Story out of Winnipeg, Manitoba:
A Winnipeg mother says her 23-year-old daughter died from drinking too much water after she used the illicit drug MDMA.
Last February, doctors told Linda Kyrzyk a combination of thirst-inducing MDMA and drinking too much water caused her daughter Leanne Germain's brain to swell, killing her.
"I just remember yelling, how do you die from drinking water?" said Kyrzyk. "It's just something you can't believe."
Kyrzyk said her daughter was at a small house party on a Saturday night and was found unconscious the next morning.
By piecing things together with information from Leanne's friends, Kyrzyk said she learned her daughter took, at most, one pill of MDMA, also known as ecstasy or molly, and then didn't feel well. She said people checked on Leanne until everyone went to bed.
The next morning she wasn't breathing and her friends called 911.
Leanne was in the coma for two days before doctors told the family she was brain dead.
Dangerous short-term effects of MDMA can include: dehydration, increased thirst, higher body temperature and sweating. Health officials recommend taking a person under the influence of the drug to the hospital when they complain of extreme thirst or overheating.
Dr. Claudio Rigatto, an associate professor of medicine, said it can occur when there is an imbalance of salt and water in the body.
"When the water amount is too much, another way of saying that is the concentration of salt is too low. What happens is the water starts entering into cells," he said.
It's especially concerning if the brain swells, he said.
"What happens is it has very little room to swell before it starts increasing the pressure inside the brain, and when this happens, it decreases blood flow," said Rigatto.
The family didn't know about water intoxication with MDMA or ecstasy use.
"Just be careful, think about your friends and family," said Laura Germain. "I will never be the same." Cont.
Story from - CBC News
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