drink a little if you are thirsty.

http://www.snopes.com/medical/myths/8glasses.asp

The 21 units of alcohol a week recommended in the UK is one of the lowest in the world and Japan’s limit is 2.5 times more. IIRC the old recommendations in the UK used to be drink no more than the equivalent of 21 units a day!

Doesn’t look that way Nick: http://www.icap.org/table/Internationaldrinkingguidelines

I try to maintain near-clear pee as a rule of thumb, but if you are thirsty, drink.

I think a lot more people drink that amount of booze than people think, I know a couple of people that will knock back a bottle of wine or more every night after work as a matter of routine, two on weekends. You’ve got a way to go to beat darts legend The Viking and his 20 beers a day though.

Yes,you’re quite right,I saw 19.75g and the UK’s 8g and made it suit my own wishes 🙂 Forgive me I’ve not had a drink for three days.Mind you I’ve always liked Catalonia 😉
I did work with a guy who after years of heavy drinking in the navy then ran a NAAFI.He drank 20+ pints of Guinness a day for almost two decades.He said he was never drunk he but he was an alcoholic and went on to become a leading advocate for AA when he quit drinking.