Sleep/wake and hot/cold cycles causing sleepless nights

[Zuriel]

Hi,

Anyone has any experience on the above? Any suggested remedies which might help?
My doctor is not taking my complaints seriously. Very angry & sad. Why is this happening?

 

[paddygirl]

Hi,

Anyone has any experience on the above? Any suggested remedies which might help?
My doctor is not taking my complaints seriously. Very angry & sad. Why is this happening?

Hi Zuriel,

I don't blame your anger and sadness, just be careful who you tell. I was dismissed for so many years and suffered so greatly it makes my blood boil. I was told it was overwork, menopause etc etc

The very natural anger and grief you feel will be twisted and turned against you by the amateur psychiatrists who don't have the imagination to understand what this illness does.

Sleep is critical to you and I would make that a priority. The waking and light sleep and sweating are hallmarks of ME/FM.

I'm sure many other knowledgeable people on this site will answer with practical advice later in the day. I rely on Tramadol slow release 150 mg for pain and sleep tabs when I need them. Very basic. There are sure to be many other things to help.

I hope you get some relief soon.

Paddy

 

[alex3619]

Hi Zuriel, many long term patients with ME/CFS have problems with sleep/wake cycles, and so do a few new patients. Some find answers, and some don't. Do you have more details on these issues? We might be able to advise you better. Options include rotating sleep medications, melatonin, light therapy and adapting to the problem.

I am less certain I could provide advice on hot/cold cycles. I rarely experience the problem, though not never.

If you are worried about putting these things publicly on the thread, please pm me if that would help and I can advise you privately on how to get more information.

Best wishes,
Alex

 

[heapsreal]

antidepressants that work on noradrenaline like cymbalta etc can make u sweat alot more then normal and disrupt sleep, something to look into??

cheers!!!

 

[August59]

Hi alex - Right now I'm going through a hot\cold phase with it mostly hot. I sweat continuosly and have the feeling that my skin is in a oven. I've had sleep problems for a few years as in completely out of cycle.

Zuriel - Is a sleep study possible in Australia?

 

[alex3619]

Hi august59, most if not all capital cities in Australia have one or more sleep labs. I got the burning skin issue on Immunocal, it might be about antioxidant status. Bye, Alex

 

[heapsreal]

hot and cold could because our circadian rythym has gone whacky as well so in the middle of the night our body starts pumping out cortisol etc and wakes us up and makes us sweat etc. I still get incidents where i just sweat perfusely for no reason but mainly just the head area. It might be an adrenal type of a burst like a car spluttering along. Also maybe a hypoglycaemic type of an episode, limit refined carbs at night and maybe some protein before bed too.

CAn get sleep studies in australia very easily but they only seem interested in sleep apnea etc if u have insomnia they just give u a pamphlet on sleep hygiene and get rid of u.

 

[August59]

antidepressants that work on noradrenaline like cymbalta etc can make u sweat alot more then normal and disrupt sleep, something to look into??

cheers!!!

I've been wondering lately how adrenal fatigue affects our noradrenaline levels. I would think that a SNRI like Cymbalta would have a hard time being effective if there is no noradrenaline to re-uptake. I've taken Cymbalta a couple of different times with vitually no effect whatsoever. About 4 years ago I was on 80mg of Prozac and it had no effect either. I didn't even have the dreaded sexual side effects. The only antidepressant that I have taken that actually had any effect was Celexa and it turned me into a zombie and it definitely had sexual side effects. I might have problems with my P450 whatever you call it.

 

[August59]

hot and cold could because our circadian rythym has gone whacky as well so in the middle of the night our body starts pumping out cortisol etc and wakes us up and makes us sweat etc. I still get incidents where i just sweat perfusely for no reason but mainly just the head area. It might be an adrenal type of a burst like a car spluttering along. Also maybe a hypoglycaemic type of an episode, limit refined carbs at night and maybe some protein before bed too.

CAn get sleep studies in australia very easily but they only seem interested in sleep apnea etc if u have insomnia they just give u a pamphlet on sleep hygiene and get rid of u.

My head area is definitely a focal point too. I think our hypothalmus just takes a terrible beating from CFS and is a likely reason we have such wide ranging symptoms.

 

[heapsreal]

i think some who get anxiety its from adrenaline and noradrenaline as its trying to compensate for low cortisol, cortisol is like a long acting adrenaline and adrenaline is short acting and used for times of fight or flight, if the fight or flight go's on longer then a few minutes to an hour?? then cortisol is suppose to ramp up to help us keep fighting etc I also think the adrenal glands splutter and carry on shooting out bursts of cortisol here there and everywhere because they are knackered. I think this is the idea of low dose cortisol for short periods to help the 'adrenals' to 'rest', but also the adrenals are governed by the hypothalamus which is off on a tangent in us as well. I find antidepressants over stimulating and cant tolerate them, possibly worsen adrenal fatigue if u already have it.

 

[meadowlark]

I get streaks of this several times a year. For the last two months, I wake up after three or four hours in a hot sweat from the neck up and icy legs and feet. On other nights, it's chills all over. I manage to get back to sleep, but the misery inevitably wakes me again. After I've been awake for an hour, the sensation ends and my ever-present migraine begins, though I still get sudden heat-perspiration attacks to my skull throughout the day. (The migraine stops whenever this begins.) I had to get to the eye doctor this afternoon, dragged myself in, and my hair was so wet from feverishness/sweating that she asked me if I'd just been swimming.

I wish I could suggest a solution ... I have none, other than a very hot bath to combat the chills. (Works for me, but I know some patients have a problem with hot baths.) But so you don't feel so isolated, I think many PWC endure this. I'm of an age where hot flashes are a thing of the past ... and these are much, much worse.

 

[alex3619]

Hi meadowlark - hot flashes, I'm a guy but even I would have to say I have occasionally had symptoms I could call hot flashes. ME/CFS messes with temperature sensing and regulation at many levels, we are only just beginning to figure this out. Bye, Alex

 

[Nico]

YES. I go to bed wearing pj's , scarf, hat sometimes, and a sweater. Wake up hot (of course). However, before that "dress code" - a couple of years back - I would get night sweats. I told this to Dr. Bell. Dr. Bell said that the night sweats was "normal" part of the CFS.

 

[yurybx]

Anyone have any new information on hot/cold cycles? For the past six months I have been waking up every night from the cold. At the same time, when I go to bed, I feel hot. I even set the heater to turn on at 3am, but that doesn't fix the problem. My TSH, T3 and T4 levels are normal.