So....I'm 47 and perimenopausal, which is enough reason to have hot flashes and night sweats. However, I'm wondering, especially among the male Lymmies....are hot flashes and/or night sweats a common symptom of Lyme and other TBD?
They've really been bad lately.
Posted by JamesNYC (Member # 15793) on :
Night sweats are a signature symptom of Babesiosis. So is insomnia. I'm not sure about hot flashes, but most of us have had the other 2.
Have you been tested or diagnosed by a LLMD?
James
Posted by Pinelady (Member # 18524) on :
Gahagan I was told I was premenopausal, night
sweats, but not hot flashes. Since starting tmt. I
have gotten normal menses.
Posted by ukcarry (Member # 18147) on :
It is indeed hard to tell what's menopause-related and what's babesia etc when it comes to hot flushes and sweats.
I've tried natural remedies for menopausal symptoms without result and Mepron, Zithromax, Artemisia and Artemisin, cryptolepis for babesia, also without result, so I'm none the wiser!
I suspect that the hormone changes exacerbate the effects of the tick-borne infections.
Posted by AnnaL (Member # 18464) on :
I got sick when I was 29--certainly too young for menopause. Hot flashes and night sweats made me MISERABLE for over a year.
I remember once being in a restaurant and having the worst hot flash. It was winter, so I went outside and used wet paper towels to cool my face and neck. Everyone in the restaurant no doubt thought I was insane.
I also would sweat through my pajamas. I often had to change clothes during the night.
Posted by sixgoofykids (Member # 11141) on :
I started getting hot flashes and night sweats (drenching) when I was 39. I'm now 46 and better from Lyme, haven't had either since I got better. I think for those of us with Lyme it's probably more likely to be infection related, but probably hard to tell.
At 39 prior to diagnosis, my gyno told me it was natural/hormonal.
Posted by Curley911 (Member # 2205) on :
I had menopause at age 34 and I've had Lyme for a LONG time. I know the insomnia and sweats started w/the menopause but they also went away with hormone treatment, I didn't know the old fashioned hormones were bad.
I finally went off of them for years and sweat so bad it was horrible. At 42 I as dx'd w/lyme and babesia and could account for the sweats and insomnia.
However, NOTHING ever made those go away except to go back on hormones again. This time as natural as possible.
The treatment for babs was not effective for this so I really believe it was all hormonal.
My point is there are no certainties and the more accounts you hear can help you decide what direction is best for you.
I was having a hot flash so bad one day my glasses were sliding down my nose and a client said "You're having a hot flash". Geez!
Posted by Gahagan (Member # 21194) on :
James, Yes, I am being treated by an LLMD in Hermitage, PA. I mentioned the sweating/flashes and he seemed to think it was menopause related. I was just wondering what you all have experienced. They are just so bad...
I have tested positive for Rocky Mt. Spotted Fever, Coxackie B virus, Epstein-Barr virus, and toxoplasmosis. My understanding is that the RMSF is tick-borne, but the others are not. I don't know if I have all this because of a compromised immune system or what.
I've tested negative for Lyme, babesia and a bunch of other things. I've had several blood tests, including those from Igenex. I realize that this does not mean I don't have Lyme, etc.
In fact, my symptoms are more Lyme-like than RMSF-like. Go figure.
Curley, I totally understand your feelings about a client making that comment. lol I have to warn my patients that I'm having a hot flash because if I don't they think I am seeing something horrible on the monitor (I'm an ultrasound tech). lol I've stopped wearing make-up because there is no sense putting it on. It just wipes off with my sweat. (Not that I wore that much in the first place). I fix my hair in the morning only for it to become soaked during a flash and then go flat,curl and frizz in all directions and look like I got caught in a monsoon.
Top that off with a constant thermostat battle with the co-workers and my work days are just lovely. *note the sarcasm.
Posted by nefferdun (Member # 20157) on :
Don't forget bartonella causes hot flashes. It is like you just stepped into a furnace, but you do not have the profuse drenching sweats or fever. It also causes insomnia and headache among other things. And mood swings. I thought I was having post menopausal symptoms when it was bart. My legs hurt especially my shins and I had muscle twitching and cramps so bad it felt like my ligaments were snapping. My eyes were so dry and sensitive that I believed the pharmacist had accidently doubled my estrogen and I went to 4 different pharmacies trying to "correct the error" which I was convinced was being passed along in the "recipe". The doctors dismissed me. One year after being diagnosed with lyme I was diagnosed with bart. It is a battle. I try to make people aware of the possibility when they have similar symptoms. The labs only test for two strains and there are over 30, according to my LLMD, so you need to be diagnosed by symptoms.