Home

Voices from the Past: Rebecca D (RebeccaD), Pituitary Bio

July 7, 2026

MaryO Pituitary, Pituitary Surgery, Treatments , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Hi all!

I am a 24 year old little miss you was diagnosed with Cushing’s Disease in Spring 2010.

I did a ton of tests, including pretosal sinus sampling and MRI’s, and although images and direct location of the tumor were not possible, my doctors were able to confirm a pituitary origin for my cushings.

I had my first transphenoidal surgery in June 2011 and was finally off replacement cortisol by mid november 2011.

In august, as I began to tapper off my medications, I was FINALLY able to loose some weight, loosing 30lbs between August and December.

I stopped losing weight and began another downfall in my stupids between february 2012 until april, at which time my monitoring tests showed my cortisol levels to be again up around the same levels pre-surgery 🙁 so sadly I’m looking again into what my life entails with this Cushing’s having resurfaced 🙁

Voices from the Past: Jestina (jestina902), Pituitary Bio

July 2, 2026

MaryO Diabetes, PCOS, Pituitary, Pituitary Surgery, Treatments , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 2 Comments

Hello there! My name is Jestina and I’m 16 years old. I just recently found out that I have Cushing’s from an endocrinologist in Washington D.C. It has taken three years to find a diagnosis. I have struggled with hormone issues ever since I was thirteen and my old family doctor originally diagnosed me with diabetes and PCOS. I didn’t think that it was unusual, especially because my mom has PCOS and diabetes runs in my family. My doctor told me that I was going through treatment for PCOS by giving me a pill to take. When I would take it, I would become very sick and I had unbearable stomach pain. It got to the point where I stopped taking it because it was hurting so badly. I was also not having any results. I still had unusual hair growth and I was starting to gain weight. This went on for a year.

About a year later, I started to face horrible back pain. I have scoliosis and my family, along with my specialists believed that it was caused by my spinal fusion. I started physical therapy when I was 15. I started to develop the “buffalo hump” and my physical therapist believed that it was the cause of spending too much time online. I thought that it was very strange though because I didn’t go online very much. I didn’t even have Facebook or any other type of social networking account. So, I went through about six months of therapy and I saw a small improvement but it didn’t last very long.

When I turned 16, I started to face even worse pain than before in my upper back. I went through multiple rounds of X-rays and spent two months home from school while my specialist was trying to find what was wrong but each time, he could never think of a reason for why I would be facing so much pain. I ended up going through a round of pain injections and it eased the pain enough for me to be back in school for the remainder of the school year. On my follow-up appointment after having the injections, my specialist suggested that maybe my pain had been caused by a hormonal problem. My mom decided to change family doctors and we went into her office less than a month ago. When my new doctor reviewed the medicines that I had been taking, she then informed us that the medicine that my old doctor gave me was actually for my diabetes and that it was the reason why I hadn’t seen any results. After I described my symptoms, (buffalo hump, moon face, unusual hair growth and weight gain, etc.) she left the room for about forty minutes to research. When she returned, she suggested that I had Cushing’s and that I should see an endocrinologist. She ordered a few rounds of blood tests and gave a referral to a doctor in Washington D.C.

My endocrinologist reviewed the blood tests and agreed with my family doctor that I most likely had Cushing’s. He ordered more blood tests and a 24-hour urine collection and they came back the way that he expected. I am now awaiting a CT scan for my surgery which should happen sometime in the next few weeks. I am hoping for great results. Apparently once my surgery is finished, I shouldn’t see anymore problems with diabetes, PCOS, or the symptoms that come along with Cushing’s.

Thank you so much for reading my bio!

Voices from the Past: Kristina, Undiagnosed Bio

June 30, 2026

MaryO Hypothyroidism, Undiagnosed , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Hello everyone, My name is Kristina and i am 21 years old.I am so happy that i found this site because there are so little information about Cushing’s, especially real people stories. If not internet or tv i still wouldn’t know what is happening with me for a quite long time.

Hm i don’t know where to start, as a kid i always was very thin, and everything started changing when i was 11 or 12 years old i started to gain more and more weight, and after few years was diagnosed with hypothyroidism, i took medicine and lost my weight , but when i was 15 everything started changing again but much worse, i was always hyperactive, happy, enthusiastic, always got best grades and ect… i was always depressed, always asleep, feeling dizzy, everyday felt exhaustion, i even started missing schoool , didn’t even went where because i didn’t had energy to get up from bed and get dressed, and also with +66lbs i really didn’t wanted to show my face anywhere. And everyday everything get worse and worse, because of all this lack of energy and motivation i quit law studies, and then other studies, i don;t have energy to do simple house chores, my muscles always hurts, my head everyday hurts, i can’t sleep, i still get on weight every week almost, i have 800 kcal diet, and do some exercises, and weight still puts on… my hair is so ugly, my skin is very dry i got eczema that my skin doctor can’t cure, i broke my kneecap with very light impact i have many many other problems, and when i saw this on house md and mystery diagnosis i started my reseach on internet and library, i took very hard road that my endro would write prescriptions for all blood tests and MRT and now i am waiting for results and am very be anxious and have still many many questions.

I know that all cases are different but maybe someone could share, if after treatment or surgery, how hard is to loose weight, and not feel tired all the time? what to expect?

In Memory of Thomas F. Zachman ~ June 3, 2010

June 3, 2026

MaryO Adrenal, Golden Oldies, In Memory, Male , Leave a comment

in-memory

 

Thomas “Tommy” F. Zachman, of Windsor, formerly of Toledo, Ohio, died suddenly and unexpectedly at University Hospital in Denver on June 3, 2010, complications of Cushing’s Syndrome.

Tommy was born Sept. 3, 1950, in Toledo. He was a graduate of Rogers High School and the University of Toledo and the University of Toledo Law School. He practiced law in Ohio. Most of his career was spent with West Publishing in Cincinnati which enabled him to enjoy extensive travel throughout the United States. He left his position at the company when it was sold.

He was an animal lover and always enjoyed his family dogs. He also enjoyed cycling, music, college sports and reading. Tommy was always available to help others with their problems.

HOME | Sitemap | Abbreviations | Adrenal Crisis! | Glossary | Forums | Bios | Add Your Bio | Add Your Doctor | MemberMap | CushieWiki

Debra LF (DebraLF), Undiagnosed Bio

May 31, 2026

MaryO Undiagnosed , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 2 Comments

Hello, I  am in search of opinions please.

I present with most of the outward physical characteristics: age 57 “weight gain (obese which began about 1991 with a sudden 60 lb increase in 2 months and no explanation, physician had wanted me to go to a Mayo clinic for eval but at the time I could not spare time nor expense…and more recently continuring weight gain, easy bruising, (menses stopped at age 50, but don’t recollect too many probs except migraines), ravenous appetite, occasional trouble sleeping, depression or mood swings, anxiety, fatigue and altered mentation which is trouble concentrating or decreased memory and now diagnosed ADHD.

1-3. Physical abnormalities include new onset obesity, mine is more recent weight gain, primarily in the abdominal,  buffalo hump which presented suddenly a few summers ago but has been brushed off by doctors…, rounding and reddening of the face which began about ten years ago, thin skin, decreased muscle strength, high blood pressure, and excess hair growth on face, have to shave every day, some times twice, have 5 o’clock shadow, but I have already been to a local endocrinologist in Billings, Montana, there are only a couple in this sparsely populated area, and none of the lab tests showed anything particularly abnormal…open to suggestions, thanks so much…

Kristi (kingskid), Undiagnosed Bio

May 14, 2026

MaryO Undiagnosed , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 1 Comment

Hi my name is Kristi and I’m seeking any help or advice on Cushings.

I had always been active growing up into sports, running, weight lifting and horseback riding.

27 Yrs ago I gave birth to a beautiful healthy daughter. I was a size 10 and had only gained 25 LBS during prignancy.  Less then a year later I was carrying my second daughter.  I had no appetite and could barely eat but was gaining 10 pds every other day.  My blood pressure soared and I was diagnosed with pre-eclampsia.  I have been sick ever since I gave birth.

In the past 20yrs I have put on over 150 lbs and I can’t get it off.  I was told I had a fatty liver and my cholesterol and triglicerites are off the chart.  I began having memory trouble even forgetting my daughters name, hair loss, blurred vision (even typing this is slow going so forgive any mistakes) I started falling, loosing bladder and bowel control, walk into walls, tables and door frames/   I’ve had bouts of blndness and layered viion (Multiple Sclerosis has been ruled out) chronic body and nerve pain, horrible mood swings from happy, depressed, anger, intolerance (it’s like a daily rollar coaster ride) SEVERE salt cravings, low body temp, heaviness in legs, bruising, infections, trouble healing, brain lesions., trouble sleeping.  Get cyst on my breast, head, ears and pubic area.  Have little hard bumps on pubic area that never go away.  No sex drive left for husband and even when we are active it’s very painful..  Major swelling in face, neck, legs and feet, backaches, headaches.  When I stand up I feel like I get a head rush or lightheaded and I flap my arms to stay up or I fall back into bed or chair.  I sweat even in winter.  I do have the buffalo hump, the stretch marks, the moon face, brain lesions and the discolored skin under breast,  behind neck and arm pits.

Dec. 6th I had a carbuncle which had develped staff and mrsa removed from my armpit.  My whole armpit had to be removed and a couple weeks later I developed an abcess and had to go back to surgery.  It has been 5 months and I still can’t heal.  Have been packing the wound every day and seeing the surgeon every 2 wks.  Now I have a carbuncle on the other side and I’m facing more painful surgery after this side heals.

Today I recieved a call that the urine test I took for cushings came back with normal levels.  Needless to say I sat down and sobbed.  I am 46 yrs old and I have been sick for half my life.  I have seen so may doctors, been through so many surgeries and painful testings.  I have been told over and over that there is something wrong but the Doctors can’t find it.  I thought cushings was the answer and that I could finally get treatment and get better.  I look in the mirror and I don’t recogize this person I see….How will I start over again on this long search for answers?  Where will I get the strength?

Jarryd (Medboy), Pituitary Bio

May 13, 2026

MaryO Male, Pituitary , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 7 Comments

I’m a 19 year old male student with Cushing’s syndrome. Basically had accelerated weight gain since late 2011, despite frequent exercise and heavy dieting.

Started to feel a lot more irritable and tired, lost strength at the gym, developed big unsightly purple stretch marks across my abdomen

Initially my doctor just told me that I was getting fat and should do more cardio/eat less. She even commented on how it showed quickly in my face (mild moon facies)

It was entirely reasonable for her to think this, but when the stretch marks didn’t fade as they normally would i did a google search and returned.

Urine test, blood ACTH and cortisol test, repeat urine test. Soon I was sent to an endocrinologist who confirmed Cushing’s syndrome.

I just had an MRI of my pituitary after the ACTH signs pointed to a pituitary source. The Endocrinologist said it appeared to have a 3mm lesion, but it was not 100% conclusive so I am to undergo petrosal sinus sampling for confirmation within the month. Hopefully that will confirm the adenoma with surgery ideally soon after that.

I’m happy to have got it reasonably early; most of my symptoms are still relatively mild, but it really does make you put other things on hold until you can fix it, which means i’m sort of stuck in a lull until its all fixed. I would appreciate any advice for things to do in the mean time to help me feel like i’m doing something positive rather than just waiting.

Location of the pituitary gland in the human brain

Location of the pituitary gland in the human brain (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Grace (Grace), Undiagnosed Bio

May 12, 2026

MaryO Undiagnosed , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 1 Comment

Hi Everyone

I suspect I may have cushing’s syndrome or disease but all I know for sure is I’m sick, I don’t know what’s wrong with me……..and I want to get better.

I just turned 25 in March but looking back i think i’ve been showing symptoms for the last 13 years.

At the age of 13 over the school holidays I gained a bunch of weight (14 kg in a month and a half) and since then my weight just keeps climbing up. I also became lethargic, depressed, unmmotivated, struggled with my concentration and continue to do so. The  stretch marks followed the weight gain.  I definitely have a really round face, which I guess could be moon face. My face gets really red and flushed. I have very little body hair but its quite strange that i have hair growth on the lower part of my fingers and toes. I have a significant amount of foot pain especially when I get up in the mornings. I have lower back pain too. I wouldn’t say my periods are highly  irregular but they are often off from my usual 28 day cycle by about 5 to 14 days. This is becoming a more frequent occurrence.  My skin is really thin, soft and doesn’t heal well. Small cuts and bruises take longer than usual to heal and almost always leave scars. I feel hungry and tired all the time.

The depression and fatigue is by far the most debilitating of all the symptoms I have suffered from. My grades in school and later on University have steadily dropped since the age of 13. I find it really hard to concentrate. It was only when I began failing in uni that my parents finally allowed me to see a doctor who was a psychiatrist in 2009.

I had an abnormal EEG showing evidence of seizures. The evidence was not sufficient enough to diagnose me with epilepsy but he called it seizure equivalent depressson. I was then put on heavy rounds of anti-depressants and anti-convulsants which kept on being adjusted. Different dosages and combinations would work for awhile then stop so that meant  more combinations, stronger drugs and higher dosages. To cut a long story short I finally quit the meds in Dec 2011 and began to see a new psychiatrist in May 2012 who ordered blood tests, a thyroid test, sleep-deprived EEG and an MRI.

My blood sugar and cholestrol is normal but heading towards the high range which worries me but not suprising given that I’m obese. The EEG again showed slight evidence of seizures but when I was referred to a neurologist he said I show no evidence of seizures and that normal people have abnormal EEGs all the time(?????) This is despite a history of epilepsy on my Dad’s side of the family. What about non-convulsive seizures-could this explain the lack of poor concentration?

The MRI came out normal, only showed that I  suffer from chronic sinusitis. But then again it wasn’t done by a specialist in the diagnosis of pituitary tumours and they most definitely were not looking for one so if there is a microadenoma, its flown under the radar. The blood tests showed I have a low white blood cell count (neutrophils and monocytes). My cortisol level was normal but then again it wasn’t a 24-hour cortisol test.

From my own research I found that chronic sinusitis could be linked to the depression but my Psychiatrist seemed to be unwilling to explore these leads any further and advised me to stop researching so much online. At the same time he put me a new round of anti-depressants and anti-convulsants which left me feeling weak, tired and drained. For the first two weeks I slept all day and could barely get out of bed. I quit these too in September 2012 and since them haven’t seen any doctors but symptoms remain and its a struggle to live with them every day.

I am still financially dependent on my parents who are tired of my constant “depression” which they feel is an attitude problem so I don’t even speak about it with them any more. They feel I should just try harder. I hope to graduate from  Uni this year but due to my health problems I’m  3 years behind and my grades have suffered. I have health insurance which makes it very difficult to get referrals to specialists and they hardly covers pre-exisitng conditions. All treatment described above was paid for by my parents and not health insurance. They are retired now and don’t want to spend a ton of money they don’t necessarily have, looking for a phantom condition. I understand their point  of view but I feel if I had a child I would do all I could to help them get better.

The more time that passes the more difficult it becomes and the more paralysed I feel. I have a part time internship at a law firm that is even becoming too much now. I can barely study. I’ve lost almost all my friends either because I isolate myself or am too tired and depressed to be there for them like a good friend should.

As of March 2013 I went to see a gynacologist about my irregular periods he ordered another thyroid test, prolactin test and a Pelvic scan so i’ll see how that goes….maybe its PCOS.

Anyway I have no one to talk to . I don’t know what to do next. I wonder if anyone else has been/is in a similar position.

Thanks for listening

HOME | Sitemap | Adrenal Crisis! | Abbreviations | Glossary | Forums | Donate | Bios | Add Your Bio | Add Your Doctor | CushieWiki

Becky (Becky), Pituitary Bio

May 11, 2026

MaryO Pituitary, Pituitary Surgery, Treatments , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Hi I’m Becky a 34 year old wife, mother of twins and teacher.

I’m having surgery to remove a pituitary tumor this week and am told it will really help to alleviate the Cushings symptoms I’ve had for years!!  I wish I had had this diagnosis sooner but I know I’m lucky to have it now as I had planned on bariatric surgery as my last hope.

The opening in a GE Signa MRI machine

The opening in a GE Signa MRI machine (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

When the headaches became too much to handle and my face went numb I was given an MRI and now I know the truth.

I’m new to this, scared yet hopeful.  I’m determined to get control over this but still, this is hard for me.

Related articles

Mary (Mary), Pituitary Bio

May 10, 2026

MaryO Adrenal Surgery, Pituitary, Treatments , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

I have been battling Cushings Disease for many years. I had transphenodial surgery at the Mayo Clini-Rochester in April of 2008.

Recently my numbers were high again and I can feel that my Cushings is back. I just got done with the long testing process and am waiting to confirm a appointment for a bilateral adrenalectomy.  If anyone has had a BLA I would appreciate an e mail. I would like to hear it all- the good, bad and the ugly. I would also like to know if this made your quality of life any better and tips and tricks for recovery. I am very scared. This decision is a lifetime change but one I am willing to take becuase of how miserable I feel now.

I have two children and a husband that although are VERY supportive still need their Mom/wife to be an active part of their lives. Thank you!

Older Entries