Addison's Disease Support Group

Addison's disease (also known as chronic adrenal insufficiency, or hypocortisolism) is a rare endocrine disorder. It is estimated that it affects about 1 to 2 in 100,000 people. It occurs when the adrenal glands, seated above the kidneys, fail to produce enough of the hormone cortisol and, sometimes, the hormone aldosterone

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Endocrine System
/ Addison's Disease Support Group

sound familiar ?

terriann
terriann
two days prior : REALLY thirsty and itchy arms .doing errands in town with my daughter . my lumbar back is killing me ! i cant stand up straight and am bent over leaning on my knees , swapping from leg to leg.hot hot hot .air hunger.trying to get air .gasping.anger then rage !shouting at a lady in the store . . . . . I'm frightened now but ill b ok ,get your head together girl ! much needed grocery's,breath.asking my girl not to talk as i need every bit of concentration just to see as i drive. supermarket ,trying to use the trolly to hold me up but i cant raise my head above the level of the trolly or my head starts spinning .heart is Pounding but my pulse is light.lm loosing my vision an im scared .hyperglycemia. shaking.sweating.Tired beyond belief.I had to get my nine year old girl (she was so good it breaks me heart) to guide me to the car as i am not able to function mentally now .cant raise my head at all without nearly blacking out . all i can say as i flop into the car is "key!!,chocolate!!" i i yelled a bit ,but no words,i did not even have the thought to care what others thought of this very odd woman.moo got the choccy and i ate it feverishly . home, i need to get home,feeling really tired .have to go now or il never make it.it took me 3 hour to drive what would normally take 11 minutes .home and 7 hours later i was awake sort of ,vision was still disturbed and had to move very slow to stop the head rushes.not peeing either,mmmmm noticeably not peeing.its scary .eeewwww i don't like it ! can anyone relate ?
22Lynn
22Lynn
I went to read your profile but it is private. Have you been dx with adrenal problems or have you been sick like this off and on for awhile?

If this is from your adrenals you need salt to stop the fainting. Some eat salty foods or drink a small glass of water with salt to stop the fainting. It's because your blood pressure is dropping very low. You probably need Florinef to help you retain your salt. Also a stress dose of hydrocortisone.

If you think you have adrenal problems because of this episode I would make an appt with your doctor and ask for a test. Most of us have taken along time to be dx. It took me 9 months of asking my Dr to test me for Addison's before I was dx.

You should be tested for a UTI. You can get sepsis from an untreated UTI, it's very serious. I had that at Christmas, I almost died.

If you have Addison's it sounds like your in a crisis and need to go to the ER if you don't have an emergency injection kit. But with not peeing I think I would go to the ER today if I didn't feel better.

I hope this helps you. It sounds like you had a very scary experience. Good luck. Feel free to ask any other questions you might have.
terriann
terriann
o lyn thank u ,i just didn't have the energy to fill in the back story last nite.its taken me ova 5 years of fighting our health system to get my girl diagnosed with hypothyroidism as a mum i kept saying,(once my girl is fixed then i can work on myself ) i didn't think it was going to be this hard or take this long or be so stressful ! iv had these episodes b4.starting to happen more often.il fill in back story now in new post cos im at my wits end as the doctors are looking at me like im mental .i jus dont know if i could handle another fight with these guys.doctor said if it happens agen got to the hospital .
terriann
terriann
whoa! wow ! holy crap!started dizzy an gasping 4 air yesterday and my girl said mum that mental thing is starting to happen again ,so i go "really",she goes yea mum thats how u get wen it starts.so remembering wot u said i had pasta sandwich with heaps of salt,OH MY WORD!i couldnt freaking believe it!i felt better quite quickly.its blown my mind!weather i hav addisons or not thats bloody amazing an i will be using it from now on .man thanks lynn!!
deleted_user
deleted_user
Thank you Lynn also. Poor Terriann needed that info. I've learn so much from this site, it's amazing! I've come accustomed to checking with this support group on a regular basis. Just Sunday I was reading the posts and got information that I was thinking was something else instead of AD. I showed my husband only because I think he thinks that I make up these symptoms.
Terriann, it sounds as if you are from the UK by the way you speak about your health care system. I'm not educated on how it works, but I do know from the professionals, and my friends on this site that you can die from AD if not properly treated! So please for all our sake, fight your system and get diagnosed! I'm looking forward to reading that you are diagnosed with something, and getting treatment! Good luck!
22Lynn
22Lynn
I'm really glad the salt worked for you. If that is the case you probably have an adrenal problem and need to get diagnosed ASAP. My Addison's and hypothyroidism were discovered about the same time. It's all part of the endocrine system, so they all effect each other. I've been pre-diabetic now 6+ years, all endocrine problems. Good luck getting your diagnosis.

Lynn
terriann
terriann
ooo thanku girls !im from new zealand,my mum spent 50 years trying to get diagnosed with hypothyroidism .in DESPERATION she moved to Australia and within two weeks was diagnosed with hashimoto thyroiditis,her heart is badly malformed because of their mistreatment .i feel im hyperthyroid as well,but im telling you girls its like pulling teeth here.had the start of an episode yesterday at counselors so we tried the salt,again it was bloody amazing !she watched it happen,my colour changed an i didnt hav to sit on the floor with my head low anymore but im starting to get these episodes a lot.
22Lynn
22Lynn
A lot of people eat a slice of cheese as part of their breakfast or in the car going to work. One piece of cheese contains 25% of your salt intake for the day. I would get the little travel packs of salt for your purse until you can get on Florinef.
deleted_user
deleted_user
Where in NZ are you from Terrian? Are you in touch with others from NZ with Addion's? The NZ network isn't that great, but I have met others from NZ on here, and on the Australian Addison's network.
terriann
terriann
yes lynn i for sum reason an very drawn to cheese when having a hypoglycemic bout.hahahhahha yea addisons nz wants me to pay them money i don't have.i also have a torn ureter that happened a year ago that i have had to fight the doctors to look at threw a scan hopefully i have this underway.but the SALT man i cannot get over that!!! it freaking AMAZING!!! i dehydrated all the time drinking liters a day but still my skin is dry.a cardiologist told me i don't have addisons,i personally thought i should be seen by endocrinologist .this will sound really odd but i notice just after an attack my privates are black,im not sure why?is this the hyper pigmentation?cos it didnt used to be black,hahahha sorry AWKWARD! if i stay on top of my health it starts to fade back to pink,i hav low and fluctuating cortisol
deleted_user
deleted_user
You definitely have Addison's. That was one of the first signs I had. It first happens in your privates and creases on your body, then it spreads across the all of the skin. Keep fighting to see an endo. Sadly, Addison's is one of the hardest to get diagnosed. During one of my many hospital stays before being diagnosed I had a print out of all of the symptoms of Addison's, which I had ALL OF THEM, and my doctor at the time looked me in the eyes and flat out told me I don't have Addison's. There's no way. Boy was he friggin' WRONG!

Good luck! Once you get the diagnosis you'll feel tons better. In the meantime eat LOTS of salt. Your body will naturally have too much potassium and you have to counteract it with salt. For ever liter of water eat at least 1 slice of cheese or the equivalent of salt. You are flushing sodium out at an alarming rate so you cannot have too much of it right now :)

You're in my prayers!

- Kristen
terriann
terriann
thanku so much booful people,