A few months ago, I blogged about my whole baby weight thing and that I was going to go see a doctor. If you didn't see it, here you go .
So in July I saw my primary care doctor who said she thought I had a thyroid issue. She ran some blood test for thyroid plus a few others for "just in case". My hormonal blood work came back normal but my cortisol levels were elevated. Basically (if you didn't read the cortisol link), this means that my body thinks I am stressed out and elevates my blood pressure and stores all of my calories. This is a throwback to caveman years when if you were stressed it meant you might not be able to find adequate food/water/shelter. There are a number of reasons why your cortisol would be elevated but mostly it points to a BENIGN tumor on either your adrenal or pituitary gland, causing a miscommunication. This is called Cushing's Syndrome. Don't go too crazy reading about it because it will freak you out, or it did to me. So much so I had to call my grandmother to talk me down off of my "too much information cliff"!
My doctor ran a number of other tests and referred me to an Endocrinologist, who I saw today. He thinks I have early signs of both Cushing's Syndrome and a thyroid issue with an indicator being Grave's disease (does it look like I have bulgy eyes to you???!) All of these issues are in a wait and see situation. I have to be monitored over the next year to see what happens but since the likelihood is that we will catch whatever it is, in a VERY early stage, he isn't too worried.
He told me to try to bring my cortisol down with Yoga, Tai-Chi and by slowly ending my day rather than watching TV and falling asleep. He thinks if I have a restful night of sleep, my cortisol will lower.
So, even though we still don't know exactly what the issue is, we know what to look-out for and have a plan. I will keep up with my Yoga, start a new diet plan that will hopefuly help and just try to be stress free.... easy, right???
So there, you have been updated and now I have a lot fewer calls to make! I love blogging!
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3 comments:
I totally know what you are going through. I have been tested for so many things and I still don't know. Only thing is, I don't have baby weight... it's just lazy weight for me. I have done so many different things and nothing seems to be working. I really hope you get the results you are looking for. Good luck!
I would love to do yoga with you at the ymca!!!!! :) I'm glad o hear tha you and your Dr/'s are on top of things!
Hi. I had Cushing's for many years before it was diagnosed. For a great support board, check out the cushings-help.com site and their message boards there.
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