'Water poisoning': Woman hospitalised after drinking 4 litres of water for 12 days

A woman in Canada has said she was hospitalised after drinking four litres of water for 12 days as part of a viral “75 Hard” social media challenge, which involves drinking a gallon (about four litres) of water regularly for 75 days.

Michelle Fairburn talked about her experience in a TikTok video explaining how drinking excessive amounts of water made her feel unwell. The mother and real estate agent in Toronto suspected she had a case of "water poisoning".

Water poisoning is a condition caused by drinking excessive amounts of water, and can be fatal in the most extreme cases.

Sharing the video on TikTok on the 12th day of following the viral challenge, Fairburn said she didn't feel good when she was going to bed the night before and had woken up several times in the night to go to the toilet. She added that she couldn't eat, was nauseous, felt weak, and had been "on the toilet all morning."

"I'm doing the 75 Hard, so I'm drinking an excessive amount of water," Fairburn said in the video. "I don't know what to do."

Later that day, she shared another update saying she had consulted a doctor who diagnosed her with severe sodium deficiency and suggested she go to a hospital.

"Sodium deficiency actually can be fatal," Fairburn said in the second video. "So now I'm going to the hospital and they're going to check everything and then apparently they can raise my sodium gradually."

She said she was going to continue working out but had been told she had to drink less than half a litre of water per day.