AMANDA'S STORY |
Currently I'm 22 (23 yrs old next month) and I live in Missouri. My last year in high school I noticed I was gaining some weight and got the "buffalo hump" I went to a doc. about the hump. He took x-rays and said I was fine. I was active in sports so I couldn't explain the sudden increase in weight. My face was getting slightly rounded not alot at this time and I was having night sweats. My regular doc. said he thought I looked like I might have Cushing's but had never dealt with that before. He did a 24 hour urine which was slightly elevated. He suggested I see an endo. I started having migraine headaches also. The first endo. looked at me and said no it wasn't Cushing's but tested me for Diabetes. That was negative and he was not going to do any further testing. Chalk the weight up to being stressed. After high school I started nursing school. I learned I had high blood pressure all the time. So my regular doc. put me on meds, ran a thyroid panel (negative), suggested neurologist for the headaches. The neuro. changed the BP meds and put me on an antidepressant. Took those for a while but had to stop 'cause they made it terribly difficult to force myself out of bed. I felt awful and so tired. I went to another endo. He ran more urine tests which were barely elevated and said go home I was stressed out and he would run the tests again in several months but this wasn't Cushing's. I stopped having periods somewhere along the line and steadily gaining weight. I have stretch marks on my hips, stomach, underarms, and buttocks. I am totally heat intolerant. I went to the Mayo Clinic in Rodchester (11 hour drive for me) but got no results there either. They told me to avoid stress, go on diet, and stop smoking. So I started to get extremely depressed as you all can relate to. So I tried going to an OB GYN who had no clue what to do other than give me birth control to help me start my period. The 2nd OB GYN I went to took one look at me and said I had Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome. She never ran a single test but told me take BC pills an increase my calcium intake. I had to stop taking the BC pills 'cause they made my headaches worse. I went back to my previous OB GYN and she did a pelvic ultrasound. She said I did have polycystic ovarys. She gave me a med called Provera to make me have a period. Now I hadn't had one in 3 years or more. The med. didn't work so she said to try it again. Still no luck. She said she was at a loss. So off I go to another OB GYN. He gave me BC pills and put me on Rezulin (diabetic drug) to treat my so called PCOS. I did start having periods but terrible headaches. Next stop was a neuro. He put me on Blood pressure meds and Depakote for the headaches. I'm still on those now and they help a lot. I'm down to one headache a week instead of 3-4. Went to another OB GYN who had an endo background. After a bunch of blood work and a 24 hour urine which was extremely high, she suggested that I do the dexamthasone test. I tried to get that done 2 different times but the lab kept screwing up the results or something. She wanted me to repeat it but i was already upset about the whole situation. Plus she was a 2 hour drive. I find myself having a very hard time concentrating on anything for a very long period of time. My mood swings are terrible! I think my family lives in fear. lol. My short term memory seems to be getting worse also. I'm always so tired and my muscles ache after the slightest activity. My hair is thinning and of course my skin is always the prettiest of colors! I forgot to mention I had an MRI of my head during the first year I noticed my symptoms but it showed nothing. I had a CAT SCAN done while in at the hospital with a migaine. It also didn't show anything. So now Mad at the world and still depressed, I started looking on the internet. I came in contact with a woman from the PTNA and she gave me a docors name and I called and made an appointment with him. He finally diagnosed me with Cushing's. I had another MRI done and he spottted my tumor. He is suppose to call me back on Monday the 22 and let me know when he is going to do the surgery. I wouldn't have made it this far without both of my parents and a couple of close friends. They have always been there for me when I needed them. |
