WHY the water retention happens!

I like to think i've got it all figured out most of the time, but now i am REALLY confused.

I am a classic Adrenal Fatigue Mom.
In 2009 i began the road to Menopause, i was 44, ( my Mom stopped having periods at the age of 47).

So one night in July of 2009 i woke up FREEZING! i am in El Paso TX. so it is hot in
July, and at night i only have the fan on, not the AC and am only covered with a sheet.
So after thinking i was dying, having been chilled to the bone, i had to remind my self that this
happened after my Daughter was born when i was 40.
Anyway, i covered myself with the Quilt and fell asleep with my teeth chattering only to wake up an hour later
sweating.
I dont get night sweats OR Hot Flashes... (just that one night)
i started getting Hypoglycemia, Panic Attacks, Insomnia and gained about 2 pounds a week until i reached A 30 POUND WEIGHT GAIN! in a 6 months.
Okay, i know its water because i eat small hypo meals and that and always kept me slim, but what i dont get is this...
but before i continue, let me say the insomnia, panic attacks and gain have stopped,
only the Hypo is still here, well, and the INCREDIBLE FATIGUE AND GRUMPY RAGE are here.
I contributed the fatigue to the Fibromyalgia i have had since i was 19  (when i caught the Epstien Barr Virus)

Also i get out of breath, WAY out of breath.

So here is my Question;    i read that when your are stressed, in my case Hormone loss ( Adrenals jump in to help) and that the Adrenals produce too much Aldosterone and thus the water retention.
I understand that, and i thought that meant you pee out lots of Potassium because of the high Aldosterone, hence the water retention. Because in the begining of this nightmare i peed and peed, yet got bigger.!

But now i am reading that in the first stages of Adrenal Fatigue, you lose sodium and would benefit from Sea Salt.
I cannot tolerate Potassium supplements, which is what i thought i needed, in fact it makes my Low Blood Sugar WORSE!
What the heck? and now i read the last thing we need for AF is Potassium!

So what is REALLY happening here?  when i eat too much salt, which i CRAVE badly, i am more puffy the next day. Same thing when i drink more water.
I take lots of Vit  C because it helps my Fibro ( EBV )

I am confused, please someone tell me WHAT is behind the EXACT Mechanism of the Water Retention!

I am going on my 3rd year now, and expect to get better as this has happened before ( having child at 40 )
but i want to know what i can do to help the water go out....you know, peeeeeee!

I    AM   WAITING  to peeee !

after the birth of my girl, it took 1 year and 7 months to lose the water, but that was only 17 pounds back then.
Be patient? or what?
I am doing Deep Breathing when i can remember to.

No Hormone replacement for me.

Must i just wait till the Hormones ( Estrogen/Progesterone) balance out and the Adrenals dont need to help out so much?


Thanks, anybody help?


Wendy.

[rumpled]

Sodium and potassium work in tandem - and in most people when sodium rises, potassium falls. If you have Addison's or AI (discounting the AF factor here) that is a crisis when sodium drops too low and potassium spikes. In some people, both drop.

If you drink a lot of water, you basically *wash* out electrolytes - that includes sodium Na and potassium K. So while you should drink, if you drink to the point where your pee is clear, it is not healthy. Normally Na and K balance themselves.

Have you had renin and aldosterone testing? Water retention can be a lot of things - sometimes oddly, not enough fluids so the body holds on to what it can. It can also be kidney disease or something serious - so I would see a doctor.

[sugarsmommie]

I had the salt craving and some of the same issues as spoken above. Long story short....am being treated as end result after Pituitary surgery back in 2004 & 2009 & Gamm Knife a year ago...for Diabetes Insipidus. The desmoprssin is a WONDER drug!! I hope somehow that info might be of some help to 30PoundsMore. :o)

[kevieb]

i wonder if you are hypothyroid.  if you ask to be tested, they will most likely do a TSH and a free T4 and then IF it happens to show that you are low, they are likely to put you on levothyroxine.  2 things that NEVER clear up on levothyroxine are dry skin and water retention.

I live in idaho and i am going to see a doctor in connecticut--that is how desperate i am to get the right kind of help.  this doctor was a thoracic surgeon and turned his attention to studying balancing the endocrine system and he has patients from all over the United States.  he has helped my sister and her daughter, both.

It is  very common to have a combination of low cortisol and low thyroid--but none of the thyropid tests are accurate, and unless you have cushings or addison's, low cortisol isn't recognized--secondary adrenal insufficiency caused by pituitary problems can be recognized sometimes by a blood test.  i was diagnosed that way--but then a second endo changed my diagnosis and took me off hydrocortisone and for some reason my armour was dropped in half---to 30 mgs--which is basically doing nothing.

I get cold really easy, i am also hypoglycemic, i have arthritis that started pretty young, muscle pain that we have been calling fibromyalgia for about 12 years, i am on an emotional roller coaster all the time, i get anxiety and depression--but i can't tolerate antidepressants---and i have to pee all the time--but i still retain water--you can see it in my knees--they bulge out at the bottom, my ankle bones have squishy bulges in front of them, there are also other partws of my feet that i can see look puffy.

I would recommend trying to find a doctor who would be willing to put you on a natural thyroid medication and be willing to treat you until the symptoms disappear---and ignore the tests---probably pretty hard to find, but you might get lucky.  oh yeah, my temperature has always been about a degree below normal, but i recently tried doing the basil axillary temps in the morning to check for low thyroid.  one morning i was as low as 96.4.

i'd be willing to bet money that you have a thyroid problem along with an adrenal problem---i wouldn't wait for progesterone and estrogen to balance themselve out because you could very likely end up with alot more than those two out of balance as time goes by.  i can't seem to maintain a normal testosterone level for a woman for some reason.   I know this new doc is testing aldosterone, which has never been tested before.  i am anxiously waiting for my test result next week.  sorry for all the rambling--but i just wanted to give you a few things to think about and consider.

[30poundsMore]

Thanks everybody,
My kidneys are fine, lungs, heart, and i went through the Thyroid tests years ago, i did em all, T3, T4, Antibody, TSH you name it, all okay.
Thyroid off a little when pregnant but went back okay.


All is fine, just Adrenal Fatique.

I read the other day the Vitamin D might help.  That's D not b.
in order to reduce Aldosterone, i am gonna try it.

No Drugs for me, been there, done that.


Thanks all,

Wendy.

[rumpled]

Did you diagnose your um, AF using cortisol tests - and was your cortisol high at night by any chance? That is more indicative of Cushing's syndrome - the weight gain, insomnia, panic attacks etc fit that.

I was high at night and low during the day. It was awful.

[30poundsMore]

Yes,
high Cortisol during the Night AND Day.
My panic attacks were every hour on the hour, & i woke up in the night, every hour on the hour,
THANK GOD all that is resolving, i went 5 hours the other night when i was in bed, without eating, and 4 hours of straight sleep!!!
I am taking Vit C now for the Adrenals, i have heard it is supposed to be ESSENTIAL.
I read also that Vit C lowers the Cortisol levels.

I havent tried the Vitamin D for the Aldosterone to bring it down,
but i have a feeling that will resolve itself as well, just tierd of waiting.

Wendy.

[kevieb]

i sent you a message with a link--wasn't sure if we were allowed to put links on the forum posts

[Waterbegone]

Hi, can you give me the doctors name in CT?

[Waterbegone]

Hi,
I have really high aldosterone and gained 20 lbs in 9 months! All fluid...my dr has me on adderall (adderrall) for orthostatic edema but I think adderall (adderrall) caused my fluid retention even though it was supposed to cure it!
Anyone know how to lower aldo?
Do u find research on vit d to lower? I also try sea salt but think this makes me retain more fluid. Do u have high pulse when standing? I do now- its over 100 when standing - but low norm blood pressure and normail renin --could be adderall (adderrall) causing dehydration and pulling to much fluid out of my body or my drinking reverse osmosis water- flushing all electrolytes, sodium out of system so Aldo increases to keep from hypovelmic blood? Does think make any sense? I am at my wits end with all this fluid! Depressing! Having hard time getting off adderall (adderrall) - more weight comes on!
Ideas anyone?
Please help me!!

[rumpled]

Are you sure about the name of that medication - that is for hyperactivity. I take florinef - a mineralcorticoid for my issue.

Have you tried increasing fluids? I use tomato juice or V-8 to keep sodium up.

Some meds have retaining fluids as a side effect - ask the pharmacist.

[Waterbegone]

you have low aldosterone than, right? I have HIGH aldo which is causing fluid retention. My Endo DR has done a ton of research on idiopathic edema and dexedrine or adderall (adderrall) stop the fluid from leaking from the intra space to the extra space tissues causing edema. it worked the first 8 months but now my Aldo is high (dont know what it was before the dexedrine). they use this medicine bc something about the dopamine receptors not working right causing the edema. I posted bc 30poundsmore was saying she had high aldo...
thanks!

[rumpled]

I used to have high aldosterone - when I had Cushing's - so I actually started my florinef for hyper - and now for hypo. I find it super duper confusing myself that you use the same medication for the opposite condition. It was explained to me - and I still did not understand. I do take more salt now though.

I used to have edema before and I still get it from time to time... It is a rotten issue.

[Waterbegone]

Wow! Really for cushings? Did u do the suppression test? Dd u suppress for cortisol? I did the test and suppressed but also here it's not totally reliable. Did u have a tumor on adrenal gland? Can tell me more about how u diagnosed cushings? 2 years ago my cortisol was high but now it's low normal ut really high aldosterone. I have edema and horrible joint pain and bursitis. My waist and low back have gained 3 inches in a year but also have major edema on butt, thighs above knees. I add sea salt and it makes me feel better, less thirsty but I think it might make my edema worse. I'm on adderall (adderrall) for orthostatic edema and I retain sodium when I stand which causes high Aldo - or at least this is what my dr says...I didnhav these issues until I started adderall (adderrall) (amphetamines)

[rumpled]

I suppressed on every dang test - ergo - flunking them all! But I still had the disease. I still do! If you think about it (there are some papers out there on it) dex suppressing ACTH really just takes the pituitary out of the question and puts the adrenals on spotlight - so it *should* be a test of location as in this is more likely pituitary source IF you have it rather than a test of exclusion, but the endiots still use it as a test of exclusion... and adrenals are less common of a source with pituitary being more common so gee whiz, I wonder why everyone I know has failed?

My cortisol was everywhere - low. high and normal - so I cycled, but I looked and felt like $#!*. Most doctors for some reason think hormones cannot cycle (er, periods, anyone???) and so with that form you are left to languish as the thinking is that it will convert to florid - nah.

It took a LOT of testing - doc shopping and research on my part to finally kick some action into high gear - all when you feel like dying. Or killing everyone around you. Get copies of everything - and educate yourself. Just this morning I was talking to the MRI tech about her daughters who have high cortisol and were told after one test (of course, the dex test UGH!) that they are fine - I explained why that is not true. There is no ONE test to diagnose and how that one in particular is the worst. One daughter is in MED SCHOOL! Sad - but we really have to know more than they do - fight for good testing and imaging. Dynamic MRIs, good tests at the right time.

[rumpled]

I suppressed on every dang test - ergo - flunking them all! But I still had the disease. I still do! If you think about it (there are some papers out there on it) dex suppressing ACTH really just takes the pituitary out of the question and puts the adrenals on spotlight - so it *should* be a test of location as in this is more likely pituitary source IF you have it rather than a test of exclusion, but the endiots still use it as a test of exclusion... and adrenals are less common of a source with pituitary being more common so gee whiz, I wonder why everyone I know has failed?

My cortisol was everywhere - low. high and normal - so I cycled, but I looked and felt like $#!*. Most doctors for some reason think hormones cannot cycle (er, periods, anyone???) and so with that form you are left to languish as the thinking is that it will convert to florid - nah.

It took a LOT of testing - doc shopping and research on my part to finally kick some action into high gear - all when you feel like dying. Or killing everyone around you. Get copies of everything - and educate yourself. Just this morning I was talking to the MRI tech about her daughters who have high cortisol and were told after one test (of course, the dex test UGH!) that they are fine - I explained why that is not true. There is no ONE test to diagnose and how that one in particular is the worst. One daughter is in MED SCHOOL! Sad - but we really have to know more than they do - fight for good testing and imaging. Dynamic MRIs, good tests at the right time.