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WithdrawnNCT02330809Updated Mar 23, 2021

Drinking Extra Water for to Prevent or Decrease Headaches

An interventional study of Daily extra water intake and Timing of daily extra water intake in Headache, sponsored by ThinkWell. Withdrawn at 1 site in United Kingdom. Open to participants aged 18 Years and older. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2021-03-23.

Sponsored by ThinkWell · Not applicable, Interventional, and Prevention

Why this study was withdrawn
Study investigator retired and study not funded
Phase
Not applicable
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
0
Allocation
Randomized
Ages
18 Years and older
Sex
All
01

Study summary

The purpose of this study is to find out if drinking extra water helps people prevent or relieve headaches and hunger and, if so, what volume of water is most effective and when is it best to drink it?

Read the detailed description

If participants decide to participate in this trial, they will be asked to drink a specific amount of water at particular times of the day for 14 days. A computer will decide by chance the amount of water they will be asked to drink each day of the trial and the times at which to drink this.

There are different amounts and different times that people will be asked to drink water, this is so that the investigators can find out if there is an optimal volume of water to drink, and a best time to drink water to reduce headaches or hunger. The least amount of water the computer could ask participants to drink is half a glass (that is 4oz or 120ml). The largest volume of water the computer could ask participants to drink would be eight glasses of water a day (a total of 64oz or 2L) spread across the day (that is not all at once). Once the computer has assigned participants to a particular volume and times to drink water, these will remain the same for every day throughout the study.

Participants will be asked to provide some brief information about themselves at the beginning of the study (for example, age, sex, height and whether you exercise, smoke or not). During the study they will be asked to weigh themselves and record this, Their dietary habits and the amount they drink will be kept on a private and confidential page on the study website. They will be asked to fill in [2] confidential short surveys about how they feel and their views, one at the start and one at the end of the study.

02

Conditions studied

  • Headache

Browse trials for

Keywords

  • headache
  • hunger intensity
  • public led online trial
  • water intake
03

In context

Headache

762 studies on the registry are indexed under Headache; 134 are open to participants now.

Browse Headache studies →

Lead sponsor

ThinkWell is the lead sponsor of 9 studies on the registry; none are open to participants now.

Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
18 Years and older
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
No

Eligibility criteria

Inclusion Criteria

  • Any adult (defined as someone aged 18 or above) for whom advice to drink extra water is not .

Exclusion Criteria

General exclusions

  • \< 18 years of age
  • No personal email address
  • Pregnancy
  • Ecstasy recreational drug use

Exclusions Health Conditions

  • Impaired renal function
  • Chronic bowel problems
  • Low sodium levels
  • Diabetes insipidus
  • Schizophrenia or history of psychosis
  • Anorexia or bulimia
  • Congestive heart failure
  • Current chemotherapy treatment

Exclusions Concurrent Medications

  • Taking regular non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs
  • Diuretics (e.g. thiazides, indapamide, loop diuretics), also called "water tablets"
  • Anti-depressants: Selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors (SSRIs), Tricyclic and tetracyclic antidepressants (TCAs),monoamine oxidase inhibitor (MAOIs)
  • Anti-psychotics (e.g. haloperidol)
  • Anti-convulsants (e.g. sodium valproate, carbamazepine)
  • Cancer drugs (anti-neoplastic agents)

Implicit exclusions

  • People without internet access
  • People who cannot read
  • People without the ability to understand the website and documents
Terms in these criteria, in plain language(2)

Underlined terms in the criteria open these too. Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.

Contraindication

A reason a treatment, test or procedure should not be given to a particular person, such as an allergy, another illness or a medicine they take.

Informed consent

Before you join, the study team explains what taking part involves — its purpose, what happens, the risks and possible benefits — and answers your questions, so you can decide freely. Consent is usually recorded on a form (the informed consent form, ICF) signed by you or, where the law allows, by someone legally authorised to decide for you.

You can keep asking questions during the study, you are told of new information that matters, and you can choose to leave at any time.

05

Study design

Phase
Not applicable
Primary purpose
Prevention
Allocation
Randomized
Intervention model
Parallel assignment
Masking
Double (Investigator, Outcomes assessor)
Enrollment
0 participants (actual)

Study arms

  • Experimental
    Daily extra water intake 2L

    Timing of daily extra water intake intervention-A: extra water intake: 8 8oz glasses of water a day (2L) - 2 first thing in the morning before breakfast, 2 before midday or midday meal, 2 before afternoon meal and 2 before evening meal. Intervention-B: Drink extra water at anytime over 24 hours

    Other: Daily extra water intake · Other: Timing of daily extra water intake

  • Experimental
    Daily extra water intake 1L

    Timing of daily extra water intake Intervention-A: 4 8oz glasses of water a day (1L) - 1 first thing in the morning before breakfast, 1 before midday or midday meal, 1 before afternoon meal and 1 before evening meal. Intervention-B: Drink extra water at anytime over 24 hours

    Other: Daily extra water intake · Other: Timing of daily extra water intake

  • Experimental
    Daily extra water intake 500ml

    Timing of daily extra water intake Intervention-A: 2 8oz glasses of water a day (500ml) - each half an hour before a meals Intervention-B: Drink extra water at anytime over 24 hours

    Other: Daily extra water intake · Other: Timing of daily extra water intake

  • Experimental
    Daily extra water intake 120ml

    Timing of daily extra water intake Intervention-A: 1/2 a glass of water on waking (120ml). If you forget to drink your water first thing, do not drink it later in the day, just skip this day and drink ½ a glass the next day on waking. Intervention-B: Drink extra water at anytime over 24 hours

    Other: Daily extra water intake · Other: Timing of daily extra water intake

Interventions

  • OtherDaily extra water intake

    Amount of extra daily water intake to consume

  • OtherTiming of daily extra water intake

    Intervention-A: Timing of daily extra water intake specified Intervention-B: at any time during 24 hour period

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Reduction of headache frequency/intensity

    Online participant reported visual analog scales

    Time frame: Daily for 14 days

Secondary outcomes

  1. Hunger

    Online participant reported Visual analog scales

    Time frame: Daily for 14 days

  2. Mood Questionnaire

    Mood will be measured online using happy, sad, neutral faces

    Time frame: Daily for 14 days

  3. Body mass index (BMI)

    Participants will use an automated online BMI calculator

    Time frame: Baseline and day 14

  4. Wellbeing

    Patient Reported Outcome Measurement Information System (PROMIS) will be used to measure patient-reported outcome (PRO) for answers that patients provide to questions to produce numeric values which indicate patients' state of wellbeing or suffering as well as their ability or lack of ability to function.

    Time frame: Baseline and day 14

07

Study locations

1 site
  • ThinkWell
    Oxford, Oxfordshire OX4 4DN, United Kingdom
08

Updates

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Mar 23, 2021, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
09

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT02330809
Lead sponsor
ThinkWell
Responsible party
Sponsor
First posted
Jan 5, 2015
Start date
Feb 2019 (estimated)
Primary completion
Aug 2019 (estimated)
Completion
Nov 2019 (estimated)
Last update
Mar 23, 2021

Study contacts

Amanda J Burls, MD
principal investigator · ThinkWell and City University London
Amy I Price, PhD
study director · University of Oxford

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
Yes
FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
No
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

Not currently enrolling

This study is withdrawn, as verified in Mar 2021. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.

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Discussion

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