Night Sweats

[adamsmom]

My son is 2 with HFI. He has had night sweats every night for a long time. They are only on his head and don't seem to bother him. Six months ago we had a visit with his specialist and they ran blood work. Everything looked good and the doc said there were no dietary changes needed. Any input/advice?

[ukbill]

This seems to be quite common occurrence with us. usually it is a result of a little or a lot too much Fructose.

I get them even now even when trying to be really careful to remain as low Fructose as I can.

At one time (before I took control of cooking my own food) I was having to change the bed 1/2 way through the night because the bed was soaked through.

I felt all right not really too hot but sweat just poured out of me.

I was hot last night and had had a meal out with thick cut chips which was about the only fructose containing food in the meal (Mixed Grill) although there might have been a little in the Curing salts for the gamon.

If its not bothering him and his bloods are OK I would not worry but use it as an indication as to how low or high his diet is.

I suspect though it will only indicate the fructose ingestion for say 12 hours before though, no real reason why but I know how long it takes me to recover from a minor incident.

Hope this helps?

[rachael]

My son is 3 and has HFI. Sweating is almost always a sign that he ate something with fructose. In fact, it's usually the only way that I know that he ingested fructose. It's much better now that his diet is under control. Do you know what labs the doctor is checking? Are you sure that the diet is fructose free? Did you recently introduce any new foods?

[jenn123]

My daughter also gets sick if she is low on water, it's a little too warm outside, if she has a touch of a cold. All these result in her having symptoms. Things are under control enough where her numbers have come back as normal, but she does have symptoms that are uncomfortable from time to time.

[ukbill]

Low on water.. interesting.. thought it was only me.

Yes for some reason getting low on water seems to bring on a Hypo with me also. Particularly when I was young.

I have been putting it down to the Fructose produced when we convert body fat back into energy.. not certain however but usually if I'm short of water its because I've been working hard!

Perhaps its the increase in concentration of Fructose Phosphate in the blood as a result of being dehydrated, or because when we are dehydrated we are not using our kidneys so much and our kidneys produce a tiny amount of good Aldolase B and if they are not filtering blood then they are not removing the Fructose phosphate?

Or a mixture of these?

Very interesting all the same

[jenn123]

I think that salt intake also contributes to symptoms/dehydration. I have been advised to be sure salt intake is moderate. Also, I have the small cartons of whole milk by the bed at night and as my daughter sometimes has troubles around 2 or 3 a.m. She drinks one of these and falls back asleep immediately. Lol - the dog loves them too when she can get a hold of them.

[adamsmom]

I keep Adams diet pretty safe and basic. He eats plain Greek yogurt, chicken, milk, cheese, egg noodles with butter, Annie's mac and cheese, the occasional french fry (very rarely), and safe crackers. I don't know all of the things his doctor tested for. I do know they did a full panel and the one thing I know they checked were liver enzymes levels. One was in the normal range and the other was 1 point above normal. I do find the salt intake scenario interesting. I do put a bit of salt on his food because he loves it and asks for it all of the time. I know that limiting salt intake in non-hfiers is important. Should it be even lower in people with HFI? If so, why?

[lucky]

Hello adamsmom / others,

In addition to night sweats being caused by fructose ingestion (and resulting in potential hypoglycaemic symptoms) please also consider:

* Low vitamin D levels *

(Vitamin D deficiency)

Head sweating is a hallmark symptom of vitamin D deficiency and often overlooked (not tested) in lab work.

It is easily corrected, but blood work needs to be done to identify levels beforehand. It is a very important vitamin for many reasons. You will need to know if it’s been recently checked in order to rule it out as the cause of the head sweating.

Perhaps look into dangers of vitamin D deficiency and discuss any concerns with your child’s specialist.

Also...

Salt intake.

Sweating can cause electrolytes to go out of balance resulting in salt in the body to be depleated. If so, a natural response might be to increase salt intake to compensate.

Look at your child’s pillow to see it there are dry white stains on it in the morning. Or... on their shirt collar (or if the rim of their collar is slightly bleached a bit -losing a bit of colour). Both are signs that the body is losing salt through sweating. If so.. it’s important to tell your child’s specialist.

Frequent or nightly sweating can cause dehydration and electrolyte imbalance. This needs to be monitored to ensure it does not happen. It can be dangerous (heart function ++) if left unchecked. Again, check with your child’s specialist if concerned.

And... among a host of other issues, blood sugar has a hard time balancing if dehydration is present.

So..

Vitamin D deficiency’s sweating symptom can cause dehydration and/or electrolyte imbalance... which may also ultimately affect blood sugar balance. If you look up each of these symptoms separately, you will see how many symptoms are involved with each above (google: symptoms or dangers of vitamin D deficiency, electrolyte imbalance, dehydration, blood sugar/dehydration). That’s a whole lot of potential issues (within each category) that can stem from one thing triggering another... and then more again. Like a domino affect.

Vitamin D counts are often mistakenly overlooked.

Hope some of this helps.
Lucky 💕

[ukbill]

Lucky that's very interesting.

I do take a vitamin D supplement and providing it actually contains the vitamin specified (many vitamin products when tested are wildly out of spec on the content list) I should be getting 2 or 3 x the minimum recommended level.

However I do drink an awful lot (tea mostly) and eat a lot of salty food products (ham and salami mostly which I nibble as a snack) besides salt these also have levels of Potassium and Sodium Nitrite which I know are cancer causing.. but what can I do?

I would NEVER recommend the salt substitutes that are sold as "LOW SALT" etc.. these substitute Sodium with Potassium.. too much potassium and it really can stop your heart! Not good.. also our kidneys are pretty good at removing Sodium salts naturally but I'm not too sure how they can handle excess potassium.

Sometimes I get very very thirsty particularly if I have had a large Gammon Steak or a lot of home cured bacon for example. This leaves me feeling quite uncomfortable for about 24 hours after which I spend a lot of time getting rid of the excess fluid every 30 min or so I do not feel the same if I drink the equivalent quantity of beer or water when I've not had too much salt and my kidneys efficiently start to get rid of the excess fluid after about 45 min or so if I was not dehydrated when I started.

My partner Karen says she has noticed that I "run Hot" if I have had a lot of protien a few hours before bed time. Usually it will take about 4 hours of being asleep before suddenly I turn into a very hot water bottle.

This is not always associated with night sweats though I can run hot and not be excessively sweaty.

Possibly none of this is relevant but unless we discuss weird stuff then how can we discover links or specifically no links which can be equally informative, after all we are all different is many ways.

[lucky]

Hi ukbill,

Nice to hear from you. Hope you are well. 😊

The problem with vitamin D requirements is that you may be taking the supplement but it might not be high enough to keep your D3 levels in a safe zone. Or... you may not be absorbing it properly. No way to know without it being checked through blood work.

I wouldn’t question the quality control of the D3’s purity... but rather the individual’s ability to absorb it and/or the nation’s current standard for proper daily levels. Years ago, our nation realized that the acceptable norm for D3 intake was simply too low to keep people in a healthy range. It has since been modified.

So, unless you request D (D3) to be added to a blood test (or just have it tested alone) you will not know if you are in a proper healthy range. And that’s even if you are currently taking it as a daily vitamin.

Vitamin D (vitamin D3) is best absorbed naturally through sun exposure. But for those in our type of climates, it’s not possible to maintain proper levels through out the year without aid from vitamin D3 pills or drops. And... not to forget that sunscreen alone blocks 98% of our skin’s ability to convert the rays into D3. So really, drs should be careful to monitor D3 levels on occasion.

Anyone interested in more in-depth info can scroll through some of my past posts.


Here’s a quick thread I responded to:
hfiinfo.proboards.com/thread/1674/recovering-hypoglycemia-work

[adamsmom]

Adam has an appointment November 8 with his specialist. I can ask about the vitamin D test. He does get 100% DV in his vitamin and drinks a ton of milk but it is still worth looking into.

[antonia]

I feel like before eliminating fructose we were in this cycle of sweating/dehydration/hypoglycemia all the time that Lucky describes so well. Now we only experience it mostly in times of illness, especially illness with fever. But also when there is a lot of activity or exposure to high temps during the summer months, Palmera really “feels it” more than other people do.

One thing that really helps my daughter have better nights is to eat a snack immediately before bed. She even recognizes it now, saying it does help her sleep, and will eat a little something even if she’s not feeling that hungry. And we never ever restrict water like some parents do as a method of keeping their kids dry through the night.

[ukbill]

antonia try her on a "milk shake" of full fat milk (4%) and yogurt in the ratio 50/50 to 70/30 depending on how thick you want it. and add in a little raw uncooked cornflour.

Not so much as it makes it too powdery in taste though.

This is used by people with Glycogen Storage Disease to regulate their children's blood sugar overnight. The Corn Flour starch (which is what white cornflour thickening is) is very slow to break down taking 8 hours or so.

Its breakdown product is pure glucose, this is adsorbed through the gut (I believe the gut is permeable to glucose the mouth and throat skin certainly is) and directly supports your blood sugar level.

Do not over do it though or drink a hot beverage shortly after.. as I did when testing it.. I felt full for about 3 days after because I had a huge congealed lump of the stuff in my stomach!

Yes well I'm stupid sometimes.. Ok maybe more than sometimes

Get it right and you feel really warm and full of energy for at least 6 hours no matter what heavy physical activity you are upto, with absolutely no sign of a Hypo at all.

Too much and I had a powdery mouthfeel for many hours and was very hot almost feverish but so full of energy!

This would be great before going skiing, sledging or working hard outdoors on a cold snowy day..

So only give a little to a child planning on sleeping... a couple or 3 heaped teaspoons is more than enough, if you want to be allowed to sleep yourself.

Hope this helps )

[antonia]

Thank you for this. She sleeps quite well but this would be something to try before a heavy activity. Biking, skiing, hiking, these are all things she likes to do but I’ve noticed they really take a toll on her after. Or even a day out on the town or running around at the zoo will do it to her too.

I’ve read about these corn starch shakes before but it doesn’t make intuitive sense to me that a refined starch would digest slowly. I guess the reason is because it’s raw? I know that the more al dente we cook our pasta and rice the lower its glycemic index so this makes sense. Can you use any type of starch or does it need to be corn?

Before activity we always try to make sure her meals or snacks are balanced between carbs, protein and fat. This seems to stick with her better. My husband is diabetic and this is what he was told to do by the nutritionist whenever eating carbs, to eat them with protein and fat too will slow digestion and, thereby, slow their release as sugars into the bloodstream, lowering the glycemic index.

[ukbill]

According to the advice, I read, to parents of children with Glycogen Storage disease (who use this to save having to wake their children up to feed them every few hours) Corn Flour is the slowest to break down in its raw state..

Yes I think this would be different if the starch was cooked.. but then that would make an awful lot of thick soup or milk shake if it was cooked.

Do not over do the amount of Cornstarch start small and work up.

Hard boiled eggs are great as an emergency food supply along with a pack of plain salted crisps (chips) I also buy packs of ham that are either no sugar (very hard to find these days) or state Dextrose and content of less than 0.5g per 100g Sugar.

Be careful of labeling these days they frequently state sugar content of a "normal serving" of say 2 slices not 100g so you can find you have something with 2 or 4 times the sugar content you were expecting.. not nice.

If you can find sugar free bacon (streaky is best for this) gently pan fry it or slowly grill until crispy. Cool and bag up in sealed plastic bags. This can keep safely for several days and provide essential energy and salt if say hiking for a few days.

Hope this helps?

[adamsmom]

Adam has been doing better with his night sweats. I cut out the extra salt I was giving him and feed him more before bed. They did not do blood work at his last appointment so his Vitamin D wasn't checked. I will keep monitoring him but it has gotten better. Thanks for all of your input. All of the info on here has really been a life saver.