Q's Recovery

(guest blogger - Val's husband, Q)

Val wanted to post an update on my recovery from Cushing's Syndrome, so here is. I'll try not to be too dull, but Val is the writer in the family.

I had the operation to remove my left adrenal gland back in January, 2006, because a tumor attached to the gland was causing it to produce too much cortisol. As my body had an excess, my other adrenal gland stopped producing it all together and went dormant. The hope was that once the tumor was removed, my body would eventually start producing cortisol at a normal level again. This has not happened yet, and so my endocrinologist has doubled my daily hydrocortisone dosage, to approximate the bodies normally produced amount.

Until now, my dosage had been steadily decreasing since my operation, from a high of 50mg/day, finally down to 5mg/day a few months ago. When I dropped to 5/day, I was getting so tired, that it was difficult to function anymore. I went back up to 10/day about a week later and was hoping that the latest tests would indicate my body had started to produce cortisol naturally. But I guess my increasing fatigue is due to my body having too little cortisol, because it's only getting it from the pills I take.

So, now I'm back up to 20mg of hydrocortisone a day, 10mg the moment I wake up (thank goodness for Siamese Daylight Time), 5mg at noontime, and 5mg in the late afternoon. This should echo the bodies natural production of cortisol, which starts at about 4am to get the body ready to wake, continues then slows throughout the day, and stops in the evening to allow the body to sleep.

I may have to continue taking these pills, three times a day, for the rest of my life. But Val is the optimist, telling me it's not that bad and could be a lot worse. I'm hoping the increased dosage will get my energy level back up to normal.