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January 23, 2007

Water Intoxication: Applauding a Nurse...

Bekaserdans72x722_8 Beka - I just read the news story about the young mother in California who died after suffering from water intoxication during a radio station contest.  (Click here) She had entered the contest to win a Nintendo Game Player, but in the process lost her life due to 2 gallons of water intake over a short amount of time.

The only time I have ever seen actual water intoxication was during my psych rotation as a student nurse a very long time ago! M. was a young, college graduate, 28 years old, and newly diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. My best friend (to this day), MJ, had been assigned to him and had developed a relationship of sorts. This was despite the fact that he heard “the ghosts in the hallways” informing him of x= y2, and his deceased mother speaking to him through the stained mirrors. As our student group entered the ward, cigarette smoke filled the dayroom like a fine mist, while the television blared. Indecent behavior and exposing oneself was not that uncommon on the ward. Neither were suicide attempts.

One evening prior to leaving the psych ward, M.J. and I noticed M. lounging by the drinking fountain. His past history indicated he had already tried to commit suicide twice before, once by self-hanging. The following week our instructor informed us that two of the ward patients were in the medical ICU, and one was M. He had never left the drinking fountain, guzzling down water along with his psychotropic medications that day, eventually collapsing and entering a coma. Final cause of death: water intoxication.

The cause of death of this young mother: water intoxication. Yet, there had been a phone call to the radio station by a nurse informing the DJs that one could die from excessive water intake. It appears that the DJs never heeded the nurse’s advice until it was too late. Now the local Sacramento police are listening. I praise this nurse for calling in to the radio station to provide a verbal warning about the risks involved with water intoxication. But the final circumstances surrounding this case are sad indeed.

Whoever you are, oh nurse, I applaud you!

January 23, 2007 in Beka | Permalink

Comments

Really it is useful message as a psychiatric nursing lecturer igot gratful message thank u as well as i want know nursing interventions thank u

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Posted by: SapKassawsHibDop | Jul 11, 2009 12:04:23 AM

Please see www.psych.uic.edu/news/new_schizophrenia_drug.htm
Dr. Goldman at UIC Dept of Psychiatry is currently in trial processes of a new drug he believes will block the vasopressin receptors in the brain, which after 10 years of research he believes is a major cause for water loading. I work as a tech on a psych unit, and I have also seen the ill effects of hyponatremia occurring in patients. The article states that the hippocampal region of the brain undergoes structural changes while the pt is suffering from schiz. This causes the hypothalamus to excrete the antidiuretic hormone vasopressin, which can cause a person to retain 20-30 pounds of extra water. Very scary. He is hoping this drug will have less of the ill side effects seen in Clozapine. Though only a facet of the problem, it could be a huge achievement if it works.

Posted by: Toni Leaf | Sep 28, 2008 11:51:59 PM

That's interesting..i never thought drinking water was dangerous

Posted by: | Apr 1, 2008 4:10:52 PM

I drink 2 gallons plus of water in an eight hour period. However, I go to the bathroom regularly (usually after consuming 64 fluid oz). Is there any danger of water intoxication resulting from this?

Posted by: Dan | Sep 11, 2007 5:39:31 PM

IF A PERSON IS IN THE HOSPITAL FOR 5 DAYS & ON I.V. THRU DAY & NIGHT,NOT ABLE TO URINATE, BECOMES MIXED UP IN HIS MIND, DIES WITH NO WARNING TO FAMILY, COULD THAT BE FROM WATER INTOXICATION??

Posted by: FRAN | Feb 4, 2007 10:27:03 PM

I am a psych nurse and have been for the last 25 years. What our colleague tells us is very true. The unit I work on is chronic schiz and water intoxication is a huge problem we have with our population. We monitor the drinkers by weighing them 4 times a day and there are some who can gain anywhere from 4 kgs from noon until 1600 or some can gain as much as 8-10kgs or more. How can you stop this? You can health teach all you want to this type of client, but the anti-psychotics they take makes them dry and they never feel hydrated so they continue to drink. Our Psychiatrist uses Clozapine as this tends to curb the drinking. Too much water can lead to unbalanced electrolytes, possible seizure and as stated earlier, death. We haven't perfected on how to stop our clients from water loading. The problem is real and all nurses should be on the watch for it. To the nurse who called the radio station, good work, unfortunately it went unheeded and caused a unnecessary death, from something we all need to survive.

Posted by: Randy | Jan 31, 2007 7:41:29 PM

I have for the last two years have had my daughter in law telling me that her brother drinks too much water and causes him to have seizures. He over drinks water excessively. Which is probably due to his mental status of being impaired and not being able to judge when he has drank to much. She gets very upset each time he ends up in the hospital because of this. I just had never heard of this before of over drinking water and causing a death. Now I too have learned something new.

Posted by: Judy | Jan 31, 2007 12:06:11 AM

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