HELP CATASTROPHICALLY LOW CORTISOL

[amymet]

I HAVE 7 AUTOIMMUNE DISEASES INCLUDING SARCOIDOSIS AND NEWLY DIAGNOSED WITH THYROID, HASHI'S AND PREMATURE OVARIAN FAILURE AT 39 I AM 43 NOW.

I HAVE NEVER TAKEN ANY STEROIDS FOR MY DISEASES...JUST DON'T TRUST THEM....

SO WHY WHEN I WALKED INTO A NEW DOCTORS OFFICE RECENTLY WHO HAD MY BLOOD WORK DID HE TELL ME I AM BARELY MAKING CORTISOL...DX ADRENAL INSUFFCIENCY...AND I AM WORRIED SINCE I DID DUE TO THE ENDO START TAKING LOWEST SYNTHROID MED. AND THE NEW DOCTOR KNOWS....BUT AGAIN AM I IN ANY DANGER AT THIS MOMENT? LIKE CAN I FLY ON AN AIRPLANE? I AM SEEING THE NEW DOCTOR IN 2 WEEKS. AND THOUGH HE DID SAY I AM VERY SICK HE DID NOT THINK TO HOSPITALIZE ME WHICH IS FINE BY ME AND OR WARN ME ABOUT ANYTHING IN THE MEAN TIME...HE DID SAY READ EVERYTHING YOU CAN ON THE SUBJECT AND AS I DO I AM GETTING WORRIED THAT I AM A TICKING TIME BOMB.

PLEASE ANY ADVISE WOULD HELP,
I KNOW NONE OF US ARE DOCTORS.. BUT WE ALL SEEM TO KNOW MORE THEN THEM.

[rumpled]

Nice that your doc leaves you hanging like that.

Low cortisol can be life threatening if you get sick - and if you have it, you will need to take steroids - corticosteroids - to support yourself so you will have an immune system back. So while you are fine (sort of) day to day, you need to make sure that you do not get ill, and if you do, make sure that you get to a doctor quickly.

I am also an endocrine and auto-immune nightmare, and my adrenals are gone - and for the doc to not test you immediately and then treat you is just plain, strange.

[Setaka]

Get the following tests...

24 hour cortisol urine
Cortisol AM (before 9 am)
ACTH
Vitamin D
Complete immunoglobulin work up
Complete CBC with Differential
Blood chemistry (including T3 and T4)

Nothing can be diagnosed without a complete work up.  

Cortisol levels change through out the day as we eat, drink, etc...  an early AM cortisol is the only determination of where your adrenals are at in functioning.

Make certain you're seeing an "endocrinologist" and not a GP or Internist.

That's the best thing you can do at this point to iron out where your body stand healthwise.  From there the test results should pinpoint which area(s) of your body are causing you the most issue.  You might end up getting an MRI or CAT scan to see if you have a "mass" that needs to be removed.

Just my thoughts...