attn:Cip - Addison's Disease Message Board

dawn2 · 02-01-2003, 01:15 PM

Cip:
I have been going thru much of the same thing as you. Test after test comes back normal. The thyroid was in the normal range but on the low end - so the endo put me on low dose Levoyxl. It didn't really seem to help. Then he was willing to start me on low dose Cortef even my level was ok. (The test for the cortisol was a blood-draw first thing in the morning without food). He said I have all the symptoms of low adrenal. (I did read on that site you listed.) I have had swollen glands for years and this has progressively gotten worse. I am convinced that it's low adrenal problems. Can you tell me some of the symtoms you have and what is the name of the saliva test you took? TX in advance. Good luck. Hang in there. Dawn2

cjp · 02-02-2003, 10:23 AM

hey dawn! thanks for the response

my practicioner said that my adrenals may have been low for most of my life unfortunately. i had terrible nutrition growing up, my parents split @ 5, my dad had 4 to take care of + working full time = unintended neglect. anyway, she thinks its due to poor nutrition, stressful living environment, yrs of doing drugs etc. although this had been true, i felt pretty good up until about 4 yrs ago when i started having palpitations, then came terrible anxiety, followed by difficulty swallowing, then incredible back & neck pain to absolutely no energy, sometimes very difficult to life my arms to wash my hair in shower. faint feeling, blood pressure change when i would stand & lay down. the last few things really kicked in @ the beginning of 2002. was truly the yr my body started to break down

dr. after dr. said i was ok, stressed out, just relax. um...ok :{ my husband, who was quite supportive thru out this, was really becoming frustrated w/ me...insisted i was chasing something that wasn't there. which made me even more depressed. i was having thoughts of suicide, that started in the spring of 2002. never had i felt that desperate before. thoughts of hurting myself, or others.

very scary. great book on that, "from panic to power" by lucinda bassett. so, then i found sheble kaufman, i've been w/ her for the last month, for the last few days since we recvd my results back i've been on a supplement protocol od pregnonlone, DHEA, support adrenals, support minerals, licorice root extract, stellar c. it's a different approach than the shots, but she said i should start to feel a small difference in 2 wks, but may take 6 mths up to a yr to feel back to normal. the test i took was truh "BioHealth Diagnostics, Inc." check to see if they have a website, i'll also try to get the # this week. i'll let you know when i start noticing a change.
what city do you live in?
take care cindy

dawn2 · 02-02-2003, 02:10 PM

CJP:
Under the circumstances of your growing up and stresses, the body has felt it's impact. It is amazing how stress can affect the body even when you don't think it is. In my case, my mother has fibro and two other siblings are now diagnosed with sleeping problems (she does too) but not the adrenal problems. I will bring that test up at my next endo visit. I also know that the trigger points from fibro can cause restrictions for blood flow. So, it's hard to tell which is the culprit. It sounds like you're on the right path and I hope you find some relief. I know as soon as I feel myself stress (my shoulders will go up - then the neck and shoulder pain), I just stop and relax the muscles. Become aware of what you do when you stress, you'd be surprised how many muscles become involved. Many of your symptoms are similar...the muscles, the palpatations, the drop in blood pressure. Black liciorce (sp) increases blood pressure. Hopefully, that will help. Good luck with your progress now that you have found someone who has taken you seriously. That's a big step right there. Take care. Dawn2