Recently I had a kidney stone. I went to the ER where they did a CT scan. The confirmed the stone and gave me pain pills to tough it out. A couple of weeks later I got a letter describing all of the CT findings. I had to look up all of them to figure out what they meant. One of them was adrenal adenoma. When I started reading about this one it was like reading my medical history. Weight gain in the belly, hump on my shoulders, high blood pressure, high sugar, high triglycerides, fatigue, depression, serious panic attacks, aching muscles…

I didn’t have a regular doctor because I just moved to Phoenix and was fed up with the VA. I’m a disabled vet due to a back injury in my first year of enlistment. So I got an internal doctor and showed her my CT findings, she wasn’t worried but upon insistence I got her to test more. She called me a few days later to tell me that it was a functioning adenoma. She is sending me to an endocrinologist because it might be part of a bigger autoimmune disease, I’m guessing Cushings.

I told her I knew exactly when it started, in 2003. That was shortly after finishing Hepatitic C treatment and when I had my first panic attack. I had no idea what was happening and called 911 and took an ambulance ride to the ER. They found nothing physical, so continued my life of being treated as a hypochondriac. Oh yes, prior to the Hep C diagnosis I was treated as a mental patient, depression got stamped on my forehead for over a year…

Now here I am 11 years later, 60 pounds over weight, can barely go up stairs without getting out of breath and starting a panic attack. Doctors have been riding me about my weight, and not exercising… Finally they hear me!

Now I have found this board and have lots of reading to do.

HOME | Contents | Adrenal Crisis! | Abbreviations | Glossary | Forums | Donate | Bios | Add Your Bio