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cowgirl2703
01-19-2005, 12:32 PM
My mom has a huge buffalo hump, or fatty deposit on upper back right below neck. It seems that I have inheritted it, although mine is small. I want to know if anyone here knows anything about it and if we can get rid of them permanently. Thanks. :)

Oh, also, I am not obese. I am about 130 lbs. and 5'5". My mom is not obese although pretty overweight. She has had her bone density checked and it checked out really good. I am assuming this type of thing may be something we inherited. Anyway, if anyone can help me, that would be greatly appreciated.

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BorderGirl
01-19-2005, 12:55 PM
Wow this is an unusal question. But I'd would make an appointment RIGHT NOW with an endocrinologist for both you and your mom. If you can't get into an endocrinologist soon, go ahead and make two appointments. One with an endo and one with whatever doctor you have. Ask to have cortisol checked in a 24 hour urinary free cortisol test.
That is a huge symptom of Cushings Disease. I have it, and yes, it is somewhat serious. It can be caused by medications (corticosteroids, in particular I think), a pituitary tumor which will need to be removed but it is routine surgery, through the nose, so you don't need a craniotomy, or an adrenal tumor which I don't know much about.
I suppose it could be nothing, but this really is a very common symptom of Cushings Disease and if thats what it is you both need treatment ASAP.

cowgirl2703
01-19-2005, 01:18 PM
Thanks. I will make an appointment. Also, I don't have any other symptoms besides what I have that is due to my hypothyroidism. But I guess you don't need all the symptoms to be a problem. Do the symptoms of this, including the hump, go away after treatment?

BorderGirl
01-19-2005, 01:48 PM
Yep it goes away. Other symptoms to look for would be weight gain (especially in the abdomen with possible thinning of the arms and legs), a rounding of the face, a thinning of the skin and easy bruising, diabetes, high blood pressure, acne, excess hair growth.
I actually don't have many symptoms, just acne really. I have a pit tumor. Which in 99% of cases aren't cancerous by the way. And this might be a bit of a stretch but pit tumors can raise and lower your tsh level, so there is a chance there could be a connection.
I hope I'm wrong and you and your mom are perfectly healthy :)

cowgirl2703
01-19-2005, 02:19 PM
I do have weight gain but that is partly from the hypothyroidism. The women in my family also tend to gain most of their weight in the belly too. I don't have thinning in the arms or legs. I made an appointment for tomorrow at 10:45 to rule it out. How does the 24 hour cortisol test work? Thanks for your help!! I want to know as soon as I possibly can. I just hope I will know by Friday and not have to wait until next week. Why do these things always come up at the end of the week?!;)

BorderGirl
01-19-2005, 03:40 PM
Its a little annoying...I have to do it about once a month. When you wake up the first day, you pee like normal and flush it :) After that you collect all of your urine and store it in a jug they give you. The next day you wake up at the same time you woke up on the first day and collect that last sample, and then turn it in. Sometimes they will then have you go to the lab and have a blood cortisol test, but the urine tends to be more accurate. They may also want to check your acth with a blood test. The pituitary secretes acth which in turn stimulates the adrenals to produce cortisol.
Good luck at your appointment!

engineer1961
01-19-2005, 11:53 PM
Relax , my ,mother , aunts(all 5) and grandmother all have this and so do I . Some bodies are just made this way ....I keep my hair long to cover it and have asked my doctor about it and he said if it doesn't hurt and it'd hereditary (wow my spelling is bad tonight ) than don't stress over it :) Has you mother ever had any health probelems due to it?

cowgirl2703
01-20-2005, 10:13 AM
No. She has had health problems for other reasons though. For example, she takes some kind of medication for her heart because of the nasty side effects of fen-phen (sp?). She did tell me yesterday that when she lost all her weight on that, she still had the hump. Although those two things are unrelated. The one thing I have noticed though is that her hump has grown. I'm frightened to death that mine will too. She also has a huge stomach, but that runs in her side of the family. All the women have that as their number 1 problem area. However, I haven't noticed anyone besides her and I that have this unsightly hump. She also said that hers hurts sometimes and mine, although it never hurts, has itched occasionally. One of the reasons I do doubt its Cushings is because I have had this for about 6 years and I got pregnant and had a healthy baby just under three years ago. I read that with Cushings, the baby is usually lost and even sometimes the mother. Someone can correct me if thats not right. I will tell you what my old doctor told me about it a couple years ago. She said that it was fat that has deposited itself abnormally and to have my husband rub it in a hot shower to redistribute the fat. I never heard of that and instead of having him do it (two people in the shower? not comfortable!), I did it and it seemed to me that some of it did move and disappear. But, of course, it didn't stay that way. Anyway, I will let you know what happens today. For some reason, I have the feeling my doctor is going to shrug it off. But this thing really annoys me and I want it gone. I hope I find out something promising today. Plus, my husband and I are currently trying to conceive our third baby and I want to be perfectly healthy.

BorderGirl
01-20-2005, 11:00 AM
Yes, its definitely a good sign you had a baby. I forgot about the irregular periods being a side effect because that is another symptom I don't have. But I'm a very very unusual Cushings patient.

cowgirl2703
01-20-2005, 05:52 PM
Well, I'm back. My doctor didn't think it was Cushings but I'm supposed to go in some morning and get a blood test just to make sure. She said that the hump is usually the last symptom of all of them and I have nothing else to make her think I could have it. I'm glad she is testing me anyway. Also, my mom said that she has had her hump for 15-20 years and if it was Cushings, she would be pretty bad off by now or worse. So, that gives me hope as well. What the dr. did say was that sometimes curving of the spine is hereditary, so I am also supposed to get an x-ray on my spine when I go in to get my blood drawn. I just really, really, really don't want mine to get as big as my moms. Somethings gotta help it not get that way. I would be devastated. I told her how much it bothered me and she said something like "better that than her thighs". I didn't say this but at least she could fix her thighs.

kiki lou
01-20-2005, 08:54 PM
I watched a medical show on TV where a woman had her hump removed with liposuction. It worked.

kiki

BorderGirl
01-20-2005, 09:08 PM
I'm glad the appointment went well! Sounds like you have a good doctor :)





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