Sudden absolute exhaustion

Sounds like dehydration to me. Sometimes water isn't enough, we need electrolytes too, or more salt to retain the water.

Sue

Yes, could be dehydration... or a sudden drop in blood sugar. If you have been keeping your blood sugar very stable by staying away from gluten and white sugar for a while and then out of the blue had a very sugary snack, it could have sky-rocketed your blood sugar for a short while, and then the insulin would have overreacted and caused it to plummet. This would be even worse if you had little else to eat yet that day (which you didn't mention, so I'm not sure). Symptoms would cause you to be weak and shaky, lethargic, lightheaded and dizzy, a little disoriented/difficulty focusing. Then it would have leveled out as you digested your more rounded meal a while later.

Used to happen to me all the time when I had a sugar addiction, so I'm quite familiar with the signs.

Sharon, don't you have a collagen disease too? Maybe you were having a flare... I know that when I have an inflammatory arthritis flare I get fatigue that is the worst. Like someone let the air out of my balloon. But, since yours was so sudden, like a switch, you'd think it was more likely to be dehydration or hormones. Now hormones, they certainly can fluctuate like a flick of a switch!

Be sure to keep a diary of these things to discuss with your GYN in January. They may all be pieces of the same puzzle. I was also wondering if maybe you should talk to your primary doc again and see about a referral to an endocrine doc, instead of GYN. Probably you will have a longer wait than with the GYN. This is beginning to sound more central than just girlie parts symptoms. Maybe pituitary or adrenal.

Jan

Thanks Jan,
Good idea, I didn't even think of it...off to my GP tomorrow then.
Will write the list for him.
Sharon

Dehydration can often sneak up on you, especially when you are more active. I know there are some days when I probably don't drink as much as I probably should be, even though I almost always have water with me. It could be that the bottle of water you drank throughout the day wasn't quite enough to sustain your activities. Also, if you follow your thirst as an indicator of how much/how often you should be drinking, an interesting point my doctor recently relayed to me is that thirst isn't the best guide. He said to me that often, by the time you feel thirsty, you are already reaching the early stages of dehydration. So, the key is to drink enough so you never feel thirsty. (However, I have to say I've always adjusted my drinking by how much I pee!).

Anyway, it's a good thing you are seeing your doctor tomorrow to discuss these things. Bloodwork might be useful just to make sure nothing else is going on, at least in the interim, until you get your GYN appt. Best of luck!

Thanks guys,
I am a more than average drinker (not that kind!) and have a variety of fluids throughout the day from juice and coffee to about 2 litres of water +tea etc...I chug about 1/2gallon of liquids in all...so I know that it isn't that...plus I have an Old pouch...It doesn't run all day long and I am rarely liquidy other than after my juice/coffee (as a matter of fact my pouch would make a j poucher very happy)...I have thought about lactic acid build-up in muscles from rushing around (?) or being too stressed (?) or the hormone thing...either way it is off to the GP and then get a refferal to the endocrinologist if possible.
I'm just happy that it is over...and hopefully that it won't happen again
Sharon

Happened again today but to a much milder degree...I was rushing through the subway and suddenly my left foot siezed up and I got some sudden sharp pains in strange places...I had to slow down and then stop.
10 mins later after sitting for a while it was over.
Wierd
Sharon

This very thing happened to me on a walk one day. Stopped me dead in my tracks! A liquor store was close by and I "popped in" and bought a carton of non-fat milk and stood there and drank it. Within minutes I felt like myself again. Not sure if it was my blood sugar dipping too quickly or dehydration. Haven't experienced it since, thank God!

Thanks CeeeCeee,
I am starting to wonder about my blood surgar levels and might get my GP to give a real refferal to an endocrinologist...really hard to get refferals these days with the national health care system but will push...once was enough but twice makes it a pattern and I do not like it. I think that it has got to be related...I used to be hypoglycemic but I have had it under control for 30yrs...a full gycemic index test should do the trick.
Thanks
Sharon
ps...You can drink milk?????? Wow!

Sharon.....you have been on my mind. How are you doing? Any better?
Merrry Christmas....hugs, Sally

You can get glucose tolerance tests and various tests for your carbohydrate metabolism done without seeing an endocrinologist. He's probably want that data before seeing you anyway.

Good luck.

Jan

I'm going to try to see my GP replacement when I can get in...he has a walk-in system with no appts so you can wait 5hrs and still not get seen...I have to find a moment when he is not too busy...or show up at 8 am before the line ups start...
Sharon

Can't just email the doc? I guess I am spoiled because I don't make an appointment unless absolutely necessary. They usually say, "Can't tell what is going on without these lab tests. Come back after they are done." So, I always email first for suggestions.

Jan

Mine doesn't even have a computer! this is France here not N.Y.! As soon as you leave the big cities (and not so big cities) you get these tiny medical practices where the doctor rents a storefront...no receptionist, no nurse, no secretary...just a waiting room and an office with exam table in the middle of it...no drapes, sheets, or privacy whatsoever...there isn't even a separation between the desk and exam table (first time round I freaked getting unclothed in front of my doc...) a far cry from North America...that is why there are no appts...no scheduel either...just walk in and strip (feels rather military!)...also, no pills, shots, or bloodwork...just a hemostat, and thermometer...very, very basic...he has a prescription pad for the rest...bloodwork, x-rays,specialists etc...kind of like a taxi dispatcher.
That is what is left of French socialist medicine (I will shut up now!).
I am still very tired lately, can't work out and don't have the energy to make it past lunch without a nap...
Sharon

OMG Sharon,
People in the US want to have medical care like in countries like yours. I think something in-between happens. I get frustrated and mad when I see the "non-profit" hospitals build marvelous facilities and offices for their physician clinics. I use to audit hospitals and although they are non-profit they generate profits. Sorry for the speech.

There is something wrong. I know you are vigilant with your health care and am wondering if you can go to whatever is an ER in the US? You could pass out and fall down a flight of stairs or worse. Your store front doctors sounds like they are not well trained, you probably know more than they do.

Please let us know how you are doing.

Wow, the state of healthcare in France is startling. I had no idea. And I thought it was bad in Canada. No, we don't have storefront doctors, but wait times here are brutal. 4,5 months sometimes just to get in to see a specialist, and that is just for the consult, then you have to wait longer for diagnostics/investigations if indicated; not to mention, you can't see a specialist without a referral from your family doctor, which many people living outside of the larger cities do not have.

The sad truth is, healthcare is broken everywhere. Yes, some countries are better off than others, but no system truly works. We have such a way to go. Access to quality healthcare is one of the most basic human rights, it's not a privilege.

Sorry to hijack your thread. This stuff just really, really gets to me.

Hang in there, Sharon! I hope you can get everything sorted out soon.

Thanks guys, you are right, the whole system is broken or at least at the breaking point...I am going to rant for a second here and I will ask for indulgence and pardon before the fact...I get pissed at the fact that I pay the equivalent of a monthly rent on social health care and that anyone can fly into this country and get treatment for free. I get pissed when my grandson whose parents both pay out of the nose has to wait in ER for 6hrs to see a doctor when there are 50+ people sitting there who have flown in from outside the country for 'free tourist healthcare'...and I am pissed that my GP does not give me an appt because there are 50 non-payers lined up every morning before me and they are healthcare tourists who do not pay a penny...and I am pissed that my GP earns only 29€ a patient and keeps some paitients up to 1/2hr for the best possible diagnostics and treatment and the plumber aroud the corner earns 200€hr...
ok...I hope that I did not insult anyone here...I just had to get it off my chest...I pay over 6000€/yr for healthcare and I just get pissed when people fly in for 35€ a flight and then get 1000's of euros of healthcare for free on my nickle...I wouldn't mind if I could get treated too but I just can't get in to see my doctors.
There is no such thing as social medicine if there is no social safty net either to cathch them when they fall...thousands of French homeless people who have lost everything in the financial crisis and cannot get treated either unless they pretend to be tourists!
yes, the system is very broken!
Sharon
ps...Jan please delete this if you find it offensive in any way...I will understand...I am just frustrated.

I'm so sorry the system is obviously broken. I don't know how a Euro translates to dollars but think it is worth around $2 per Euro. How can they make you pay so much when you work part time at best? Move to the US, I think your money would pay for insurance so you can go to a non-profit state of the art hospital and physician clinics decorated beautifully with specialist doctors making less than pro athletes but $200,000 on up per year.

Somewhere in-between our system and yours might be a better system. Maybe you could set aside a room for a bed and breakfast for tourists to come for medical attention

How are you feeling these days? Did you find out the source of your dizziness and other symptoms?

I think this discussion is fine, as long as we stay away from political debate.

I think it is important for people to understand that healthcare access is not the same everywhere. Even in the same country, your location can determine what is available to you. In addition, most of us are restricted to what is a covered treatment by approved providers. It is often not feasible, logistically or financially, to travel to the most recommended providers.

I know we can't solve these dilemas here, but sharing the challenges others face should improve our understanding. I know for myself at least, I tend to take for granted the wealth of advanced healthcare available to me.

Free care for tourists seems like a nice concept, but it sounds like people are flocking to France specifically to take advantage of that. Certainly, that was not the intent of the gesture! You'd think it would be for emergency/urgent care only.

I have a question. Does the UK and Canada also treat visitors without charge?

Jan

I've been to the ER or rather A&E twice in the UK and have never been charged. I have been told they are supposed to charge. But I was never charged. Surely don't know if I would've paid though, because after waiting more than six hours each time and being triaged behind people with hangnails... they did absolutely nothing to help... though I was suffering from a massive UC flare, very high fever, skin rash across almost entire body, and joints so bad I couldn't even walk.

And yes, though things are not near perfect in the US.. it is eye opening when you go to other countries. The wait times with the NHS in the UK to see specialists are unreal. Even to get important tests.. even longer. My mother-in-law has waited four months for critical heart surgery. So many people, if they can afford it, are now "going private" - which is almost just like buying health insurance here - just to get some form of decent care and be able to see the better doctors.

Not to get all political but I believe the citizens of these countries are taxed or charged a higher rate on their earnings to pay for the health coverage. I don't know if it is similar to our social security and medicare payments from our income or not.

There are no free lunches or as it turns out health care.

There are many foreign specialists in the US as they can earn a better living here.

Yeah, let's not get into that, since taxes pay for much, much more than just health care in other countries. Lots of infrastructure (roads, schools, public buildings, utilities, etc.) and it varies by country. Too much to unravel here.

Suffice to say there is no magic answer, and anywhere you go, there are entire groups of people without access to good care.

Jan

As far as I know, No...In Canada when I had my Emergency k pouch surgeries I had to pay out of pocket (although my Surgeon did his best to keep his fees low)...and it cost a fortune (around $50,000.00) and that is after the travel insurance covered a good chunk...as for England...if you are a citizen of an EEC member State then you may have a reciprocal agreement with the insurance companies between countries but things are not always equal...we had a very competent medical system here but it has been 100% bankrupt for the past 8 or 9 years which means that more and more medical practices are not covered! We have medical blackout zones here where people cannot even get to a GP because none want to work in villages and small where revenues are even lower (but then again so are rents) so people have to travel 50-100miles for a consult and even futher away for a specialist...it is very sad.
Sharon

Jan,
I know taxes pay for many things but have heard that the gross taxes paid for everything in other countries with free medical care, or whatever it is called, are generally larger than they are in the U.S.A. There are many people in those countries that like their medical systems.

Yeah, I see what you are saying, but taxes vary from country to country, and if you don't pay for it in taxes, you pay in insurance premiums, employment benefits, etc. So, it is difficult, if not impossible to compare. But, point well taken; nothing is free...

There are similar difficulties here in the US that Sharon is talking about, where doctors are scarce in some areas, and those available, do not accept Medicare or Medicaid patients. Something to address as more people become covered and want care as new laws are implemented. Right now, there are millions who get no care, let alone inadequate care.

Hopefully, we can figure it out...ignoring it will not make go away.

Jan

I am appalled at doctors that will not take medicare patients. I just received a mailing from social security and I have to go on Medicare Part A, which covers hospitals only and has no premium, in a few months because I am receiving SSDI.

We have good insurance my husband pays for out of his retirement benefits. From reading their information I may be forced to go on Part B as well. I was upset when I read it so probably didn't understand it right. Another problem brought on by all of my health problems, the inability to concentrate.

Sorry I got off topic.

I will add that I have been in a state of "Absolute exhaustion" the past week and it sucks. Hopefully this puts the post back on topic.

Here the subsidies for the public health insurance system are based up 1 part personal input (the employee pays a %), 1 part the employer payment (about 1.5xs more than the employee contribution and it is a sliding scale where minimum earners pay in minimum amouts and maximum wage earners pay the lion's share)...and then diverse taxes like the exorbitant taxes paid on cigarettes, alcohol and pop that are supposed to be paying down the social health insurance debt along with government subsidies and more taxes...we also have a universal coverage scheme that allows the homeless and welfare recipients who do not pay in to recieve care...they have a special card (ours is Green with our photo on it) to show that they are not copayers but not all docs take them or at least they quota it...some doctors refuse outright but most take about 20% +/- with certain high unemployment zones having about 65-90% per GP...I do not know what your sliding income tax scale is but here sales tax is around 19.6% (yup!) and personal income tax for a family of 4 with 2 average wage earners is about 55%! It is really scary...and we have very few deductions allowable other than kids, handicapped and keeping grandma at home with you...for the rest...you pay.
Not sure about you guys but our health insurance card means that we pay out to the doc and get reimbursed later generally through an automated electronic terminal...Same with exams, x rays, drugs etc...it is only if you have a complimentary health plan that you can walk in and out of a hospital without going bankrupt by the end of the day. (I have 2: mine and hubby's).
By the way, we have a 3 tiered system...Public hospitals (university medical centers) which can either be very, very old (think the crusaiders stayed there and so did Napoleon!) which can be over 800yrs old (they have been somewhat modernised since) or extremely modern and new...You can see a GP or a specialist and it is all more or less covered 100%...next is the private doctor's offices where they charge as much as 500% over the usual fees and finally the Private Clinics where you are in a luxury hotel situation with croissants and expressos in porcelain for breakfast and you can get an appt at the snap of your fingers. Most clinics do surgeries but do not have emergency medical care.
So there you have it...the French health care system in a nutshell.
Sharon

Sounds complicated Sharon.

Marianne, while it may be apalling that doctors decline to see Medicare patients, there are always two sides to every story. Doctors have bills too, huge student loans to pay back, loans on their practice, staff to pay (with benefits) and of course, malpractice insurance (can be $50,000+ per year).

I think everyone winds up paying through the nose for health care, and with the aging baby boomer population, probably is going to get worse. And the really dumb thing is that it seems that more access and more expensive care does not seem to get us healthier! But, I guess we do get to live longer...

I guess it is part of living in this modern age.

Jan

Just a final note on this...medical school in France is....FREE! Yup, free as in...you do not pay a penny. The government pays it all for you...no student loans, no debt...just the cost of your own housing (even that is somewhat subsidised and they are still complaining!), books and food...
Not only is it social health but also social education!
Sharon

I know what the costs of running medical practices are as I use to have doctors and their practices as tax and accounting clients. Before I owned my own CPA firm I audited hospitals for a big 4 firm. I've computed and worked with medicare and other insurance company reimbursements, read hospital board of director minutes, seen what the salaries are for everyone as well as recruitment costs.

There are small medical practices that can't make it work with one or several doctors, because of all the costs you are talking about Jan. The bigger the better $$ made by all and they can afford to treat medicare patients if they don't focus only on $$ generated by doctor.

Yeah, I don't understand why it is big business...

Somebody's making money on this. Isn't you, isn't me, isn't even most doctors. Shareholders? Makes my head spin. It seems that the big clinic type outfits are most cost effective, like Cleveland Clinic, Mayo, Kaiser...

Jan

The insurance companies too.