weird symptoms

December 6, 2000

a,

I can think of three possibilities. The first is that your night

sweats have become more severe in the past few months, so that you are

losing more water that way than you formerly did, and in fact are

losing enough water in part of a single night to lower your blood

volume into the range that will produce these symptoms. You can judge

whether this fits by how wet your bedding is, compared to how wet it

used to be before you got these new symptoms. I'm not sure what is

causing the night sweats. If you aren't running a fever, it may be

that your body is sweating to excrete a toxin.

The second possibility is that you have developed low blood volume

over the course of your illness, so that your usual amount of night

sweating depletes your blood volume to the point that you have these

severe symptoms. Low blood volume is common in CFS. It seems to

result from a problem with the hypothalamus, where the secretion of

arginine vasopressin (also known as antidiuretic hormone) is

controlled. If the secretion of arginine vasopressin is too low, the

kidneys dump too much water into the urine. The excess urination

produces lowered blood volume and constant thirst. (This is similar

to the mechanism in the disorder called diabetes insipidis.) You can

judge whether this possibility fits you by whether you have excessive

urination and whether you feel faint or have rapid heatbeat when you

stand, during the day. Low blood pressure on standing is another

indicator.

The third possibility is the more common type of diabetes, diabetes

mellitus. In this case, the glucose level in the blood rises above

normal, and the kidneys dump more water than normal because of an

osmotic effect. In this case, you will notice excessive urination and

constant thirst, together with having an elevated blood sugar level.

There are other things that can cause sweating, including overactive

thyroid (which is usually the opposite of what goes on in CFS), and

more serious diseases, including Hodgkins' disease, tuberculosis,

heart disease, cancer, pneumonia, malaria, and liver and kidney

disease, but I don't think you could impact them much by drinking

water, and they would have other symptoms, so I suspect that it's not

one of these.

Please note that I am not licensed to diagnose or treat disease, so

anything I suggest should be viewed simply as information to be

considered together with your doctor.

I hope this will help you to figure out what's going on.

Rich

> Hi,

> I have been having some new strange symptoms lately along with

all of my

> regular strange symptoms.) I experience alot of symptoms during the

night

> while sleeping. I have alot of apnea and palpitations that wake me.

Also, I

> have horrible night sweats that have been going on for at least a

year. I

> read in a previous post about the possibility of this being caused

by blood

> sugar problems. I always assumed it was infection in my case.

Anyway, over

> the past few months I have been awakened by a horrible thirst. In

fact my

> mouth is so dry I feel like I can't breath or speak. I get up and I

feel

> extremely weak with my heart racing and pounding. I get to the

bathroom and

> drink about a gallon of water (from the tap which I would never do

under

> normal; circumstances but I would never make it to the kitchen)all

the while

> gasping because I feel on the verge of passing out. My symptoms

usually abate

> after this and I go back to bed and right back to sleep. This was

happening

> now and then, maybe once every 5 - 6 weeks. Now it occurs about 3

times a

> week. I spoke to my doctor about it at my last visit and he said I

was

> probably having a panic attack. I disagree strongly on that point !

Anyway,

> my glucose levels have been slightly elevated on my recent

bloodwork. But,

> if it was blood sugar related would the symptoms just pass on their

own ? I

> mean all I do is drink water and wait to feel some strength

returning.

> Adrenals? Anyone have any ideas? I will mention it to my doctor

again but you

> know how that might go.... a

>

> " Do me a favor doc tell me something good. " Blair The

Exorcist

>

December 6, 2000

Hi a

What you describe sounds just like a low blood sugar event. If you have

reactive hypoglycemia it will not just pass and could eventually result in

diabetes. There are two types of hypoglycemia. Fasting hypoglycemia that

everyone can get if they get too hungry or reactive hypoglycemia which is

much more pernicious and can be very difficult to handle unless you learn

how to eat right. Dr. St. Amand says that 40% of his CFIDS/FMS patients are

hypoglycemic. I happen to be one of those 40%. You will not get better

without eating a diet for hypoglycemia. Your doctor is right this is just

like a panic attack. Many of us who were originally diagnosed with panic

attacks really were having low blood sugar trouble. It all goes away with

the proper diet.

Symptoms of Reactive Hypoglycemia include:

blurring vision

frontal headaches

IBS alternating constipation/diarrhea (for me it was all diarrhea for 10

years)

reflux

palpitations

sweats (especially night sweats)

gas

abdominal cramping

nervousness/irritability

foot/leg cramps

systemic candida symptoms

inside trembling

blacking out and/or fainting

feeling weak

nausea when hungry

anxiety

shortness of breath

fatigue

insomnia

nightmares

Acute anxiety

You can have some or all of they symptoms. I had most of them all the time

for almost 2 years. It was a nightmare.

I experienced the very same thing you describe night after night every night

for 2 years. No one could find anything wrong. None of the doctors I saw

even suspected my blood sugar. Even if they had a glucose tolerance test

only catches about 20% of people with low blood sugar and then most doctors

don't have a clue of how to treat it, if they even believe there is such a

thing as reactive hypoglycemia. Most doctors will tell you to eat sugar to

correct it and that is absolutely wrong! A diet high in protein and low in

carbohydrates corrects it. An excellent book is Ed Krimmel's Low Blood Sugar

Handbook. I got mine from Amazon. Dr. St. Amand in his book What Your

Doctor May Not Tell You About Fibromyalgia also has a wonderful discussion

of it as well as a good diet to follow. He has eaten this diet for 40 years

and at the age of 74 is a picture of good health even thought he had FMS.

One concern that I do have is the thirst. That is unusual for hypoglycemia

but is common in diabetes. Are you sleeping with your mouth open? Do you

drink copiously during the day or is that a once a night event? If you are

drinking a lot and voiding a lot I would suggest you get your blood sugar

levels checked right away.

I have gotten my blood sugar under control and no longer have the troubles

you describe. If you would like to know more just let me know

Gretchen

December 6, 2000

> Hi,

> I have been having some new strange symptoms lately along with all of my

> regular strange symptoms.) I experience alot of symptoms during the night

> while sleeping. I have alot of apnea and palpitations that wake me. Also, I

> have horrible night sweats that have been going on for at least a year. I

> read in a previous post about the possibility of this being caused by blood

> sugar problems. I always assumed it was infection in my case. Anyway, over

> the past few months I have been awakened by a horrible thirst. In fact my

> mouth is so dry I feel like I can't breath or speak. I get up and I feel

> extremely weak with my heart racing and pounding. I get to the bathroom and

> drink about a gallon of water (from the tap which I would never do under

> normal; circumstances but I would never make it to the kitchen)all the while

> gasping because I feel on the verge of passing out. My symptoms usually abate

> after this and I go back to bed and right back to sleep. This was happening

> now and then, maybe once every 5 - 6 weeks. Now it occurs about 3 times a

> week. I spoke to my doctor about it at my last visit and he said I was

> probably having a panic attack. I disagree strongly on that point ! Anyway,

> my glucose levels have been slightly elevated on my recent bloodwork. But,

> if it was blood sugar related would the symptoms just pass on their own ? I

> mean all I do is drink water and wait to feel some strength returning.

> Adrenals? Anyone have any ideas? I will mention it to my doctor again but you

> know how that might go.... a

>

> " Do me a favor doc tell me something good. " Blair The Exorcist

>

December 6, 2000