For the last week or so, I have been suffering from polydipsia. For those of you who are not doctors, nurses, or have a word –a-day calendar, polydipsia is excessive or abnormal thirst. When I say abnormal amount of thirst, I am not talking like, “I would enjoy a cool beverage”. My mouth has felt like I just spit out sand, and when I drink, it is only moist for less than a minute. If I go several minutes without drinking, that spot on the back of my throat begins to burn due to being parch and I can feel it every inhalation of breath. Beyond that, my thirst becomes oppressive where all I can do it think about when I can get something to drink. My thirst is to the point that it affecting my life; to the point of embarrassment.
For those of you who know m, this may not seem much different for my normal fluid intake. I usually drink 125 oz a day. That is about 16 glasses of water a day. But what has been happening is beyond my normal fluid enjoyment. Allow me to illuminate for you. Friday night we went and saw the long awaited, much anticipated Wicked. As the first half neared an end, I could barely think of anything else except cool liquid in my mouth. That night at dinner I had an entire glass of water before the waiter even left the table, and I was dying for my Diet Pepsi before he returned. Saturday, we went to the circus, and before the clowns even came on, I was dreaming of when I could get something to drink. I ended up buying a huge 44 oz drink and finished the entire thing before we left. I had two bottles of before I went to bed and woke up two hours later in a near panic from how thirst I was. Sunday during our CPR renewal I had three Diet Cokes in the space of two hours. Monday night I did not eat dinner because I was so full of water that there was no room for food. I have not been sleeping well at night due to having to wake up and drink every few hours.
Finally, I decided to go see my doctor. All sorts of fatalistic things came to mind. Yesterday I drove all the way to Pflugerville to see my doctor (he recently moved offices) and told him all about it. I am sure my doctor hates me because I came with all my theories about what is wrong with me. I think it could be diabeties, since polydipsia is the first sign for most patients. I am praying beyond all belief that this is not the case. It could be theophylline toxicity due to a buildup of too much of my asthma medication. It could be a thyroid imbalance, and if this is so, then we will have an answer about why I am so cold all the time. He looked me over, gave me the standard asthma evaluation, and took some blood. Right now I am waiting for him to call with my lab results. I called earlier, and they are in, but just waiting for him to evaluate them. I have a new appreciation for my own patients who call a hundred times asking if they are available. I will keep you updated, and let you know if I am going to die anytime soon.
