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Steve, Pituitary Bio

April 1, 2015

MaryO Golden Oldies, Male, Pituitary, Success Stories , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

golden-oldie

 

I am a 43 year old man from South Carolina who has been a “big boy” most of my adult life and have been pretty healthy until early 2003 when i started noticing marked weakness in my legs. At the time I was on a diet and thought I was just deficient in something and started trying all kinds of supplements but nothing helped. I was kinda checking my bp here and there and it was very high so I decided to go to my gp because I was due for a physical anyway. He saw me and I told him about my leg and arm muscle weakness and he started asking lots more questions about my moods, vision, looked at my stretch marks and felt my noticable hump and said that it looks like cushings but probably isn’t because it’s so rare. He sent me to an endo “just in case, to rule it out”.

I have since found out how blessed I am to have had this gp and to be referred on the 1st visit. My endo agreed and started lots of tests (I never gave so much blood or peed so much in my life!) and even though after a CT and MRI they couldn’t see any tumors, he referred me to Drs. Vance and Laws at UVA Medical Ctr. who are wonderful! After an IPSS I was diagnosed and it was caused by a tumor on the pituitary.

I had transphenoidal surgery on Feb. 7, 2004 and after no change in my cort levels in 4 days they decided to go back in and operate on the other side which resulted in complete removal of the pitiutary. I never did “crash” so they sent me home saying I definitely would in a few days. It is now March 2005 and I am still waiting to crash. I never had to take steroids due to my levels being near normal and although I am due for another check-up in a month, I feel pretty good, having gained 90% of my strength back along with most other symptoms getting better. The wierd thing is that Dr Vance thinks that I am in remission from cushings but I am a rare case (I guess that makes me rare among the rare!). One year post-op and I am only on bp meds and thyroid replacement and testosterone replacement, that’s all.

I am a lurker here and was during my darkest days and appreciate all the help this site has given.

The recurrence of this disease seems to be high, among posters here anyway, but I am optimistic that I am through with cushings for good and just have to deal with hormone replacement.

 

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Leah (Lele), Undiagnosed Bio

August 22, 2013

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

I am a 34 year old woman, not yet diagnosed, but suspect Cushing’s.

When I came across this website, it was like other people writing my life story.

I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism 15 years ago, with depression about the same time.  Once on thyroxine, I improved.

About 8 years ago, I started gaining weight, especially around the stomach.  Then as time passed, other symptoms appeared.  The depression was coming back worse than ever, despite increased doses of anti-depressants.  I suffered with extreme fatigue, joint and muscle pain, shortness of breath and rapid heart rate.

I had tests for Rheumatoid Arthritis, Lupus, Fibromyalgia, Latex sensitivity, ECG and echocardigram, stress echocardiogram, chest X-ray, lots of blood tests.  The only thing abnormal was low iron.  I tried iron supplements, which do not agree with my stomach, so had to abandon.

Since then, I have pretty much struggled with further symptoms, the latest being the red stretch marks, the buffalo hump, fat on my shoulders (makes it hard to carry shoulder bags – they just slip off!), red, hot, puffy face, excess sweating, even in cooler weather, night sweats, pins and needles in arms, cramps in legs, high blood pressure, bruise easily, sores slow to heal – and that’s just the physical symptoms.

I am so depressed and low on self-confidence that hardly go out anymore, don’t have many friends, and had to stop working as nurse, which is the job I love.

I finally got my local doctor to send me to an endocrinologist in March this year.  She did an ultrasound of my thyroid (showed a tiny nodule) and ordered a 1mg dex supression test.  When the dex test came back negative and I went back to see her, I just cried my eyes out.  She referred me to see a psychiatrist, and said she was done with me.   The usual – you can’t have Cushing’s, its too rare.  No urine tests, nothing.

I called the Pituitary Foundation in my state who are really helpful, and gave me loads of information. The lady mentioned cyclical Cushing’s.  But they can’t tell you which doctor who can help you, it is different in Australia because you need to be referred by your local doctor, and they have no idea who can diagnose Cushing’s or what tests to order.  So now I have really lost hope of getting a diagnosis, it like fighting everyone all the time, just to be taken seriously.

There are days when I have no fight left in me, and wonder how bad it is going to get, will I get diabetes, heart disease?

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