Posted by katekite on July 3, 2002, at 11:27:22
In reply to Re: Cortisol connection - I'm confused » katekite, posted by Emme on July 3, 2002, at 7:22:36
Here's a few links:
I found this website helpful, it has a list of links to what's known about psychiatric problems and Cushing's. Not a ton of information that I could find, and many of the studies have very different numbers.
http://www.killerbytes.com/ann/articles.html
If you really have none of the physical signs, no fatigue etc, and your mental health has not worsened considerably lately, then it's pretty darn unlikely. It's rarer than thyroid problems which is probably why its less routinely tested for.
I was only tested for cortisol because we were also testing urine catecholamines (because my blood pressure went up on a tiny dose of ritalin). My pdocs exact words were, "oh yeah, I guess as long as I'm doing that we might as well do cortisol. Not that....mumble mumble mumble" He was very surprised at the result. It was definitely a scenario where he was just throwing it in for good measure. Cushing's can make you more sensitive to your own body's blood catecholamines (thus looking a little similar in some cases to conditions that cause catecholamines to be high).
As far as reversible: it is almost completely reversible if caught fairly early. Cognitive problems (ADD and memory type things) tend to not go back to completely normal, but mood problems and anxiety are supposed to go away for the majority of successfully treated people.
poster:katekite
thread:111175
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020628/msgs/111289.html