Addison's Disease :: Interpretation With Hypothyroidism
Feb 10, 2015
I am 38 and have Hypothyroidism. I recently had a cortisol test and my initial results came back at a level of 210. I was told that the normal range was 150 - 650 ( or thereabouts ) and as my test was at 9am these levels should be much higher.
I have been refereed to see a hormone specialist but am just curious to know if anyone had an initial level of 210 at peak time and didn't have Addison's. Or, indeed they did have it?
Could it be adrenal fatigue? which is why I went to the drs as I read about on a thyroid website.
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Curious if anyone knows what it means to have high sodium levels and Addison's disease? My sodium levels came back at 238 I've had more testing done but this one was the more extreme in numbers.
Anyone else have high sodium results?
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A few months ago my blood pressure plummeted-and recently I've been EXHAUSTED. I have to nap daily and have no energy. My blood pressure today at a GI appt was 75/62 the week prior it was 75/53. I've had several drs comment but I never really get noticeably dizzy as I've had dizzy spells on and off all my life. But with this utter exhaustion my GI said I should follow up asap w my primary dr.
Also, for years I've had upper left sharp stabbing pains-we've suspected my pancreas but scans are always clear.
Does this sound like it could be addisons? I'm not sure what else could cause this low bp (which is not normal for me)-I had my heart checked recently, was fine.
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My daughter is 19. About 18 months ago she started having panic attacks, feeling nauseous and shaking and becoming quite distressed. After counselling and medication it became controlled. She still suffered episodes of shaking and feeling as if her blood sugar was dropping. She has had episodes of lightheadedness and passed out at work , being out for about 10 minutes. All her tests have shown as normal to now, however something is suddenly causing these events. She has had bp, eeg, fasting bloods- glucose and thyroid function, all normal. She is awaiting a 24 hour eeg now. I read about adrenaline crashes and Addison's disease recently and its connection with irregular periods, which she gets and Vitiligo, which she has a small patch of. Is it worth discussing tests with her GP? they seem quite happy to put her regular visits there down to anxiety though.
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I'm 25 and over the past 6 years I've been diagnosed with 4 pretty serious autoimmune conditions. When I was 19, I was diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis which is often crippling, even now. I was told this was an autoimmune condition. Shortly after, I was diagnosed with Coeliac Disease, another autoimmune condition. The Arthritis and symptoms of the coeliac disease when I hadn't controlled it obviously made me feel unwell and I often felt lethargic and unhopeful due to a lot of pain and stuff going on in my body.
I managed to go on a clinical trial which allowed me to have a new and powerful arthritis drug which dramatically improved the condition and I managed to cut gluten out of my diet. I also lost a bit of weight - this helped.
However, after the trial, my symptoms of arthritis gradually came back but was usually kept under control with the exception of a few flare ups.
When I was 23, I was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes after getting a very quick onset flurry of symptoms (another autoimmune condition) - I find this very difficult to manage.
I've recently moved cities and transferring all of my specialists and treatments left me with no arthritis medication, and a long wait until I see a diabetes specialist to adjust insulin levels. As you can probably imagine, I've been in an awful lot of pain and been feeling very down, tired and lethargic. I'm very upbeat although having so many conditions and I don't let it bring me down, even though I work a full-time job 8 til 5 everyday. I've been having problems with blood tests, platelet counts, that kind of thing.
I was aware that I had the antibodies for Hypothyroidism as I had the test for that about a year ago and I knew it was just a matter of time before I developed it. Upon my most recent blood tests, my TSH level was 47.7 - ten times the top end of the normal limit. I've literally just started levothyroxine but, as you can imagine, I feel completely overloaded with health issues and like my head is going to explode and quite down about it all.
I'm sorry to give you my life story but I was just wondering if any one else has any of the other conditions I have and how they manage with all of them?
Also - how should I have been feeling with a TSH of 47.7? Should I have been feeling VERY different because, like I said, I always feel fairly tired and down due to the combination of illnesses. Any advice at all would be appreciated - I feel massively alone with this.
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About two months ago, I had mentioned to my personal trainer that I was feeling very tired with low blood pressure. This had been going on for a couple months, on and off every couple of weeks. He mentioned that it could be cortisol-related.
I went home and did a lot of researching about the issue and found that I matched a lot of the symptoms of low cortisol. I went in to see my doctor a couple days later. When I mentioned that I thought it was low cortisol, he said that the adrenal glands usually do the job and that it probably wasn't that. He tried to prescribe me anti-depressants which I declined, and then ran a few blood tests, along with an AM only cortisol test (it was about 11AM).
The test came back with a level of 17 mg/dL of cortisol taken at 11AM. However, he said my blood sugar was 54 which was very low. Also, my Vitamin D was below normal ranges. Some other counts were off, but nothing that really pointed to anything that could be causing what I was feeling.
I took a multivitamin for a few weeks. I had also been congested in the back of my throat for two months, so I went back to see the doctor if he could do anything about that. He determined it was a sinus infection, and prescribed Cefuroxime for two weeks to get rid of the congestion. I asked if that could help my fatigue to which he said it could help.
So I finished the two week round of antibiotics, and now it's two weeks later and I still feel horrible. Here's the main things that I am experiencing. I really don't feel depressed and feel like I enjoy life a lot.
- Inability to wake up for work. I wake up around 9AM, and feel like I haven't slept at all. I previously had to wake up around 5AM to get everything done in the morning
- Feeling of drowsiness through the morning, up until noon. Sometimes like today it will last all day.
- Extremely low blood pressure while standing. This starts around 2PM every day and lasts until around 5PM. I usually don't fall down and just black out, but recently I fell because after standing up and injured my knee.
- Fluctuations in appetite, I will eat a TON of food with out gaining any weight (5-6 meals a day), but I exercise a lot so this isn't super concerning. My weight is constant.
- Itchy red eyes when I wake up
- Exhaustion when sitting, feels like I should lay down but not low blood pressure
- Hypoglycemia, my blood sugar is really low in the mornings, and then again in the evenings before dinner. Between that it feels fine but I don't do regular testing on this to know for sure.
Also I am 20 years old male and a competitive cyclist. I eat very healthy foods (although a lot to keep up my activity). I live at a high altitude (7,400ft).
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My daughter is taking hydrocortisone for primary Addison's due to Pheochromocytoma. Does anybody know if she should be taking something to help prevent osteoporosis??
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I'm wondering what the "typical" dose is for fludrocortisone? I've been taking .1 mg for past several years, but doesn't seem like it's doing anything. I'm thirsty all of the time, and am consuming liquids all day it seems ... and yes, I add sea salt to my water. Could it be that this gets worse the longer you live with the condition, and so may require more of the med to help with sodium retention? I'm clearly not retaining extra water weight as I'm extremely thin (87 lbs). My doctor doesn't seem to have a clue and just tells me to keep drinking water. I pretty much don't rely on doctors anymore with this condition. I've grown tired of educating them about Addison's/ Adrenal Insufficiency. So I figured I would ask here and see what others take and if anyone has had to increase their fludrocortisone.
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What was your cortisol level when you were diagnosed with Addison's? I'm guessing it was 0.
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I am being tested for Addison's Disease and just received the below test results. I don't see my endo until 12/4/13, and wondered what the results might indicate. Any thoughts?
Historically I presented with low Cortisol and High ACTH.
* After a Dexamethasone Suppression test my blood cortisol was less than 1mcg (whatever that means)
* 17 Alpha Hydroxyprogesterone was 849
* ACTH Stim test results:
Baseline- 10mcg
30 min.- 13mcg
60 min.- 15mcg
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I have so many Addison's symptoms, and in March my AM cortisol was 8.75, so low-normal. I was sure I would have a diagnosis after my ACTH stim test. Unfortunately, I've hit another dead end. Here are my results:
8am baseline reading - 12.82 ug/dl
30 Min after injection - 20.88
60 Min after injection - 24.44
I was stressed about the procedure to begin with. Then the nurse who drew my blood could not hit my vein and it was a very painful process as she continued hunting for it. It hurt so much I was almost in tears. This happened for the first two draws, and then I finally asked for a different nurse for the third draw. She hit my vein with no problems as most do since I have very prominent veins. I was so upset. Also, they had me walking back and forth between the lab and the waiting area after each blood draw.
Is it possible that my results were skewed by these factors?
I experienced an adrenaline rush shortly after being injected with the ACTH, and until about 5pm my heart was pounding pretty hard and I felt lightheaded. Is this normal?
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My son ryan aged 8 has been diagnosed with addison's, this has only been 2 weeks, tell tale signs are skin pigmentation and black freckles, he was poorly but has picked up but reluctant to be very energetic and seems to be tired easily, as this is early stages not sure if this is normal maybe someone can advise, he won't walk so its car or taxis to everywhere, he also has heart murmur, we are still awaiting test results to see why glands stopped working,
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I'm wondering if anyone has any advice regarding diagnosing graves and thyroid eye disease in pregnancy. Having never had any problems until being pregnant I'm very confused as to why I've suddenly got it? At around 12 weeks into my pregnancy I noticed a change in my eyes (one was protruding), after seeing an eye dr, he advised I'd be tested for hyperthyroidism and following his advice the bloods came back as a positive for hyperthyroidism. I was put on PTU by an endocrinologist for the rest of my pregnancy and at week 39 I noticed a yellowing in the White of my eyes and admitted myself to the maternity unit for blood tests following speaking with a midwife. It turned out I had developed severe jaundice (Which I now have learnt through research to be a severe side effect to PTU) and that my liver was failing; I had to have an emergency c section that night. I am pleased to say I have a had a healthy baby boy but I'm so anxious as to whether these conditions will worsen post pregnancy.
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I am a 24 year old who works a 12 hour rotating shift pattern (including night shifts). For the past 6 months or maybe more o have had upper left abdominal pain (cramping/aching) and more recently lower pain (sometimes across lower, sometimes left and sometimes a specific place on the lower right). I put it down to IBS due to shift work. My partner convinced me to see the GP as I have a family history of IBD. Oh and my bowel movements vary from constipated (less than once a week) to lose (not diarrhoea and multiple times per day)
Had stool tests and blood tests. I expected them not to find anything to be honest and just did it to please my boyfriend and put his mind at rest.
Doctor phoned and said that "the stool test shows signs of inflammation indicative of inflammatory bowel disease". I couldn't really ask more questions because of where I was. Phoned in for blood results and told by reception that they were fine.
I have been referred to the gastroenterologist and have an appointment in 2 weeks.
I am tired all the time and find it really difficult to get out of bed, frequently have naps at work but put that down to shift working.
I don't want to take any laxatives because I never know when it will change between constipation and loose stools and when I'm working, I often can't get to the toilet.
I often have joint pain but I also have a knee injury and some hyper mobile joints.
I am so confused as to what is going on and hate not being in control of my body. I know I only have mild symptoms, I feel so alone (shift work doesn't lend itself to meeting people regularly).
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Have had hypothyroidism for 10 yrs. 2 yrs ago started with lots of joint/pain/tenderness and extreme tiredness. Had blood tests to check thyroid function - told that my symptoms were because I was on too high a dose of levothyroxine (125mcg). Told to reduce to (100mcg). Done this. Symptoms lot worse now and just been diagnosed as having fibromyalgia but I am so tired etc. and my symptoms are very much like when I was hypo and was awaiting a diagnosis - very dry skin, hair loss etc. (I have no record of my function test results so I cannot gauge what the pattern has been) Anyone else who has hypo and has been diagnosed with fibromyalgia? I cannot help but wonder if my symptoms are more to do with inadequate treatment for hypothyroid than fibromyalgia. Any ideas please?
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I have been on meds for just over a year now, tsh now down to 0.62 was 69 when diagnosed have made lifestyle changes as in reduced working hours started on 150mg then put down to 100mg now back up to 125 mg I do feel better but still get very tired and anxious about the silliest of things almost paranoid have no self confidence or sex drive (just as well I'm single) have zero interest in a social life and will make any excuse to avoid going out apart from going to work, the mother of ones of my sons friends is hypo and her gp prescribed antidepressants alongside her meds just wondered if anyone has any thoughts on this due to see GP again next week and thinking of asking if I may have a touch of depression.
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I have hypothyroidism and take Synthroid daily. Recent blood work done in Dec. 2015, shows that my anion gap is low (3) - normal range is (5-15 mmol/L) My protein serum is 5.9 within the normal range of 5.6 - 7.9 g/dl and albumin is 3.7 with a range of 3.5 - 4.9 g/dl. These tests did show that I have iron deficiency anemia, and the CBC panel had lots of highs and lows. When I looked back over blood results that I had done a year ago, my anion gap was 7 and I now noticed my Vitamin D level was insufficient (22 ng/ml). Other than the iron deficiency, my doctor hasn't addressed any of these other results. Last years blood tests were done at my request because I had concerns about recurring sinus infections, and I had mentioned to the the doctor that my grandmother, her son and her brother all died of multiple myeloma. The IgA test done last year was in the normal range (271 mg/dl) Should I have additional blood work and if so what tests should be done?
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I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism when I was 14, and since then i have been taking Levothyroxine to help with it. I am wondering, will I need to take levothyroxine forever? Or is there a fix for thyroid problems? I don't see my weight going down at all, or my thyroid level. My doctor has been increasing the dosage of my levothyroxine, and has three times now. I recently got Levothyroxine in 0.137mg dosage, and it smells terrible. My old ones were 0.125mg. Is this a very small change, and will it even do anything?
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Anyone else develop hypothyroidism soon after having the MMR vaccine as an adult?
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I hear these go hand in hand and wondered if anyone who is following a gluten free diet has actually gotten better thyroid results without the meds?
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I have been on hypothyroid for long after I had total thyroidectomy in 2008. Recent test indicate that my hypothyroid is now euthyroid and normal. Yet my blood pressure remain very high. 180/100. What medication do you recommend. I am presently on 50mg levothyroxine. I am restless all day.
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