Hi everyone,
I used to post on this forum several years ago, but fell out of touch after losing my health insurance policy and being unable until now (finally!) to obtain it and figure out my crazy health problems. I have my first doctor appointment next week with my new insurance policy, so... yay!
To make a long history of health problems short, I'm going to say that I struggled with many, many, MANY symptoms for years. I was misdiagnosed with CFS and Fibromyalgia before having them ruled out due to underlying conditions causing the symptoms. Then I had an ANA test done which was positive at 1:320 with a homogeneous and speckled pattern, which remained consistently positive at this level. An auto-immune disorder was suspected (I've got an aunt with 'borderline' lupus, and my grandfather is now being treated for lupus, and my mother is suspected as she has joint swelling, arthritis, and interstitial cystitis), but my doctors were at the time leaning more toward the neurological side, as I've got orthostatic hypotension (and was actually diagnosed with Neurally Mediated Syncope), but this stuff doesn't begin to explain ALL of my problems. It seems that every system in my body is faulty, and my last doctor thought that the neurological problem was another symptom of an overall cause, rather than the cause itself. She was leaning toward an auto-immune disorder. But, I was dropped from my insurance policy as I went over the maximum age limit to remain on a parent's policy (22), and was unable to obtain insurance due to pre-existing conditions.
I've got an appointment next week to begin this process all over again, which isn't a moment too soon. My symptoms have been wild lately. But my number one complaint right now, outside of the fatigue, is how dehydrated I am. No matter what I do, I'm dehydrated. My neurologist thought that maybe I wasn't drinking enough water, and then later thought maybe I was drinking TOO MUCH water and not getting enough electrolytes, so he put me on a high-sodium diet and had me switch from water to Gatorade. This didn't help. I've tried everything - eating a lot of sodium, eating little sodium, drinking 8 glasses of water, drinking 8 glasses of Gatorade, avoiding coffee, alcohol, soda, or anything else that causes you to be dehydrated... it doesn't matter what I do. I can feel how dehydrated I am inside my body, which is a terrible feeling. On top of this, my skin is incredibly dry (when I get out of the shower after shaving my legs, I run right for the lotion and Vaseline because the itching and burning caused by shaving is unbearable... I've tried every kind of shaving cream, razor, lotion, etc, and my skin is just too dry and sensitive), my nerves in my feet are next to dead (neurologist said this was most likely caused from dehydration, and also the same nerve fibers that cause my blood vessels to fail to act when standing, resulting in low blood pressure), my hair is dry and damaged and falls out in ENORMOUS clumps, I absolutely have to stay out of the sun or my face gets incredibly dry and the skin flakes off - even if I don't burn... every doctor I've ever gone to has noted that I appear dehydrated. My fevers get dangerously high, and they say this is due to dehydration. When I had a laparoscopy to diagnose endometriosis, they were so concerned about my being so dehydrated that they almost admitted me to the hospital for the night, and refused to let me leave until pumping me full of 3 bags of fluid and making me drink 3 bottles of water and some juice. I pee a lot - everything I drink seems to just run straight through me without doing what it should. The thirst is incredible. I produce tears and saliva just fine, so it's not Sjogren's. But, I am ALWAYS THIRSTY! Always. I always have to have ice cold water available. I've become a gum addict to lessen the thirst feeling. I also always had high protein in my urine, which they said is common when you're dehydrated.
This stuff isn't just an inconvenience. Having to drink so much fluid and use the restroom after while I'm at work or in public... it's definitely interfering with my life. If dehydration is the cause of my neurological symptoms, I have to wonder what is causing the dehydration?
Has anyone experienced this?
Post Edited (Kel84) : 9/24/2010 9:59:40 AM (GMT-6)