After collapsing twice last month, I decided that it was time that I made some changes. As a person with Addison’s disease, my adrenal glands no longer produce cortisol, and I am completely dependent on taking hydrocortisone to keep me alive. After many years of slowly deteriorating health,
I finally came to a point where I could no longer function and barely keep alive. That was eight years ago. Since then I have been struggling with learning how to manage my condition, and obviously, not doing a very good job of it. Before I collapsed in February, I thought I was doing well. Which shows how little I understood. After my second collapse a few weeks later, I decided that if I expected to live to see my grandchildren grow up and enjoy our 39th wedding anniversary this summer, then I was going to have to do things differently. I began consistently monitoring my blood pressure, blood sugar, and temperature, and I started doing research. I compiled this list of symptoms of low adrenal function from a multitude of medical sites on the internet and from my own experiences. To the best of my knowledge and understanding the information is correct, but remember I’m not a doctor, just a person who lives with low adrenal function. I made this list to help me become more aware of what are the symptoms of low adrenal function, so that I will know when I need to take more medication. I realize now that I’m going to have to adjust my hydrocortisone for different stresses instead of just taking a set dose.of hydocortisone each day. I know it will take effort, and a lot of prayer for me to learn how to manage my Addison’s disease, but I know it will be worth it. I hope this research will help you to live a better life too.
Some places that I have found some good information has been the Handbook “Managing Addison’s Disease” which is online at www.addison.org.uk
and the book, Adrenal Fatigue the 21st Century Stress Syndrome by James L. Wilson
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