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Lavane V (lvowell), Pituitary Bio

May 8, 2026

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

The pituitary gland

The pituitary gland

I was diagnosed with Cushing’s Disease in September 2012.  I started my search for a diagnosis back in March.

So here is how my story goes… in January of 2012, I decided that i was going to change my diet and exercise.  I had weight to lose from a previous pregnancy.  I began working with a nutrionist and personal trainer.  I spent a lot of time working out and logging everything that went into my mouth.  I even tracked my water intake. It became very obvious that for a hard as I was working that something was wrong.  i was gaining weight instead of losing.  I was also feeling very run down.  I had also started noticing that I did not have very many patience for much of anything and I felt very uptight about silly stuff.  I decided to go have my hormones checked.

At first the doctor told me that I was extremely deficiet on vitamin D and needed to drink a lot more water.  He said we need to run more tests.  He did a salivary test and some bloodwork to check my corisol levels.  On my follow up with him he said that i had very high cortisol levels and wanted to run more test.  He then went on vacation for a few weeks.  I was unable to get answers from his nurse and then he was so behind when he came back that i could never get an appointment.

I started researching on the interenet about high cortisol levels.  Everything that I was reading sounded like me.  Weight gain (i had gained 100 lb), exhaustion, stretch marks, blurred vision, high blood pressure, water retention, etc.  I found another endocrinologist and made an appointment.  I told him all my symptoms and what I felt was wrong with me.  He asked me what i wanted him to do.  I suggested some of the tests that  I had read about because I thought i might have cushings and he said, “ok, let’s get started but, cushings is very rare and I doubt that is what is going on”.

After running blood work, 24 urine test, plus many more test, he told me that I had Cushing’s Syndrome.  He indicated that this was very rare and that he had not seen but one case before.  He ordered an MRI.  The radiologist that read my MRI said that he did not see a tumor.  However, he did say that he saw “sinus disease”.  Now I have never hear of that so i questioned it.  I was told that I would need to go to a ENT doctor for learn more about that.

The endo doc wanted to proceed with the IPSS test.  I keep studying on the interenet about the disease and all the testing.  I even watched a few pituitary surgeries.  I just felt like I need to know everything possible besides, I could not sleep so this was a great way to spend hours.   I also kept reading all that I could on this site as well. I met with a local neurosurgeon and he scheduled the IPSS test.  I asked him about how we would proceed if my test results showed positive for a pit tumor. I was basically told since no tumor was seen in my MRI that the IPSS test would help them to decided which side of my pit they would take.  I was totally not comfortable with just losing part of my master gland.  I kept my scheduled test but started to research experts in cushing’s.  Then I researched which were covered by my insurance.

In the meantime, I kept the appointment for the IPSS since I didnt want to lose any time.  I checked into the hospital and got prepped for my test only to have the doctor come in to tell me that we would not be doing the procedure because the company that made the medications used for testing no longer was making the mediation.  Now then, how do you not know this before you prep someone for the procedure?!?!  I told the doctor that there were other hospital that were treating cushing patients and were performing this test.  I had been reading about them on the boards.  He told me that there was not anyone in the US that had the meds.  That was when I really knew that I was going to have to leave my state to get treatment.

I called my endo and explained what had happend and asked for a referral to MD Anderson in Houston, TX.  I also went online and did a self referral.  I just kept following up with them.  They have a pituitary tumor board that reviews cases.  My case was approved and I had my first appointment in Sept 2011.  I spent on day running tests, having an MRI and meeting with the a new endo.

Within 48 hours, he confirmed that I did have cushing’s disease and showed me the tumor on my pituitary.  In November 2011, I underwent transphenoidal pit surgery.  An 8mm tumor was removed.  There was some concern because the tumor was right up against my cavernous sinus cavity.  This is where your carotid artery is and the surgeon did not want to get close to this artery.

Unfortunalely, I did not experince a “crash” after surgery.  My levels did indicate they were in the normal range so the doctors sent me home with a perscription of hydrocortisone.

English: Cavernous sinus

English: Cavernous sinus (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

for me.  He is going to confer with my endocrinologist and then I will go from there.

Marian U (MaidM), Adrenal Bio

May 8, 2026

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

HI!

I had Cushings symptoms for about 20 years (I am 43) before I finally had surgery at NIH on August 29, 2012.  Before 2 years ago, I had never even heard of Cushings.  Without the aid of a very perseptive medical accupuncturist, I would probably still be suffering today.   Perhaps, if I had heard about it sooner, I wouldn’t have suffered for so many years.  My goal is to help as many people as possible in battling this devastating disease.

I am so happy that I have a new chance at a real life! Feel free to contract me.  Below is a piece I wrote before surgery and my stats.

🙂 Marian

————————————-

My Experience with Cushing’s Syndrome

The changes came about gradually.  So gradually, that it is very difficult to pin-point exactly when the overall change became larger than the sum of individual changes and thus was something that was difficult to ignore. For my whole life, I was “Marian” and then one day, I was someone else.  I had become someone unrecognizable: the “Not Marian.”

One of my favorite books, “The Tipping Point,” by Malcolm Gladwell, expands on the premise that little changes make a huge difference.  Individually, the changes I experienced were easily explained.  I was tired. I had nighttime hot flashes.  I gained weight. I was moody and forgetful.  My sight was blurry.  I often typed or said the wrong word. I couldn’t sleep. I couldn’t remove my rings without soaping up my finger first.  One day, I forgot how to roll down my car windows.  I experienced moments of panic where I was driving and couldn’t remember what road I was on or where I was going. When I mentioned any or all of these symptoms in a group of women over forty, I heard a cavalcade of similar stories, usually expanding into an animated discussion centering on menopause and aging.

I also noticed that I stopped getting compliments.  People, except my amazingly supportive husband, just didn’t say that I looked nice or pretty anymore.  I tried not to be vain; I thought that I probably had just reached the point where I aged enough that I no longer was going to get the attention that I used to get.  I had “hit” the proverbial “wall.”

It is easy to look in a mirror and only see a stylized version of yourself.  But, photos are more precise.  For some time, I had noticed something “off” in the photos that were sometimes posted of me on-line.   They just didn’t look like me anymore.  I untagged myself and brushed them off as bad photos with only the vague realization that the “Marian” I thought I was, was no longer me.

My epiphany came in the form of the photos on my work identification cards, taken about three years apart.  Not only do I look like I have aged about ten years — I also look completely different.  My face is much fuller, my features are distorted, my eyes are sunken, my hair is stringy, and my skin is sallow.  I look like a bad photo copy of my former self.

Now, I realize that how I look is a small part of who I am as a person.  However, it is also the part of me that everyone sees first.  I remember being in the dressing room at Target and catching a glimpse of the “Not Marian” in the mirror.  I was astonished at my reflection and cried.

A friend suggested that I just realize that this “Not Marian” is who I am now.  I don’t think that this bad advice; it is just advice that is easy to say, but difficult to follow.  I often compare my sense of futility regarding my desperate attempts to become “Marian” again to Hercules’s labor of cleaning the Aegean Stables.  I exercised four or so times a week.  I went to a diet doctor.  I ate under 1200 calories a day.  I bought new clothes.  I got my nails done.  Despite these efforts, I only saw minor improvements in the way I looked and felt.  I still felt as though I was always wearing a rubber suit over my skin that covered my former self.

In many ways, the diagnosis of Cushing Syndrome was a relief.  Finally, there was an explanation for the way that I felt and, though serious, Cushing’s is generally a completely curable disease.   But, knowing I have Cushing’s presents another problem, when is it appropriate to tell peop

My initial inclination was to tell everyone.   I wanted to explain the difference between the “Marian” you remember and the “Not Marian” that you see now is a result of this rare disease I have.   “It’s not really me!  It’s the Cushing’s.”  I tried it a couple of times with mixed results.

Mostly, people said that they had not noticed a significant change in the way I looked or behaved.  My closer friends were more tolerant, expressed concern, and asked questions.  The reality is that nothing (except maybe vacation recaps) is more uninteresting in light conversation than talking about illnesses and ailments.  And though it was significant to me, the changes were not readily observable.  So, I will try not to talk about it.

I know that my upcoming surgery is not a panacea, though it is nearly impossible not to view it as such.  I have scrolled through hundreds of websites and blogs looking at photos and reading synopses of people before and after treatment.  I have connected with someone who was successfully treated for a Cushing’s syndrome through Cushing’s Support and Research Foundation.  Ultimately, my hope is that the loss of me is only temporary and that through successful treatment of the disease; I can begin to feel like “Marian” again.

STATS

July 2010: MRI at Kaiser showing a pituitary adenoma. High 24 Hour cortisol. Low DHEA.  Low ACTH. Referred to NIH.

Late July 2010:  CT at Kaiser showed “suspicious” tumor on left adrenal. (High HU, e.g. cancer)

Sep 2010: NIH testing.

Nov 2010:  NIH re-read the results of CT and MRI. NO pituitary adenoma and BENIGN tumor on left adrenal.

Dec 2010 – April 2011:  Unable to replicate high cortisol test at NIH. Diagnosed as pseudo Cushings due to stress. Yearly follow up recommended.

April 2012:  Follow up testing at NIH.  Cortisol is high.  CT of adrenal tumor is stable.

June 2012.  Second cortisol at NIH is high.  Diagnosis cyclical Cushings.  Will not operate.  Note that I do not look like clinical Cushings, so that was part of the problem.

July 2012: Bone density loss of 25% in three years confirmed through Kaiser.  I happened to luckily have had a previous bone scan so that they could compare.  The current bone density scan wouldn’t have been enough because I didn’t have osteoporosis yet.

Aug 6, 2012: Referred for surgery on Aug 27.

Aug 26, 2012: Enter NIH.  Surgery postponed but I can’t leave because of the testing!

Aug 29, 2012.  Surgery!  The surgery itself was easy.

Sep 2, 2012:  Left NIH

Returned to work half days Sept 4 and full time Sep 10.

Anthony G, Pituitary Bio

May 7, 2026

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

The opening in a GE Signa MRI machine

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

58 year old male.

In 2009 was in excellent health. Have suspected something wrong with me for two years. Just was not feeling like my old self.

Diagnosed with Cushings October 8th, 2012. Developed symptoms of: Stomach extension (looked like I was pregnant), round face, skin easily bruses and tears, edema on feet and legs, high blood pressure, depression, brittle hair and hair loss, lack of concentration, & blury vision. Cat scan and MRI were negative, IPSS proved positive for Cushings.

Pituitary surgery performed on December 4th, 2012. Two microedenomas identified and removed.

Recovery pending.

Dana E (Dana), Undiagnosed Bio

May 4, 2026

MaryO Undiagnosed , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 4 Comments

Hello, my name is Dana. I am a 43 year old female. I live near Dallas, TX. I attend college and spend allot of my time taking care of my crazy family, whom I love very much. After reading posts on this site I decided to document my symptoms and experiences.

A couple of days ago I was discussing my endoscopy and colonoscopy results with my mother-in-law. They showed I have GERD, esophagitis, stomach erythema, duodenitis, hiatal hernia, hemorrhoids, nine polyps, and IBS. Wow. After all that she asked me if I was checked for goiter. GOITER? I told her I was just fat. Over the last several years I have gained weight. I did the Atkins diet in 2000 and lost 70 lbs, but gained back 100. Most of my weight is in my abdomen, face and neck. I have relatively small legs, hips and rear. I have had several people think I was pregnant and told how disproportionate my body is. Recently my kids and even my 4 year old grandson have commented on my weight and health. I have noticed that my neck is getting larger, despite being the same weight for a while now.  I have poor eating habits, which I am trying to change. I only eat once or twice a day and I am an active person. I do not exercise except for walking. After my mother-in-laws comment I decided to do some research.

I have almost every symptom of Cushing’s. Central obesity, thinning skin and bruising, especially on my hands. Oral candidiasis, axillary and cervical skin tags, round, fat, red face and neck, oily skin and hair with recent increased acne, headaches, fat pad on back of neck, blurry vision, fatigue, back pain, arm weakness, heat intolerance, pain in joints and swelling in hands and feet, thirst, facial hair, and increased heart rate at weird times. I have been treated for depression/bi-polar for several years now. It took two and a half years of experimenting to find something that would keep me stable. I still have emotional instability, depression, cognitive difficulties, and mood swings. I have many stretch marks but only a few are red. I have very fair skin so my coloring is not the same as others. The only symptoms I do not have are irregular periods. I do have what feels like a soft mass under my chin fat. There are lymph nodes under the area, so this could be the cause.

I pray I am able to find a doctor who will not dismiss my symptoms as some of you have experienced. My first appointment will be next week with my primary care physician and we will go from there. Wish me luck and I will update regularly.

Does anyone know of a good endocrinologist in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area?

Meriam, Pituitary Bio

April 27, 2026

MaryO Diabetes, Other Diagnosis, Pituitary, Pituitary Surgery, Treatments , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 1 Comment

Hi, my name is Meriam from California, a 51 years old female. I was diagnosed with Cushing’s last August 2013.

I had all the typical symptoms (weight gain, edema, purple marks, bruising, aches all over the body, hair loss, depression, anxiety, uncontrolled diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, poor concentration, sleep apnea, etc.) I thought all of these problems was partly caused by my weight  gain (230 lbs.).  I underwent a gastric by-pass but still didn’t  lose weight that much.

Eventually. my body seems to shut down and had been and out of the ER. I suffered congestive heart failure, blood clot, blurred/double vision, colon inflamation, body pains and aches, myopathy but the hardest part was, I lost my ability to walk.

It was a rough year for me; been hospitalized for almost a year. Finally, after 6 months of suffering, my Endocrinologist was able to diagnosed me of having Cushings.

My pituitary gland was removed and was given the necessary treatments. As my cortisol level went down, most of my symptoms disappeared except for bouts of body aches and depression.

I am currently doing physical therapy to be able to walk on my own again. I lost weight and on the way to recovery.

My greatest fear is for the Cushing’s to come back and I do not want to undergo the same ordeal again.

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Brenda, Steroid-Induced Cushing’s

March 1, 2026

MaryO Adrenal Insufficiency, Steroid-Induced , , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

golden-oldie

 

I have had Cushing’s for two years. I have been to Mayo Clinic four times in the last two years, and just recently was accepted and seen at the National Institue of Health’s Rare Disease Program in Bethesda, Maryland. I am from Michigan.

I am 34 years old-a RN, BSN who had worked for ten years happily as a nurse-then I became quite ill due to my Interstitial Cystitis-my Urologist put me in the hopstial-I came out of the hospital after five days, and ten days post hospitalization I awoke with severe joint pain, pitting edema, night sweats, fever, Short of Breath, I had a seizure the next day…..I had only been 135 puonds-very active, worked out-played the clarinet in my church orchestra weekly for three services.

After this illness-I was put on steroids to decrease the joint swelling-turns out I was exposed to Legionella disease during the hospital stay and most likely contracted it after taking a shower at the hospital. My world has been turned upside down since then…I was gaining 10-12 pounds of fluid WEEKLY…finally when I went to Mayo Clinic my first visit in 11/07, they felt the Cushing’s was related to the steroid’s I was on-which was not a high dose, to try and decrease all the swelling-no one thought could pin point why I had so much fluid retention-this was about four months from when I first became ill and I know was 195 pounds!

I returned again to Mayo 1/08 and then again 4/08….in April of 2008 it was an urgent visit-I had been passing out DAILY in my condo in Grand Rapids, MI-two hours from my family-my friends would find me-or I’d wake up fallen on the floor, etc-my internist had me come immediately to Mayo-I was set up with a leading Endocrinologist at Mayo and within 24 hours I was diagnosed with Cushing’s Syndrome and Adrenal Insufficiency-my Urine Cortisol and ACTH stim test were awful. I was put on Replacement Hydrocortisone (At this point I had been off ALL steroids for five months-but continued to gain fluid-I was now 240pounds…they did a tissue biopsy-when they cut into my skin fluid came running out-they-at Mayo had NEVER seen anything like this!).

After returning from Mayo-(my father took me for the ten hour drive each time, we would be there about 8 days-he was such a rock for me as I had always been the independent child in the family…now I needed help-and that was hard to accept). I forgot to mention at this point I was developing many skin rashes, my hands looked like they had been chemically burned all the way up to my elbows….I had allergy/PATCH testing done-found out I was literally allergic to almost everything in the environment-All preservatives in medicine, formaldehyde, lanoline, rubber, adhesive, all chemicals, fragerances-even toothpaste, makeup, it was unreal!

Five days after returning home-I ended up in the hospital in GR-I had a secondary cellulitis/bacterial infection with fever on my hands and arms-I was put on IV antibidics …unfortunately the “hospitalist” I was assigned (In Michigan your internist doesn’t round on you-you are assigned a hospitalist to take care of your inpatient care)…anyways-he didn’t believe I needed to triple my steroid dose when ill-so he refused-I fell into a coma that day! Thankfully one of my good friends, also a RN, came to visit when all th staff was trying to awake me-and my friend said, “my God-she’s in an adrenal crisis!” Once they got the Cortisol in me I was okay. But that was terrifying-I could hear everything the nurses, and medical staff was s aying and I couldn’t talk, blink, move anything-I had tried to call my internist before I slipped into the coma-but I couldn’t talk-I remember hearing the receptionist-but I coudln’t talk-they found my cell phone on the floor where I had dropped it.

it has been a hard road-i returned to Mayo 11/08……at this point I was 300 pounds-they did a full body CT, MRI’s of knee’s, etc-all my tissue is full of fluid-they honestly wre not sure what to do-they just hoped that by tryijng to wean down on the steroids my body would start making aCTH and “Cortisol-I brought intormation on the Rare disease Program at the NIH-my internist at Mayo and in Grand Rapids, MI referred me-I also sent a letter with photo’s. I kept a photo journal from the beginning of my journey-taking photo’s of my striae, abdomen, buffalo hump, arms, legs, abdomen, and SEVERE fluid retention – I took these photo’s monthly so the doctor’s could see how this progressed-this was one of the most helpful things I did.

Thousands are referred to the Rare Disease Program-only 50-100 are accepted. I was accepted. My father and I flew out to the NIH May 17th and returned May 22nd. They paid for our travel, all hospital charges, and lodging for my father at the Safra Lodge there on the NIH campus.

I met the guru of Cortisol-Dr. Nieman-she was incredible. It was an amazing experience to be there-like Mayo-their philosophy is “we are here for the patient” unlike many doctor’s I had run into in Grand Rapids-I’m sure many can relate to some doctor’s that don’t even have ten minutes for you-here and at Mayo then spend 1-2 hours with you-you are their priority. It’s refreshing.

They changed my replacement steroids from Prednisone to Hydrocortisone, I’ve slowly been weaning-but I’m stuck at 10mg in the am, 5mg at 2pm, and 5 mg at 6pm. I also had many other consults while there.

Currently I have a WONDERFUL internist in Grand Rapids-I had to change doctors 2/08-I had been with a family practice doctor and this was just way out of his expertise, I also have a wonderful Urologist, Dr. Casamento whom has been my urologist for over ten years-he has been SO kind and helps me handle my Interstitial Cystitis.

Other than that I have transferred my care to Univ. of Michigan. I have the Chief of Endocrinology at U of M as my Endocrinologist-he is awesome-so intelligent-and he works with the NIH and my internist to help formulate a plan.

I also have a wonderful Rheumatolgosit at U of M- I have a lot of damage to my knee’s-and as I said-my weight is now at 300 pounds-they say over 50% is fluid-and you can tell-my skin is SO taught, nothing is flabby….I’ve been on so many diuretics-nothing helps-next step is to see nephrology at U of M.

They Cushing’s Syndrome symptoms are hard to deal with-you have to learn to adapt-the abdomen, the buffalo hukp, the stria-I look just like the diagram on your website-I had to cut my hair very short as I was sweating ALL the time-another bad side effect. I have had to go from being able to live in my third floor condo-to moving home to my parents-I can’t do stairs anymore-I do PT exercises daily at their home-I have to use a walker at all times, I also have to sleep upright-as my abdomen is SO distended if I like even at a 45 degree angle I feel like I’m suffocating. I PRAY for a miracle-the NIH and Mayo had NEVER seen someone with such severe symptoms of Cushing’s. They now are not sure if I have primary or secondary adrenal insufficiency.

In the meantime I have some major damage and arthritis in my spine/knee’s ankles-but I’m not a surgical candidate per my ortho doc….he’s just doesn’t know how to help me.

I think the hardest things for me are just ADL’s (Activities of Daily Living) shower, even using the bathroom, hygeine, etc….and still not allowing anyone to help me-I’m stubborn that way-but the worse the abdomen distends, the worse the fluid gets-the harder it is for me.

Thankfully I have so much loving support from family and friends-but qualify of life is so low. I no longer get out of the home-it’s too hard-and the stares I get from people, and the laughs because of the Cushing’s is hard….I had been getting my groceries using an Amgio cart-but now that I’m living with my parents they take care of that.

Thankfully I had no problem getting disability-but COBRA and my medical bills have taken my entire savings. My church family even pays every other COBRA-but at 540.00 a month-plus all my other bills/mortgage, etc-it’s been a devestation financially.

I wish everyone with Cushing’s the best of luck-just know you are NOT alone. My faith has sustained me in hard times-I can’t imagine not having faith to get throgh this.

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Voices from the Past: Louise, Updated Adrenal Bio

January 21, 2026

MaryO Adrenal, Adrenal Surgery, Treatments , , , , , , , , , , 2 Comments

Louise’s original bio was here.

Here’s a lil update.

So I went to the urgent care because of lower abd pain, much like previous pain from cysts that burst in my ovaries.

The doc did a CT scan, and to my surprise found bilateral adrenal hyperplasia. A referral was to an endocrinologist and after the usual testing found I have ACTH-independent macrodular bilateral adrenal hyperplasia.

I do not have the outward appearance of cushings per se, but over the last year the s/s have significantly increased. (short term memory loss, achy legs, increased facial hair, gained 10lb in a month *I only eat 1 meal a day, edema, generally feel like CRAP)

the doc sent me to OHSU because my case had him perplexed. He said usually patients come in c/o of s/s of cushing’s and then tests are ran to confirm. However, in my case, cushing’s was found incidentally in testing w/o the outward appearance so much.

I’ve now met with a surgeon to discuss a bilateral adrenalectomy (which at this point I want these things OUT!) but I am worried about the recovery post-op and quality of life.

From what I have read, people seem to feel that the risk of Addison’s is better than living with cushings. Is that the general consensus? I am so overwhelmed and I am having trouble getting out of this pity party for myself.

Louise added her Helpful Doctor, Maria Fleseriu, to the Cushing’s MemberMap

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MizBellaTru, Undiagnosed bio

November 12, 2025

MaryO Diabetes, Golden Oldies, Other Diagnosis, Undiagnosed , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 1 Comment

golden-oldie

A Golden Oldie from August 12, 2007

I’m a 48-year old female who has had an awful lot of illness over the past 12 years and starting to wonder if there could be some connection to all of it even though my doctors don’t think there is. They just think I’m one of those unlucky souls who just is sick alot and doesn’t have very good genes.

Here’s what I can tell you about me health-wise:

In 96 I had to have my colon removed due to Ulcerative Colitis. This resulted in 3 surgeries.

In 97 I developed Iritis (inflammation of the eye) and one of the docs said that because I no longer have a colon and have an auto-immune disorder that now my whacked out immune systems has started attacking my eyes. I’m in remission currently but this will be something I’ll have to deal with for the rest of my life.

Things were fairly quiet for a few years with the exception of having Iritis flare-ups and don’t remember anything else going on until 2000 when I broke my left ankle (badly) and now have a steel plate with 11 bolts holding my ankle together. (This happened in 2000 and I still have problems with that ankle).

In 2001 I was diagnosed with Diabetes. This had run in my family (my great-grandmother had been diabetic and I had been borderline diabetic as a child). I started out taking oral medications but after a couple of years this wasn’t enough and it resulted in me being on insulin now for the past 3 years. (Sugars still aren’t under control).

Also in 2001 I had some kind of seizure. Was taken to the hospital and after a lot of blood tests they thought it might be due to a calcium deficiency and recommended I go see an Endo. However, when I wen to see an endo he didn’t think my calcium was deficient enough to cause what had happened and recommended I go see a neurologist. The neurologist thought it was some kind of seizure too and ran some preliminary tests on me but he wouldn’t return any calls for me to find out what other tests should be run. I gave up on him and still never had an answer about what had caused this very weird episode. (What had happened was that I had been at work and all of a sudden my jaw started to tighten up and my head cocked to the side and I started making all these weird grimaces. My mouth became locked up so could barely get any words out. I couldn’t turn my head – it was as if it was locked in place. This is what led the ER (after running blood tests) to determine that they thought my reaction was due to low calcium. To get my rigidity to loosen up, they gave me several shots (can’t remember now what it was) but it finally had allowed my body to loosen up enough that I could finally leave the hospital. This event lasted several hours and moved in to my arms where they became so rigid that it felt like someone was turning my arms inside out. I was completely exhausted after that had happened.

As time went on I would have periodic episodes of what was thought to be a seizure and I just started to learn to live with it. Sometimes only my face was affected and sometimes my whole body would become very rigid and after several hours these episodes would pass but I was always left feeling completely worn out.

Throughout all this time my Diabetes has been almost impossible to get it under control. My insulin doses would be increased but I never could get my sugars to stabilize.

In the spring of 2006 I developed some type of wound on the top of my left foot. It spread and ulcerated and I went to several types of doctors and a couple of them thought it might have been a spider bite of some kind and due to the diabetes it wasn’t healing. I was put on various types of strong antibiotics but nothing was helping. I finally was referred to an infectious disease expert and he said I had some type of serious strain of staph infection and he finally was able to get me on an antibiotic that started to help me heal. I’m now left with some horrible scarring on my left foot but at least I didn’t lose my foot which is what I thought might happen.

In August of 2006 I developed Bells Palsey on the left side of my face. I went to a neurologist (different one from the one I had gone to for my “seizure”). He was the one who diagnosed me with Bells. In the process of seeing him I had one of those episodes in his office and he watched me very closely as it evolved and told me that he thought I had a form of “Dystonia” which is a movement disorder. After a couple of months my Bells resolved although I do have some permanent nerve damage in my face which affects how I smile but it seems to only be really noticeable to me.

In late fall of 2006 I noticed my right ear was hurting quite a bit and was draining. I went to this ear doc and she determined I had a ruptured eardrum with a huge hole that might require surgery. She also determined (after some tests) that I had an infection in the mastoid and said it was imperative that I not let any water get in my ear so that the ear could dry out enough and the infection to clear up before I have surgery. She said it could take a couple months before my ear might be dry enough and told me to come back in a couple of months. During that first visit she also did a hearing test on both ears to establish a baseline. I came back to see her in Jan 2007. When she looked at my ear she said it looked like the eardrum was starting to show some signs it was trying to heal itself (because originally she thought the hole was too big for it to ever heal on its own). She told me to give it some more time and come back again in a couple of months. I came back to see her in April 2007 and the hole was still showing some progress in trying to repair itself so she said she didn’t want to operate if my body could heal the hole. In June of 2007 my left ear started producing a very high pitched ringing sound. I’m not talking a little ringing sound but a sound loud enough it kept me up at night. I had noticed my hearing had diminshed quite a bit in that left ear. I then developed some dizziness and a sense of fullness in my left ear and noticed that when the barometric pressure changed my head felt like it was going to explode. When I went back again to the ear doc she surmised that she thought I now had developed Menieres. She put me on a diuretic and a steroid as this is supposed to help with Menieres but it didn’t seem to do a thing for me. The ear doc ran another hearing test and found that my hearing in my left ear had diminished since it was first baselined last December.

So, a little over a week ago my right ear (the one with the perforated eardrum) started hurting quite a bit and the ear started draining. Again I went back to the ear doc and she determined I had a sinus infection and an ear infection so she put me on an oral antibiotic and antibiotic ear-drops. It’s been a full 7 or 8 days on this antibiotic treatment and my hearing in my right ear has diminshed considerably to where I can hardly hear a persons’ voice on the phone. I’m to stay on this present course of antibiotics for another week. In the past I’ve always responded to antibiotics but it doesn’t seem to be helping this time. My right ear has been draining for a whole week and it’s never done that before.

Also I want to point out that I gained a lot of weight over the last 15 years and I’m now about 120 lbs overweight. I gained 12 of those pounds in just less than 2 weeks recently and my eating hasn’t changed. This is what made me start looking on the internet about rapid weight gain when I came across Cushings and started wondering if I could have this.

At this time I’m waiting on some results from a urine test to see if I’m starting to have a problem with my kidneys because I’m dealing with a lot of edema lately. I don’t know if all the problems I’m having such as the poor wound healing, edema, diabetes, developing high blood pressure are all separate things or more related to my Diabetes.

So at this time I can’t claim that I’m a “cushie” because that’s not been identified yet but I’m thinking that I should get tested for it.

Anyway, that’s what’s going on with me right now.

Thank you for reading this very long bio.

MizBellaTru

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Tracie (ktfisher91), Pituitary Bio

November 6, 2025

MaryO Pituitary, Pituitary Surgery, Treatments , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 1 Comment

I am 40 years old and recovering from Cushing’s.

I was diagnosed in May 2012 after several years of being mis-diagnosed and treated for the wrong diseases. I was finally able to have the tumor on my piuitary gland removed at Emory Hospital, Atlanta GA in January 2013, however, I had a CSF leak 4 weeks into recovery and had to go back for the repair surgery in Febuary 2013.

I gained over 80 pounds, developed high blood pressure, developed severe swelling all over but especially in my lower legs, I had to have my eyeglass prescription adjusted, had watering eyes, memory impairment, sleep apenea due to the weight gain, depression, anexity, lovely stretch marks on top of the lovely ones I had from having children, I had started developing the attractive buffalo hump between my shoulder blades to go with my lovely round and red face, and I am sure there are other symptoms that I had that I just can’t think of right now.

I am currently 8 months into remission, however, the recovery process has been a beast! I had very severe muscle fatigue and joint pain to the point that I could not get myself up out of chairs. I am just now able to make it up and downstairs without assistance and muscle pain. I still have some joint pain and overall fatigue. I can not make it much past 9pm without having to go to bed.

However, on a good note I have lost 40 pounds so far and I plan on loosing the next 40 pounds by this time next year! I did go back to work fulltime in April 2013 and I started my college classes back in August 2013. I did not let Cushing’s stop me from living and I have not let the difficult recovery stop me either.

It would have been easy for me to give up, but that is not the life I wanted!

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Voices from the Past: Meriam S (Jomisa03), Pituitary Bio

October 31, 2025

MaryO Other Diagnosis, Pituitary, Pituitary Surgery, Success Stories, Thyroid, Treatments , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 1 Comment

The pituitary gland

The pituitary gland

 

My name is Meriam San Antonio, 52 years old from Fairfield, California. I have been married for 19 years and have three teenage children. I was sick for almost 7 months ( starting March 2013) and the doctors couldn’t figure out what is wrong with me. My symptoms were being bloated, had edema on my feet and legs, swollen all over, had a “moon face”, bruising on my hands, myopathy/neuropathy, aching nerves, bloated stomach (as if I was pregnant), double vision, and lost my ability to walk.

I have been in and out of the ER due to having a congested heart failure, urinary tract infection, colonitis. I suffered from acute depression and tried killing myself. My blood pressure and blood sugar was soaring so high and uncontrolled.

After a series of tests, I was finally diagnosed of having Cushing’s syndrome. A surgery was done on August 2013 to removed my pituitary gland at the left side of my brain.. I had to take an early retirement from work and currently on Social Security Disability.

Two years had past and I have recovered. I lost weight, my blood sugar and blood pressure were now on the normal range. It seems after the surgery, everything was back to normal. I can now walk on my own ( without the help of a cane, walker and wheel chair) but had to undergo a knee replacement as I fell many times on my knees due to nerve weakness. I had a rough time and had gone through a lot.

I stopped taking my PTU medication as told by my doctor as I am already “Cushing’s free”.

But my endocrinologist just informed me that the result of my thyroid test was high. She ordered me to take a “nuclear iodine test” next week. I am so worried that my Cushing’s will come back. I do not want to undergo such experience as I was so traumatized by it.

 

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