How do you Sleep with Burning Ears?
 

Several years ago, I could sleep on my back without any problem. Unfortunately, not any more. If I try, it becomes at best a nap of 30-45 minutes. 16 naps a night does not equal 8 hrs of good sleep.

I sleep on one side now because my spine isn't straight. For several years, a regular pillow has been too hot to sleep on. Turning it over doesn't help for more than 30 seconds. It's ridiculous heat intolerance.

For the first few years, I used a special pillow that cools on contact (some kind of crystals). That worked, but only for four hours max. I would wake up hyperventilating from the heat stress, replace the cool pillow, and go back to sleep.

Then a year ago, I found another pillow that you can fill with water. This also worked, but only for about four hours, too. It wouldn't end up quite so hot after four hours, but I still had to get up, replace it, and try and go back to sleep.

In the last few weeks, my ears have become painful. I don't know why. I didn't have an accident and there's no infection. The pillow is the same, but it's never been soft (it's a water pillow). I woke up a few days ago with ear pain.

I've looked online for special pillows which have an ear pocket, but they are all made for the 99.99% of people who don't get heat stress from regular pillows. I tried turning down the thermostat to 17C (63F), but it doesn't help.

I recently tried once again to sleep the entire night on my back. I woke up several times and it felt as if needles were stuck in my face. It was awful.

Does anyone have any ideas for a pillow I could get or have specially made that would be cool enough and soft enough to let me sleep and not put any pressure on my ears?

If you can't think of anything, maybe you might be able to help me diagnose my possible neuro problem...

For about a year, and again today, when I wake up from a nap, I feel a tingling sensation in my hands and feet at the same time. It's not painful, and it only lasts about a minute.

Does anyone understand the physiology of sleep? It almost feels as if I get an injection as I'm waking up. The sensation sometimes feels as if it starts in my hands and then slowly travels down my legs to my feet. It can also feel as if it's radiating.

As it's happening I start to feel more energy, refreshed, but what is the connection between sleep, energy, hands, and feet?

What chemicals are released into the bloodstream when or just before you wake up? Cortisol?

I read that most people's cortisol levels are highest when they wake up at the beginning of the day, and lowest at night just before they go to sleep.

The curious thing is that this sensation doesn't happen in the morning or after regular sleep overnight. It's only during the day or evening after a nap.

The same sensation doesn't happen at any other time, e.g., when I'm working. I can't recall a situation/event which might have triggered the problem. There is no family history of it.

The other reason why I suspect it's cortisol-related is one of the benefits after the "injection" is the inflammation in my sinuses clears slightly.

Does anyone understand neuropathy and endocrinology enough to make an educated guess?

Thanks.

Burning ears can be a sign of food allergy or intolerance.
It often shows up in children this way.

I'd investigate gluten as a culprit first. But other foods may cause burning too. I get burning feet from potatoes, of all things. (potatoes are nightshade veggies, including tomatoes, peppers, eggplant).

We have a gluten forum here:
http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/fo...aysprune=&f=13
The Gluten file is linked in the sticky threads there. In it are papers showing the connection to neuropathy.
http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/thread1872.html

Cortisol levels fluctuate in a 24 hr pattern. They go up after you eat in the morning, to the highest level of the day. There is a dip around 4pm (teatime), and a smaller peak after supper. The absolute lowest is around 3-4 am.(this is the time where many hospitalized patients die BTW).

I'd also switch to baby shampoo for a while, in case there is something in your shampoo that is bothering you.
Have you tried antihistamines at night like Benadryl? Benadryl is the strongest one for skin reactions. (Claritin is mostly useless)

+1 on the benadryl

they do sell cool coats for dogs on line that come in different styles and work in different ways. you might want to do a search and see what you come up with. they work pretty well for show dogs who have to stand around in hot weather. they might work underneatch a pillow case for you.

Very interesting; I'd never heard food could cause that type of reaction. I did food allergy testing several months ago at my naturopath's, and stopped eating the things I was allergic to. I also completely changed my diet to gluten free. I am also virtually sugar free, too.

I should add that the ear flare-ups happen most consistently (99% of the time) when the room temperature exceeds 24C (75F).

I have a thermometer beside my computer, and I keep it there to make sure the RT doesn't go above 24C. Sometimes I'll start to feel stressed and feel my ears are hot. I check the thermometer and it's reading 25C. Then I open the door/window/turn on the ceiling fan.

Shortly afterwards, when the temp. drops back to 24C, my ears stop being red and the stress goes away. This has happened many times this year. That's why I think it must be related to my hypothalamus, because it is supposed to control temperature.

In 2011, I've also had issues with my feet feeling as if they are burning. It was particularly bad in the summer. For example, when the outside temperature was above 17C, and I would walk, it would feel as if I was walking on coals.

Gradually the sensitivity subsided but I still get flareups. The interesting thing is I can be sitting with my feet in a cool foot bath, and my feet feel cold. But if I stand up they suddenly feel hot.

It's also weird because in the summer I was able to sunbathe for half an hour and feel comfortable. I can also have a hot bath for 30 mins, too, and feel okay. But if I sit on a chair inside without a cooling pad underneath or lie down, it feels as if I am sitting on a fire.

There's something about contact/pressure from weight. I've been trying to figure out if it's related to the muscle, connective tissue, nerves, or something else.

I got massage therapy but that didn't solve the problem. I took supplements for connective tissue and that didn't work, either.

If the room temperature in my bedroom is higher than 19C, I literally can't get to sleep. I have to regularly check the RT in the hours before I call it a day to make sure it's 19C.

In the past when the RT rose overnight to 20C, I'd wake up feeling as if my side was burning.

Making the mystery even more mysterious is my core temperature now and in the last few years (when I started checking it) is about 96.8F. Why would I have a low core temperature and a high skin temperature?

I believe it's not just feeling hot when my skin is cold (cold foot bath/standing), but also on other occasions (during the night) my skin temp. actually rises and gets stuck at a very high temp.

The temperature sensitivity is peripheral in other areas. Besides my feet, seat, side, and back, my left hand and left thumb flare up.

In the last few weeks, the excess heat feelings have spread occasionally to my neck and lips.

About a week ago, I put on a thin winter hat and wore it for only a few seconds inside before I stepped into the cold garage. My scalp felt as if scalding hot water had been poured onto it.

For several months I've been taking Magnesium (supplements and transdermal app), thinking the nerve sensitivity could be excess calcium causing hyperexcitability, firing nerves without shutting off. That hasn't worked. Now I'm taking Taurine, which is supposed to keep the Mg in the cells, and the Ca out when it shouldn't be there, but it hasn't worked yet.

What do you think is wrong?

Excess biogenic amines can cause sensations of flushing and heat.

Serotonin and histamine are two that may be elevated for some people. Carcinoid syndrome is one ...often hard to diagnose until it gets severe.
http://www.medicinenet.com/carcinoid...me/article.htm

Hidden tumors (mostly commonly lung) secrete biogenic amines sometimes.

You can test the histamine possibility by taking Benadryl and Zantac. Both block histamine receptors. They are often used in allergic food reactions. If they help, that would point to histamine.

Check your diet for monosodium glutamate, as this food additive which is very common, can wreak all kinds of havoc in people.

This is a link to histamine releasing foods. Some people eat alot of them and their bodies react by releasing histamine excessively:
http://www.michiganallergy.com/food_and_histamine.shtml

I really think the solanine alkaloid in potatoes is problematic for some people too:
http://www.michaellebowitzdc.com/html/Solanine.html

There is also a condition called erythromelalgia, which causes flushing. Many find using magnesium either topically or by supplement helps.
http://medicationsense.com/erythromelalgia.html

This is my magnesium thread:
http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/thread1138.html

Do not purchase magnesium oxide, as this form is not absorbed and will not help those who need magnesium supplements.

People with elevated thyroid functions often feel hot.
So get that checked if you haven't done so already.

Are you taking any SSRI or SNRI drugs for depression or pain?
These can cause flushing too.

"Several years ago, I could sleep on my back without any problem. Unfortunately, not any more. If I try, it becomes at best a nap of 30-45 minutes. 16 naps a night does not equal 8 hrs of good sleep."

PN can mask other symptoms. Waking up all through the night is the number 1 symptom of sleep apnea, I know because I have it

"I would wake up hyperventilating from the heat stress"

Hyperventilating on awakening is a typical sleep apnea symptom as your body struggles to get air back from a blocked throat passage. Im not sure why you would hyperventilate because of PN affected ears ?

Good luck, hope whatever it is gets sorted soon as lack of sleep creates more burning and less sleep, a nasty cycle :(

Because of my heat intolerance I've had to keep the RT at 19C, but at that temp, if my face isn't covered while I sleep, my nose gets cold, and breathing through it keeps me awake. I've wondered, though, if getting less oxygen while sleeping could cause other problems.