Symptoms strong tonight - but why?

[galliar]

Hello,

I woke up today feeling ok, but not very energized.  Last night at about 6:00pm my wife and I walked to about 4 miles.  After getting home we went grocery shopping and didn't get home until about 8:45pm.  I felt great the whole day, having more energy in my legs than in years, after starting florinef.  Today however is different.  I have a constant headache and ringing ears, plugged sinuses, and feel weak in the legs and arms.  Just holding my arms out parallel to the ground is more effort than I can take.  I measured my blood pressure and it is hanging around 110/68.  This is somewhat lower than normal for me, and as the day wears on it gets lower.  I took 10mg of extra Cortisone about an hour ago.  I don't feel worse, but I don't feel much better.

In the past if these symptoms come on like this, I get very sick in a short time, like a flu x 4.  Cortisone normally suppresses the onset of this.

Would something like a walk cause these symptoms to come on?  It seems to happen after working out at the club also.

Does anybody else get like this?

I am assuming this is the onset of a mild adrenal crisis, but I am not sure.  It makes me nervous to take any more Cortisone.

Any similar experiences from others?

Regards,

Randy.

What do

[Idaho Dusty]

Randy,

I have no idea what the temperature was in the club or while you were walking.  Maybe not enough florinef?  Maybe it's the way you're taking the HC?  You're taking it in a nonpnysiologic manner.  Greatest amount (2/3) should be taken by noon other third taken in afternoon (12.5/7.5/5 or 10/10/5), perhaps taking 10 mg at 6 pm is messing around with other hormones (GH in particular).  Maybe you've got a comorbid condition?  Celiac?  Pernicious anemia?  Low DHEA and/or testo?  Diabetes?

Conisdering you BP and the way you say you feel, I wouldn't hesitate to take more HC I were you.  If nausea came into the equation, I would definitely pop another 10 - 20 if I were you.  If you think you're approaching adrenal crisis, you should NOT be nervous to take more HC.  Crisis=low HC for your situation. Crisis=need more HC.  If you vomit more than twice, you should give yourself an injection and go to the ER immediately.

I hope you do alright tonight Randy!!!

:) Dusty

[Joel]

Absolutely, its a pitfall thats easy to fall into.
You feel good so you overdo yourself and then pay for it the next few days.
Your body has been deconditioned by not having the right treatment for years.
Its going to take time to recover from that. I went through exactly the same thing.
Start easy and increase activity very gradually, this is what I found works.
You also may need to take 2.5 to 5mg extra HC if you are doing exercise that feels like it is putting more than normal physical stress on your body. Also you need to stay well hydrated with a drink containing sodium and potassium.

Joel

[galliar]

Hi Dusty,

My endo told me to start out taking 25 mg Hydro Cortisone in the amounts:  15/5/5, and .05mg Florinef.  She said to adjust as I go, and I might find out I need to take more at noon and 5mg less in the morning.

Until finding your site and an endo who knows what she is doing, I have been on my own.  I really don't even know from others what the symptoms are like.

Last night I ended up taking 10mg extra and after an hour started feeling somewhat better.  After two hours there was no real change so I took another 10mg and started to feel much better.

The walk was fast and it was in the 60's that day, which is warmer than usual.

I do have a slight cold.  Everybody at my work has been dropping like flies getting a serious flu.  I typically don't get any flu's just colds.

Also, you keep mentioning Celiac. I do have this and my Dr. ordered some testing for me.  I am not going to test until my sinuses clear up because sinus infections are the worst thing on me.  When I eat any gluten I get welts on my eye lids and feel very miserable the next couple of days.

Once again, thank you for the help.  It is nice to talk with people actually managing this stuff.

Regards,

Randy.

[galliar]

Hi Joel,

Yes, when I feel good I tend to think there is nothing that can get me back down.  You'd think hitting 50 this year I would have figured this out by now, but no.

I will try taking a small amount of extra cortisone before a workout and see how that helps.  I do this when I go hiking.  About one month ago I hiked a small mountain that has a 3000' rise in 4miles.  I took an extra 10mg cortisone and had no problems after the hike.  I guess every body is different and needs to be managed differently.

I will also start drinking more v8 juice as it seems to help.  I do get very low Blood Sugars that go down into the 50's and often stay there for way to long.  I can eat a meal and test my BS an hour later and it doesn't exceed 75 often.  There are so many things with AI, it is amazing.

Thank you Joel for your great help, I really appreciate it!

[Shannon]

Randy,

That incident after the walk sounds to me like you are fighting off a cold or the flu.  Especially if you needed to take 20 extra of HC to start feeling OK again.

Take it easy.  Use the extra HC if you need it.  If you are still feeling weak, achy, feverish, see a doc so you can get tamiflu if necessary.
Shannon

[galliar]

Hi Shannon,

I can never tell if I have a cold/flu, or it is just adrenal related.  The symptoms when I am low on Cortisol feel much like a flu and almost always are more severe feeling then the underlying virus if it exists.  Today, after sleeping for 9+ hours I have felt excellent all day.  I had doubled the cortisone yesterday, and started tapering down today.  I must have done the trick.  Also, all my sinus issues disappeared until tonight.  They are back slightly, but so is the fatigue which is normal at this time of night.  Allergies have tended to be quite stronger this year than normal, and I know they put a strain on the adrenals.  Anyway, all is well today.

By the way, what is tamiflu?

[dollsie]

Hey Randy,

I know what you mean about low cortisol feeling like the flu - that's how it's always been for me too. It's a relief to hear someone else describe things that way. I always feel confused about it, because a high steroid dose would make anyone feel better, and I worry I'm just masking the symptoms of some other problem by raising my dose...but I guess in our case we really do just need the cortisol.

Allergies are one of my symptoms too...funny how mainstream texts don't tend to mention this as a symptom of adrenal problems, but alternative ones usually list allergies as one of the most basic signs. Makes sense to me that if so many Addisonians have high eosinophil counts pre-diagnosis, they'd also be allergic to lots of stuff! I wonder if your allergies this year are attributable to the fact that you were trying to get by on a lower dose for a while?

Glad to hear you're feeling better now, and hope the trend continues!

p.s. Here's a link for the Tamiflu that Shannon mentioned. http://www.tamiflu.com/. My family has had good luck with Emergen-C too (www.emergenc.com) at the start of a cold/flu. I take a good antioxidant as well with lots of A, C, E, Zinc, etc.

Take care,
Leigh

[Shannon]

Randy,
Glad you are feeling better, which therefore means you probably do not need tamiflu.

Sounds like whatever it is that brings on "cold/flu" symptoms, answer is the same if you have addison's.  If it is a cold, you need more HC, and if it is addison's, you need more HC.... (how simple, HA!)

Glad you are feeling better.  

My husband got very sick with the flu, so I incresed my dose of HC, and think that I have averted it....YEAH!
Shannon