Excessive thirst is an abnormal feeling of always needing to drink fluids.
Alternative Names:
Increased thirst; Polydipsia; Excessive thirst
Considerations:
Drinking lots of water is usually healthy. However, the urge to drink too much beyond a certain limit may be the result of 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. It is often the reaction to fluid loss during exercise, or to eating salty foods.
Common Causes:
A recent salty or spicy meal
Bleeding enough to cause a significant decrease in blood volume
Drugs such as anticholinergics, demeclocycline, diuretics, phenothiazines
Excessive loss of water and salt (possibly due to not drinking enough water, profuse sweating, diarrhea, or vomiting)
Loss of body fluids from the bloodstream into the tissues due to:
Conditions such as severe infections (sepsis) or burns
Heart, liver, or kidney failure
Psychogenic polydipsia, the result of a mental disorder, is a condition causes a person to drink too much
Home Care:
Because thirst is usually the body's signal to replace water loss, it is usually appropriate to drink plenty of liquids.
A very strong, constant urge to drink may be a sign of a psychological problem, which may mean psychological help is needed.
For thirst caused by diabetes, follow the prescribed treatment to properly control blood sugar levels.
Review Date: 1/18/2007
Reviewed By: Benjamin W. Van Voorhees, MD, MPH, Assistant Professor of Medicine and Pediatrics, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL. Review provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network.
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Internal Medicine
