Re: Anxiety, Sleep, and Bedtime Dose of Armour

[Guest guest]

Barb wrote:

> If you resist drinking, I think that leads to

> dehydration, and your body would send more signals to wake you to try

> to get you to drink.

That is a very interesting point, Barb. I know my mother used to get

extremely ill from dehydration. Nauseous, even. Shaky, absolutely. She

ended up in the ER a few times from dehydration.

Until those times, I had not realized just how sick dehydration can

cause a person to be.

http://www.revolutionhealth.com/conditions/first-aid-safety/first-aid-treatment/\

dehydration/signs-dehydration

> Symptoms of mild dehydration include:

> Increased thirst.

> Dry mouth and sticky saliva.

> Reduced urine output with dark yellow urine.

>

> Symptoms of moderate dehydration include:

> Extreme thirst.

> Dry appearance inside the mouth, and the eyes don't tear.

> Decreased urination, or half the number of urinations in 24 hours

> (usually 3 or fewer urinations). Urine is dark amber or brown.

> Lightheadedness that is relieved by lying down.

> Irritability or restlessness.

> Arms or legs that feel cool to the touch.

> Rapid heartbeat.

> Symptoms of severe dehydration (even if only one of them is present)

> include:

> Altered behavior, such as severe anxiety, confusion, or not being able

> to stay awake.

> Faintness that is not relieved by lying down, or lightheadedness that

> continues after standing for 2 minutes.

> Inability to stand or walk.

> Rapid breathing.

> Weak, rapid pulse.

> Cold, clammy skin or hot, dry skin.

> Little or no urination.

> Loss of consciousness.

sol

[Guest guest]

Thanks Barb. I'm saving this post in my reference file.

My therapist has decided that sleep is my #1 issue right now (which it

is) and wants me to undergo a sleep study. I had one two years ago

and it was a joke, but, apparently, the guy that he uses is very good

and my therapist is a patient too. I told him that I thought that my

problem was mostly bio-chemical and nothing like apnea, and that the

doc was going to say that I was nuts taking the HC and Armour at night

and needed to stop it. He said that I would of course have to

disclose all but that we would at least have a lot more info about how

I am sleeping and what might be waking me up. I guess that I'll go

along with - have to talk my local doc into giving me a referral.

I haven't dreamt much for years but I have been having some here and

there since starting this whole thing. I can never remember them, but

what I do recall is that they're a bit disturbing. I've been seeing

those images that you referred to in another post too - maybe you're

right that they're partial dreams.

I think that you're right about the meaning of the anxiety - that I

need more HC and the best proof is how much more anxious and depressed

I have gotten since dropping the pred which cut my effective dose from

40 - 35mg. I probably wasn't on enough in the first place but I've

been holding at the imaginary line of 40mg for fear of permanently

suppressing the adrenals which I fear more than diabetes - only b/c it

seems a lot more likely, not because I don't fear diabetes. I really

hope that the Florinef does it's thing so that the the HC that I am

taking is more effective from now on.

With re: to tolerating Armour worse at night, since I'm on bigger

doses of HC during the day and the same dose of Armour for all 4 doses

with the smallest doses of HC at night wouldn't it stand to reason

that I would tolerate the T3 better during the day when there is more

cortisol available to use it? I don't know, that just occurred to me.

I'm probably wrong. As you said, being on enough HC in general

should take care of all and I'm probably not and haven't been yet.

I'm not taking the Klonopin for the anxiety, BTW, although as severe

as it has been the past several days I don't know what kind of shape I

would be in without it. Before all of this started I would take PRN

to help sleep once in a while. My docs got me taking it every night

months ago to help me sleep when that became problematic, and now I've

added the Lunesta which isn't keeping me down either. I was also

mistaken about the dose of Klono that I have been taking - I thought

that I was taking .5mg but the pills are 1mg pills not .5. That much

longer to wean when I can do it. Now is probably not the time though.

Thanks Barb and BW to DH. I hope that he sleeps tnite.

> , DH is my test subject for everything and much of what I base

> my knowledge on (besides copious research/reading). He suffered

> severe anxiety for years and was a light, fitful sleeper. I had no

> idea that he spent some nights in the family room reading. I have

> always been a heavy sleeper. Since starting HC and Armour (WITH the

> bedtime dose), he is now sleeping deeper and dreaming (when he is

> asleep). He still has occasional wake-up problems, but commented

> that everytime he has a wake-up, he's in the middle of a dream. I

> don't believe he slept or dreamt much before. I can also vouch that

> since raising my Armour, I feel I'm always dreaming too. REM sleep

> is ESSENTIAL to mental health, and the bedtime dose of Armour helps

> with that, by shortening stages 1 & 2 (superficial sleep), and

> lengthening stages 3 & 4 (deep sleep).