Endocrinologist visit

I'm home from my first visit to the endocrinologist. While he doesn't exactly seem overwhelmed with the possibility of Cushing's, he has ordered a test - another 24-hour urine collection - to check for "free cortisol" in my urine. This test is one of the main tests used to begin a Cushing's diagnosis. If the adrenal gland is producing too much cortisol, the excess should show up in my urine.

Info from http://www.nlm.nih.gov/ (National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health:

The test is used to evaluate for increased or decreased cortisol production.

Cortisol is a steroid hormone released from the adrenal gland in response to ACTH, a hormone from the anterior pituitary gland in the brain. Cortisol levels rise and fall during the day. Highest levels occur at about 6 a.m. to 8 a.m. and lowest levels at about midnight.

Cortisol affects many different body systems. It plays a role in:

• Bone
• Circulatory system
• Immune system
• Metabolism of fats, carbohydrates, and protein
• Nervous system
• Stress responses

Different diseases, such as Cushing's disease and Addison's disease, can lead to either too much or too little production of cortisol. Urinary free cortisol measurements can help to diagnose these conditions.

Urinary free cortisol is a measurement of the cortisol in the urine that is not attached to other substances. Free cortisol represents the active form of the hormone. The urine measurement directly reflects the blood level of cortisol.

I'll start collecting urine tomorrow morning, finish Wednesday morning and turn it into the lab that same day. I go back to the endocrinologist on 23 March to get results and determine our next move.

Meanwhile, on Wednesday I still have the appointment with the hematologist regarding the spleen. Though an enlarged spleen may be associated with Cushing's, the endocrinologist recommended I keep the appointment in case it is unrelated.

Yes, I still have a headache. No, it doesn't go away. The Ambien seems to be helping me sleep, but not as well as it did that first night. I'm going to try taking it earlier tonight rather than at bedtime.

Good thing I'm already on antidepressants...going through all this is enough to make you clinically depressed! It's hard to be cheerful and "normal" when the pain never stops and you can't find a cause. Add to that the stress of long-term disability paperwork and the possibility of moving due to the landlady's foreclosure, and it begins to sound like a movie on Lifetime or something. Only not as much fun to watch.

Please keep those prayers going!