Cushing’s Help

ℹ️ Basics: Cushing’s Syndrome Overview

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Cushing’s syndrome is a rare disorder that occurs when the body is exposed to too much cortisol. Cortisol is produced by the body and is also used in corticosteroid drugs. Cushing’s syndrome can occur either because cortisol is being overproduced by the body or from the use of drugs that contain cortisol (like  prednisone ).

Cortisol is the body’s main stress hormone. Cortisol is secreted by the adrenal glands in response to the secretion of adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) by the pituitary. One form of Cushing’s syndrome may be caused by an oversecretion of ACTH by the pituitary leading to an excess of cortisol.

Cortisol has several functions, including the regulation of inflammation and controlling how the body uses carbohydrates, fats, and proteins. Corticosteroids such as prednisone, which are often used to treat inflammatory conditions, mimic the effects of cortisol.

Stay tuned for more basic info…

❣️The Message Boards Turn 21 Today! ❣️

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Today  is the birthday, or anniversary, of the Cushing’s Help message boards.  They were started September 30, 2000 (The rest of the site started earlier that year on July 21, 2000)

As of today, we have 73,130 members who have made countless posts.

Find the message boards here: http://cushings.invisionzone.com/

❣️ Happy 21st Birthday Cushing’s Help!

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It’s unbelievable but the idea for Cushing’s Help and Support arrived 21 years ago late last night. I was talking with my dear friend Alice, who ran a wonderful menopause site called Power Surge, wondering why there weren’t many support groups online (OR off!) for Cushing’s and I wondered if I could start one myself and we decided that I could.

Thanks to a now-defunct Microsoft program called FrontPage, the first one-page “website” (http://www.cushings-help.com) first went “live” July 21, 2000 and the message boards September 30, 2000.

All our Cushing’s-related sites:

❓Can You Help?

MaryO Can You Help?, Cushing’s Help, message boards , , , ,

I think I have Cushing’s I have about 10 symptoms…my cortisol levels came out high with a 24 hour urine hormone panel but my endocrinologist did not even mention it. At the time when I had the test done, (March 2020)I had no idea what cortisol was. I just figured and trusted my endocrinologist would prescribe me with whatever hormones and or treatment I needed and would have me take whatever tests he order. Anyhow, in a range from 1-10 for bedtime cortisol, my result was 27! Cortisol metabolites, range from 1160-2183, my result was 5370!!!

The only reason I started to do more research on cortisol is because just a few weeks ago I started experiencing severe chest pain from the moment I wake up and any little thing stresses me out and gives me anxiety and I feel like I’m gonna have a heart attack any moment!  So I looked back at my paperwork and noticed these really elevated cortisol levels. But my endocrinologist never mention them… Why? This is how I found this disease,  I have so many symptoms of Cushing’s disease, And it is not a result of exogenous stuff causing cortisol levels to rise. I don’t take any medication whatsoever and was not taking any medication at that time or for the past year. All I have taken for the past year is what he prescribed, thyroid medication and progesterone. Someone please tell me if these levels are of concern from your perspective.

Please respond here or on the message boards.

Thanks!

🖥 SherryC Cushing’s Slideshow

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Cushing’s Help message board member sherryc presented this PowerPoint at Pioneer Pacific College in 2017.  I am resharing since Sherry died last year.

She says that it took a lot of work with her failing memory but she did It! She wanted to get the word out about Cushing’s and her journey with this awful disease.

🦓 Kind Words for Cushing’s Awareness Month

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Many thanks to Cushing’s Help board member, Sharmyn McGraw!

It’s been my biggest blessing in life to help make many people’s lives better. Through the newly available dial-up internet, I joined forces with a small group of wonderful Cushing’s advocates. Cathy Gifford and Mary O’Connor, were my first Cushing’s friends, and are still dear friends twenty one years later. Together we got things moving. Mary, has built the largest Cushing’s support boards, and her admirable dedication continues to help and support patients from all over the world, Cushing’s Help and Support (cushings-help.com).

~ From Cushing’s Disease Helped Shape My Wonderful Life

🎤 Archived Interview: Symptoms and Diagnosis: Cushing’s Message Board Members

MaryO Cushing's Awareness Challenge, Cushing’s Awareness Challenge 2021, Cushing’s Help, Interviews, Meetings and Conferences, message boards , ,

As part of this year’s Cushing’s Awareness Challenge, I’ve decided to share our Interview Series again since there was lots of great info in there.

The series is still going on, so if you’d like to be a part of this, just let me know.  You can fill out this form and check off that you want to do an interview – Add Your Bio

There are currently 89 interviews in our series.  This is the second one:

Robin Smith (staticnrg) hosted as Cushing’s message board members called in to talk about their fight for diagnosis and treatment. Robin opened the show with a brief explanation of what Cushing’s is and what the symptoms are.

Listen at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/cushingshelp/2008/01/10/cushings-members

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🦓 It’s Time to Sign Up for the Cushing’s Awareness Challenge 2021

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I plan to do the Cushing’s Awareness Challenge again. A past year info is here:  https://cushieblogger.com/2018/03/11/time-to-sign-up-for-the-cushings-awareness-challenge-2018/

The original page is getting very slow loading, so I’ve moved my own posts to this newer blog.

As always, anyone who wants to join me can share their blog URL with me and I’ll add it to the links on the right side, so whenever a new post comes up, it will show up automatically.

If the blogs are on WordPress, I try to reblog them all to get even more exposure on the blog, on Twitter and on Facebook at Cushings Help Organization, Inc.  If you have photos, and you give me permission, I’ll add them to the Pinterest page for Cushing’s Help.

The Cushing’s Awareness Challenge is almost upon us again!
Do you blog? Want to get started?
Since April 8 is Cushing’s Awareness Day, several people got their heads together to create the Tenth Annual Cushing’s Awareness Blogging Challenge.
All you have to do is blog about something Cushing’s related for the 30 days of April.
There will also be a logo for your blog to show you’ve participated.
Please let me know the URL to your blog in the comments area of this post, on the Facebook page, in one of the Cushing’s Help Facebook Groups, on the message boards or an email  and I will list it on CushieBloggers (  http://cushie-blogger.blogspot.com/ )
The more people who participate, the more the word will get out about Cushing’s.
Suggested topics – or add your own!
  • In what ways have Cushing’s made you a better person?
  • What have you learned about the medical community since you have become sick?
  • If you had one chance to speak to an endocrinologist association meeting, what would you tell them about Cushing’s patients?
  • What would you tell the friends and family of another Cushing’s patient in order to garner more emotional support for your friend? challenge with Cushing’s? How have you overcome challenges? Stuff like that.
  • I have Cushing’s Disease….(personal synopsis)
  • How I found out I have Cushing’s
  • What is Cushing’s Disease/Syndrome? (Personal variation, i.e. adrenal or pituitary or ectopic, etc.)
  • My challenges with Cushing’s
  • Overcoming challenges with Cushing’s (could include any challenges)
  • If I could speak to an endocrinologist organization, I would tell them….
  • What would I tell others trying to be diagnosed?
  • What would I tell families of those who are sick with Cushing’s?
  • Treatments I’ve gone through to try to be cured/treatments I may have to go through to be cured.
  • What will happen if I’m not cured?
  • I write about my health because…
  • 10 Things I Couldn’t Live Without.
  • My Dream Day.
  • What I learned the hard way
  • Miracle Cure. (Write a news-style article on a miracle cure. What’s the cure? How do you get the cure? Be sure to include a disclaimer)
  • Give yourself, your condition, or your health focus a mascot. Is it a real person? Fictional? Mythical being? Describe them. Bonus points if you provide a visual!
  • 5 Challenges & 5 Small Victories.
  • The First Time I…
  • Make a word cloud or tree with a list of words that come to mind when you think about your blog, health, or interests. Use a thesaurus to make it branch more.
  • How much money have you spent on Cushing’s, or, How did Cushing’s impact your life financially?
  • Why do you think Cushing’s may not be as rare as doctors believe?
  • What is your theory about what causes Cushing’s?
  • How has Cushing’s altered the trajectory of your life? What would you have done? Who would you have been
  • What three things has Cushing’s stolen from you? What do you miss the most? What can you do in your Cushing’s life to still achieve any of those goals?
  • What new goals did Cushing’s bring to you?
  • How do you cope?
  • What do you do to improve your quality of life as you fight Cushing’s?
  • How Cushing’s affects children and their families
  • Your thoughts…?
maryo colorful zebra

🥸 Cushie 12-Step Program

MaryO Cushing’s Help, message boards , , , ,

I “acquired” this from another site and changed the names to protect the innocent…

As you know many of us Cushies have had or have an addiction to Googling.

I suggest anyone who feels compelled to google symptoms go to the message boards to ask for support instead of typing these or any words such as “buffalo hump” in the google search engine. When this is done all roads lead to one thing…… You Eat Too Much!; You’re Depressed!

So, anyone who is about to hit enter on their computer which feeds their Google addiction…. go to the message boards to ask for help. One of the other Cushies who have achieved “Google sobriety” will help you down of the ledge.

1. Admit for now that you are powerless over your urge to Google.
2. Believe that a power greater than you (that would be other Cushies) can help you off that ledge
3. Decide to turn your “fingers” over to a higher power as you understand it.
4. Make a searching and fearless inventory of what you hope to gain from googling.
5. Admit to yourself and to another human being the exact nature of your addiction to Google.
6. Allow other Cushies to assist you when you are so scared you are thinking about googling symptoms.
7. Humbly ask for Xanax, Klonopin or Cortef in order to calm yourself from googling symptoms
8. Make a list of all the diseases you think you have or have had and survived and have a burning ceremony and then…. take a nap.
9. Cite all Google sites you have searched diseases on and delete them from your favorites/history.
10. When you start thinking….STOP….. do something else, like take an inventory of your test results.
11. Seek through prayer and/or meditation to improve your thought process. Do not travel to “OMG’ or “What if” land (this is a serious suggestion).
12. Having had a spiritual awakening as a result of these steps, carry this message to all your Cushie friends and anyone else you know who has a Google addiction.

13. Now I know there isn’t a 13th step, however, if you have noticed you are drinking too much wine or taking too many pills, please remember there are other 12 step programs for that, lol…

So, what about it – what are *your* suggestions to cure Google Addiction?