Addisons and cortisol

I have all the signs of Addisons including the weight loss and the salt cravings. However, when I took my ATCH and cortisol tests ant 7am. My ATCH 79.6 H and cortisol was 42.6 H (more than double the normal range). My symptoms are worsening everyday and it is really starting to affect my job because my concentration is low, I forget things, I have horrible headaches, and I have been passing out. What could be going on. My endocrinologist is out of the country for the rest of the month and the waiting is horrible.

[rumpled]

Your tests show more Cushing's syndrome than Addison's so that is strange.

Is your weight loss something that comes and goes or has it been persistent?

There is some overlap with high and low cortisol symptoms - fatigue, mental fog, headaches, low immune system...

But low cortisol is the salt craving. generally low BP and weight loss while high is weight gain, generally high BP and generally weight gain. There are no hard and fast rules - I had low BP with my Cushing's and I have met thin people with Cushing's...

Are you passing out as you stand up? Is this blood pressure related aka POTS? If so, talk to a cardiologist - you may need to modify habits, or get a medication, or increase fluids and salt.

[Wantstoknow77]

my weight loss is persistent. 80 pounds in 6 months and from a size 13 to a 10. My passing out seems to come from the severe pressure on my ears that I get during my headaches. I just feel faint and when I stand. My blood pressure stays arounf 97/67 and jumps to 133/87 during the headaches.

[rumpled]

If you feel faint when you stand, odds are that is POTS - postural orthostatic tachycaridia syndrome.

Unless you are going to get a drug like florinef or a beta blocker, the only treatment is learning not to stand so fast... the test is a tilt table.

Have you been to a cardiologist for a halter monitor test?

I would find a pituitary center - they would test you more thoroughly than a regular endo. When was  your last eye exam?