Ring, Ring, Ring: Am I going crazy/

Hello there again from Cushie land!

Okay, do you hear a ringing in your head all the time?  Is it something that just won't go away and just keeps on nagging you day and night no matter what you do?  If you do have it you may well be a victim of Tinnitus.

Tinnitus is a constant ringing in the ears which just goes on and on and on, sometimes to the point of driving people crazy.  People are often driven to all kinds of doctors and take medications for it that only work in the short term if at all.  They try alternative medications, treatments,  such as acupuncture, all to no avail.  That's because when it's that bad there is really nothing we can do shy of firing a bullet through our gray matter.

That's because unless one has worked in an environment which was extremely loud without adequate hearing protection the problem isn't in the ear at all.  And to add insult to injury the medical community has known this since the 1950s, but hasn't adequately trained the doctors in the trenches who have to deal with the patients who have it.  The problem is deep in the brain where communication throughout the brain takes place and is a sign of damage to that system of some sort.  And the kicker is the cause of the damage.

Cortisol and other anabolic steroids are chief culprits.  I found this out when I listened to one of those ads out there promising a cure for tinnitus.  You know, those nice little ads from somebody who went on this big journey looking for a cure to his own problem and discovered a miraculous cure he is willing to peddle to you and me...for a hefty price.  In this case, the man offered up proof of what he was saying, genuine studies which I checked out.  And boy did they check out!

The problem goes back to the old statement of too much of a good thing.  Those of us with Cushing's do know that the cortisols have several uses in the body.  They help regulate our blood sugars.  They repair damaged tissues.  When women get pregnant they do several things to protect both the mother and the baby throughout the pregnancy.  But the problems take place when there is either too little or constantly too much of them in our system, hence both Cushing's and Addison's Diseases.

Where they come in where today's topic is concerned is that when there is too much in the body they can get into the brain and damage the communication system within the brain itself.  Those with Cushing's often become forgetful, especially of short-term items.  They can also experience mental disorders of the sort which involve the communication within the brain if predisposed towards them genetically to start off with.  But the early symptom if such damage which often gets missed is the ringing in the ears of tinnitus.

What the fellow was pushing was an herbal concoction designed to suppress cortisol production on the assumption that was the problem.  And perhaps it might work if caught and treated early on.  I guess a doctor might have better information on that if any studies have been done.

I went on to one of the Cushing's support groups I'm on and asked them if they had tinnitus.  The answer was an overwhelming yes!  So it would appear that it might be another symptom to add.  I also asked those who'd had surgery successfully to cure their Cushing's if the tinnitus was resolved as well.  Sadly it wasn't for most.  So the best thing to do is to get treatment as early as one can if they notice the ringing and if one is on steroids or know they have Cushing's they need to mention that while they're at it so the doctor can factor that into one's treatment.

That's it for now!

Cushing’s And the Immune System

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.

The Moon Face

Greetings from the Original Zebra!

Take a look at the following picture of my mother in her teenage years:

 

This is probably one of the best examples of another symptom typical of Cushing’s syndrome, the round, or “moon” face.  The moon face is another phenomenon which often accompanies exposure to high levels of cortisols and is a sign which differentiates the victim of Cushing’s from other morbidly obese people.  Here is a picture of one of my friends on Facebook who has given me permission to use her images:

Here she is now as a confirmed victim of Cushing’s:

This is more typical of how the round face will appear.  This lady gained over a hundred pounds in a matter of months when she developed Cushing’s.  When you contrast it with my mother’s:

It is easy to see how Cushing’s can be a little hard to spot in some stages.  Yet my friend, unlike my mother, is a confirmed Cushie.  So we can see how this symptom of Cushing’s can fall in quite a range.  Yet it is still recognizable wherever it falls within its range.  Mother went untreated and from the first picture of her she suffered from "Mild" Cushing's all her life.  Yet she died at age 65 from the ravages of the disease.

Today’s post was composed on Thanksgiving Day, so here’s to all my friends and readers from this moon face. 

Happy Thanksgiving!

Cataracts and Cushing’s

Circumstances force me to interrupt my planned series for a short discussion on Cushies and cataracts.  I’ve been having growing problems with my sight lately and suffered from eye strain and headaches as well.  One day I noticed that when I closed one eye type on the monitor screen and in printed material simply disappeared.  I already knew I had cataracts in both eyes in the early stages and feared one of them had accelerated its development.  My fear was confirmed and my doctor wants me to have the cataract removed as soon as we can get it done while my eyes are stable.

Cataracts are a condition where the lens of the eyes becomes opaque.  As cataracts develop the patient experiences increasing difficulty seeing.  It will probably be things like not being able to read type which or an eye exam which will be the first clue that something’s wrong.  However, the cataract will eventually cause complete blindness in the eye if left untreated.

The formation of cataracts in cases of steroid treatment and exogenous Cushing’s syndrome (Cushing’s caused by medical therapy) is a well known side affect.  However, research seems to document that cataracts are not a common side effect in endogenous, or Cushing’s caused by tumors.  I didn’t find anything on it, but I imagine that cataract formation or acceleration would be a likely danger with the use of glucocortical steroids such as prednisone for the treatment of inflammation or injury with a patient who already has exposure to elevated levels of cortical steroids to begin with because of Cushing’s syndrome.  That is another reason steroids should be used with care to treat Cushies.

The treatment for advanced cataracts is removal and replacement with an artificial lens.   While reading through the brochure I was given I found out that great strides in advancement in both the surgery and the lenses have taken place since my days as a practicing nurse.  It is now possible in people with no astigmatism, or even certain cases of astigmatism to have such sight improvement after surgery that eyeglasses are no longer needed.  However, most cases of people with astigmatism will still require eyeglasses.

As with any other surgery there are risks.  According to the patient plan I was given they include cornea/retina injury, hemorrhaging, pain, blurred vision, double vision and loss of vision.  Since I’m on clotting therapy the risk of hemorrhaging is especially pronounced and I will probably have to go on a heparin bridge to reduce the likelihood of that complication.  That requires an added week before the surgery can be done.

Naturally I will not be in a position to write for awhile after the surgery and don’t know how long my recovery to the point I can resume writing will be.  But I will be back and will continue with the series I started.

Helpful links:

Do Steroids Cause Cataracts? 

http://ibdcrohns.about.com/od/prednisone/a/Cataracts.htm

Catarcts and Cushing's Syndrome