Patients with low-level, chronic water intoxication are often asymptomatic, but may have symptoms related to the underlying cause.
Severe hyponatremia in acute or chronic form may cause osmotic shift of water from the plasma into the brain cells. Typical symptoms include nausea, vomiting, headache and malaise. As the hyponatremia worsens, confusion, diminished reflexes, convulsions, stupor or coma may occur. Since nausea is, itself, a stimulus for the release of ADH, which promotes the retention of water, a positive feedback loop may be created and the potential for a vicious cycle of hyponatremia and its symptoms exists.
A feedback loop can also be created by severe thirst, which is a symptom of some hyponatremic individuals. When these people consume large quantities of water without an adequate increase in sodium, the hyponatremic condition worsens.
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