What is Polydipsia: Causes and Symptoms

Polydipsia is a medical name for the feeling of extreme thirstiness. Polydipsia is often linked to urinary conditions that cause you to urinate a lot. This can make your body feel a constant need to replace the fluids lost in urination. It can also be caused by physical processes that cause you to lose a lot of fluid. This can include sweating during exercise, eating a high-salt diet, or taking drugs that cause you to pass a lot of fluid, such as diuretics.

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Causes

Polydipsia can be caused simply by not drinking enough water after you lose a lot of fluid. If you sweat a lot or drink certain fluids, such as coffee or green and black tea, you’ll often feel extremely thirsty as your body seeks to replace the fluid that’s been lost. Dehydration due to not drinking enough water is also a common cause of polydipsia. You can feel this whether or not you’ve been sweating or urinating a lot. Polyuria, a condition in which you pass abnormally large amounts of urine, can also cause polydipsia.
Other recorded causes of polydipsia include:

• certain medications, such as corticosteroids or diuretics in pill form, such as water pills
• consuming a lot of salt or vitamin D in foods or drinks
• boredom or anxiety that causes you to drink a lot of water due to nervousness, which has also been observed in horses and dogs

Symptoms

The most obvious symptom of polydipsia is a feeling of extreme thirstiness. This symptom is especially noticeable when you feel this way even after you’ve already drunk a lot of water.Other common symptoms of polydipsia include:

• passing abnormally high amounts of urine (more than 5 liters a day)
• a persistent feeling of dryness in your mouth

Drinking too much water can also lead to water intoxication, which is sometimes called water poisoning. This condition happens when you drink excessive amounts of water. Doing so can dilute the amount of sodium in your blood and lower your blood sodium to dangerously low levels, also called hyponatremia. This can cause symptoms such as:

• headaches
• feelings of dizziness or disorientation
• muscle cramps or spasms
• unexplained seizures