Aa
hot red ears
this is something that started happening to me back around when i started with headaches. my ears would occassionally turn bright red, get hot, and i would often get a headache. it could happen any time of day. it went away for quite a few years, but over this last winter, it has started happening again--and i almost always get a headache with it now, and it usually only seems to happen when i dry my hair after washing it. i have hair that is just below shoulder length and i dry it with a round brush and a hair dryer. i am wondering if this is just a neck thing, since it seems to only happen wheni do my hair, now, but in the past it could happen any time of day---and i wore my hair short--so i had a different way of blow drying it.
when i was getting it, it was mailed to me, too. i think i was only paying about $10 dollars with my insurance--but we have new insurance now--so i don't know what it would cost me. I can't remember how many mgs per ml mine was--probably about the same as yours---i just remember it helped!
They will compound it - but there are no FDA approved patches and creams at doses for women so one of my docs is reluctant to give it to me. Yeah - we sure need it... I had the compounded one for a while. I take 25mg dhea but with no adrenals and not producing any, it is a different ball game for me. I have taken up to 50mg (under doc supervision).
Horsey has a good price - I think I paid more!
Horsey has a good price - I think I paid more!
I take testosterone in a compounded cream. I apply 1/2 mltransdermally each day. The bottle says that it has 5 mg per ml. My ins does not cover it but it is about $20 per month. I have it mailed. You might shop around as it. Is available. Horselip
i've used testosterone cream--we have a compounding pharmacy and my obgyn ordered it for me. i know that the testosterone cream that the endo prescribed was going to cost me about $200---even with insurance--and it was a man's dosage. the endo wasn't "comfortable" having it compounded---at the right dosage for me--but she was alright with giving me a mans' dosage that would break my checkbook????
i was on DHEA, too, but it wasn't helping---i was on 25 mgs. my dosage got up into the normal range, but i remember reading on the bottle that it said "mens health". I just found out that 25 mgs is too high for a woman---i should be on 10 mgs. I am breaking them in half for now---don't want to waste the bottle. when i run out I'll order a 10 mg bottle. All i can buy locally is 25 mgs.
my family doc said he had never heard of anyone being treated with DHEA---of course---he thought my stim test was normal, too!
My testosterone took the longest to get back to a normal range--not sure why. but, at one time i was using it every day---and my levels got too high, so i went to using it every other day. it definitely helped with the libido problem when it got back to normal.
i recently read the symptoms of low testosterone--they are similar to low thyroid and low cortisol---fatigue, pain, depression, low libido.
I'm beginning to think that even if only one of your hormones in the endocrine system is a little off---it can make you feel like crap---so when the whole thing is out of whack i guess that means double, triple, guadruple crap!
If testosterone is not approved for women---then why do they even test it if they are not going to replace it for you? women are supposed to have tetosterone, too, so if our bodies aren't making enough--or whatever is supposed to convert isn't converting----it needs to be replaced. I had never heard that testosterone replacement wasn't approved for women--and my obgyn had no problem calling it in for me when i called him and asked about it.
i was on DHEA, too, but it wasn't helping---i was on 25 mgs. my dosage got up into the normal range, but i remember reading on the bottle that it said "mens health". I just found out that 25 mgs is too high for a woman---i should be on 10 mgs. I am breaking them in half for now---don't want to waste the bottle. when i run out I'll order a 10 mg bottle. All i can buy locally is 25 mgs.
my family doc said he had never heard of anyone being treated with DHEA---of course---he thought my stim test was normal, too!
My testosterone took the longest to get back to a normal range--not sure why. but, at one time i was using it every day---and my levels got too high, so i went to using it every other day. it definitely helped with the libido problem when it got back to normal.
i recently read the symptoms of low testosterone--they are similar to low thyroid and low cortisol---fatigue, pain, depression, low libido.
I'm beginning to think that even if only one of your hormones in the endocrine system is a little off---it can make you feel like crap---so when the whole thing is out of whack i guess that means double, triple, guadruple crap!
If testosterone is not approved for women---then why do they even test it if they are not going to replace it for you? women are supposed to have tetosterone, too, so if our bodies aren't making enough--or whatever is supposed to convert isn't converting----it needs to be replaced. I had never heard that testosterone replacement wasn't approved for women--and my obgyn had no problem calling it in for me when i called him and asked about it.
Currently, the treatment for Cushing's is to identify the source - be it pituitary, adrenal, other tumor or taking too many steroids - and resolve it - the first three using surgery the latter by weaning. There is one medication out that was just approved - Kormlyn? It may still be in trial - but there are some drawbacks in that in creates some high estrogen issues so we shall see if it can be long term (they use ketoconizole short term as well)...
I had pituitary and adrenal surgery. I also had my thyroid removed so I take that too - I take everything but ADH replacement - and no testosterone but DHEA... no testosterone even though I am low as it is not approved for women but the DHEA raises me a bit.
I had pituitary and adrenal surgery. I also had my thyroid removed so I take that too - I take everything but ADH replacement - and no testosterone but DHEA... no testosterone even though I am low as it is not approved for women but the DHEA raises me a bit.
I never got any relief from the HC---but i don't think i was ever on a high enough dose of armour. I think i more often feel like i've been hit by the baseball bat.
I'm a bit frustrated with having to do testing over again--can't do it until next week--then another two weeks for results before we can even make an appt.
I did ask the doc if he could send me the paperwork for the hormone testing. i've been through another cycle--i still seem to be pretty close to regular. I think I went 30 days from sore breasts to sore breasts again. I should have about 2 more weeks until i'm sore again. i figured i might as well get it done since it looks like i won't be seeing the doc for a bit---I'm pretty sure my testosterone is low again.
I'm a bit frustrated with having to do testing over again--can't do it until next week--then another two weeks for results before we can even make an appt.
I did ask the doc if he could send me the paperwork for the hormone testing. i've been through another cycle--i still seem to be pretty close to regular. I think I went 30 days from sore breasts to sore breasts again. I should have about 2 more weeks until i'm sore again. i figured i might as well get it done since it looks like i won't be seeing the doc for a bit---I'm pretty sure my testosterone is low again.
Frankly, I agree with you on the fibro thing... I got the diagnosis based on the tender points and all but it was pre-Cushing's and everything hurt (er, but it still does... eh...).
Cushing's is a nasty mother... if it cycles like I had and what you may have - it hurts a lot - after all, cortisol is a nice anti-inflammatory (you know that from the HC) so when you have the higher levels of cortisol you can feel decent - then too high and you swing hyper and feel nasty - then swing low and it feels like someone hit you with a baseball bat repeatedly - and it happened all within a day for me - I am sometimes surprised my hubs is still here. Oh and the docs feel cortisol cannot cycle (it does normally!) or any hormone cannot (er, period?) and since pain cannot be tested for and tests are all over the place - I was told in one appointment oh yeah you are sick and the next you are fine now (I wanted to kick that particular doc so hard a particular anatomy would come out his eyes since his eyes could not see how SICK I was so to say I was fine was galling to say the least)...
It is not an easy road and you need an expert. I grew to hate those dang orange jugs.
Cushing's is a nasty mother... if it cycles like I had and what you may have - it hurts a lot - after all, cortisol is a nice anti-inflammatory (you know that from the HC) so when you have the higher levels of cortisol you can feel decent - then too high and you swing hyper and feel nasty - then swing low and it feels like someone hit you with a baseball bat repeatedly - and it happened all within a day for me - I am sometimes surprised my hubs is still here. Oh and the docs feel cortisol cannot cycle (it does normally!) or any hormone cannot (er, period?) and since pain cannot be tested for and tests are all over the place - I was told in one appointment oh yeah you are sick and the next you are fine now (I wanted to kick that particular doc so hard a particular anatomy would come out his eyes since his eyes could not see how SICK I was so to say I was fine was galling to say the least)...
It is not an easy road and you need an expert. I grew to hate those dang orange jugs.
technically--no one has really given me an "official" diagnosis of fibromyalgia. I saw a neurologist, who, after not even listening to half of my symptoms, told me that he thought i had restless legs and that i was addicted to pain medication---he didn't even know how much pain medication i was taking. i was too intimidatted to tell him that i knew what restless lesges were, because i have had them once every blue mooon over the years--and more when i was anemic---and that restless legs do nbot cause pain in the bottom of your feet, or headaches aor neck pain or aching arms when the weather changes or carpal tunnle or arthritis or make you have to pee 20 times a day. i thought the guy was an ***--and when i told my obgyn who i had seen--he said, "oh, dr. so and so IS an ***." he didn't differentiate between addiction and dependency from taking a narcotic for a long period of time. he said alot of people just went off cold turkey. i went through the night from hell!! i did end up taking my pain killers, but the pain was so bad by then that it took hours and more medication than normal to get it under control. he had told me that i had a "touch of fibromyalgia".
i have been to an internist, a rheumy, and a neurologist--al specifically for fibromyalgia---and not a single one of them checked the tender points.
personally, after what i have been learning about the thyroid and cortisol problems---i don't think i have fibromyalgia---i think that my fibromyalgia is just a symptom of something else that is wrong.
fibro isn't supposed to be progressive--and i have gotten progressively worse over the last 12 years.
I'm really wanting to give the increased thyroid medications a shot and see if it makes a difference in how i feel. i'm still waiting to redo my cortisol testing to see how and if my cortisol levels are coming in to play.
If i was actually getting cushings rather than adrenal insufficiency--could it make my cortisol levels jump all over the place like they seem to have been doing over the last several years? and, if i was getting cushings---how is it treated? i know my thyroid is low--my basil temps were all low and my tests are never normal---i don't trust them at all.
i have been to an internist, a rheumy, and a neurologist--al specifically for fibromyalgia---and not a single one of them checked the tender points.
personally, after what i have been learning about the thyroid and cortisol problems---i don't think i have fibromyalgia---i think that my fibromyalgia is just a symptom of something else that is wrong.
fibro isn't supposed to be progressive--and i have gotten progressively worse over the last 12 years.
I'm really wanting to give the increased thyroid medications a shot and see if it makes a difference in how i feel. i'm still waiting to redo my cortisol testing to see how and if my cortisol levels are coming in to play.
If i was actually getting cushings rather than adrenal insufficiency--could it make my cortisol levels jump all over the place like they seem to have been doing over the last several years? and, if i was getting cushings---how is it treated? i know my thyroid is low--my basil temps were all low and my tests are never normal---i don't trust them at all.
I would try again - there are now treatments for fibro (IF that is what you have) and more screening tests for fibro - and a rheumy (my second) told me that the fibro is more a diagnosis of exclusion so no one should say it to you asap so that is a warning sign plus meds and other things can make the tests come out normal.
With a previous treatment, you have to find a decent doctor something that has been so difficult for you... dang. But I would not see that skanky doc again.
With a previous treatment, you have to find a decent doctor something that has been so difficult for you... dang. But I would not see that skanky doc again.
i went to a rheumy once---he told me if i had fibromyalgia i shouldn't be on pain meds---we didn't even talk about arthritis, even though i had already had surgery on my knee right before i turned 40 for srthritis. he ran a bunch of blood work---that showed nothing---and i left and cried as i drove home and never went back.
I had that test done as well - I had even more as they did the EMG for MG (myasthenia gravis) so they start with the carpel tunnel thing and move on and stick that dang needle in everywhere - it is misery...
I don't envy you the arthritis... that has to bite... pain is not fun. Do you see a rheumy for it?
I don't envy you the arthritis... that has to bite... pain is not fun. Do you see a rheumy for it?
the wrist braces didn't do me any good--i had tne nerve testing done--where they stick the big 'ol needles in you're arms--not alot of fun. i tested borderline. the doc said i could try doing surgery on one wrist and see if it worked, but basiceally, i was going to eventually have tohave them both done. i waited awhile, but they got to the point that i could not even hold a book to read because my hands would cramp up on me. it got really bad during my pregnancy with my 12 yeqr old. i remember trying to crochet while i was in labor, to bide my time, but every few stitches my hands would go numb and i would have to stop and shake them out----i think i finally gave up. it took about a month after my pregnancy for enough of the water that i had retained to go awway and the carpal tunnel to improve. i only had the surgery done a little over 3 years ago. one on halloween, the other 6 weeks later. talk about feeling handycapped!! my right wrist still wasn't up to par and i couldn't use my left hand at at all!!
unfortunately, when the weather is changing, sometimes my hands will will still cramp up wheni try and hold a book or a newspaper---i wonder if that has anything to do with the thyroid problem, since they bsay low thyroid can cause carpal tunnel symptoms.
I had 4 surgeries in 4 years--and i just am surgeried out. when the doc told me last summer that i was going to have to have surgery on my feet--i wasn't happy--i want to avoid that one if i can--but he could see the arthritis in the x-rays and i've developed a bunion on the foot that is the worst. he told me we would do surgery when i got older, "what are you 42-43?" when i told him i was 48--he said we would do surgery when i was 50. at least i don't look as crappy as i feel!!!! the really weird thing about that joint in my foor, is that when i had my second daughter, i was only 22, but i can remember that the blanket felt really uncomfortable lying against that big joint. i was also getting tendonitits really bad in my knees when i was only about 24---and i wasn't running then or anything. i've had various forms of arthritis since i was in my early 20's.
unfortunately, when the weather is changing, sometimes my hands will will still cramp up wheni try and hold a book or a newspaper---i wonder if that has anything to do with the thyroid problem, since they bsay low thyroid can cause carpal tunnel symptoms.
I had 4 surgeries in 4 years--and i just am surgeried out. when the doc told me last summer that i was going to have to have surgery on my feet--i wasn't happy--i want to avoid that one if i can--but he could see the arthritis in the x-rays and i've developed a bunion on the foot that is the worst. he told me we would do surgery when i got older, "what are you 42-43?" when i told him i was 48--he said we would do surgery when i was 50. at least i don't look as crappy as i feel!!!! the really weird thing about that joint in my foor, is that when i had my second daughter, i was only 22, but i can remember that the blanket felt really uncomfortable lying against that big joint. i was also getting tendonitits really bad in my knees when i was only about 24---and i wasn't running then or anything. i've had various forms of arthritis since i was in my early 20's.
You can get a cuff at the drug store - the wrist ones are easy but not as accurate so I have heard, and the other ones are better but for me, harder to place...
Ah, I let my hair just dry... it looks like heck. :) I have worn the braces to help with my wrists at times but no surgery there - I have had enough of that...
Ah, I let my hair just dry... it looks like heck. :) I have worn the braces to help with my wrists at times but no surgery there - I have had enough of that...
i don't have any way of taking my blood pressure. i thought it might have something to do with my neck since i have to twist it a little and pull against the round brush to dry it. oh, yeah--i was playing the piano at church on sunday, and my fingers started going numb. they were singing seven(?!) verses of a song and i had to get the attention of someone else i knew could play to take over for me. it was weird. i don't think i have ever had my hand go numb while i was playing the piano.
it was mostly my pinky and ring finger. if i sleep on my left side, my hwole arm will go numb, if i sleep on my back and turn my head tothe left, my 2 fingers go numb. it has got to be coming from my neck because i've had carpal tunnel surgery done on both wrists----probably caused by playing the piano for 38 years and crocheting alot over the last 8-10 years.
they checked the thyroid first, of course, to make sure it wasn't causeing the carpal tunnel--but when they did the surgery i had scar tissue in both hands. however---weather changes will still make my hands nurt and cramp like they did before i had surgery---i guess we just don't escape some things!!!
the blood pressure would be interesting to check in to, though, since i used to get the red ear thing randomly for no apparent reason.
it was mostly my pinky and ring finger. if i sleep on my left side, my hwole arm will go numb, if i sleep on my back and turn my head tothe left, my 2 fingers go numb. it has got to be coming from my neck because i've had carpal tunnel surgery done on both wrists----probably caused by playing the piano for 38 years and crocheting alot over the last 8-10 years.
they checked the thyroid first, of course, to make sure it wasn't causeing the carpal tunnel--but when they did the surgery i had scar tissue in both hands. however---weather changes will still make my hands nurt and cramp like they did before i had surgery---i guess we just don't escape some things!!!
the blood pressure would be interesting to check in to, though, since i used to get the red ear thing randomly for no apparent reason.
Have an Answer?
You are reading content posted in the Adrenal Insufficiency Community
We tapped the CDC for information on what you need to know about radiation exposure
Endocrinologist Mark Lupo, MD, answers 10 questions about thyroid disorders and how to treat them
A list of national and international resources and hotlines to help connect you to needed health and medical services.
Herpes sores blister, then burst, scab and heal.
Herpes spreads by oral, vaginal and anal sex.
STIs are the most common cause of genital sores.
