Mom Tries to 'Flush Out' Infection by Drinking Massive Amount of Water, Ends Up in ICU: 'I Was Slowly Drowning Myself'

Mar. 15, 2025

Nina Munro, her husband, Ken, and their daughter.Photo:SWNS

SWNS

A mom ended up in the ICU with dangerously low sodium levels — the result ofdrinking too much water.

Nina Munro, 41, was struggling with a respiratory infection and, along with taking medication, increased her water intake in an attempt to “flush out” the illness, she toldSouth West News Service, viaThe Daily Mail.

Munro, of Queensland, ended up having a seizure — the result of water toxicity — and had to stay in the ICU for five days.

“Doctors later told me they didn’t know how I survived it,” Munro told the outlet. “I was slowly drowning myself and I didn’t even know it.”

Nina Munro with her husband Ken.SWNS

Water toxicity can occur when someone drinks water faster than their body can process it, leading to dangerously low levels of sodium and other essential nutrients.

For Munro, it started in May when she gotlaryngitis. Then Munro caught amycoplasma infectionfrom her daughter.

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

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She ended up being prescribed an array of medications which, along with the increased water intake, lowered her sodium levels.

“I had three lots of steroids, three lots of antibiotics, nasal sprays and Nurofen [a brand of ibuprofen].”

Nina Munro had been taking various medications before her hospitalization.SWNS

In early June, she said she felt “I wasn’t moving right,” as she left a gym class. Concerned, Munro went to the hospital where “they said ‘drink lots of water’ as they thought I was having withdrawals from the steroids.”

The next day, she said she developed a “haze” over her eyes, but was advised to drink more water.

By the time she was admitted to the the hospital on June 15, she had been vomiting for three days, and “drank around four liters [of water].”

“I just kept thinking I needed to drink all this water to flush it out.”

Blood work showed that her sodium levels were 100 milliequivalents per liter — far below the lowest acceptable amount, according to theMayo Clinic.

“A normal blood sodium level is between 135 and 145 milliequivalents per liter (mEq/L).Hyponatremiaoccurs when the sodium in your blood falls below 135 mEq/L.”

Nina Munro with her daughter.SWNS

Symptoms of hyponatremia include nausea and vomiting, confusion, restlessness, headache, seizures, and coma.

Treatment generally includes medications and intravenous fluids — as well as temporarily cutting back on fluids.

For Munro, she says doctors told her the medication she was on, coupled with her water intake, “was a perfect storm to lower my sodium.”

source: people.com