A definition

So my great, lovely and curious friend, Amy wondered what"dropping water" meant.  The technical term is diabetes insipidus.  The website www.diabetesinsipidus.org (who knew there was an entire website for it?) has this to say, " *Diabetes Insipidus (DI) is a disorder in which there is an abnormal increase in urine output, fluid intake and often thirst....

*Diabetes Insipidus is not the same as diabetes mellitus ("sugar" diabetes).   Diabetes Insipidus resembles diabetes mellitus because the symptoms of both diseases are increased urination and thirst.  However, in every other respect, including the causes and treatment of the disorders, the diseases are completely unrelated.   Sometimes diabetes insipidus is referred to as "water" diabetes to distinguish it from the more common diabetes mellitus or "sugar" diabetes.

*Diabetes Insipidus is divided into four types, each of which has a different cause and must be treated differently.  The most common type of DI is caused by a lack of vasopressin, a hormone that normally acts upon the kidney to reduce urine output by increasing the concentration of the urine.  This type of DI is usually due to the destruction of the back or "posterior" part of the pituitary gland where vasopressin is normally produced.  Hence, it is commonly called pituitary DI. "  As some of you may recall, after Ellie's resection in April 2008, her hypothalamus was no longer communicating with her pituitary glad, which is probably why her body is not producing vasopressin.  Fortunately for us, Ellie has no thirst so we can completely control (like a mad scientist) her fluid intake which in turn can help us more easily control her water/salt balance (or imbalance for that matter). Hope this clear things up, it certainly enlightened me on the subject!

On a related note, Ellie's sodium suddenly shot up to 156 (normal is between 135-145). When the nurse turned off the sodium/water (saline) mixture we had been giving her, her heart rate suddenly shot up from 70 to 135.  It was one exciting moment as her monitor started beeping that her heart rate was too high.  The nurse explained that Ellie's potassium and calcium are both low right now so that may cause all of the heart rate craziness (not a technical term).    And if you have theories of your own, feel free to share.