Could this be Addison's?
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Initially I didn't think that what was wrong with me was addisons, but as the months progress I am getting more concerned.
Just a bit of background: I am a 21yr old female, I had a nissen fundoplication in 2013 (stomach surgery) and have been healthy since.
Over 4 months (January 2015) ago I began to lose my appetite, by February I was hospitalized for a week. I was under the care of my surgeon (believing it was stomach related) who did an endoscopy and barium swallow (which showed nothing) and I was sent home being told that if I was not better in 3 weeks they would do more tests. Since then I have also had an abdominal ct which was clear. (Health care here sucks)
While I was in hospital I was very weak and had lost approx. 16 lbs (i've lost 21lbs in total now) but the saline drip helped. I realised upon discharge that in order to have any form of a life I would have to start force feeding myself and now I get most of calories from liquids (lucozade sports / soya milk / coke / soups etc) and small amounts of solids.
Symptoms:
Lack of appetite / early satiety.
I feel sick and stuffed if I eat too much (still only a tiny amount). However, my stomachsurgery means I cannot vomit.
I have noticed that I am incredibly thirsty, drinking a bare minimum of 3 litres of water everyday plus my high calories drinks.
I am exhausted / fatigued / lacking focus and energy and cannot concentrate. Anxious / Irritable
Just to add: I can't work any more, I have had to give up college because I can't concentrate and I don't drive for fear of crashing because I am so weak
The oddest symptoms that I have noticed, which is getting progressively worse, is a craving for salt. This is odd to me because I have never really liked salt (except of salt & vinegar crisps) and always refused to put it on food as I found I got my RDA without adding it unnecessarily.
However, looking back on before I got sick I realized I had began to use salt more often, but now, despite not getting hungry I will put some salt and vinegar on a plate and saturate them in additional salt, even resorting to licking the remaining salt of the plate.
Do these symptoms sound like addison's disease? I ask this because a cousin of mine was diagnosed with it a few years having been sick for approx. 2.5 years (He looked like a walking skeleton) and I know his most noticeable symptom was appetite loss and occasional vomiting.
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jackie92127 b90105
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b90105 jackie92127
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barbara98940 b90105
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barbara98940
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Roddy999 barbara98940
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jackie92127 Roddy999
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jackie92127
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Roddy999 jackie92127
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Diabetes insipidus is a common result of pituitary disease - lots of info on pituitary dot org dot uk. A normal pituitary should produce just the right amount of the hormone [ADH] that keeps you not too wet and not too dry, just right. If it is overactive, you get through lots of water and have a craving for salt. [There is a drug, DDAVP aka desmopressin, that is given to control DI - but hopefully not before the underlying problem is found and treated]. Underactive and you get hyponatremia [water retention upsetting the natural salt ('electrolyte') balance in the blood].
The average GP sill typically see just one pituitary patient in a career, so it is hardly surprising that they don't recognise it. Also they are trained to go for the least complicated solution that fits the facts and no more (see 'Occam's Razor').
jackie92127 Roddy999
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