Greetings
again my friends and readers!
Well, it has
come time to talk about another aspect of Cushing’s, compromised immune system response. Most old time zebras know well enough how
vulnerable they are to opportunistic infections. That’s one of the things long term exposure
to steroids do is to make the immune system weaker and less able to ward off
disease and infections. And what is
Cushing’s syndrome but long term exposure to steroids?
I was forcibly
reminded of that fact this past week. To
set the stage I was having some problems with what seemed to be a stomach bug
of some sort. So I went to a clinic not
far down the highway from where I live.
After seeing the doctor and being told I was suffering from “food
poisoning” I waited out in the waiting room for my wife to pick me up since she’d
run out to run a couple of errands real quick while I was in. I collapsed right there in the waiting room
and was rushed to the hospital where I remained until yesterday.
Although there
are still some questions since I didn’t test positive for the flu or bacterial
infection, it was decided that I had been brought low by a viral infection
which affected more than one system and also severely dehydrated me in the
process. Right up to the last minute
before release I was pumped full of antibiotics and fluids.
That is one
of the things those of us who suffer from Cushing’s have to be aware of and
watch out for. Our immune systems become
less able to cope with invaders over time and one can easily get into in
trouble if one doesn’t stay on top of things, like I didn’t. That means not waiting until what seems like
a small problem gets out of hand. So one
has to treat almost every sniffle as something serious, don’t wait around to treat
it and be ready to get help at the first sign of trouble. I know doctors and insurers get a little bent
out of shape by us “hypochondriacs,” But let me tell you three days stuck in a hospital
bed eating the low calorie diets us fat folks inevitably get put on in the vain
hope we’ll lose weight is no fun.
Another thing
I found while checking the net for this post was multiple reports on some
research done which is another reason to be careful. It seems there is some evidence that
infections can cause the production of cortisols to go out of control in a
victim of Cushing’s with fatal results. Since
all I could access were abstracts I couldn’t get down to the details. So there’s another reason for anybody with
Cushing’s to be careful, very careful.
That doesn’t
mean a Cushie can’t live a reasonable life on that score. Just exercise common sense and care. Do that and you can generally avoid ending up
in as extreme a situation as I ended up in.
