you were told to drink little water in the first 24 hours???? That's strange....I was told (and I believe many others were told) to drink PLENTY of water as soon as I swallowed the RAI - and was told to continue drinking plenty.
I was not able to leave the hospital after my rai for like 3-4 hours, but in that time I was told I HAD to drink at least 3 or 4 bottles of water before leaving. They had so many cases of water there, which was to be given to those having RAI.