To Shannon and JimLow

[ar1281a]

Hi guys, I'm glad none of us have the adrenal ABs. I have a question for you all. Has your Dr checked postural blood pressure? in other words, has s/he checked your blood pressure standing vs. seated? I'm curious as although I'm feeling better than a few weeks ago, I still have marked orthostatic hypotension. My GP has ruled out the presence of any virus, my endo ruled out the ABs and waiting for me to be off the prednisone for two weeks to do the other tests. So, in other words I have no clue what's going on with me. The big problem is that normally I have lowish BP (100/60) and now it's a little bit lower and when standing it drops significantly causing me a variety of problems. I wonder if you guys have the same (checked by your Dr) and what can be done about it? what are yoir opinions and what do your Drs think? I wonder if it's related to thyroid?

[Jimlow]

Ar1281a, Hi, No, not checked by my Docs but I have a BP Machine and have checked it myself and mine drops alot upon standing but then levels back out after about couple/few minutes. I also notice my heart rate goes up about 30 BPM. In other words, if it's 60 BPM when lying down, it increases up to about 90 to 100, then settles down.
Ar, since having this, do you notice less tolerance to stress? In other words, does it seem like you get stressed-out more easily? Sometimes I actually feel better for a while with stress but then I kind of crash from it. I then feel a little spacey, some joint pain and fatigue.
I still think about what I've seen about "Dysautonomia" because people with different types of this can suffer a wide array of symptoms (P.O.T.S.). I have also read up a lot on CFS and Fybromyalgia and these two conditions researchers believe are somehow linked to a sub-clinical form of hypoadrenalism but they don't know what causes people the onset of it! My belief is that thyroid diseases can trigger a change in the functioning of the "HPA Axis" (Hypothalamous-Pituitary-Adrenal).
Also, one more question; Do you have any joint pain or "crepitus" (popping/crunching) with yours? THANKS Ar.

[ShannieK]

Hi Ar, I have not been tested by my doctor for blood pressure, stnding and sitting etc...  but I am with jimlow, I too, have a at home monitor, that I have checked and my blood pressure does drop when standing, I also get a higher pulse reading when I stand.  I have still heard nothing back from my endo on all my test results as well as my MRI, I'm sticking to the no news is good news!!!  I would think if something stood out to her, that i would of heard something by now.  I will make sure to let you know what she finds out on all this adrenal stuff.  My main complaint right now is my hair loss, sure is getting thin.  My thyroid is always in a good range, and have been on medication for a year now, and I just dont' understand why it isn't growing back.  My endo checked hormone levels such as testosterone etc, to see if I was off, and that was the cause, but she said, all that came back normal.  My hair all fell out after I had my twins, and at that time, I was suffering from hyperthyroid, just didn't know it.  Started Synthroid, and hair loss stopped, but none of it has grown back.  I wonder what I can do, I really don't want to be bald.

[ar1281a]

I too have a BP monitor at home, but although I bought the one that Consumer Reports rated as #1 I don't believe they're very reliable. I took it one day to the Dr with me to compare and readings were off (mine vs. Dr's). So I guess that I use it to get an idea. My HR also increases when standing and sometimes settle after a little while and sometimes it doesn't forcing me to sit down (which is better than a few weeks ago when I could barely make it out of bed),

JimLow, yes I'm less resistant to stress right now and I wonder why. I guess my body has has enough :-)
No, I don't have joint pain, but I do have some ocassional tingling/spams of extremeties (my Dr believes is related to the hypotension) and I'm not sure exactly what you mean by "crepitus".

Shannon, thanks for letting me know. I don't think I mentioned that finally I had yesterday the CAT scan for my adrenals (although they don't think there's anything wrong with them) and Dr said will call and hasn't so my guess is that there's nothing wrong. Mu thyroid is fine, it's being checked twice the last 5 weeks and everything comes back normal. But I still wondering if postural/orthostatic hypotension has anything to do with your thyroid. I haven't found any web site that mentions this. I wonder how many more people experience the same?

Good luck with your MRI Shannon! and thanks to you both for replying. I guess we can try to get to the botton of this together as we're all experiencing the same. My endo is considering to give me florinef (a low dosis) to help me with the hypotension as nothing seems to be wrong...that's fine with me as long as it works! I'm tired of the "dizzy episodes" and of being tired. BTW, do you guys get headaches with this?