Aa
Hypopituitirism
hi,
I was told just recently thatI have a benign turmor on my pituitary gland and am not producing cortisol, growth homorne and prolactin. I am a 51 year old Australian male and was very active. Since the dignosis I have been put on Hydrocortisone 20mg one in the morning and half at night and it has helped me alot. But I am unable to regain any muscle mass or strength. Here in Australia there is no government subsidy for any growth hormone replacements. I could be wrong but I think that is my main problem any suggestions would be a great help.
Thanks.
Greg
I was told just recently thatI have a benign turmor on my pituitary gland and am not producing cortisol, growth homorne and prolactin. I am a 51 year old Australian male and was very active. Since the dignosis I have been put on Hydrocortisone 20mg one in the morning and half at night and it has helped me alot. But I am unable to regain any muscle mass or strength. Here in Australia there is no government subsidy for any growth hormone replacements. I could be wrong but I think that is my main problem any suggestions would be a great help.
Thanks.
Greg
http://www.medhelp.org/health_pages/list?cid=222 for pituitary
http://www.medhelp.org/health_pages/list?cid=221 for adrenal
http://www.medhelp.org/health_pages/list?cid=221 for adrenal
Ok... so you have a good amount of info - but it sounds like your doc is not up on pituitary - which is pretty standard sadly.
Knowing the size of the tumor is really good, but it is not enough. I would get the office to send you the complete set of testing so you can see what was tested and what was not and what all the exact levels and ranges are and keep for your records. You have to pinpoint the type of tumor - and *microadenoma* is a size, not a diagnosis, and hypopit is a general condition, again, not specific enough, kinda a side thing - you have to know the nature of the tumor so you know if it will be a grower or not and if you need to treat it or watch it or what. If it is a non-secreter, for instance, they tend to grow rather quickly.
With Addison's I hope he has advised you on stress dosing, proper dosing and wearing of a medic alert bracelet (or the like) and if you need salt. The colitis can actually be related to the pituitary stuff.
There are links in the health pages here - to the right and also the ones in the Adrenal insufficiency forum will help. I will jump back and give a link.
Knowing the size of the tumor is really good, but it is not enough. I would get the office to send you the complete set of testing so you can see what was tested and what was not and what all the exact levels and ranges are and keep for your records. You have to pinpoint the type of tumor - and *microadenoma* is a size, not a diagnosis, and hypopit is a general condition, again, not specific enough, kinda a side thing - you have to know the nature of the tumor so you know if it will be a grower or not and if you need to treat it or watch it or what. If it is a non-secreter, for instance, they tend to grow rather quickly.
With Addison's I hope he has advised you on stress dosing, proper dosing and wearing of a medic alert bracelet (or the like) and if you need salt. The colitis can actually be related to the pituitary stuff.
There are links in the health pages here - to the right and also the ones in the Adrenal insufficiency forum will help. I will jump back and give a link.
Hi,
Thanks for your responce and info as all this is vey new to me. I will give you a bit of a run down of what I know. The MRI of the Pituitary gland was performed pre and post -intravenous constrast. There is a 6mm lesion situated to the right of the midline and is described as most likely a microadenoma. My sysmptoms were Fatigue numbness at night of hands photophobic all of which has now disappeared. I have had colitis for the past 12 years but also now have aquired Addisons and Gilberts. When speaking to me Endo he tells me my growth hormone reading should be between 11 - 31 and mine is 6 whatever that means, he is hard to get to see and a bit dismisive to talk too.I had the bloods to measure all these which was nil of mouth sit for 30 mins prior done between 8am and 10am completed twice before being given meds.At the moment its the muscle waistage that is most noticable as I struggle to get my head around all the rest and run a business which has suffered greatly.
Thanks.
Greg
Thanks for your responce and info as all this is vey new to me. I will give you a bit of a run down of what I know. The MRI of the Pituitary gland was performed pre and post -intravenous constrast. There is a 6mm lesion situated to the right of the midline and is described as most likely a microadenoma. My sysmptoms were Fatigue numbness at night of hands photophobic all of which has now disappeared. I have had colitis for the past 12 years but also now have aquired Addisons and Gilberts. When speaking to me Endo he tells me my growth hormone reading should be between 11 - 31 and mine is 6 whatever that means, he is hard to get to see and a bit dismisive to talk too.I had the bloods to measure all these which was nil of mouth sit for 30 mins prior done between 8am and 10am completed twice before being given meds.At the moment its the muscle waistage that is most noticable as I struggle to get my head around all the rest and run a business which has suffered greatly.
Thanks.
Greg
I am panhypopit (which just means I need more hormones).
I would head on over to a neuro-endo at a pituitary center. There may (or may not) be growth hormone studies going on where you can get the medication, and in any case, the medication is very expensive with co-pays but the price is starting to drop with more firms starting to make it. It is a combination probably of the GH and cortisol that works against you plus... ugh - I would, as an informed patient, look into a different dosing schedule - and you are on a pretty high dose as well - do you have any other auto-immune diseases?
A normal body has the bulk of cortisol in the morning and tapers off steadily during the day so there is very little at night - night is when the body rests and recovers. The body makes bone and muscle at night so if you have cortisol at night, you are not going to do that. So taking that 10mg at night is... weird - in usual terms people usually stop dosing after 2-4pm.
How is your thyroid too - that is often one to go? What is the size of your lesion and do you know what type? You have to know the type - and get copies of everything from labs to MRIs to MRI reports and read them yourself. Make sure the testing is done correctly (timing matters) as well as lab error really messed me up.
I hope that helps.
I would head on over to a neuro-endo at a pituitary center. There may (or may not) be growth hormone studies going on where you can get the medication, and in any case, the medication is very expensive with co-pays but the price is starting to drop with more firms starting to make it. It is a combination probably of the GH and cortisol that works against you plus... ugh - I would, as an informed patient, look into a different dosing schedule - and you are on a pretty high dose as well - do you have any other auto-immune diseases?
A normal body has the bulk of cortisol in the morning and tapers off steadily during the day so there is very little at night - night is when the body rests and recovers. The body makes bone and muscle at night so if you have cortisol at night, you are not going to do that. So taking that 10mg at night is... weird - in usual terms people usually stop dosing after 2-4pm.
How is your thyroid too - that is often one to go? What is the size of your lesion and do you know what type? You have to know the type - and get copies of everything from labs to MRIs to MRI reports and read them yourself. Make sure the testing is done correctly (timing matters) as well as lab error really messed me up.
I hope that helps.
Have an Answer?
You are reading content posted in the Brain/Pituitary Tumors Community
Here are 15 ways to help prevent lung cancer.
New cervical cancer screening guidelines change when and how women should be tested for the disease.
They got it all wrong: Why the PSA test is imperative for saving lives from prostate cancer
Everything you wanted to know about colonoscopy but were afraid to ask
A quick primer on the different ways breast cancer can be treated.
Get the facts about this disease that affects more than 240,000 men each year.
