A mother almost died after drinking so much water that she caused her blood sodium levels to drop dangerously low.
Nina Munro, 41, drank around four liters of water a day in an attempt to “wash away” what she thought was a cold, without realizing she was “slowly drowning” herself.
But the excessive amounts of water, combined with the cold and flu medications he was taking, flooded his system and he had a seizure.
Munro was admitted to intensive care for five days in June this year as doctors struggled to stabilize her levels.
“The doctors later told me they didn’t know how I survived,” Mrs Munro said. “I was slowly drowning and I didn’t even know it.”
Nina Munro, 41, pictured with her husband Ken and daughter, drank around four liters of water in one day in an attempt to “get rid” of what she thought was a cold, without realizing she was giving herself “slowly drowning.”
Ms Munro was given a range of different medications and told to drink more water to help get rid of a respiratory infection.
The NHS recommends that people drink six to eight glasses of water and other liquids a day, enough to turn their urine a light pale yellow colour. Munro now only drinks when he is thirsty, and a maximum of around 1.5 liters a day.
She added: ‘My husband said I wouldn’t do anything without a glass of water by my side. I think someone was looking out for me. I thought I was a super healthy person.
‘They didn’t let me leave (the hospital) until my sodium level started to rise.
“I didn’t see my daughter for five days, which was very hard. I didn’t want her to see me in the state I was in.
‘The first few days in the ICU I couldn’t drink anything and when I left the hospital I was on a restricted diet of 1.5 liters and naturally I drink less now.
“They told me to drink only when I was thirsty.”
Drinking too much water can cause the sodium level in your blood to drop abnormally.
Sodium is vital for regulating the amount of water in the body and controlling blood pressure, nerves and muscles.
An insufficient amount of electrolytes, medically known as hyponatremia, causes a buildup of water in and around the body’s cells.
This causes cells to swell, including those in the brain, and can trigger symptoms ranging from mild to life-threatening, such as headaches, vomiting, and seizures.
The normal blood sodium level is 135 to 145 milliequivalents per liter (mEq/L). Hyponatremia occurs when the level falls below 135 mEq/L.
The NHS recommends that people drink six to eight glasses of water and other fluids a day, enough to turn their urine a light pale yellow colour.
Six weeks before being admitted, Ms Munro began to suffer from mild coughs and colds and generally began to feel unwell.
She said: “Our daughter is in kindergarten and always comes home with little bugs.”
She had laryngitis and lost her voice in May, and her daughter had pneumonia (from which Munro unknowingly also contracted mycoplasma), a bacteria that can cause respiratory illnesses.
“I also had a cold, earache and sore throat, so I kept going to the doctor,” he said.
“I never felt like I had time to rest with the constant demands of parenthood and work.”
Ms Munro visited five doctors over the six-week period and was given a range of different medications and told to drink more water.
She said: “I took three lots of steroids, three lots of antibiotics, nasal sprays and Nurofen, which also reduces sodium – it was a perfect storm to reduce my sodium.”
He began to worsen in the days before his admission on June 15.
“I walked out of a gym class because I felt like I wasn’t moving well,” she said.
“I went to a local hospital and they told me to ‘drink lots of water’ because they thought I was going through steroid withdrawal.”
The next day, he developed a “haze” in front of his eyes and experts told him to drink more, he recalled.
On June 15 he had been vomiting for three days and “drank about four liters that day and didn’t eat anything.”
“I kept thinking I needed to drink all this water to get rid of it,” he said.
“I’ve always tried to drink at least two liters a day, if not more.”
That night her husband called an ambulance that took her to the hospital.
His sodium level was 100 milliequivalents per liter, well below the recommended minimum of 135, and anything below this level was considered low.
Doctors said the cause of his low sodium level was from drinking too much water combined with medications he had been taking for recent minor colds, plus a mycoplasma infection.
Munro has now made a full recovery and knows she is lucky to be alive, but admits her memory of her ICU stay is still spotty.
Munro said doctors told him the cause of his low sodium was drinking too much water combined with medications he had been taking for recent minor colds, as well as a mycoplasma infection.
She says her time in the ICU is a little patchy in her memory, but she knows she’s lucky to be alive.
After a short follow-up period, he made a full recovery and is now back to full health, although he will not be able to drive for six months due to his seizure.
She said: ‘I know a blood test would have revealed it straight away.
There must be other people in the same boat.
“The blood test would have shown that the sodium level was very low, so it could have been detected earlier.
‘I think it will take a while to trust that everything will be okay. “It was like my body had a complete reset and I had to start over.”
