akemt

One of my lab tech's suggested I look into them...I bought one and it was not a pleasant experience.  Too much can go wrong, IMO.  And even working 80% of the time still means I'm losing 20% of my precious golden liquid (and it is a MAJOR pain to do these tests at the right time, I can't stand to waste a chance and wait longer).  So, worth a try, sure, but I don't think they work very well for us larger ladies.

Maybe one of the men at the addison's support group is hypopit? Seems a lot more women than men end up with it --either way there are hypopit gals there who could atleast help a lot... Dusty has moved the forum onto a yahoo group; don't have the link right now.

Mimi,

If you really think you have Cushings, you can ask this doctor for a referral to an endocrinologist but I don't think it would be worth your time, energy, or money to try to talk him into testing with the response you've already received. Even if you "won", chances are really good that he wouldn't order the right tests, wouldn't order enough of them, and wouldn't know how to read them either, so you'd still be where you are now or worse, he could falsely "prove" you don't have cushings making it harder for you down the road. And honestly, the same things can and do happen with endocrinologists too. Those who can afford it (me included) skip go and travel to see Dr. F, an endocrinologist and cushing's expert, in L.A. www.goodhormonehealth.com It can be reimbursed depending on your insurance, you don't need a referral to see him (for his sake, you'd have to ask your insurance if they require it), but most people have to travel and you have to pay up-front for the appointment because they don't bill insurance.

Feel free to join the forums and ask more questions. I hope you get the help and answers you're looking for!

Are you doing more than one 24 hour urine? I'm new to this (not diagnosed), but my doctor who is a specialist in pituitary disoders, says that I have enough symptoms that he wants to rule out cyclical cushings. He actually thinks I have a different pituitary issue but ordered 3 24 hr urines and 3 midnight salivary cortisols to be done over about a 10 day period (and a 3T dynamic pituitary MRI), because you can get highs at some times and normal results at others. Some people can even be high at night and then have low cortisols durring the day. Sorry I can't be of more help, but I completely understand wanting a definitive answer so you can start treatment. I'm in the testing phase too. I've had my MRI and just had some 8 tubes of blood drawn on Wednesday and those results just can't come back soon enough!

Best wishes and know you're not alone,