Cushing's in children

[PhoebesMom0520]

Hi all. This is just to get some information. What are symptoms of Cushing's in children? I've read lots of articles that stress the over-weight (especially in the midsection), and the round face and hump on the back of the neck, the stretch marks, and muscle fatigue. I guess I'm wondering if all of the symptoms noticed in adulthood are the same as those in children. And what exactly does "muscle fatigue" mean? Is it tired easily, before other people would be, or after very mild exertion (say, walking a certain distance), or is it such as is seen with people with respiratory difficulty (extreme fatigue after a very few steps.)? And for the weight gain, is it something that would be dramatic and extremely noticeable, or something that comes on over several years time? Thank you! H

[TriSho74]

You may want to also look up the info on Schauermann's Disease (spinal kyphosis).  My son has been referred to Ped, Orthopedics at Valley Children's Hospital, Madera, CA for treatment.  It sounds like your daughter may share symptoms that my son has.  Some of the websites I found did have some minor conflicting facts, but most were pretty consistent.  Good luck.  My heart goes out to you & your daughter.

[rumpled]

Keep us posted! It can be a difficult diagnosis as doctors consider it rare so will not even consider it as a possibility! It took me 12 years to get my diagnosis.

[PhoebesMom0520]

Thank you. I will look up the magic foundation after work today... I am concerned about my 8 year old. Over the past 4 years, she has become larger than she honestly should be. She's not overly tall, 4'8.5" but she weighs 121#. She seemed to be almost on the thin side until she had a surgery at age 4, then the weight just seemed to creep on. The doctor doesn't seem concerned because my husband and I both have larger women in our families, but theirs is MOSTLY over-eating and lack of exercise. We have always been relatively active. My sister has adrenal hyperplasia, so the thought of this being adrenal for my daughter is frightening. We saw the family doctor yesterday and he ran basic labs, Her liver enzymes were a little out of whack, but good otherwise. I had asked for hormones to be checked but I guess that didn't happen. But... Thank you. I will keep digging!

[rumpled]

The symptoms are the same in adults as in children - but keep in mind that not every adult has every symptom and neither does every child. I had it - and we all present pretty differently even though we are the same?

Muscle fatigue means that exercise is pretty much a disaster - and the fatigue is overwhelming. I would get winded at the least little bit - but then the high cortisol would kick in and I would get *energy* from that and it would seem like I had energy but it was false energy - and it was actually ruining my muscles. It is kind of like perpetual mono in a lot of us.

In the beginning, I did not gain weight or did it slowly - and I did have the purple striae (had not idea at the time those were a clue!) but it was not until a good 6-7 years on that my weight gain would come on in 35+ pound hits. I could not lose, ever. But I have met skinny people with Cushing's too - they had differing symptoms.

Some of the classic symptoms - I never got! So it really pays to be persistent in this. I know of one mom who got accused of nasty things with the kid and it turned out her kids had a gene that caused it.

Have you found the magic foundation? They may be able to turn you on to a competent pediatric endo to help you - it could be growth hormone issues or other complex endocrine issue - so it requires a good evaluation.

Let me know if you have any other questions.