Mum who drank four litres of water a day was 'slowly drowning herself'

Nina Munro, 41, drank around four litres of water in an attempt to "flush out" what she thought was a cold - but the excessive amounts of water flooded her system and she had a seizure

A mum-of-one narrowly escaped death after consuming an excessive amount of water, which led to dangerously low sodium levels in her bloodstream. Nina Munro, 41, ingested roughly four litres of water trying to "flush out" what she believed was a simple cold.

However, the large volume of water, coupled with the medications she was on for treating cold and flu symptoms, overwhelmed her system, resulting in a seizure. Nina, who was told by doctors that her survival was a miracle, spent five days in intensive care as medics worked to normalise her sodium levels.

Now a cautious government worker, she only drinks when thirsty, capping her intake at about 1.5 litres daily. "All the doctors didn't know how I survived it," she recounted.

"I was slowly drowning myself and I didn't even know it. 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 wouldn't let me leave [hospital] until my sodium level began to increase.

"I didn't see my daughter for five days, which was so hard. I didn't want her to see me in the state I was in. The first few days in ICU I couldn't drink anything and when I left hospital I was on a restricted 1.5-litre diet and naturally now drink less.

"They told me to drink for thirst only. They were investigating whilst I was in ICU for five days."

Six weeks prior to her hospitalisation, Nina started suffering from minor coughs and colds and felt generally unwell.

She recounted: "Our daughter is at kindergarten and she's always coming home with little bugs. She got laryngitis and lost her voice in May, and her daughter had pneumonia - which Nina unknowingly also caught a mycoplasma from.

"I also had a cold, earache and a sore throat, which I kept going to doctors for. I never felt like I had time to rest with the constant demands of parenting and work."

Nina saw five doctors over six weeks, receiving various medications and advice to increase her water intake. She explained: "I had three lots of steroids, three lots of antibiotics, nasal sprays and Nurofen, which also lowers your sodium - it was a perfect storm to lower my sodium."

Her condition deteriorated leading up to her hospital admission on June 15.

"I left a gym class as I felt I wasn't moving right," she said. "I went to a local hospital and they said 'drink lots of water' as they thought I was having withdrawals from the steroids."

The following day, she experienced a "haze" before her eyes, and despite advice to drink even more, by June 15, after three days of vomiting, she consumed around four litres of water without any food.

"I just kept thinking I needed to drink all this water to flush it out," she admitted. "I've always tried to drink at least two litres a day, if not more."

Her husband called for an ambulance that night, which rushed her to the hospital. Her sodium level was found to be 100 milliequivalents per litre - significantly below the recommended minimum of 135 - with anything under this considered low.

Nina was informed by doctors that her low sodium level was due to excessive water consumption combined with medications she had been taking for recent minor colds, as well as a mycoplasma infection. Nina's memory of her time in ICU is somewhat hazy, but she recognises how fortunate she is to have survived.

After a brief observation period, Nina, who hails from Queensland, Australia, made a full recovery and is now back to full health - although she is not permitted to drive for six months due to her seizure. She stated: "I know a blood test would have showed it up straight away. There must be other people out there in the same boat."

"The blood test would have shown the sodium level as being very low so it could have been caught earlier. I think it will take a while to trust that things will be okay. It was like my body had a hard reset and had to start up again."

The NHS advises individuals to consume six to eight glasses of water and other fluids daily - enough to ensure their urine is a clear pale yellow colour.

Story SavedYou can find this story in  My Bookmarks.Or by navigating to the user icon in the top right.