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When people
hear the word “diabetes” they first think of
sugar and insulin.
When I hear the word “diabetes” I
first think of water and DDAVP.
Why?
Because I suffer from a rare condition
called diabetes insipidus (DI).
I believe I started experiencing early
symptoms of DI in 1988 (when I was about thirty
years old), although at the time I was
experiencing many health changes…all for the
worse. Among
such symptoms as migraine headaches, daily
vomiting of mucus and blood, lack of energy,
weight loss, overheating, skin problems and male
sexual problems; I was also experiencing
symptoms that years later were contributed to
DI. The
three main symptoms of DI include extreme
thirst, excessive consumption of liquids and
frequent urination.
I experienced them all and then some.
One
symptom I experienced on a daily basis for the
approximately three years (before my diagnosis)
was extreme thirst unlike any thirst I had ever
experienced before!
I felt as if I could go into a panic
state if I didn’t get something to drink
quickly, as I would become lightheaded and would
actually start shaking.
I could not go fifteen minutes without
drinking some type of liquid.
My appetite was already decreasing for
other reasons but a major factor also was the
fact that when I ate, the majority of my meal
consisted of liquid.
If I ordered a cheeseburger with fries I
might eat a fourth of the burger and five or six
fries. But
yet I would drink three or four glasses of Pepsi
or tea along with a pitcher of water.
Once I started drinking a glass of liquid
I could not stop until it was gone, even a
twenty-ounce glass, then in a few minutes I was
thirsty once again.
This went on twenty-four hours a day!
As a result of all of the liquid I was
consuming I was constantly urinating and again
it was not a normal feeling I had experienced in
my past. First
the frequency of my visits to the restroom
started as a couple of times an hour then over
the years increased to every fifteen minutes.
My urine would be completely clear.
It would also be very painful to try to
hold it when it was time to go; unlike in the
past where you could at least hold your need to
urinate, although uncomfortable it was not
painful. This
was a totally different experience!
In fact I spent over two years never
sleeping more than two hours at a time due to me
having to wake up to urinate then drink
something (usually one of those single serving
juice boxes) before going back to sleep then
starting the process over within a couple of
hours. This
went on for over two years!
Every single night!
As
I wrote earlier there were a lot of other health
problems occurring with me during this time, but
I believe other symptoms were related to my DI.
For example when I played basketball I
was now not producing any sweat at all.
After a couple of games my body would get
so hot and then by me being unable to sweat
along with my extreme thirst, the only thing I
could do was rush to the restroom and vomit.
My teeth were also decaying at a faster
rate along with my current crowns coming off
frequently.
In fact on two occasions as I was getting
a crown put back on an unusual situation
occurred as the dentist left me with cotton in
my mouth allowing the cement to dry.
When he returned after about five
minutes, under normal conditions I would have
saliva running down my chin.
However this time when he removed the
cotton and told me to spit I could not produce
any saliva…none!
We both just looked at each other like we
were in the twilight zone before he gave me
something to rinse my mouth with!
By
this time (1991) I was not only physically
drained but also mentally drained as well since
no doctor up to this point (approximately five
years) could find anything wrong with me.
I had now seen about seven different
doctors who all ran me through the same routine
for my various symptoms.
There was the complete physical, checking
my sugar levels for diabetes because I had all
of the symptoms even though my blood sugar
levels were always OK, various blood work, MRIs
and chest X-rays.
The conclusion was always the same…bad
sinus problems!
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