Do I have Cushing's syndrome?

[Amber]

I've been dealing with extremly embarassing body haid since I hit puberty. I've always felt like it wasn't normal. Then stretch marks on the inside of my legs since I was 14. Being that young I was too embarassed to go to a dr about it. I've never been i large girl, never exceeding 150lbs. I've tried every kind of birth control and have had bad reactions to everyone of them. Nausea vomiting irritability moodiness leg cramps. You name it, I've had it. Then in 2008the when I was 22, I started having kidney issues. Major blood in my urine and stones. Dr's kept diagnosing it with UTI's. I got pregnant shortly after and focused all of my symptoms on that... Severe morning sickness my entire pregnancy. I only gained 15 lbs the entire time and lost it with the birth. Then lost another 15 lbs. I was at the lowest weight of my adult life. I finally got the courage to ask my OB about the embarassing body hair. I was put off saying it was hereditary. I didn't have any issues gettinf pregnant so nothing to worry about. But i still had a gut feeling. Over the next year I began gaining weight... rapidly. I've hit 200 lbs. I'm extremely tired all the time. Lack of modivation and concentration. Very frustrating. I've found more stretch marks on my body in various places. Acne and more facial and body hair. In the last year I've injured my wrist, shoulder and back. I haven't been able to recover from any of them fully. They arw actually dibilitating due to my job. I finally to go back to the dr 2about years after my last visit. In tears i explained all of my issues. Along with my depression and explained that I felt like there is something hormonally wrong. (I also have under developed breast). My dr ordered blood tests and put me on spironolatone to help with the testosterone. She explained she thinks I may have Cushings. She didn't go into detail about the disease or syndrome. I'm waiting for results to come back from the tests. She will be referring me to an Endo. After research, I dont know whether to be scared or releived. It's ruled me for more then half my life. I'm terrified that if I keep going this way.

[Emily]

I am a forty five year old woman who is wondering about possible diagnosis of Cushing's disease. I have struggled on and off with depression throughout the years, but recently have experienced other symptoms that concern me greatly. I have quite significant fatigue and postural hypotension- with one episode of fainting. My weight gain has followed the typical cushing's pattern of thickening of the central trunk, mandibular and supraclavicular fat pads. I am also developing a fat pad behind my neck, between my shoulders--this was never present in my younger years. I now have a red face which has grown round in recent years. I have puffy eyes with blurred vision. My muscles feel weak and gettin going to exercise has been extremely difficult. I have excess facial hair-dark coarse hairs on upper lip, chin, chest, and a light fuzz of hair on my lower face. I am losing alot of my scalp hair recently and have developed dandruff. I have night sweats which my be unrelated. Some unusual things: dark stripes on my abdomen, hangnails/longitudinal ridges on fingernails. Skin lesions on my fingers, increased rate of growth of moles, and skin tags. Do these things sound like Cushing's syndrome to you? Any feedback would be helpful.

[Sarah]

I'm 21 years old. For years ever since I started my period I always had irregular ones, skipped periods, having them for 2 weeks or longer, horrible cramps, etc. My doctor always said that it was PCOS. She did blood tests about a year and a half ago. All through high school I never weighed more than 130 lbs. But once I hit college I started gaining weight, like more young adults do, but 100 lbs in under 2 years was a little much. For two years my doctor kept saying it was from the PCOS and I just needed to watch what I ate. I tried exercising and cut my eating habits in half but I still kept gaining weight. I started getting dark purple stretch marks all around my thighs, back, and stomach. I've also had alot of excess body hair. Once again, I just thought it was the PCOS. About two months ago I started getting horrible headaches and dizziness,along with some vision problems. But I just thought it could be a sinus infection and I finally broke down and went to the doctor last week. He took one good look at me and looked over my medical records from previous specialists and said "I think you have Cushing's syndrome". I had absolutely no clue what that was. I asked him a few questions about it and his responses scared the crap out of me. The thought of me having a tumor at the age of 21 was completely terrifying. I asked him how many people he gets with Cushing's and he said he had never diagnosed anyone with Cushing's before. So, he brought in another doctor to get a second opinion and he also agreed. I did the 24 urine tests, as well as a blood test and I am still waiting to get an MRI and CT scan set up. I immediately started doing research and reading about others experiences with this, and honestly the only thing I'm really scared about is having the difficulty getting diagnosed like everyone else. Does this all sound normal to anyone?

[brandy lafayette tn]

my daughter is 12 and since she was 7 she has had migranes weight gain only in the face an stomach she has the strech marks an intestinal problems. i lived in ny at the time and they tested her for crones and all other sorts of stuff includeing thyroid but never cushings thesy always came back with she is fine. Then last year she tried to kill herself and was put in a stress center for several weeks the diagnosed her with bipolar mania with sever depression. then about a month ago i moved back to TN and shortly after i noticed my daughter had a lump at the base of her neck between her shoulders. i of course freaked i had never seen anything like it. so i took her to the doctor i saw all my life until i left tn. he told me it was a buffalo hump asked about her periods and told me she need to be tested for cushings. she has done the blood an urine but he then sent her for a thyroid test then today they called and said her tch is a little low and they need her in for a pituatary blood test. i asked if she had cushings an the nurse told me she couldnt say they had to finish all this blood work. so i understand how aggervateing all this is. i have now been left to wonder was the test postive an he wants to find the cause befor talking to me or is he just searching with no idea what hes looking for. if anyone has an ides please email me at [e-mail]

[Suzanne]

I have severe muscle and joint pains to the point I have to stop walking when going short distances. I have gained over 60 pounds in the last 5-6 months, have very easy bruising which lasts weeks,acne, and some rashes. I have been under a great deal of stress... my mother has been either in a hospital, nursing home, or step down hospital since Christmas Eve and I am her primary caregiver ( only family she has). All together she has been home about 5 weeks during this time but I usually go visit her everyday. I was just wondering with all this stress and symptoms could it possibly be Cushing's with a Dexamethasone suppression test level of 5.490. I haven't heard back from the endocrinologist yet. Thank you.

[Cushie too maybe]

Jevlyn wrote:

I agree I have been battleing for help since 1999 and still I have none! I have a pituitary tumor which has growen and I have all the symptons and alot of problems but, still blood work and labs are good but I am still dealing with a devil almost daily at times I may have 2-3 good days but they don't last, weight gain, sleeplessness, rash rapid heart, headaches, night sweats, ft pan knee pain, blurred vision sesitive to light and noise, I can't drive at night because of the lights, hair growth wrong places, swollen hands and feet the list goes on is there really hep and if so where! My email is [e-mail] I have had 4 mri's in 2 yrs and there is a tumor but no one will help! Please!

Hello, Jevlyn, I hope this can be helpful- 2 things: there's a website, cushingsmoxie.blogspot, and also you could have CAH- Classic Adrenal Hyperplasia. Both have similar symptoms that regular doctors overlook and often treat as if it's a joke to THEM. An endocrinoligist will be needed and cushingsmoxie says PPO's are better that HMO's as far as insurance goes, so don't give up and try a female doctor, or even a referral from a naturopath doctor. Good luck and persistence in this fight.

[Frank]

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