Night sweats or hand tremors?

[PWH1970]

I was diagnosed with secondary addison's in April after about 3 months of feeling terrible. Among the symptoms that first sent me to my doctor was constant drenching night sweats (every night), drastic weight loss, heart palpitations, and near total fatigue. After many blood draws, ct scans, MRIs, etc. a simple cortisol level test showed me dangerously low in adrenal function and that was confirmed with the ACTH stimulation test. I've been on oral hydrocortisone for about a month and a half and I'm feeling MUCH better, though not great.

My problem is that I'm still experiencing the night sweats -- in fact they're actually getting worse. My endocrinologist no longer thinks it can be related to my adrenal insufficiency since i'm on replacement therapy. Infectious diseases have been ruled out too. Has anybody out there experienced chronic night sweats related to your primary or secondary addison's?

Also, for the past few weeks I've had noticable hand tremors, especially when trying to use a fork. Has anybody experienced that?

Thanks for any input!

[sarah92202]

Originally Posted by PWH1970

I was diagnosed with secondary addison's in April after about 3 months of feeling terrible. Among the symptoms that first sent me to my doctor was constant drenching night sweats (every night), drastic weight loss, heart palpitations, and near total fatigue. After many blood draws, ct scans, MRIs, etc. a simple cortisol level test showed me dangerously low in adrenal function and that was confirmed with the ACTH stimulation test. I've been on oral hydrocortisone for about a month and a half and I'm feeling MUCH better, though not great.

My problem is that I'm still experiencing the night sweats -- in fact they're actually getting worse. My endocrinologist no longer thinks it can be related to my adrenal insufficiency since i'm on replacement therapy. Infectious diseases have been ruled out too. Has anybody out there experienced chronic night sweats related to your primary or secondary addison's?

Also, for the past few weeks I've had noticable hand tremors, especially when trying to use a fork. Has anybody experienced that?

Thanks for any input!

Have you looked into Lyme Disease? Go on the Lyme board and look at the symptoms and post your ? there. The night sweats and tremors are major symptoms of Lyme disease and/or Babesiosis a co-infection of Lyme. There are many of us on the board that have secondary adrenal Insuf. due to Lyme. It destroys the adrenals and the thryroid. And causes alot of neurological problems. Sincerely, Sarah

[matt9999]

Ive had hand tremors before. Over time it has gone away. Are you taking cortef or florinef and at what dosage?

[PWH1970]

I'm not sure that Lymes Disease is the answer for me, as I have secondary adrenal insufficiency and it's my understanding that Lymes affects the adrenals themselves, no?

I'm taking 15 mg hydrocortisone a day (10 mg upon waking, 5 mg at 4:00). My endocrinologist believes the lowest effective dose is the way to go. If i take more, my eyes get really puffy. Has anybody else experienced that?

[orion]

Night sweats are associated with low cortisol and low thyroid. 15mg/day is definitely on the low side and your symptoms indicate you are too low. If your thyroid is also low then you won't solve your night sweats until you get that under control as well. Both cortisol and thyroid feed off each other and must both be balanced.

Puffy eyes might well be symptoms of sleep apnea which shows up more once your cortisol levels become normal and your tissues rehydrate. Perhaps you are sleeping poorly for several reason and that should be examined rather than assuming that taking less cortisol is the correct route. Hormones are complex things and simple solutions aren't always so easy to find.

It's nice that your endo believes a certain idea, but that is no proof its correct for anybody or you in particular. My experience with endos tells me that their musings should be taken with a very large grain of salt. Personally I have seen 8 endos and all but one of them needed a new line of work when it came to understanding adrenal insufficiency. They were quite willing to pontificate and let me suffer rather than actually do some work to get to the bottom of a complex problem.