Autonomic Neuropathy & regulation of body heat

[Katijanae]

I think my last post was too full of ramblings for any real answer, so I'm going to try to make my needs more concise.  Asuming a diagnoses of Autonomic Neuropathy, this past week I had an incident where I was in a warm office talking to a counselor for about an hour.  While I was in the office I didn't feel hot or uncomfortable in any way.  When I got out of that room, and back into the waiting room, which was cooler (my husband noticed the difference in temperatures) I noticed that my face felt and looked like I had a severe sunburn, and I was beginning to feel unwell.  I've never had this reaction before.  We went to a store that was a more neutral temperature and my husband got me a cool drink..  A while later my "sunburn" was gone, and I was feeling better.  My question is this.  Is this the way in which a person with Autonomic Neuropathy experiences changes of temperature?  I know there can be a problem regulating body heat, and am wondering if this is a typical response.  If so, what kinds of precautions should I take in the future, and what should I do if another incident like this occurs?   As the weather gets warmer, is it safe for me to go outside alone?

[Abhijeet Deshmukh, MD]

Hello.

The usual presentation of autonomic neuropathy is heat intolerance. And there is a lack of sweating usually. When you are in a hot environment, you probably do not feel as it is a feature of autonomic neuropathy. You don't feel changes easily. When you enter a cooler environment, the extra heat from the body tries to get dissipated by sweating. But if there is no sweating, your skin may turn dark. This is an explanation to why you have the peculiar skin changes. This is by no means a common finding. Do you sweat less than normal?

Regards

[Katijanae]

I don't seem to sweat at all, or if I do, it's not enough to notice.   What I have noticed is that my body doesn't produce skin oils like it used to.  My hair doesn't get oily, for instance, and I am in constant need of lotion on my hands and feet.  Before this year I had never used lotion on my body, and my hair was oily at the end of every day.

I have other symptoms of autonomic neuropathy:  I have to limit my eating to very small portions, I have trouble urinating, defficating, need oxygen while sleeping, have a fast heartrate (120 resting) for no good reason.  I have severe peripheral neuropathy and spinal stenosis due to injury 11 yr's ago. Otherwise I am a healthy person.  All of these changes, with exception of the problems ambulating, are new as of this year.  I don't know why I would have autonomic neuropathy.  My spinal injury was of the lumbar spine. I thought autonomic neuropathy was linked to diabetes, or a severe injury in the upper levels of the spine.  This is so scary to see my body changing like this, and having no clear reason for why it is happening!  I no longer know what to expect, or how to manage it.

If this is an autonomic neuropathy problem, does it pose a danger to me?  Do I need to take any special precautions?  I am getting a new, all terrain type power chair soon, and would like to be able to go out and enjoy the outdoors with it without worring that I might fry in the heat.

Thank you for your time.  I trying to get some help, but no one can point me to any in my area, and my insurance won't send me for a full assesment outside of Colorado.

[Katijanae]

Hello again.  I am still hoping you can give me some advice on any precautions that I should take to keep my body cool until I can see a doctor a month from now.  
Thanks!