cushing's
I said I would write about this disease I have been dealing with for the last six years. Let me give the wikipedia definition of Cushing's: Cushing's syndrome (also called hyperadrenocorticism or hypercorticism) is a hormone (endocrine) disorder caused by high levels of cortisol (hypercortisolism) in the blood. This can be caused by taking glucocorticoid drugs, or by tumors that produce cortisol or adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH).[1] Cushing's disease refers to one specific cause, a tumor (adenoma) in the pituitary gland that produces large amounts of ACTH, which in turn elevates cortisol. It can usually be cured by surgery.
I have the disease, not the syndrome. The disease with me at least seems to be longer lasting and stubborn ( like me). I started off just missing a period and since i never do, it struck me as strange. I had a good gyno who believed me that I didn't feel like myself and he ordered some bloodwork, the results came back abnormal, so he ordered an MRI. This showed the tumor on my pituitary gland. Fun for me. Now I have moved back to San Antonio by this time and was working for a urologist. I asked him if he knew of a good family doctor and he recommended one. As soon as he walked into the room to see me, he said I had Cushing's. I had every physical symptom. Moon-face, acne, facial hair, hump on neck, purple strae on stomach, serious weight gain in upper body. So we scheduled for me to see a neurosurgeon and did a surgery. And it worked for awhile. Then it came back. Again with the surgery. And now its 2010, and I'm scheduled for a third surgery. This time he is going to be more agressive and take some more of my pituitary gland to try to make sure it doesn't come back. I have some other symptoms that usually aren't mentioned unless you do alot of research and talk to others who are in the same boat. The weight issue for one is sever, I'm talking about 70-80 pounds. No amount of exercise or diet with make you lose the weight because its the cortisol in my system that keeps the weight on. A steriod if you will. And emotionally? Its an up and down type of thing. Crankier I'd say. And for me the doozy? Loss of sexual desire. I'm only 37 now and losing that is devastating. Its temporary but it last for awhile until my hormone levels get back to normal again. But the lack of feeling is depressing. I am going to try to be honest as I can on here so I can help others who may be going through the same thing. So ask me what you want and I will try to answer.
I have the disease, not the syndrome. The disease with me at least seems to be longer lasting and stubborn ( like me). I started off just missing a period and since i never do, it struck me as strange. I had a good gyno who believed me that I didn't feel like myself and he ordered some bloodwork, the results came back abnormal, so he ordered an MRI. This showed the tumor on my pituitary gland. Fun for me. Now I have moved back to San Antonio by this time and was working for a urologist. I asked him if he knew of a good family doctor and he recommended one. As soon as he walked into the room to see me, he said I had Cushing's. I had every physical symptom. Moon-face, acne, facial hair, hump on neck, purple strae on stomach, serious weight gain in upper body. So we scheduled for me to see a neurosurgeon and did a surgery. And it worked for awhile. Then it came back. Again with the surgery. And now its 2010, and I'm scheduled for a third surgery. This time he is going to be more agressive and take some more of my pituitary gland to try to make sure it doesn't come back. I have some other symptoms that usually aren't mentioned unless you do alot of research and talk to others who are in the same boat. The weight issue for one is sever, I'm talking about 70-80 pounds. No amount of exercise or diet with make you lose the weight because its the cortisol in my system that keeps the weight on. A steriod if you will. And emotionally? Its an up and down type of thing. Crankier I'd say. And for me the doozy? Loss of sexual desire. I'm only 37 now and losing that is devastating. Its temporary but it last for awhile until my hormone levels get back to normal again. But the lack of feeling is depressing. I am going to try to be honest as I can on here so I can help others who may be going through the same thing. So ask me what you want and I will try to answer.