adrenal crisis

[Laine4kids]

had my first one thurs
still feel really weak and wondering how long to recover?
after being sick x5 and passing out doc came to house and gave 100 mg hydrocortisone injection and old me to double normal does for 4 days
got antibiotics for probable bladder infection
any advice or experience please? xxxxx

I have had Addisons Disease for 16 years now. I have never had a full adrenal crisis since it was diagnosed, but I did come very close - nearly collapsed and blue lighted into hospital. For me the cause was the endocrinologist trying to reduce my dose to the minimum, plus dealing with three toddlers and a 2 mile walk because the car was in the garage.

It took me three or four days before I felt back to normal, and it does dent your confidence when your body lets you down like that. Plus you'll have to deal with the effects of the bladder infection, which also knocks you out.

If you start to vomit again, I think you should go to A&E at once.

I've been told that I can triple the dose for a day or two if I have the flu or an infection. Perhaps you ought to ask your doctor if that's OK for you.

Also my GP prescribed me a single dose of 100mg solu-cortef, and a hypodermic needle for emergencies, which again you might find useful to carry.

thanks for your reply
i have been sleeping about 18 hours a day since it happened and its only this morning I feel a bit better
the injection was mine but i was too far gone to use it and dh not confident so got gp out for demo,he was here in 15 mins! I was impressed.
It was so scarey,I've come close once before and I'll be super aware if I'm sick more than once again.

I also double the dose as soon as I feel sick. I usually have enough time for at least some of it to be absorbed before I actually vomit.

How long have you had Addisons?

I have secondary addisons from pituitary damage when last dc born 3 years ago.He was 18 months before I was diagnosed with sheehans syndrome.So I am deficient in cortisone,thyroxine and growth hormone and have to replace them daily.
I'm still learning about when to double dose and not.
I feel so much better today but it has felt like recovering from a general anesthetic,so drowsy and weak.
thanks so much for replying,sometimes it seem like no-one understands because my condition is so complicated.I try to give a short version but peoples eyes glaze over.
How did you develope addisons?
thats a good tip to double as soon as I feel sick.

Strangely I also have secondary Addisons, but they thought it was due to an autoimmune attack on my pituitary. I fell ill during the third trimester of my first pregnancy. of course all my complaints were dismissed as being pregnancy related.

Once DS1 was born,by emergancy cesaerean I went downhill fast. I was diagnosed with PND, and after three months was admitted to the psychiatric wing of the local hospital. Luckily someone realised that my high temperature and constant vomitting were something else. By then it took 9 litres of saline to rehydrate me.

At first my thryoid was all over the place, and I never managed to BF because I had no prolactin. They also said I would never conceive naturally again, because the sex hormone part was also affected. Thyroid recovered luckily, as did my reproductive system, and I did conceive DS2 and DD with no problems.

You know, even after 16 years I can still remember it vividly. It was an awful time. I never mention it to anyone, because no-one's heard of it, and I can't be bothered to explain, even to good friends. It's too much like discussing your surgery scars.

We have similar conditions then,butterbur.
My poor baby starved when I tried to feed him,lost 1 1/2 pounds in 6 days and ended back in hospital where I insisted giving him bottles.
I was also told PND and nothing else by gps untill I eventually decided to go privately to an endocrinologist who diagnosed me in 15 mins.I was so relieved but I wish I could say I'm back to normal but I'm not and don't think I ever will be.
My metabolism, memory and immune system are noticably worse.
Funnily enough,my reproductive system was fine for about a year then my cycle went haywire,2-7 week gaps between, and now seems to be getting more on track.
I've given up trying to second guess my body!

Yes to the baby losing weight. DS1 lost a pound of his body weight before they believed me when I said I had no milk.

You are only three years post diagnosis. I must say, I found the first few years hairy. Now I feel well and normal.

I don't feel my immune system has been affected, aside from the worry of adjusting the dose. When the kids were small, and they brought bugs home on a daily basis I was ill more often, but now they are all (almost) in their teens,I'm not often ill (touch wood).

I'm fatter than I was, but that's been a battle I've been slowly losing all my life. Of course the thyroid thing can affect weight. Do you think they need to adjust your dose of thyroxine?

On the plus side, I had a very easy menopause. The endocrinologists predicted that this might be the case, as a lot of the menopausal symptoms are caused by the pituitary pumping out more and more hormones, and mine couldn't.

Also, it occurred to me, was your Sheehan's diagnosis definitive? They considered and dismissed Sheehan's for me because of the way my periods restarted (about 4 months after the birth). Apparently with Sheehan's the pituitary stays damaged,and with an autoimmune disease,(lymphocytic hypophysitis) it can recover.

That's why I'm not on thyroxine, and why they tried to reduce my dose of hydro- cortisone. The HC thing failed, as the adrenal glands tend to atrophy very quickly.

Actually the endocrinology senior registrar got his consultancy based on my case, which he wrote and published a paper on. LH is rarely diagnosed, and is though to be underdiagnosed.

Did you have an MRI scan?

my official diagnosis is partial sheehans syndrome because they consider my sex hormones to be un-affected.my endo did consider L H but made his decision following the MRI of my pituitary.I dnt really know what the difference would look like.
I have never had a weight problem before last baby but now I simply cannot lose the 2 stone left from having him,for instance,last week i was too ill to eat and am still not eating normally and I havent lost 1 pound.
thyroxine up to 150mcg which is keeping my T4 at top of range,apparently.
BTW,I'm 37 in case you wondered.
Its nice to compare notes,thanks.

Hope you're feeling better now, and get back to feeling "normal". A week of eating very little is not very long - don't give up hope.

much better now,thanks.

@Laine4kids what were your symptoms of Sheehan’s and how did you find a decent endocrinologist to diagnose it please?