addisons

I'm told that addisons and diabeties do oy go together and wondering if 'actos ' and cortef wil work to gether, I have had addisons since 1981, thefore been taking cortef a long time .. thanks for info ...

[rumpled]

I am not sure what you mean by "go together" but plenty of people have more than one disease.

Your cortef is meant to act like what your body used to make, but is not making anymore - so it is a replacement hormone. It should not interact with other medications as your dose should be low enough that it should not be causing side effects.

You can talk to a pharmacist and they should reassure about the medications if you cannot speak to your doctor's office.

One thought though - if you are taking too much cortef - it can cause diabetes. So if you are not dosing correctly, it can cause other health problems.

[kitonthemoon]

Hi,

I have Addison since 2004 and been taking cortef since.   The dosage does needs to be monitored.  I also find the generic hydrocortisone is not as effective as Cortef.

I don't believe Diabetes goes together with Addison...since I'm not diabetic.  But, I do have other medical condition which made me much more volunerable to Addison.

Haven Labor Day.

[waytoohandsome]

Sometimes adrenal problems are connected to diabetes. If it is, it goes by different names.

LOTS of different names! Enough to make anyone believe that there are 6 or so different conditions. but actually they're pretty much describing the same thing, with each person free to add his or her own name to it.

Names: Schmidt’s syndrome, or Polyglandular Autoimmune Syndrome, Type 2, or APS,(Autoimmune Polyglandular Syndrome) or multiple endocrine deficiency syndrome, or Polyendocrine Deficiency Syndrome or SAI – secondary adrenal insufficiency.

What it boils down to is that researchers have noticed that there is a tendency (not a guarantee, a tendency) for some autoimmune conditions to affect multiple organs. Most common are adrenal glands, thyroid glands and pancreas.

My wife is diabetic and she tests  her blood sugar multiple times a day with a home blood sugar monitor. It's gotten much easier to test it yourself. If you know someone who has one, you can borrow theirs and check your sugar before eating (70-90 is a pretty normal test result if you're hungry) and soon after eating a full meal or something deliciously sugary (Hey, this is research here! Go for the chocolate!)

If your sugars after eating range much higher than 110-125, it might suggest your pancreas is having a tough time dealing with the sugar. It has to work to put out insulin to convert the sugar to a usable form.

I understand the adrenal glands also play a role in digesting sugar, so not sure if AD patients tent to run higher blood sugars or not, or if it depends on time of day (cortisol level at the moment you eat).