Worried incase I have addisons disease

Hi Jennie

I think I may know why your feeling unwell

Because I have potential pituitary issues

I do lots of research

There is something called

Sheehan's Syndrome

It is a condition that happens to the pituitary

After giving birth

You really need a pituitary MRI

And proper endocrinology follow up

Good luck, I hope this helps

About the acth test

Don't be worried, it is a piece of cake

Instead of having Addison's though

You may have secondary or central

Adrenal insufficiency

This can be diagnosed sometimes

With regular blood tests and the acth test

Please tell your endocrinologist to do the acth test

That may confirm secondary adrenal insufficiency

That mentions Sheehan Syndrome

Next to me.

It says 90% of patients will also have

Associated central hypothyroidism

It is different from regular hypothyroidism

So you will definitely want to talk to your doctor about

This

Again , best of luck from Canada

Also I'm interested to read about predisinole sometimes causing these problems... Because I took a very high dose of this medicine when I went deaf as that can sometimes cure it

A Synacthen test [synthetic ACT Hormone] is nothing to be worried about,

In a normal day but especially if you are ill or have an inflammation, your pituitary should put some of ACT hormone (a signal hormone) into your blood for your Adrenal glands to notice and start pumping out cortisol. When there is enough cortisol, ACTH production stops, So if there is no reason for it, there will be very little ACTH in your blood and little cortisol. The synachthen test adds some ACTH and a little later a blood test will show if your adrenals produced the goods. If not, you might have primary Addisons.

But your normal (baseline) cortisol is not especially low so it is certainly not the first thing your endo would have suspected.

Your pituitary [think of it as a very clever thermostat)] also sends signals to your thyroid to order up thyroxine, and to your ovaries for FSH and TH, and a lot more besides. But nobody is going to send you for an MRI on the off chance, Expect a lot more weird  and wonderful tests.

On the positive side, you are now dealing with a specialist with a load of training and expertise, which is 90% of the battle!

On the