I've got a drinking problem.........

[soberholic]

This is a weird one, but surely other people are like this, and hopefully other people will help me out of this but..........plain water doesn't stop me being thirsty. I have to drink diet drinks all day long, either fizzy or non fizzy.

I've done a Vipassana course (a meditation retreat which is pretty difficult and includes only drinking water (some coffee or tea allowed) for 10 days, and I was thirsty for the WHOLE time. It's bizarre. I had my husband meet me at the end of the course with diet cola!

1. I do drink water also.
2. I drink coffee in the mornings - that's not ever going to change.
3. I drink about 5 to 6 litres of fluid every day, so it's definitely too much.

I want to cut the 'habit', but when I keep to just water it feels like genuine, extreme thirst. I tried to keep to water yesterday, but I became 'thirsty' and upon getting home my hubby bought a load of drinks for me (non caffeine or sugar drinks, like diet orange soda etc) - at my request.

So I'm back to square one. What is this? I don't have diabetes, my weight is fine (BMI 19), any ideas?

You're going to be doing your kidneys some serious damage drinking that level of fizzy pop every day 😬

Fizzy water is better with fruit added into it.

What’s your overall diet like?

I wonder if you are actually craving sweet things and because of the volume of sweetened drinks you have your brain equates that feeling with needing liquid not solids, so you are thinking thirst not hunger / craving?

You know when you're hungry and people
say well have a glass of water you might just be thirsty? You might have the reverse! 😂 have a banana

The fact you think that drinking some squash is going to cause you weight gain when you have a bmi of 19 suggests you might be hungry rather than thirsty.

Are you filling up on fluids to not eat as much??

I have a sodastream, but add cordial rather than the fizzy drink mixer.

I also wonder the same as other posters - are you in fact hungry, and flavoured stuff hits the hunger craving briefly as it tricks your body into thinking taste = calories. But there aren’t any calories, so the cycle just goes on with you feeling you need to drink more and more of it

Woah that's an insane amount to drink. How much water were you drinking on the retreat? How much do you actually eat a day?

I have a sodastream like a PP and add sliced fruit to my bottle, along with a squirt of lemon juice.

Much cheaper in the long run as well.

unnecessary bitchiness? Great look on you.

I drink plain fizzy water too - I count that as 'fizzy pop'.

I'm trying to get onto plain water.

Great advice here, thanks guys. I'll report back in a week.

Do you have a problem if I did?

@LunaandLily have a day off.

I have yes. Hence the username. I've got a family now hence sober

Last month and they're 10/10. No problems

When I go dry for a spell I’m mega thirsty, I suspect it’s giving up the booze that has caused this. Sparkling water is your friend

Unfortunately the alcoholism started about a decade after this.

I've recently had a baby, so I was dry for a long time! I'm ashamed to say the diet drink was harder to kick in pregnancy

This, Ice cold sparkling water is a real thirst quencher!

Are you on Sertraline or any other anxiety/ depression medication?
I'm always thirsty ( mouth always dry) but luckily water is my drink.. but l do have a artifical saliva spray too.

I think you are 'addicted' to artificial sweeteners and fizzy drinks. The combination feels extremely thirst quenching as you drink it, but it doesn't actually quench your thirst - and you may not even be truly thirsty! And diet drinks are one of the worst forms of UPF.

Artificial sweeteners spike your insulin just like real sugar, so I'd advise that you make a real effort to reduce/eliminate all sweet stuff, especially UPF, from your diet. For me this was life-changing.

I did it by initially drinking Robinson's blackcurrant and apple and reducing the amount over time. If the fizz is really important to you, use a Sodastream or similar. Secondly, focus on eating real, whole foods rather than processed stuff.

Two further suggestions - firstly, this short talk about sugar and the benefits of not consuming sugar or artifical sweeteners:

Secondly, The Blood Sugar Solution by Dr Mark Hyman. Explains the effects of sugar on our health and offers strategies for weaning oneself off it.

A friend of mine had these symptoms and she had diabetes insipidus ,different from diabetes mellitus,the more common one .