my short synathen test showed by adrenals could only make it to 200 rTHER THEN 500 I WAS ON 20 MG OF CORTEF A DAY BUT FELT NO IMPROVEMENT AM AWAITING A REFERRAL TO A PROPER ENDOCRINOLOGIST IS IT WORTH UPPING THE CORTEF AS IM STILLL ON VERGE OF A CRISIS PHASE ALL THE TIME IT SEEMS. PS I HAVE HAD PAIN IN MY LEFT ADRENAL AREA FOR SIX MONTHS I THOUGHT I WAS HAVING KIDNEY INFECTIONS BUT THEY DONT LAST THAT LONG. A DOC SUGGESTED I MAY HAVE AN ADRENAL TUMOR BUT WOULD THAT CAUSE INSUFFICIENCY ANY IDEAS ANYONE?

You can't take cortef and do an adrenal test. The cortef will put your adrenals to sleep so that even if they are stimulated they won't work properly.

You have to be off cortef for a few months before the test results are valid. All you know now is that your adrenals are suppressed but you don't know why.

no i was put on cortef after the short synathen test i had never been on it before that? still any ideas

I Had Never Been On Cortef Before The Test. Any Ideas. I Was Put On It After The Test I Was Given 200mg Of Hc X3plus Saline Drips For A Day Cause I Had Beeen Ill For A Long Time Felt Better Then The Nest Day They Lowered The Dose To 20mg And Its All Coming Back Again.i Have A Feeling The Hc I Was On May Mess Up The Acth Test Though.SO HOW THE HELL DO YOU COME OF CORTEF IF YOU FEEL LIKE YOUR STILL CRASHING

Zoe,

Did they test to see if you have a kidney infection? I had a kidney infection which they kept treating with antibiotics, but kept coming back. It lasted for 3 months! Finally, they put me on a weeks worth of the heavy duty antibiotics, then 1 month of a mild one for prophylactic measures, and that finally cleared it up. My Addison's was going crazy during the three months, I just couldn't get myself regulated. But now, the constant pain in my side is gone, and I feel like I have a good handle on my Addison's.

You do need to double and sometimes triple your dosage of Cortef when you are sick. It takes time to learn how your body will work with the Cortef. It also helps to increase your salt intake when you are sick. Our adrenals are also responsible for making Aldosterone, which is the hormone that helps us keep salt in our bodies. We can get dangerously low on sodium if we don't increase our sodium intake with this disease. Chicken broth is my favorite choice when I am sick, it feels so good!

I hope you will get to feeling better soon! Now that you have discovered that you have this disease, search all about it that you can to get a good idea of what it is like to live with this diagnosis. It really helps!

Here's hoping that you feel better soon,
MaryAnn

BTW,

I also have chest pain when my Addison's is acting up. It makes one nervous because you don't know if your having heart problems or if it's the Addison's.

Before I was diagnosed, I also had some strange random problems with my bowels, but that has subsided too when I became regulated on the meds. Can I ask what your medical history is? It seems as though you have a lot of different things going on. That can makes things very confusing. I hope your appoinment next goes well.

Here's hoping your feeling better soon!
MaryAnn

yess i had a kidney infection two weeeks ago my doc has put me on antibiotics but the addisons thing keeps getting worse recurrent kidney infections in the last two years. i don't know what to up the dose to i think i need to be under an endo that can stabilise me

Zoe,

Has your endo given you a basic idea of what you should do when you are sick? If not, leave a message and ask. Most endo's say double or triple the dosage. I usually double, but I also play it by ear depending on how I feel. Sometimes I dose according to my symptoms when I am really sick and take just a wee bit more if I feel I have to. If you have finished your antibiotics, make sure you get your urine retested to make sure they have irradicated the bacteria out of your system. If they did not get it all, you are at risk of getting it again. Our meds for AD decrease our immune system, so we are more prone to infections.

Do you take Vitamin C? I have found that taking Vitamin C daily has helped keep me from continuing to get urinary tract infections.

Are you doing better these days?
MaryAnn

i am not under an endo a diabetic specialist sent me out wanting to take me of cortisol even though im deficient saying it may be dowm to a two week couse of steriods for asthma. ha i have had symptons for a year feel ill on antibiotics severe headache. so im under no endo i think my doctor is trying to get me to see one a sap but i feel he should get on the phone to one today as i feel so sick. i think i need more tests to. i have a lesion in the pineal gland in my brain low blood sugars, high testosterone and im a girl, high lh what ever that is and. sodium has been low and high. my tsh was 0.80 although i dont know the signifigance of this


lh range should be up to12.5 thats all i know . my short synathen produced 200 of cortisol but should make it up to 500. i feel i can't get through this im not functioning


im a girl so you know with the hormone things