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Danielle G, Pituitary Bio

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The pituitary gland

 

During pregnancy it’s expected for women to gain weight and sometimes struggle to lose it after giving birth.

Danielle Gselmann felt her health dramatically deteriorate five years ago, soon after she found out she was pregnant.

The Gold Coast mother had suddenly gained more than 20kg, found herself losing hair, constantly breaking bones and struggling to sleep.

Making matters worse, the young mother became severely depressed and noticed an unusual-looking ‘hump’ on her back.

Danielle went with her personal trainer husband Dean to get checked out and doctors assured her she was fine, claiming the symptoms were related to her pregnancy.

However, Dean was not convinced of the diagnosis because Danielle continued to eat healthy and work out but was still feeling terrible.

After piecing her symptoms together and doing extensive research, Dean believed Danielle was suffering from Cushing’s disease.

They went to a specialist to confirm Dean’s hunch and their worst fears were realised.

According to the Healthline, Cushing’s disease is caused by a tumour on the pituitary gland in the brain. This tumour then produces an abnormally high level of the hormone cortisol.

It is an extremely rare disease, affecting 10 to 15 people per million each year.

Speaking to Sunshine Coast Daily, Danielle said the disease affected her everyday life and took a dramatic toll on her family, causing her to miss out on watching her son grow.

‘Physically my body broke down…mentally I went numb,’ she said.

‘It affected everything…I missed so many moments because I can’t remember any of it’.

On July 19 Danielle had brain surgery and had the non-cancerous tumour successfully removed.

However, it will take two years for her pituitary gland to function on its own once again, and is warned she may continue to experience the harsh symptoms.

She was prescribed steroids to help manage the dramatic change her body has to cope with low cortisol levels, the publication reported.

The Gselmann’s now hope to raise awareness of the rare disease.

They have also launched a GoFundMe page requesting support for the family to look after Danielle as she recovers.

From https://en.brinkwire.com/news/gold-coast-mother-diagnosed-with-cushings-disease/

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Niamh (niamhiblog), Adrenal Bio

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adrenal-medulla

Full link to my blog: https://niamhiblog.wordpress.com/

I will never forget the day my hair loss went from “God, don’t I leave a lot of hair around the apartment” to “F***!!!! ”. I’d always considered my hair as one of my best features, it was long, wavy, strong, shiny and I loved it! When I started to see handfuls coming out in the shower it was terrifying. I was like a chemotherapy patient, it was unstoppable and devastating. I saw up to three GPs (Family doctors) who all only seemed interested in the level of stress in my life. Not one of them really took me seriously, I did a couple of blood tests, out of my own persistence that something was wrong, but nothing jumped out of these results to my doctors. I kept being told that my hair was falling out because I was stressed but I was stressed because my hair was falling out!

To be fair, this was a particularly stressful time in my life. I had just finished a year working abroad, in Portugal, which I’d found very lonely and isolating. I’d just returned home to Cork but things didn’t pan out the way I had hoped they would on my return. I was living on my own and trying to reacclimatise to something which wasn’t the same. Around the week leading up to the extreme hair loss I’d found myself in a particularly stressful situation. After about two weeks the hair loss settled down from terrifying to worrying. Since no one seemed as bothered by it as I was, I let it take a back burner. The doctor told me it was normal, the hairdresser told me it was common, I fell into accepting that there wasn’t a problem.

Flash forward five months and I’m sitting in my bosses’ office for a meeting. I look down at my arm, both my arms are covered in purple spots. It’s not itchy. It looks like a rash. I run a glass over it. The spots don’t disappear. I let out a loud exhale “phew it’s not meningitis. I’m fine”. I go to carry on with the meeting. My boss is having absolutely none of it. She knows that whatever is on my arm is weird. So she bundles me into a taxi and sends me off to an urgent care clinic. Since I was working as a chemist at the time for a pharmaceutical company, the obvious questions were “were you in contact with any chemicals?”, “are you allergic to anything you’re working with?”. I knew I hadn’t been exposed to anything so I decided to tell the nurse about my hair loss. I can’t thank this woman enough for the next question she asked me. This was a moment, although I didn’t know it at the time, that went onto change my life. She asked me “has the shape of your face changed?” To this I went ABSOLUTELY!

I’d put on weight in the previous year. It had started when I was living in Portugal. I’d put it down to a diet of beer and white bread. I hadn’t known, but any friends who’d come to visit me had thought that I’d put on a very noticeable amount of weight in a very short time. But this hadn’t made sense to me. I was working out at least 5 days a week and even up to 7 days a week. I was lifting weights and getting weaker not stronger. My diet was excellent (except for the booze and cigarettes) but my face and middle just kept ballooning while my arms and legs were turning into sticks. My clothes weren’t fitting. I was ashamed of my face and belly. I wouldn’t let myself be photographed. I was disgusted by my own body.

So, this nurse spotted something which no one had spotted before. She believed me, she knew that something was wrong and she (along with my wonderful boss) started me along the road to diagnosis and recovery.

Next comes a tremendous mistake from me. My attitude of “era it will be grand” nearly ruined my life and landed me ill in a very serious way. If I’d done what I was supposed to do at this point my disease would have been diagnosed and treated before it started to run away, with me dragged along behind it. I know why I didn’t pursue diagnosis. I was lazy about doing the testing, the hair loss had calmed down, I still just thought I was fat and I didn’t realise how sick I was because I had so many symptoms which came on so gradually that they just became normal to me.

I had my first appointment with an endocrinologist in April 2015. Turns out she knew from one look at me what was wrong. She recommended a 24 hour urine test but I had to be at least 6 weeks off of oral contraceptives for the test. I went off the contraceptives but by the time the 6 weeks had passed I just didn’t bother. I didn’t want to carry around a pee bottle for the day and besides the hair loss had settled down and I wasn’t sick was I?

How did I not realise I was sick?

I’d almost gone bald
I was constantly covered in bruises for no reason which didn’t heal
I never got to the bottom of my strange rash
I was swimming in a constant brain fog
I couldn’t sleep at night but I was tired all day
I put all of my symptoms down to sessioning too hard, being hungover all the time and injuring myself when I was drunk.

That was until I woke up one morning at my friend’s house, admittedly after a night of drinking, without the use of my arms, legs or hands. I woke up really early in the bed with stiffness in my limbs. When I got out of bed my legs were no good to me. I dragged myself to the bathroom on my hands and knees and sat in the shower to wash myself. I went down the stairs on my bum, got into my car and tried to drive home to my mam’s house. It took me about an hour to do a 10 minute drive. I couldn’t get out of second gear because I couldn’t press the clutch, which was just as well because my right leg was no good for using the brakes. Once I got home, naturally I was a bit concerned but I’d loosened out after a bit of movement and strangely wasn’t all that bothered by my period of paralysis!

Once I walked in the back door of my house, with my mother behind me she spotted one of the oddest things! It was like someone had thrown a cup of coffee at the back of my head and it had dried on the back of my neck. At this stage my hair was so thin that the only way I wore it was in a bun at the back of my head. This strange staining was there for all the world to see! I’d no idea how long it had been there given it’s not a part of my body I spend much time looking at. Turns out it had been there about a week and I could even see it growing and spreading up into my hair line and around the front of my face.

Mam wanted me rushed to the emergency unit. I wasn’t so keen on that, so we compromised. It being a Saturday we went to the on call doctor. Now starts the saga of doctors prescribing me steroids, steroids and more steroids. Little did I know that my problem was having too much steroids. I hadn’t heard mention of the term “Cushings Syndrome”. Nobody had brought this up. I took the steroids I was prescribed. I went downhill. I wasn’t experiencing the paralysis but I was having horrendous joint pain. I would watch as my hands, elbows knees and ankles swelled to size of large oranges. I couldn’t use a pen with my swollen fingers. Stairs were a struggle with my swollen knees. I hobbled around like an old woman. I didn’t understand what was going on with my body. I was panicking. I went to my GP in Cork, she prescribed a higher dose of steroids. It was only worse I got. She prescribed higher doses of steroids again. I felt this doctor wasn’t helping me, she wasn’t listening to my concerns and her only idea was to keep upping my dose of corticosteroids. What a disaster!

Luckily, my aunt is a docotor in the major hospital in Cork. She got wind of my problems, pulled some strings and had me admitted to the acute care clinic in her hospital for the following day. This was the first of my “holidays to CUH” as I started to call them. Here I saw what I can only call a plethora of doctors. Consultants that take months to years to get appointments with were calling to check on me willy nilly. I saw emergency consultants, rheumatologists, dermatologists, radiologists and finally the endocrinologist. We were all working to the assumption that I had some strange sort of viral arthritis which was causing my joint pain and swelling.

face

It was here in hospital that someone got to the bottom of the strange coffee stain on the back of my neck. It was merely a fungal infection (tick off the symptom of persistent infections).

After having received a very stern talking to from the endrochronolgist I proceeded to do a battery of tests including 24 hour and 48 hour urine samples, dexamethasone 24 hour and 48 hour, several trips and “holidays to CUH” all culminating in a MRI to confirm that I had an adrenal tumour producing far and above the natural and required levels of cortisol. This was the answer to everything.

After my diagnosis I started reading up on the symptoms of Cushing’s Syndrome. I realised that I had every single symptom on the list. Things that I hadn’t even realised were wrong with me until I gave myself permission to be ill.

I had the stretch marks on my arms, sides and legs. I’d though these were from my weight gain but who gets stretch marks on their arms? Turns out my skin was so weak it was tearing.

The cognitive deficiencies. I am someone who had always prided themselves on their intelligence, ability to think on my feet, to understand things rather than learn them. I’d always been a high achiever. I’d noticed myself getting stupider. I would be looking at someone talking to me and I’d be trying to figure out what day of the week it was. I found holding a conversation extremely difficult and very stressful. I wasn’t able to engage with people.I wasn’t able to listen, concentrate or respond. My memory was non-existent. Trying to think was like trying to swim through a thick, gloopy soup. I had put this drop in mental ability down to the partying and finding out that maybe I wasn’t as capable as I thought I was in the working world.
Bio, Continued: The bruising. I was bruising my arm from putting my handbag on my shoulder. The purple dots were actually tiny bruises. My legs were constantly just purple. I couldn’t heal. I was doing so many blood tests that the skin on my arms was constantly purple and wouldn’t heal.

Lack of libido. What libido?!

Irregularities with my period. I wasn’t getting periods at all since I’d stopped using oral contraceptives. I knew I wasn’t pregnant, see the point above and thought that I was just skipping some periods.

Brittle bones. I was diagnosed with osteoporosis at 24.

Joint pain. I wasn’t able to bend my knees to get up or down stairs. My bedroom is three flights of stairs from the kitchen. More than once I ended up stranded in the kitchen, not able to get back upstairs to lie down on my bed and feel sorry for myself.

The swelling wasn’t confined to my joints. There were days my face was so swollen it was hard to see out my eyes as my cheeks inflated and rose to meet my brow bone.

Sleep. I’d turned into an insomniac who wandered the house late at night not awake enough to do something but still unable to sleep.

Body hair. I was managing to grow a beard despite going bald! I started to get my cheeks waxed thinking this was a normal cosmetic procedure that other girls just didn’t talk about.

Stress. The choice between two different types of cheese could cause me so much anguish as to leave me in tears.

Up until the point where I was diagnosed, I hadn’t allowed myself to be sick. After the diagnosis I never let myself feel sorry for myself. I just got on with it. Planned for surgery and that was it.

In October 2015 I underwent a full left adrenelectomy to remove a tumour from my adrenal gland.

After the surgery I’d a whole new condition to learn to deal with. My right adrenal had been suppressed while my tumour was active. This left me with no natural cortisol in my body. A 180 deg turnaround from being pumped up on steroids 24 hours a day. I was on replacement steroids but my body was readjusting. I slept most of every day. I couldn’t pick up a carton of milk. If I didn’t take my medication I was in serious trouble.

I was back at work the week before Christmas. This was much too big a leap! I’d been frustrated by the speed of my recovery. I recovered from surgery quickly but the recovery from Cushing’s was slower. I’d expected everything to just go back to normal after the surgery and hadn’t anticipated the gradual decline in symptoms. I ended up getting very sick with a virus and really thought my family would have me admitted to hospital. There are two days that all I can remember is lying on the couch sweating. I lost 8 lbs in a day! I’d pushed myself too far.

And yet I still didn’t learn! I’m not someone that likes to be inactive. I also just wanted life to go back to normal. I returned to work again in January on half days and gradually built myself up to working full days.

Slowly but surely, I was taking less and less medication. I was able to stay awake a little bit longer every day. My mind was coming back to me. I was losing the bright red colour from my face. One day I woke up, looked in the mirror and suddenly had cheek bones again. I looked like my old self. By January I’d gone from a dress size 14 to a 6 with hardly any weight loss. It was just like someone had stuck a pin in me and I was deflating back down to a regular size. My hair was growing back but still had horrible wispy ends so I chopped all the sickness out of my hair. By April I wasn’t taking any steroids. I’d again pushed myself to the limit and instead of tapering slowly had gone down in major jumps. Weeks where I was doing a major jump involved lots and lots of tears. And then some more tears.

By June I noticed that I hadn’t had a day where my joints were sore since I couldn’t remember when.

Things like falling down the stairs because my legs couldn’t support me won’t be forgotten. Standing at the top of the stairs and knowing I can’t get down. My hands turning into claws. Or accidentally going into steroid withdrawals a few days post surgery (I was the crazy patient running up and down the hospital corridor screaming and crying in the middle of the night). These won’t be forgotten but they will fade in importance. The things that won’t are my little brother coaching me through all the tubes I woke up with after surgery, my friends bringing me bottles of diet coke and fancy hummus in hospital, the friend who came to see me every day in hospital, the one who picked me up and took me home, my mam who told me I was brave and that I’d gone through a lot, and the boy who listened to me cry when the pain still hadn’t gone away.

As of today I have been declared fully recovered bar one more hurdle. My repeat bone density scan. In two weeks’ time I have to repeat this to see if I still have osteoporosis. Whatever about having a tumour at 23, being diagnosed with osteoporosis at 24 just isn’t on! I’ve been drinking plenty of milk and tons of cheese though so fingers crossed.

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Lor, Pituitary Bio

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golden-oldie

From Tuesday, June 9, 2009

9-07

COLON SURGERY: 1’ colon removed (pre-cancerous pulup/tumor removed.)
10-07

HEAD/NECK/SHOULDER/THROAT PAINS: hundreds of daily: “pops” in neck, terrible stabbing pains in base of skull, throat, shoulder, with hundreds of random screams of “ouchhh” daily for months. Tests or Treatments tried: chiropractors, ibuprofen, hot packs, x-ray on neck normal, physical therapy, MRI on neck normal
1-08

BODY JOLTS & INVOLUNTARY MOVEMENTS START: electric jolt sensations and myoclonic type jerks and involuntary movements – mostly when relaxed. Movements will stop if I get up and move around. These come with or without loud screams, gasps or other vocal noises. Tests or Treatments tried: EMG normal, MRI of head and normal, pain meds no help, oral steroid by Physiatrist no help,
1-08

SLEEPING PROBLEMS: wake up every night and sometimes stay awake for many hours – happened entire 2008, but 2009 was better.
2-08

MOUTH/JAW/TONGUE START: randomly the tongue tingles or twtiches, the jaw & cheek have pain (like someone is pulling off my face), the mouth/throat/tongue/and/or gums get ice cold, the mouth waters for hours. Tests or Treatments tried: more blood work normal, except a 7x higher than normal inflammation which neuros said had to be a lab error. Got steroid shot in head where the stabbing pain is. EEG recommended due to small seizure like movement when injecting the steroid.
4-08

MUSCLE TWITCHES START: randomly, different muscles twitch, hundreds of times daily (it is like body is making popcorn). Tests or Treatments tried: took a coupld stress free vacations. (I now its not stress related anyway but since the doctors cannot diagnois me, they don’t know what else to think. No help – same symptoms. Seen Neurologists with no answers. Got another steroid shot in head.
8-08

KNEE POPPING STARTS: just like neck from 10-07, one day it started to “pop” with pain hundreds of times daily. This made it hard to walk for months. Tests or Treatments tried: knee x-ray-normal and a special Lymes Blot test in California = negative.
11-08

Another Neurologist: Repeated inflammation test=normal.
12-08

Rheumatologist ran more blood test=normal
OTHER SYMPTOMS IN 2008-2009:

INVOLUNTARY MOVEMENTS / TWTICHED CONTINUE

ALL MOUTH SYMPTOMS CONTINUE

GASPING FOR AIR (take in a huge gasp of air, happens randomly, a several times daily)

LEG WEAKNESS / PAIN

INSIDE ELBOW AND MIDDLE FINGER, LOWER BACK AND BIG TOE PAIN

FATIGUE

HIGH PULSE 130+ doing nothing

HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE 145/97 average

HEART HURTS (just occasionally)

EAR ACHES/RINGS (CT of sinus area was normal)

NIGHT SWEATS (occasionally / only on head/neck area)

NECK HUMP

SKIN (acne, ichy, sweaty)
1-09

Tests or Treatments tried: Tried depression pills for 2 months with no help. I do not believe I have depression/anxiety issues though.
3-09

Tests or Treatments tried: Went on another fun trip to Disney World – had very strong symptoms most days
3-09

WEIGHT GAIN: (necklace didn’t even fit because my neck / stomach is getting fat).

Cortisol level checked and was high, so Endo specialist was recommended).
5-09

DIAGNOSED WITH CUSHING’S

4x6mm tumor on pituitary and high cortisol level. Scheduled for consult/surgery at Mayo in July.
7-09

UNDIAGNOISED and called Borderline Cushing because symptoms not are typical of Cushings.

They reviewed MRI – says its either a tumor or a rathke’s cleft cyst

CHEST XRAY – normal

EKG – normal

EMG – normal

ENT Dr. – normal exam – cannot explain mouth symptoms

COLONOSCOPY

MAMMOGRAM

DERMOTOLOGY – skin cancer diagnosed, shaved and treated

MRI on neck & spine- normal

EEG – normal

CERVICAL SPINE MRI – normal

MOVEMENT LAB: my movements don’t fall into the myroclonis catagory because I move faster than 100 milliseconds (?), even though they are a split second movement

SENSORY PROVOKED POTENTIAL NEUROLOGY LAB – normal

DEX SUPPRESSION & CRH & CORTISOL TEST, did not suppress, and had high and normal cortisol

OTHER URINE AND BLOOD TEST

PARANEOPLASTIC PANEL blood work – results show striated muscle antibodies which is either a neuro, myasthenia gravis, or a hidden tumor so get a lung scan recommended
9-09

LUNG/ADRENA CT SCAN: did not show lung tumor but showed enlarged or nodules on both adrenal glands
10-09

blood test & urine- (did 24 hr urinary metanephrines and fractionated catecholamines and blood aldosterone concentration and renin activity – all normal) (cortisol at highest end of normal)
11-09

new MRI – same as before
12-09

new CT of adrenals – no change. Await new results of striated muscle antibody test.

Dr recommends I wait 6 months to see what changes.
6-10

bi-lateral neuro angiogram confirms Pit. Cushings
Pituitary Surgery May 12, 2010
Back to work after 2 weeks. Its been 1 month since surgery and muscle pain and weekness is gone, heart pounding gone, high blood pressure down, but still have unusual symptoms such as involuntary movements and mouth symptoms. Still have enlarged adrenals.

 

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Brian (Brian), Adrenal Bio

4 Comments

In 2011, I realized I had Cushing’s Syndrome. I was a 30 year old male with several complications: swollen feet, swollen legs, stomach looked 9 months pregnant, hair fell out, memory loss, couldn’t sleep, couldn’t eat, diabetes, mood swings, depression, urination every hour during the night, bright pink stretch marks, etc.

After changing my doctors several times for misdiagnosis, I was finally tested for Cushing’s Disease/Syndrome. I contacted the National Institute of Health and doctors advised me to come in immediately. I survived 2 months living at NIH, while doctors ran several tests to determine if I had Cushing’s Disease or Cushing’s Syndrome. I had Cushing’s Syndrome and my tumor was found in my right adrenal gland.

After sucessful surgery, I did not have the energy to get out of the bed for almost a month. I was taking almost 10 pills per day including cortisol, high blood pressure medication, potassium, etc. I lost 40 pounds after surgery going from 208 pounds to 168 pounds and after 6 months, I was taken off all medication. I beat Cushing’s Syndrome and Diabetes!

Now, I am 32 years old. I am in great shape and finally got my life back. I do not have any complications. The only sign of Cushing’s Syndrome are the stretch marks and a scar from removing the tumor from my adrenal gland.

I just wanted to meet other people going through a bad disease and help out if possible. I am here if anyone has questions or just want to talk.

~ Brian

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Wendy, Undiagnosed Bio

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A Golden Oldie

Hi My name is WENDY from New Zealand …I am 57 yrs young…I am a nurse…..it was once suggested by mail to my GP that I may have episodae cushings…and that it would be intersesting to take 24 urine specs for cortisol levels over a period of time….this was never done..I only became aware of these when I asked for a copy of all my notes as I was moving to Australia…..

My symptoms I believed robbed me of my former self…..

I stopped menstruating at 45yrs old….my weight would fluctuate wildly..sometimes by 10 to 15 pound… at one point wighing in at 100 kgs……and for no apparent reason losing weight as much as 4 -5 kgs……my happy out going approach to life would become sad.lifeless with a blunted facial affect…..heat intolerance…low energy…poor sleep…high blood pressure.

I have had the unusual presentation of  supraclavicle pads…..of no suspicious origin…

I have always managed to work but sadly these changes took their toll on my personal life….I remain optimistic.with the support of loving family and friends…..cushie helper I truly feel that my condition occurs in cycles…….

I await your thoughts….sincerely Wendy

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Debra LF (DebraLF), Undiagnosed Bio

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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

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?

Debbie (debbie0413), Undiagnosed Bio

2 Comments

I have a very good friend who appears to me to have many of the Cushing’s Syndrome/Disease symptoms.

Several years ago I persuaded her to have her doctor run a 24 hour test.  This test came up negative, and she has refused to consider pursuing this possible diagnosis ever since.

Currently my friend is experiencing debilitating emotional symptoms in response to issues within her family.  She is 59 years old with serious high blood pressure and severe sleeping problems.

I am worried that she will not live much longer unless she seeks medical help.  I am seeking tips from people on this forum in an effort to get my friend the medical help I feel she needs.

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