Re: Night Sweats & Depression

[Guest guest]

I can speak to the sweats (I am only peri-menopausal myself) but the awaking in

fear sounds like it might be a blood sugar issue.

I was wakening nearly every night and often I'd been either angry (at nothing

much) or very anxious feeling.

Eating a protein snack before bed seems to have stopped the anger/anxiety.

It took a while, but with more iodine/salt and thyroid, and now I seldom even

wake up in the night.

Jaye

>

> For MANY months I have woken up in the middle of the night with my

> clothing and sheets wet from sweat. At times I could feel the sweat

> pouring out of me. I am 62 and long past menopause.

>

> I have been on Iodoral for about 6 months. The last 2-3 months at 200

> mg per day. I have also been using LDN for about a year being at 4.5 mg

> per day for the last 6 months.

>

> I also take many vitamins and minerals. I continue to take them: at

> least a dozen a day.

>

> The night sweats are also accompanied by my waking up with a horrible

> sense of doom (my finances are awful right now and are of great concern)

> and depression. I have also lost my appetite. (not all bad, I needed to

> lose weight anyway.)

>

> I got very involved in a project last week and the time passed so

> quickly I forgot my LDN (I usually take it 1-2 PM in the afternoon) I

> switched to the afternoon dose about 2 months ago. I seemed to have no

> afternoon " low " by taking it at this time, but I crashed early (going to

> bed by 8-9 PM)

>

> I wondered if the Iodoral at 200 mg was now too much. No side effects,

> no herx reactions anymore (and I cut back on my sea salt.) So I cut it

> in half 2 days ago, about the time I decided not to take the LDN.

>

> WOW! No more night sweats and I sleep like a baby. I also can stay up

> late and sleep hard and long. I no longer suffer from the fear and

> depression I had two days ago (and for the last year!!!)

>

> I cannot afford any testing. I rely on reading posts to this group and

> experiment. Any input? Ideas? Suggestions? Is it the LDN or the Iodine?

> Or BOTH?

>

[Guest guest]

Teddy,

I think you might have misunderstood Jaye's blood sugar comment, interpreting it

to mean HIGH blood sugar, based on your response to it.

My interpretation of Jaye's comment is that it meant LOW blood sugar, based on

the comment about eating a protein snack before bedtime so that LOW blood sugar

doesn't trigger an adrenalin surge which causes feelings of anxiety or anger.

Therefore, Jaye's suggestion to eat a protein snack before bedtime makes

perfectly good sense to me.

Perhaps an even better solution might be to eat some cheese at bedtime because

cheese contains both protein plus a little bit of fat for sustenance in addition

to its milk sugar content which helps to induce sleep if falling asleep is ever

a problem.

OTOH, if you suspect that discontinuation of LDN might be the cause of the

problem, you would probably get better answers in the LDN group. However, I

seriously doubt that iodine could be the source of the problem -- although you

are right that your unusually high dosage (200 mg) of iodine might be something

to consider as well. Usually, changing only one variable at a time (iodine

dosage OR LDN, but not both variables) is the best way to figure out what's

causing what -- if the bedtime snack idea doesn't remedy the problem for you.

> > >

> > > For MANY months I have woken up in the middle of the night with my

> > > clothing and sheets wet from sweat. At times I could feel the sweat

> > > pouring out of me. I am 62 and long past menopause.

> > >

> > > I have been on Iodoral for about 6 months. The last 2-3 months at 200

> > > mg per day. I have also been using LDN for about a year being at 4.5 mg

> > > per day for the last 6 months.

> > >

> > > I also take many vitamins and minerals. I continue to take them: at

> > > least a dozen a day.

> > >

> > > The night sweats are also accompanied by my waking up with a horrible

> > > sense of doom (my finances are awful right now and are of great

> > concern)

> > > and depression. I have also lost my appetite. (not all bad, I needed to

> > > lose weight anyway.)

> > >

> > > I got very involved in a project last week and the time passed so

> > > quickly I forgot my LDN (I usually take it 1-2 PM in the afternoon) I

> > > switched to the afternoon dose about 2 months ago. I seemed to have no

> > > afternoon " low " by taking it at this time, but I crashed early

> > (going to

> > > bed by 8-9 PM)

> > >

> > > I wondered if the Iodoral at 200 mg was now too much. No side effects,

> > > no herx reactions anymore (and I cut back on my sea salt.) So I cut it

> > > in half 2 days ago, about the time I decided not to take the LDN.

> > >

> > > WOW! No more night sweats and I sleep like a baby. I also can stay up

> > > late and sleep hard and long. I no longer suffer from the fear and

> > > depression I had two days ago (and for the last year!!!)

> > >

> > > I cannot afford any testing. I rely on reading posts to this group and

> > > experiment. Any input? Ideas? Suggestions? Is it the LDN or the Iodine?

> > > Or BOTH?

> > >

> >

> >

>

>

[Guest guest]

Teddy,

If I read your message correctly, it sounds to me as if the higher dosage of

iodine was helping you, so you might want to go back up to that dosage. While

probiotics might help to some degree, the higher dosage of iodine might have

been helping even more with your GI symptoms, depending on which pathogens

and/or toxins you have in the GI tract -- and there's really no sure way of

determining that because stool cultures only reflect aerobic bacteria since it

is too costly to culture the anaerobes in routine stool cultures.

For example, there can be an overgrowth of anaerobic clostridia in the small

bowel which produces toxins, and these clostridia toxins are known to be capable

of causing either severe diarrhea or the opposite - the failure of peristalsis

and even paralyzation of the bowel. However, the bacteria which inhibit

clostridia are anaerobes (forgot the name of the species at the moment) which

are NOT included in any of the commercial probiotic products.

Afterall, it's very hard to create probiotics from anaerobic bacteria because

exposure to oxygen kills these ultra-sensitive anaerobic bacteria, making it

very difficult to encapsulate them. They are killed instantly by oxygen in the

air almost as soon as the bottle is opened. It's just not commercially feasible

to produce and sell these anaerobes as probiotic products.

It is reasonable to assume that iodine would help to control the overgrowth of

clostridia so that those friendly anaerobes (whose species name eludes me

momentarily) could regain their rightful place in the GI flora. You see,

clostridia species are faster growing than these other friendly anaerobes. It's

all a matter of " competitive inhibition. "

Oh wait, I just remembered the name of the friendly slower-growing anaerobes

which are called BACTERIODES. Once this species becomes re-established, then

they crowd out the growth of anaerobic clostridia species which are notorious

toxin producers. Not everything which folks commonly think of as a " candida "

overgrowth problem is actually candida. These GI symptoms can be caused by an

overgrowth of wrong bacterial species (especially clostridia) in the small bowel

also.

This discussion probably belongs in the OT forum if you wish to continue it

further, but I will conclude here by saying I'd be inclined to bet on the higher

dosage of iodine as PROBABLY being more beneficial for you than any probiotic

products (or yogurt), based on your description of your previous experience at

that dosage level.

Whether kefir might work better than yogurt is anybody's guess. Not everyone

tolerates kefir, but you could give that a try. If you don't tolerate it, then

STOP taking it. Likewise, some people have better luck with a special probiotic

product called Saccharomyces boullardi although it can be problematic too for

some people, so don't push your luck if you have trouble with it, and do take

the precaution of working up on it very gradually if you decide to give it a

trial.

Whatever you do, I would NOT risk taking any of the " soil based organisms " .

While SBOs have worked well for a few people, they have been known to cause

serious problems for others. I prefer to err on the side of caution when it

comes to matters of this nature by avoiding all SBOs.

Therefore, why not just stick with iodine since you have already had a positive

experience with it?

>

> Maybe I did. My BP has ALWAYS been right about 125/70 (an almost always

> higher in a doctors office) I take advantage of the BP stations at

> WalMart regularly. Yes it fluctuates and it usually takes me 2-3

> retries to get a " good " reading. I am under a lot of stress and react

> easily (and strongly) to negativity in my life, hence my BP can

> initially read as much as 145/90 on the first reading. A few deep

> breathes (and inner meditation) always lowers the BP within 2 more

> readings. Even though I drastically changed my diet and now stay away

> from most " standard " doctors, without exercise (other than passive

> stretching, and slow walking due to me knee problems) it stays the same.

>

> My " significant other " for many years convinced me meat was bad. It was

> not hard to convince me as the store bought meat I bought had less and

> less taste, more and more fat. Then in visiting friend in Wyoming years

> ago, I was convinced to try Elk, Venison and ranch raised beef. I LOVED

> it and continue today (as I can afford and obtain it) to eat at least

> one meal a week of organic red meat (and I snack on beef jerky.) I have

> never been a poultry fan, but lamb and a few others do appeal to and

> agree with me, but are more difficult to obtain.

>

> I adore good cheese, but I RARELY can find any labeled organic that I

> like, so I do cheat with the non-organic (Asiago is my favorite, I have

> NEVER found it in an organic form) now and then. Suggestions on more

> easily found cheeses from organic sources? Organic yogurt is easy to

> obtain and I love it (plain or often with organic berries.)

>

> Stopping th LDN (at least on the afternoon schedule) has made a big

> difference: some night sweats and no more " nightmares. " I have not taken

> any more LDN in several days now. Lowering my Iodine (from 200 to

> 100mg/day) is the only other thing I changed, but now my bowel movements

> are back to be infrequent (even with probiotics). Wouldn't yogurt

> and/or cheese help? Logic tells me so, but it is not happening. I wish

> I could afford the blood tests that would tell me more.

>

[Guest guest]

Yes,

You are correct about what I meant by " blood sugar " . In fact, cheese is my

preferred snack before bed!

Jaye

> > > >

> > > > For MANY months I have woken up in the middle of the night with my

> > > > clothing and sheets wet from sweat. At times I could feel the sweat

> > > > pouring out of me. I am 62 and long past menopause.

> > > >

> > > > I have been on Iodoral for about 6 months. The last 2-3 months at 200

> > > > mg per day. I have also been using LDN for about a year being at 4.5 mg

> > > > per day for the last 6 months.

> > > >

> > > > I also take many vitamins and minerals. I continue to take them: at

> > > > least a dozen a day.

> > > >

> > > > The night sweats are also accompanied by my waking up with a horrible

> > > > sense of doom (my finances are awful right now and are of great

> > > concern)

> > > > and depression. I have also lost my appetite. (not all bad, I needed to

> > > > lose weight anyway.)

> > > >

> > > > I got very involved in a project last week and the time passed so

> > > > quickly I forgot my LDN (I usually take it 1-2 PM in the afternoon) I

> > > > switched to the afternoon dose about 2 months ago. I seemed to have no

> > > > afternoon " low " by taking it at this time, but I crashed early

> > > (going to

> > > > bed by 8-9 PM)

> > > >

> > > > I wondered if the Iodoral at 200 mg was now too much. No side effects,

> > > > no herx reactions anymore (and I cut back on my sea salt.) So I cut it

> > > > in half 2 days ago, about the time I decided not to take the LDN.

> > > >

> > > > WOW! No more night sweats and I sleep like a baby. I also can stay up

> > > > late and sleep hard and long. I no longer suffer from the fear and

> > > > depression I had two days ago (and for the last year!!!)

> > > >

> > > > I cannot afford any testing. I rely on reading posts to this group and

> > > > experiment. Any input? Ideas? Suggestions? Is it the LDN or the Iodine?

> > > > Or BOTH?

> > > >

> > >

> > >

> >

> >

>