So this is why I need to pee so often?

[cutlass]

Yes, having "too much" water on board can be present problems, especially neurologic; i.e. deranged muscle function (controlled, coordinated movements as well as autonomous systems such as heart function) and psychiatric.

Drinking too much and too fast is called water intoxication.

Signs and symptoms of relative water overload can also happen with fairly normal drinking when the body loses too much electrolytes. Hyponatremia (low sodium) is probably the most common -- I've seen more than a few cases of it in endurance athletes; they had access to all the water they needed but were sweating out their salts faster than got replaced.

There're many, many other causes for electrolyte imbalances but the easy reasons include inadequate replacement from poor diets, severe or protracted diarrhea or vomiting, kidney or hormonal system disorders, infections, trauma and major surgery.

 

[hobodiver]

My understanding was that hydrating yourself properly was something that needs to be started days before diving. Drinking a quart or 2 of water right before diving does not "hydrate" you.

 

[cutlass]

It takes a little time for the body to catch-up from a dehydrated state but it doesn't take days for a normal person to hydrate adequately. The practical guideline is that you're adequately hydrated when you're producing lots of clear pee. That said, there is a disconnect between the sensation of thirst and the body's need for water. Roughly, by the time you register "I'm thirsty", you're about a liter-plus behind.

The small intestine absorbs the bulk of water from ingested products at roughly a rate of about 3-400ml/hr in a resting person; for an active person, the rate goes up to about 1000-1500ml/hr. This rate changes according to the osmotic gradient between the intestine's content and its mucosal cells; very simply, the "drier" the body, the drier the intestinal lining, and the greater the uptake of water. (Other tissues, such as the kidneys, also take water-sparing actions to reduce water loss.) The large intestine or colon absorbs much of the remaining water. (This fact was used in a survival situation -- by the McDougals or Robertsons -- where dirty water enemas were administered with a rubberized hot water bottle.)

 

[Dr Neil]

Hey Docs- Wow, fantastic read! Thanks so much for 'splaining' us, the hormonal and pressure reasons for mondourination.

Here on the CA Northcoast, the water is 45-49F. We do significant surface surface swims to and from in varied wind/swell conditions that can in themselves keep you in decent shape. After 38 diving years, one day several years ago I suddenly concluded that being 100 feet from shore and unable to hold it anymore was not cause for punishment (I've called my mom who assured me childhood training was just peachy)...Let's just say that to date I keep a gallon bottle of wetsuit shampoo on hand and use some after every dive!

Ok, to the point. I have a fast metaboloism, so I eat bkfst 1 hr+ before diving and top it with some carbs. About 20 minutes before and through gearing up, I drink swallows of water. Then just prior to hitting the water, I drink the remainder of that quart. Now I'm f-u-l-l. Like, loosen that cumberbund, and don't inhale too deep. That too-full feeling on swim out can feel restrictive on a full inhalation while snorkeling out on the surface. But I can feel half way through the dive that my body has gone through that water; the ocean is a richer place for my having been there.

Man, have I bought equipment, and I do like that super stretch aqualung suit (7mm) with hooded vest. But I'm cold starting at 38'. I get over that with varied depths, but the cold does affect dehydration. Ok, you'll say, buy a dry $uit. Till them, how about drinking slightly less on shore to cut the bulge factor, and, halfway through the dive, surface and drink up some water from a capped camelback liner stashed in a BC pocket? Out here, it's not unnatural to surface during a dive to reorient ,with the wash rock landscape even if we have a compass, or to hook up with a buddy once in very low vis back on the surface after 1 minute. Other than keeping alert for wind waves and the other things normal to us out here, any reason *not* to hydrate up a little *during* the dive?

Finally, I'm 5'7/144 lbs. Normal and ex health. I just don't have a big stomach to put water in... other than drinking till you feel uncomfortable...is there a problem getting 'too much' water in terms of the cardiac pressures etc?

"halfway through the dive, surface and drink up some water from a capped camelback liner stashed in a BC pocket? "

It's a cool party trick to take a Capri Sun juice pack with you and drink it at depth. Just be sure to stash the empty back in your BC.

 

[peterthewolf]

Fantastic! Thanks you guys. I have always heard that, that clear urine = right hydration. Is it that we're always so dehydrated that it feels *abnormal* to have to pee so much, and so urgently when there's finally enough fluid moving through the system to be clear? Just curious on that one. I actually do drink enough out in the woods, and have for years told my students during my survival and tracking courses to do the same (pee clear). But I do fall back in cushy daily life, and I have never felt comfortable by the time I produce that much clear water. Good for that zen belly meditation feeling perhaps, because I find myself focusing on my bladder often... Great topic. I appreciate it!

As for the party trick, I do remove my regulator to rinse my mouth with seawater regularly in a dive (I tend to get a lot of mucous from my throat on the dry air), so a quick swallow down the right tube of course could be fun. Don't try this at home though if rinsing and clearing that reg isn't really second nature!

 

[ditch-diver]

Thanks gang..., I have been telling divers that for years and people keep thinking I'm making it up.

But just to confirm...., the reason I go to the bathroom, drive 5 miles from my house to the dive site, get out of the car and look at the water, see my drysuit and have to pee AGAIN is strickly 'Pavlovian' right??