And It's About Time There Was Some Support For Cushing's!
I am 37 years and have been diagnosed with Hashimoto's since I was 23.
All has pretty much been well since then -three pregnancies and three healthy babies. Little illness. Pretty much rolling along. We moved back near our families this past August (very good move) and I started feeling 'weird' - lots of small illnesses, but I had started back to work full time for the first time in about 10 years and I am working with special needs preschoolers. Pretty demanding job. Also, starting our three kids into new schools and generally just adjusting.
I put on some weight, but had stopped playing soccer and now had some good home cooking since the move. In mid November I noticed that my left breast had swollen to about 2 times its regular size. Went through inflammatory breast cancer scare, saw 4 doctors - 2 being famed breast specialists- and got a number of recos to see an endocrinologist as it was not breast related (phwew!).
Got through the holidays - realized I am always exhausted, my periods were 'odd', I was growing quite a bit of facial hair and I had gone up two clothing sizes in less than one year. I waited to see a highly recommended endocrinologist who ran all sorts of blood work, most of it repeating what had been done in the fall. Plus a 24 hour urine collection. Never mentioned why, just told me we would see when the results came in.
I researched the tests and Cushing's came up. Results came back that all is well (my Hashimotos remains stable with synthroid) except that I had a low red blood count, for which he recommended a multi vitamin. Come back in 6 months.
Well, I still feel yucky, am always exhausted yet cannot sleep through the night, am plucking 'man hair' from my face, chin, breasts, stomach and wrists on a DAILY basis. My lovely curls have gone course, I am paranoid and anxiety driven, I am eating well and exercising a bit, but still gaining weight, the left breast now has it's own zip code, my back is aching, my legs and arms are tired, I get flank pains that have knocked my breath out, I have a buffalo hump and I sleep all weekend (soooo not me) Oh, and I am driving my husband and children crazy with all this.
So I switch to a nurse practitioner in my practice. I tell her I need someone to help me 'own' this and just, basically, help me! She totally rocks! She takes my file with her and consults with a retiring (different) endocrinologist and they conference call me!
The new endo says it could very well be cushings and gave some great suggestions to the NP who goes out of her way to get me scripts for some tests the next day! The new endo, who is retiring, recommends a different endo in Albany, NY. I just took the dexamethasone suppression test yesterday moring and will do 2 more 24 hour urine tests over the next two weeks. Never thought I would be this excited about the possiblity of a tumor in my brain region!
Wow, I am tired just from writing this, but it only seems to be the major things I have been dealing with over the past 6-8 months. My husband feels that I have cyclical cushing's (we have been together since I was 18 years old).
Has anybody else had any of these strange symptoms (specifically unilateral breast swelling?) I am also posting some questions under symptoms and testing....thanks. This site has already made me feel better!
