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Low Cholesterol / Nocturia

Messages
1
Hello all,

I'm not sure what is wrong with me and am hoping somebody can shed some light. I have low cholesterol (Total cholesterol = 110, HDL = 35) and frequent thirst / urination at night. I'm going to see a nephrologist in a couple weeks. Is there any correlation to these two things? I have been tested for diabetes. Daytime urination is normal. I pass about 5L of water in a day... 3L at night.
 

Misfit Toy

Senior Member
Messages
4,178
Location
USA
I also have low cholesterol, but not sure if frequent urination has anything to do with that. I have IC, so I also have frequent urination, but I don't think it's due to low cholesterol.
 

Eeyore

Senior Member
Messages
595
What you are describing warrants a thorough workup by a physician.

One possibility is diabetes insipidus (not related to diabetes mellius, which is what is meant when people just say "diabetes"). This is a disease where the body fails to produce or secrete vasopressin (aka ADH aka antidiuretic hormone). This generally leads to low blood pressure, polydipsia (thirst), and polyuria (urination). This can be due to damage to your pituitary gland or hypothalamus. ADH is made in the hypothalamus but secreted by the pituitary). You can ask your doctor to check your vasopressin levels - I think it's a test with an early morning window, so follow the instructions on timing.

I don't think this would affect cholesterol, but I'm not certain. Has your cholesterol always been low, or is this a new finding? It is possible it's a normal variant in you. Have you had basic blood work done (metabolic panel, cbc, lytes)? If cholesterol is very low, I would lookk at liver function. The liver synthesizes cholesterol.

Are you taking any new drugs? Any dietary changes? Any recent trauma, especially head? Is there any sign of yellowing of skin or the sclera (whites) of the eyes?
 
Messages
53
There are a few things to check:

- fasting glucose. If it's in the mid-high 90s you might want to do a glucose tolerance test. You might have pre-diabetes. I had and still have frequent urination and discovered I had pre-diabetes.

- it might be that the low cholesterol results in decreased hormone production in the adrenals, since cholesterol is the building block for these hormones. A hormone test could give you some answers.

- you might have an electrolyte imbalance. I found out that my calcium was occasionally high, and that my VitD 1,25 is too high for unknown reasons. I suspect this might also contribute to my urination, as it was made worse by taking VitD.

I don't have an answer yet, but these are some of the things I tested and discovered.