Severe night sweats 3 a.m. and liver pain, 12 months in
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I am 50 years old female, my period has been regular for the last 2 years but was not regular 3 years ago for a couple of months (fixed it with homeopathy). I've had night sweats for the last 12 months. I wake up all burning and sweaty around 2 or 3 am and can't fall asleep again. This is exhausting, I also have a full-time job(!!) My GGT is elevated (between 61 - 91), Alanine Aminotransferase is a little high = 49 and have Pre-diabetes. Not taking any medication. My liver seems very tender, especially when I go to bed, I feel a dull pain. My doctor sent me to all kind of blood tests and 2 ultrasounds. I have a fatty liver. I do not drink alcohol, I eat very healthy. I never have any hot flashes during the day. I am concerned it could be some kind of cancer. My weight is constant. I feel ok during the day, pretty energetic.
(I apologize for any mistakes, English is not my speaking language.)
0 likes, 5 replies
lily65668 Satriana
Posted
Hi Satriana,
When you had all the blood tests, did the doctor include tests that would show whether you're approaching the menopause? I'm asking that because of the night sweats. I get that you don't have them during the day, but menopause affects us all in different ways. Also, the fact that your periods are regular doesn't mean you're not approaching menopause. Although it's more usual for periods to tail off gradually, this is by no means universal. For example, in my own case my periods stayed completely regular, but got increasingly long and heavy till the bleeding stopped literally from one day to the next. My mother, grandmother and one of my great-aunts experienced exactly the same pattern.
I wouldn't worry about this "tenderness" over the liver. Because of the lack of sensory nerves in the liver, pain due to problems with this organ is usually felt in the back, the right shoulder - or even on occasion in the left shoulder. If you're getting tenderness in the liver area it's far more likely to be some kind of digestive problem or even a muscular strain.
I suffered terrible night sweats during the menopause, though mine only started after my periods stopped. I've always preferred sleeping in a cool room, so I'd go to bed with the covers all pulled up around me, only to wake up an hour or so later soaked in sweat and shivering with cold, having pushed off all the covers in my sleep. Then I'd pull up all the covers, fall asleep again, only to overheat again and repeat the cycle. This went on for 18 months, when I too was working. (I was only 45 at the time.)
I eventually figured out that I slept best in a fairly warm room under just a sheet, as this kept my temperature at a steadier level. My heating bills went up during the two winters when this was going on, but at least I got a better quality of sleep. Everything eventually returned to normal, though I still can't sleep under a quilt to this day.
It's true that certain kinds of blood cancer can cause night sweats, but this would show up on blood tests, and I'm sure your doctor would have covered all this. Also, you say you have no weight loss and feel well and energetic, which would be unlikely in the case of a cancer. But if you're still worried about this, why not go back to your doctor and ask the question directly?
And don't worry about your English. It's very good. I wouldn't have realised it's not your mother-tongue if you hadn't mentioned it!
Satriana lily65668
Posted
Dear Lily,
you are so kind! Thank you for spending time reading and answering my post.
Where should I start:-) Yes, my doctor did the hormone test after me insisting for it. But said the test is not conclusive, it is only "a glimpse" and not the reality. I will write down all the test results and normal ranges (Canada). My liver pain is on the whole right side, front and back, mostly when I'm in bed. My liver is slightly enlarged, about 13,3 cm. I read that 10 years of borderline diabetes could give you a fatty liver, simply because the liver will transform all that surplus of sugar into fat and store inside the liver! What a design flaw. The ultrasound didn't show any stones or abnormalities, except fat. Right after Christmas my GGT was 91 (all those devil eggs!). For my age and gender it should be under 35, it has ben around 61 all last year.
As for my room, I keep it at 18C during the night, have a cotton sheet and a very thin cotton quilt that I push aside after 2 am. I usually push both aside, totally naked, rolling from one side to the other of my queen bed. I tried sleeping with my window open and it worked for a while but I am in Canada and I'm afraid I could wake up dead&frozen one day:-) This has been very difficult for me. I had a month and a half of sleeping 3 hrs a night, going to work crying in the morning. I am a graphic designer and love my job. It was very difficult to stay creative... Never in my life I forgot to do something or did a mistake, except that month and a half. I was all over the place. Homeopathy worked for a while, a medicine called Morgan Bach. But this medicine must be used for a limited time. I spent 570 CAD for 3 Reiki sessions. I slept for one or 2 nights right after the session. I tried CBD oil. NADA.
I'll try what you suggest, a sheet only, and around 22-23C.
Here are some of my blood results, and thank you again for your kindness!
Gamma Glutamyl Transferase HI 91 (12-37 U/L)
Alanine Aminotransferase HI 49 (<36)
Hemoglobin A1C/Total Hemoglobin HI 6.2 (<6.0)
Albumin 48 (35-52 g/L)
Bilirubin Total 4 (<20 umol/L)
Alkaline Phosphatase 58 (35-120 U/L)
Aspartate Aminotransferase 20 (<30 U/L)
Vitamin B12 275(138-652 pmol/L)
Ferritin 56 (5-272ug/L)
Sodium 139 (135-145mmol/L)
Potassium 4.5 (3.5-5.2mmol/L)
Creatinine 50 (50-100umol/L)
Glomerular Filtration Rate (eGFR) 109
Thyroid Stimulating Hormone [TSH] 1.26 (0.32-4.00mIU/L)
Follicle Stimulating Hormone [FSH] 8.8 IU/L (Follicular: 3.0-8.0 IU/L, Mid-cycle: 3.0-22.0 IU/L, Luteal: 1.5-5.5 IU/L, Post-menopausal: 27.0-133.0 IU/L)
25-Hydroxyvitamin D 93 (75 - 250nmol/L) - taking currently 3 1000 UI a day
Parathyroid Hormone [PTH] Intact 4.7 (1.6 - 6.9 pmol/L)
Hematology all perfect.
lily65668 Satriana
Posted
Hi Satriana,
Aahh, you're Québéquoise! That explains the liver pain. This is one of those things that fascinates me. (I'm a former nurse by the way, albeit from a long way back, and also a bit geeky.)
There are certain conditions that affect specific population groups for no apparent environmental or genetic reason - and the crise de foie is a well-known French-language speciality. English-speakers almost never get pain over the liver - for the reasons described in my earlier post - but the francophone populations of the world do love their "liver crises". When I first moved to Brussels more than 40 years ago - to work in an admin position in a major multinational company - the firm's doctor put me in charge of the first-aid team as I'd only recently finished my 10-year nursing career. He was of British origin, like me, and the first thing he warned me about was that I'd have a lot of crises de foie to deal with. He explained that this affected not only the French-speakers but also a lot of the Flemish, and even some other nationalities if they'd lived in the country long enough. The sufferers would assure me that this was because they ate a richer diet than the Brits, but for one thing this is simply not true and - as the doctor pointed out - wouldn't cause pain over the liver anyway.
A couple of years later, I actually came across an article by a French woman doctor in the Belgian version of Reader's Digest entitled: "La crise de foie n'aura pas lieu.
After a couple of years I realised there was another condition that was quite prevalent among Belgian women (and occasionally men) that I'd never come across in my years of nursing in the UK: aerophagia. This is the one where the sufferer unconsciously swallows large quantities of air during their waking hours, giving rise to constant "burping" which puts agonisingly painful stress on the diaphragm. In the past 40 years I've also met two British women and one Indian - all long-term Belgian residents - who developed this condition after moving here. I've discussed this with my old nursing friends back in the UK, all of whom completed a full career in the profession, and not one had ever heard of aerophagia not related to any pathology (or indeed a liver crisis). I'm just wondering now whether other francophone populations suffer from the same thing.
I'm not suggesting for a moment that either condition is purely in the mind. Indeed, prolonged aerophagia can cause terrible chronic pain. But it's clear there's a cultural, rather than environmental, element to both. I've heard of similar conditions that only occur in certain populations. This is quite separate from diseases that are down to environmental or genetic factors of course: e.g. malaria in areas where the anopheles mosquito flourishes, hypothyroidism in the Bay of Bengal, osteoporosis in northern latitudes and so on and so forth. But the whole subject fascinates me. I can't think of any non-environmental or non-genetic condition that only affects English speakers, but I'm sure there must be several!
But I digress... as usual! I'm afraid I'm getting on in years and am into my "anecdotage". That's an English portmanteau word made up of anecdote and dotage (old age). I'm sure you'll understand! I can also touch-type almost as fast as I think, which can lead to long posts.
I'm too far removed now from my nurse training to be able to interpret most of your blood results. However, your doctor is clearly doing a thorough job, and I'm sure he'd have picked up on anything serious that was going on. And once again, I can only urge you to share your cancer fears with him.
I've often used homeopathy, as well as the Bach remedies, but in my case they only seem to work for symptoms of my auto-immune condition (Sjogren's syndrome). I've never tried acupuncture myself, but I know a lot of people who've found it helpful for various conditions.
You might well find that it helps you to sleep in a warmer bedroom rather than a cooler one, even if that sounds counter-intuitive. It certainly helped me. But then again, if you're already sleeping under very light covers, I'm not sure whether it will help. Still, it's worth a try. And yes, your doctor is right: the hormone test is indeed only indicative during the very early stages of the menopause, so you could well be approaching it already, in spite of your periods being normal.
I hope you'll soon find a solution for your problem. I really do sympathise. I remember being driven crazy by my own night sweats, even though that was nearly 30 years ago.
Satriana lily65668
Posted
Dear Lily,
I enjoy so much reading your posts. I love your fascination with medicine:-)
I am not a Québéquoise:-) I am in Ontario, just one of the many East-European immigrants. And I am only concerned about the liver pain due to the GGT level that shows a high fat content. But you're right about my diet, it was rich all my life, mostly eggs, lard, bread, potatoes, pork belly, jam, pasta - under the communist regime in Romania, before 1989. And too much of everything - after that:-) I am not obese not skinny. I try my best to eat healthy. Never eat after 6pm. Lunch - a salad. Dinner always salad, vegetables, soup, meat. But for breakfast, all my life I had eggs or sandwich with some cold cuts or toast with peanut butter and coffee. Only lately I have discovered the beauty of oatmeal:-)
Please write more. I am thinking to open a subject just to read your words:-)
Satriana
Posted
I suppose I should update this thread for those who are interested.
I was right, it was my liver waking me up at 3 am with horrible sweats. I have seen a Chinese doctor in Toronto, Dr Fu Ji Tan. Just by looking at my fingers, nails and eyes he told me my liver is really unhappy and I need treatment. He recommended a treatment with something called "Ji Gu Cao Wan" and after one week my sweats stopped!!!! I have been sleeping perfect for the last 2 weeks. I am so happy! I have no liver pain anymore! The Chinese doctor promised perfect liver enzymes tests in 3 months of taking this treatment. I hope this helps others out there!