blobs on brain stem?

[phelyne]

Hello. I'm still being worked up for cyclical Cushing's. I have been taking fludro for about a year because I had low aldosterone w/high renin. That's helped but I'm still feeling pretty ill  most of the time. I'd say I feel more on the adrenal fatigue side then Cushing's but some of my tests last year were elevated (a little) and I do have a 2 mm right sided pituitary tumor. However, the dr doesn't think its an active tumor. I'm retesting to make sure. Anyhow, there are weird blobs and the dr said it looked like it might be on brain stem. Here's the link
https://www.dropbox.com/s/8gwa01bvmc0bz08/planeypitmriabnormal%3F2013nopersonalinfo.jpg I have a screwed up circadian rhythm I can't seem to correct with meds or daylight. Im often nauseous or Dont have an appetite, I get moody, my vision seems distorted with glare & halos and a convergence issue glasses makes worse, hot flashes. Do those blobs look like something that I should be worried about, cuz I kinda am since I'm still unsure what's causing me probs. Thank you for your input

[rumpled]

That is wild!

Point in time tests are sometimes hard to catch - I was never good with them. I was also a mess with the 24 hours tests as, I found later, my cycle was night. So I was so high at night and so low during the day that my average was, well, normal! So I was a mess, but it did not show up well.

As for complicated - agreed.

[phelyne]

My free t3, total t3, free t4 were all high. However so was my tsh. I didn't have antibodies or elevated thyroid tests last year. My cortisol was also 5 (8-22) and ACTH 20 (6-48). Its just my cortisol tests aren't high enough to confirm Cushing's, yet. But I'll be doing more soon. My recent thyroid labs are weird because it points towards hyperthyroidism but tsh points toward hypo. I dunno. Its complicated

[rumpled]

You can have low cortisol symptoms with cyclical Cushing's. The cycles can be short or long and having had the disease myself, it is very hard to determine the cycle. And the ups and downs frankly feel awful. I never had elevated ACTH with my Cushing's. It was never until my adrenals came out that my ACTH went up - and then it went up fast.

I also had to start florinef with Cushing's.

High thyroid labs... is that TSH? Then that is hypo.

[phelyne]

I'm seeing dr Friedman. My labs for cortisol were only mildly elevated last year and the radiologist missed the tumor on the scan. Dr f is still testing me for cyclical Cushing's but i feel more low cort symptoms and I have low aldosterone high renin so its also being checked for early Addison's. I am retesting now and have high thyroid labs, indicating hyperthyroidism. So I guess the pit tumor might not be overstimulating ACTH but maybe it is active for tsh. Dont know yet. Thank you for replying

[rumpled]

What type of doctor does not think it is an active tumor?

Size of tumor is not a factor in Cushing's - even tiny tumors can put out the hormones that can be a problem. It can also be a problem to test if your doctor is not skilled at testing or the lab is not skilled - time of testing and lab handing is critical. Even the patient has to be up on testing so they keep jugs cold, and get tests on time, and pester the lab techs to get tests done correctly. Also to get copies and make sure you have a decent doctor.

You can also have a cyclical form where cortisol goes up and down so you can have symptoms of both AI and Cushing's as you swing up and down.

I don't know about the blobs - I would ask an expert - the expert here may read your films.

It does sound like you are having hormonal issues - I hope you are at a pituitary center.

[phelyne]

Here's the link (let's try that again)
https://www.dropbox.com/s/8gwa01bvmc0bz08/planeypitmriabnormal%3F2013nopersonalinfo.jpg