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Thirst - excessive

Definition

Excessive thirst is an abnormal feeling of constantly needing to consume fluids.

Considerations

Drinking lots of water is usually healthy. However, the urge to drink excessively beyond a certain limit may reflect an underlying disease, either physical or emotional. Excessive thirst may be a symptom of high blood sugar (hyperglycemia) and can be an important clue in detecting diabetes.

Excessive thirst is a fairly common symptom and is often the reaction to fluid loss during exercise or intake of salty foods.

Common Causes

  • A recent salty or spicy meal
  • Excessive loss of water and salt (possibly due to water deprivation, profuse sweating, diarrhea, or vomiting)
  • Diabetes mellitus
  • Diabetes insipidus
  • Drugs such as anticholinergics, demeclocycline, diuretics, phenothiazines
  • Bleeding enough to cause a significant decrease in blood volume
  • Loss of body fluids from the bloodstream to the tissues due to:
    • Conditions such as severe infections (sepsis) or burns
    • Heart, liver, or kidney failure
  • Psychogenic polydipsia

Home Care

Because thirst is usually the body's signal to replace water loss, it is usually appropriate to drink plenty of liquids.

Compulsive thirst may indicate a psychological cause, which may mean psychological help is required.

For thirst caused by diabetes, follow prescribed therapy to properly control blood sugar levels.

Call your health care provider if

  • Excessive thirst is persistent and unexplained.
  • Thirst is accompanied by other unexplained symptoms such as blurry vision and fatigue.
  • You are passing more than 5 quarts of urine per day.

What to expect at your health care provider's office

The health care provider will obtain your medical history and perform a physical examination.

Medical history questions may include the following:

  • How long have you been aware of having increased thirst?
  • Is it consistent during the day?
  • Is it worse during the day?
  • Did it develop suddenly or slowly?
  • Has your intake of salty or spicy foods increased?
  • How much salt do you consume each day?
  • Have you changed your diet?
  • Have you noticed an increased appetite?
  • Have you noticed an unintentional weight gain?
  • Have you noticed an unintentional weight loss?
  • Has your activity level recently increased?
  • What other symptoms are occurring at the same time?
  • Has there been a recent burn or other injury?
  • Have you noticed an increased or decreased frequency of urination?
  • Have you noticed an increased or decreased amount of urine produced?
  • Have you noticed bleeding?
  • Have you noticed excessive sweating?
  • Is there swelling?
  • Is there a fever?

A psychological evaluation may be recommended if compulsive thirst of psychologic origin is suspected. Fluid intake and output will be closely monitored.

Diagnostic tests that may be performed include the following:

Illustrations

Insulin production and diabetes
Insulin production and diabetes

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