So the aftermath of the ACTH challenge has been...
1. Muscle cramps
2. Flank/back pain
3.Fatigue
4.Shortness of breath
5.Loss of appetite
6.Mild drop in BP
7.Major headache
I didn't get the Hydrocortisone into my system until after noon which probably explains it. The challenge only administers 1mg of cortisol, which is not enough.
The cramps could just be from the switch back to HC from prednisone--my muscles are pretty cranky. My stomach feels like I've done a billion sit ups.
I wonder if this is why the IV/blood draw attempts were so painful? My hand actually throbs just from holding things due to the massive bruising. The pain seems excessive to me and I'm irritated with myself about how whiny I am about it.
But it huuuurts.
Wah. Wah.
I was over myself about 5 hours ago, you?
Family starts arriving tonight. I hope to make sugar cookies among other things and have the neighbor kids over for an Xmas pizza play date. We wrapped the presents last night. All done with shopping both for presents and holiday food. The house is kind of clean if you don't look at anything too closely.
Onward.
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Can Doctors Give Medical Advice to Friends?
4 days ago
Sorry you're not feeling well.
ReplyDeleteIf you had the test I think you did, they did not actually administer cortisol. In rough terms, what they administered is ACTH - the hormone normally released by the pituitary that tells the adrenals to release more cortisol.
The idea being basically, to see if the problem is with the adrenals or the pituitary - i.e. is the pituitary "forgetting" to tell the adrenals to make more cortisol, or is the pituitary telling them, and the adrenals aren't doing it.
If you got higher blood pressure, and side effects, it might mean that your adrenals did respond.
Wiki actually has a pretty good writeup on the test:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ACTH_stimulation_test
If I'm getting this wrong, and that's not the test you had, well... then ignore me :)
Tracy2