I was wondering--for those of you that take fludro., I was wondering if you sweated normally before starting the drug, when you were without adequate blood volume. In other words, you were probably "dehydrated" before fludro., before it expanded your blood volume. I was wondering because I have almost lost my ability to sweat when in heat, but am not skinny or nauseous, like most Addisonians. I do get lightheaded when standing. I have been shown to have POTS, postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome. Don't know why I have it though. I just "feel" dehydrated, even though I drink adequate fluids. I was wondering if a doctor would try my on a trial dose of fludro., then maybe I would have adequate blood volume, and then I would start sweating appropriately. Any stories or ideas?

Hi there,

I have had very similar symptoms with yours. I had transient POTS that has now subsided but it was extremely debilitating so I know how hard it must be for you. Concerning the sweating, i think it makes sense for the body not to allow loss of water when it feels that it does not have enough, as in the case of hypovolemia or low blood volume. I have a pituitary prolactinoma that I treat on and off in yearly rounds because i cannot take the sideffects of the parkinsonian drugs. When I am not treating it and my prolactin is high, my orthostatic hypotension worsens and i have difficulty handling heat as i do not sweat for the life of me!

If you are hypovolemic, you are probably hypotensive too, right? Have you tried adding extra salt to your diet along with Fluodro? Drinking just water won't do it. If you drink in excess (>2litres per day) you will be washing your self out. If your coverage permits, I would highly suggest a trip to a nephrologist for advise. He saved my life when my endocrinologist did not get the picture. He performed an osmolality test to find out that I was drinking way too much water and my whole system was depleted of sodium (aka. salt).

Hope this helps.

Sue,
When my fainting originally started, they did a tilt table test and thought I might have POTS also. But, with all the other symptoms I had, my endo assumed I had AD and started me on Fludro for the orthostatic hypotension and to increase blood volume. Like you, I was also feeling dehydrated and my sodium levels were low. Being on Fludro, helped tremendously! A high salt diet and Florinef helped with the dizziness, hypoglycemia, and dehydration. I can't help with the sewating because right now, I'm always cold! Hope this helps, Karen.