Hey, I read on one of the post that drugs(prescription or others) can cause adernal fatigue. Do you think it is true anyone? I have been on narcotics for 15 yrs. I have had 20 perhaps surgerys in all. Anyway, I was just diagnosed with adrenal fatigue. Input anyone? boomer

Wow,

What meds were you on, and what kinds of surgeries did you have? It's usually steroids like Prednisone long term which can cause adrenal failure. It's hard to know without more info.

Are they treating you for adrenal fatigue? How did they diagnose fatigue verses failure? What are you prescribed to take or do? Before diagnosis, I put myself on a strict diet, taking out any flour, sugar, and caffeine. It brought some sort of homeostasis for me. I also started taking Vit C, Super B complex vit, fish oil, and Betaine HCL (for digestion) and ensured that I rested a lot. It got me by until diagnosis.

I hope you will be feeling well soon!
MaryAnn :)

I am talking about narcotic pain relievers.(oxicontin,ect.) My surgeries have consisted of a lot of things.(like gastrenectomy, wrist surgery that turned into a nightmare of 10 major surgeries) But the last one was a double fusion with instrumentation on my spine. My Dr. mentioned that this kind of surgery can cause adrenal fatige. I am taking hydrocordosone and DHE for it. Thanks for your response.

wow Babyboomer....this is very interesting!! I also have been on the pain meds. for a long while....and was finally diagnosed with Adrenal insuffiency about 2 1/2 yrs. ago. Have been on the cortef 20 mg. a day for about 1 1/2 yrs.....wow.. I was on prednisone for a few years several yrs. ago...but the pain meds. question...yikes. Still suffering from the back pain.& problems..and trying to control the hypoglycemia etc. and other symptoms of the adrenal insuff. Have been having some symptoms recently...like the heart palps., hypoglycemia...etc...and all of this since reactivated since I had the radiofrequency 2 1/2 weeks ago....could there be a relationship???

Sage

Sage,
What is rediofrequecy? My Dr. just happened to stumble on to this adrenal thing cause of my symptoms. Mostly my symtoms of adrenal fatigue got worse after athe back surgery a year ago.(but I was just diagnosed). She mentioned the back surgery could have triggered it. I didn't recover from the back surgery--just got worse. But before the surgery I didn't have the terrible hot and cold feelings,fatigue,etc. I too was on predisone a few times in the past. But not for very long. I am dealing with just a general practitioner here. So I am wondering if I should go to a endoctrinologist. I think my kidney and liver are alright. I feel like I have the flu all the time. I do have fibromyalgia also. boomer

I have back problems...and the pain mgmt. dr. said that as well as some other problems I have spinal arthritis..facet joint arthritis...and that the back/leg etc pain was from that...So they basically go in an kind of burn the nerves at the facet joints...supposed to kill off the pain signals to your brain. I'm still waiting for them to stop working//die. Guess I am doing too much...so have to give it a bit longer. I had prednisone for FMS several years ago...and that is what caused the adrenal insuffiency...which didn't show up until after I had my acdf 3 years ago...guess the body couldn't recover..didn't have enough hormones. That was a very long period of time...sick/heart symptoms/hypoglycemia/etc.... Well, now this last week since the radiofrequency...I have been having more symptoms...the almost blackingout/hypoglycemia/skipped heart beats etc. I did have some facet joint injections in the last 3 or 4 months...and they do have steroids in them...but I told my Pain Mgmt. Dr. I didn't think my body could stand any more steroids...he told me that I would not have any with the next test - radiofrequency. Well, think he didn't tell the truth...when I got the bill from the hospital..it has a charge for steroids...and they didn't tell me...yikes. and I continued to take my cortef...talk about too much of a good thing...so I think I had a mini crash last week. Not nice. My endro. dr. wants to try to start weaning me off of the cortef again...he tried last oct - dec..but my levels ACTH levels dropped way down. So I went back to the 20 mg. of cortef in the morning. I don't think this is a good time for me to try again...my body is not behaving. And also he just ran the sodium & pottasium test...like to know why...(but I do need lots of salt to keep me moving)...he just sent me the script to have done before my next visit. I see him next Friday so I will get more information.

Sage

Boomer,

Did you say that your primary doc is handling your Adrenal Insufficiency? It might be a good idea, if you are nervous about it, to ask an endocrinologist about your case. They really are the experts, and they should be the ones doing the weaning.

I can't help but to wonder if you had underlying adrenal insuff. first and that all the other diagnoses were related. For example, I had a patient (I am an ER and ICU nurse) who had multiple stomach issues as well as arthritis issues for years, plus the other symptoms of AI. She was treated over and over and over for her symptoms, but nothing seemed to help (surgeries, scopes, pain meds, mental treatment, ETC.). She went into a crisis, AI was found, and now she is on the way to recovery. Her endo beleives that her problems were related to the AI primarily, but since the symptoms can be so vague and difficult to pinpoint no one caught it until she had a crisis. It's painfully sad but true that this is a difficult disease to discover.

As I read your posts, I don't quite understand why your MD's are trying to wean you off the steroids. If you were diagnosed with AI, your need the meds. It is very rare that the adrenal glands 'wake up' again and start producing on thier own. From what I am reading about how you feel, your body is aching for the cortisol. Are your MD's trying to wean you off in hopes your adrenals will start producing again on thier own?

Sage, the adrenals are responsible for producing aldosterone, which helps the GI tract absorb sodium. Since we are lacking in adrenal function many people don't make enough aldosterone to retain the salt we need, so we crave the salt. Some endo's prescribe Florinef to help reabsorb the sodium. But it seems that they don't prescribe it until they see that we have a dire need for it. My sodium levels have always been on the low side of normal, so my endo hasn't even mentioned Florinef. But I feel better if I start the day with a cup of chicken broth every morning. If you have the salt cravings and your MD checks your sodium and potassium, he is probably checking to make sure you are getting enough sodium, and that your potassium is not getting high. (There is a delicate balance between the two electrolytes and thier reabsorbtion in the GI tract.) Low sodium and high potassium, together or alone, can be life-threatening. And it is very common for the Addisonian. They call it a salt-wasting disease.

Sorry for being long winded! I hope this is helpful, and I hope you both will be feeling much better soon.
MaryAnn

wow MaryAnn...you really did explain the sodium & pott. issues in a way I understand....when I didn't feel well at the beginning of treatment, my Endo. said to drink a cup of bullion...SALT...wow. It is true, when I don't feel well, or get that fuzzy feeling...I usually grab a bag of chips or pretzels....salt. wow. My endo. felt that maybe my adrenals may have recovered because of a acth test he ran...my test said it was 30...and that is when he tried to wean me...but then I got the flu and could not get well....and they ran another acth test and it had dropped to 15...and I was still on the cortif...but at 15 rather than 20 mg. a day... So upped the dose to 20 mg. again. Now have been having back issues - long term - but some procedures...and think that the adrenals have been stressed again..by the way I am feeling.. I am going to see the endo. on 6/1...will have to ask him about all of this. My husband said, why bother weaning..the only time you feel good is when you are on the coretf...that tells us something... I am very afraid that someday I may have to have surgery, and don't know how my body will react... I tell all of my Dr.s about this problem, and as to be notified if they have to use steroids... The last test I had, they used steroids and didn't tell me...the Dr. had said they weren't going to use them.. the only reason I found out was on the surgery bill...nice. I had been having so issues following the procedure..the graying/faintness/salt craving/tiredness/tachacardia...nice.
Thank you for the info.

Leslie