my period is due just abotu any day now....but what i've noticed THIS cycle coming now, is that i must be retaining more water this time around, than before, because, i don't urinate so much....what's NORMAL for me, is say, to drink a large 8 oz. glass of water, and have to REALLY urinate within say, an hour......bt NOW, that's all changed, suddenly, just this cycle coming up.
I don't necessarily feel more "watery", although i do feel puffy from time to time, it seems as though i get all puffy, and a distended belly one minute...and then, it'l disappear....

but what i guess i'm noticing this time, is the lack of urine output.....now the other day, Sunday, when i ran to the ER in panic, because the left side of my abdomen was aching quite a bit, and this was after the magnesium citrate sodium laxative thing i did on Thursday......so i thought something had happ. to my intestines...but the doc at the ER told me that my urinalysis showed there wasn't enough water intake! hhhhmmmmmm.................. well, yeah, since that laxative night, i really coudln't drink much at all, bec. it made my stomach hurt, and distend, which can't be normal.....so by the time i went to the ER 3 days later, i guess i hand't taken in much water.....but, i noticed this a little before this too, about a week before or so.....that my urine output was getting less, and felt sort of HOT......but that would still be within 2 weeks of your period, when i know, you start retaining water..

does anyone here get this,? if so, how long before you actually start your period, do you start retaining water, and can you tell because your urine output is less?

thanks guys!!!! sincerely, MyDarling

Mydarling,
It's quite normal for people to bloat up during the week before their period & it can vary from month to month. If you have salty foods you can also retain more water. Celery has a diuretic effect. You could try drinking more to flush out your system.

Could be that you not yet up to par and your body is still trying to replentish itself after the bout with the magnesium and all the fluids you lost. I know that I urinate more the week before my period...no idea why.

Yes with PMS>I will feel dehydrated, dry as a bone but yet I am drinking. I also went to the ER once and they told me the same, I went home, drank almost a gallon of water in 24 hours, still felt no better. Back to the ER where they gave a IV with fluids. I will only feel bloating in my abdomen area no swollen feet etc. I think I'm retaining in my uterus since I will bled alot afterward.
No don't know what the heck is going on!

Snowmoon, I am exactly the same. I can drink and drink, and my tummy bloats, but no extra trips to the bathroom, although now I have learnt to enjoy nights of not getting up with the fluid retention, as it is better at night time, but a day or two before AF arrives, I start running to the toilette every 15 mins to half and hour with or without fluids, and that means AF is going to arrive.

It's been that way for me all my menstrual life, so I am used to it, but it is horrid bloating in the tummy.