Addisonian Crisis when Pregnant...anyone else? - Addison's Disease Message Board

frizzdout · 03-25-2008, 08:54 PM

I was wondering if anyone else has had experiences like mine. I was around 22 weeks pregnant when I started having severe back pain. From there it went down hill. I laid in the floor for several more weeks. I stopped eating and continued to decline . My OB just said it was normal and that even though I stopped eating it was okay. From there it got worse. By the time they took our baby, my bowel had perforated from dehydration and starvation and then after delivery was diagnosed with Acute Fatty Liver of Pregnancy. My organs shut down, I was on a ventilator and in a coma for several days after. I had DIC. I had excessive clotting and hemoragging. After 76 days, I was able to come home although still in a wheelchair with limited use of my arms. The following spring, almost a year since I had problems in pregnancy, I mentioned to my endocronoligist that if I could stop passing out I could walk better. Then I was finally diagnosed with Addison's Disease. Only a few days after starting the flurinef I could walk without passing out. I was told that it was probable that I had a blood clot that stroked out my adrenal gland and sent me into addisonian crisis (when my back started hurting at 22 weeks pregnant). I was just wondering if anyone else had experienced a crisis....

rumpled · 03-26-2008, 07:59 AM

Not me, but I would look into panhyopituitary or hypopituitary as there may be more wrong here and florinef is not enough. If you have addison's, florinef is only part of it, you also need a steroid - like hydrocortisone.

frizzdout · 03-26-2008, 08:17 AM

I take 7 mg of hydrocortisone a day, too. Thanks though!

rumpled · 03-27-2008, 09:00 AM

7mg? Wow... usually you run into people with too high a replacement dose but um, that would make you pretty under replaced if you are full out addison's. Most take 15-20, on the high side up to 30 which is over replaced according to my doctors. I take 22.5 only to suppress my ACTH and I have no adrenals.

What were your test results and why do they only give you 7mg - are you functional on 7mg? Is that HC and not prednisone?

mkgbrook · 03-27-2008, 09:08 AM

Dito on Rumpled. Look into thyroid function.. especially Hashimoto's thyroiditis antibodies.

I take 5 mcgs of HC 4 times a day. I forgot one dose yesterday and passed out on the couch at 8 pm. That was an odd after having to fight to go to sleep the last couple of days.

Get a copy of your labs and post the results and ranges for thyoid tests and adrenal tests here. We can help you get a better understanding of things. My Pregnancy was horrible.. but no coma. Just border line liver failure, kidney dysfunction, septic pelvic vein thrombosis, joint and muscle failure, water retention of 20+ pounds a day (I lost 20 pounds a night, peeing on the toilet.. that was a fun memory) and a side order of a uterine infection.

Sincerely,
MG