9. Cold Sweats: The Chilling Revelation of DES
You’re comfortably seated, perhaps engrossed in a book or a movie, when suddenly you feel a cold sweat trickling down your forehead. You’re not anxious, you’re not exerting yourself, so what gives? Surprisingly, cold sweats can be a symptom of DES, a sign that your body is internally grappling with esophageal spasms.
What’s remarkable about cold sweats in the context of DES is their elusive nature. They often show up unannounced and can be mistaken for a symptom of stress or nervousness. However, these sweats occur as your body’s way of responding to the discomfort and irregularity occurring in your esophagus. It’s like an alarm bell, but one that uses your sweat glands.
The mechanism is a bit of a puzzle. Medical researchers speculate that esophageal spasms could be disrupting nerve signals that, in turn, mess with your body’s thermostat. These spasms send mixed messages to your brain, triggering it to initiate a sweat response even when it’s not warranted.
You might think that cold sweats would only happen in the height of summer or maybe after a spicy meal, but no. They can happen any time of the year and are often season-agnostic. It’s like your internal climate control has gone haywire, leaving you to mop your brow in the most incongruous situations. (9)
