Hi Beverly,

Welcome to the group. I was diagnosed in Sept. 1974 and I am now 42.
Apparently, I had somehow lost my adrenal cortex. The years have
been filled with ups and downs with regard to Addisons. Fortunately,
the condition has not gotten in my way too much over all.

I wanted to respond to your question about depression. I have been
experiencing moderate depression lately. I thought it was perhaps
some residual effects from my surgery last November (hysterectomy)
but that is already months ago.

So I finally called my Endo yesterday and his nurse told me to come
in ASAP! Most of the time, with Addisons I have not had to wait very
long to see a doctor. Which I guess is perhaps the only benefit.
Anyway, my doctor gave me Paxil(sp?). He said it is a good choice
for this condition especially if you are have sleep problems. It
does take time to work so I am still waiting with my fingers
crossed.

We are still trying to adjust my Thyroid medication to the best
level. When I stopped eating iodinized salt several years ago my
blood levels began to show that I was receiving too much medicine.
My Doc is gradually decreasing the medication. Maybe I won't need
Thyroid med at all. Its my hope anyway.

I haven't noticed great deal of side effects from steroids with the
exception of weight gain. That has been a battle since the first
prescription my mother filled. I was 13 and in four months I went
from 68 pounds to 105 and I thought I was horribly fat! Well I
stayed 115 (with much work and not all of it healthy) until I was
about 25 and then it just started creeping up. Now it is driving me
crazy. I find that it is the salt cravings that do me in. I eat
high fat, high sodium snacks.

There are times when I feel sodium depleted and I must have salt!
Some people drink Gatorade or something like that but that does not
help me because it is also high in potassium. When I feel like that,
I don't need balanced electrolytes...I need salt and fast.

Unfortunately, I overdo and have a 'salt hangover' which most people
with this condition probably know about. This morning I felt a
little depleted so I had beef boulion soup and then ate a normal
breakfast and lunch. The soup is better if you put Italian herbs in
it. If I wait too long to eat salt then it's too late and I have to
eat a lot of salt in a hurry.

It's a crazy disease in a way. I hope this helps.

Beth

--- In addisonsdisease@yahoogroups.com, "beainaustin"
<singingspirit@a...> wrote:
> Hello,
>
> My name is Beverly and I was diagnosed with a prolactin producing
> Pituitary tumor back in August of 2001. After the testing it was
> found that this tumor also caused adrenalin insuffiency or Addisons.
> What fun!
>
> Actually it was terrific news since I found out and was justified
> finally as to why I was soooooo tired all my life and why I got
major
> infections seemingly every month that took multiple doses of
> antibiotics to cure.
>
> Anyway I'm thrilled to find this group. I have a few questions:
>
> Has anyone found medical studies about depression and addison's?
>
> How about the long term affects of taking cortisone? My hair is
> falling out, my fingernails are thin as paper, I'm getting this huge
> belly, it's almost impossible to lose weight and I"m still tired
> though less so.
>
> Also it's very difficult to go through a day without taking at
least a
> short nap. Sleeping at night is about 6 hours, but even if I sleep
8
> hours I still feel the overwhelming need to lay down for about an
hour
> around noon every day. This makes it difficult to work.
>
> Also, after about 4:PM in the afternoon all I want to do is sit
still.
>
> Does this sound like anyone else on this list?
>
> Thanks in advance,
>
> Beverly