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My teenager has been very ill with ME and POTS. He's been housebound and mostly bedridden this last year. He's also been having bad night sweats for a long time. This has gradually gotten worse...and the last 4-5 months it's been so bad that I've had to change his bedding every day as it's been soaking wet. Even his mattress topper has been wet.
His doctor decided to give him Propranolol 20mg x3 daily a couple of weeks ago. The effect this has had is unbelievable! The excessive sweating has stopped, his bed is now dry in the mornings, and he sleeps a lot better. His energy level is greatly improved and he now only stays in bed to sleep at night. He has gone outside with friends twice this last week, only for half an hour, but still...
I found this article, published last week: Antiadrenergic autoimmunity in postural tachycardia syndrome: http://europace.oxfordjournals.org/...euw154.full?ijkey=yNgpIRCkIFYHg6X&keytype=ref
My son was found to have prolonged QT intervals* and increased STVQT (short-term variability of QT interval) on EKG just before he started taking the Propranolol. I'm now wondering if he might have autoantibodies that stimulate adrenergic receptors, and that this might actually be affecting his heart. I asked his doctor about this and he said it is possible, but they won't be able to test for these antibodies yet, as this is still at the research stage.
I'm really surprised over how well my son responds and I'm wondering if the positive effects the beta blocker's had can tell us something about the cause of his illness?
What could be the cause of night sweats when it's improved by taking beta blockers?
If someone's heart is negatively affected by adrenergic autoantibodies would beta blockers actually be preventive or could the antibodies still be doing damage?
(*Prolonged QT duration heightens risk of developing long QT-associated arrhythmias and sudden cardiac arrest.)
His doctor decided to give him Propranolol 20mg x3 daily a couple of weeks ago. The effect this has had is unbelievable! The excessive sweating has stopped, his bed is now dry in the mornings, and he sleeps a lot better. His energy level is greatly improved and he now only stays in bed to sleep at night. He has gone outside with friends twice this last week, only for half an hour, but still...
I found this article, published last week: Antiadrenergic autoimmunity in postural tachycardia syndrome: http://europace.oxfordjournals.org/...euw154.full?ijkey=yNgpIRCkIFYHg6X&keytype=ref
My son was found to have prolonged QT intervals* and increased STVQT (short-term variability of QT interval) on EKG just before he started taking the Propranolol. I'm now wondering if he might have autoantibodies that stimulate adrenergic receptors, and that this might actually be affecting his heart. I asked his doctor about this and he said it is possible, but they won't be able to test for these antibodies yet, as this is still at the research stage.
I'm really surprised over how well my son responds and I'm wondering if the positive effects the beta blocker's had can tell us something about the cause of his illness?
What could be the cause of night sweats when it's improved by taking beta blockers?
If someone's heart is negatively affected by adrenergic autoantibodies would beta blockers actually be preventive or could the antibodies still be doing damage?
(*Prolonged QT duration heightens risk of developing long QT-associated arrhythmias and sudden cardiac arrest.)