I appear to have the cyclical form of Cushing's Disease (discussed in the second article), which means my body cycles from normal cortisol production, to overproduction, to underproduction, sometimes randomly, sometimes in a pattern. Looking back I've had some definite "remission" periods, as well as different cycling patterns. Currently my pattern is pretty close to two weeks high, two weeks low. Of course lots of other factors change how I feel (the temperature, stress levels, activity, and this darned cold, for example!) so I can never really gage how I am going to feel or what I will be able to do on any given day. It also makes diagnosis and testing that much more complicated and difficult. Because my test results also show the varying ranges. I've had low cortisol tests, lots of normal tests, and a handful of abnormally high tests. The latest one was a doosy!
It is becoming obvious following much testing that I in fact have Cushing's disease (there was a high suspicion to begin with due to my plethora of Cushing's-specific symptoms, especially at such a young age), but I still have to accumulate a sufficient quantity of biochemical proof (ie, lab tests) before a neurosurgeon will preform the delicate surgery to remove microscopic tumors from such a vital glad that happens to sit right smack dab between the carotids! I'm at least half way there on the necessary lab results...maybe much closer (still waiting on 3 tests and resuming testing again perhaps tonight or tomorrow).
http://www.eje-online.org/content/157/3/245.full
Good luck with the tests. I hope it all goes well for you and you can get into remission.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Lisa! I now have a number of high tests, but I may still need more. We will find out soon, I hope. And I have my travel, MRI, and Endo appointment all scheduled for about a month from now, so that is ready to go as well! Thank you again for all your well-wishes!
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