Has anyone has issues with adrenal gland deficiency or Addison’s disease that has Type 1 Diabetes. I recently went to a new Endocrinologist and they are going to test my adrenal gland function. If you do have problems with this what were your symptoms. Thanks.
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it’s an autoimmune condition, like type1. we have several discussions about it here
https://forum.tudiabetes.org/search?q=addison
good luck and let us know what happens
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I was supposed to get that tested but I haven’t managed to do it yet because it needs to be done around 8am and I’m nocturnal. I do have some of the symptoms but they seem a bit better now. The fatigue is still there so I will get it done at my next blood work probably and let you know. My symptoms have been weight loss, runs and fatigue… I was having a lot of digestive issues too which seem to be improving with totally exclusion of gluten and grains.
Thanks for the information. I am going to be tested next week for adrenal gland issues. I have had extreme fatigue for a long time and been tested for about every autoimmune disease over the years I think except for this one. I also have a good amount of inflammation in my body, muscle weakness, get lightheaded easily, a fast heartbeat even at rest, no appetite, issues with low blood sugar, and most of the Addison’s disease symptoms. I do have complications from the Type 1 though so I have always been told it’s my Diabetes. I recently had an EKG and it was normal. I am definitely thankful for that. I had blood work done in January when I was feeling really sick for 3 weeks. I was referred to a new Endocrinologist and she said my blood sugars were in pretty good control. I guess Addison’s disease is pretty rare so maybe that’s why my past doctors didn’t test for it. I also had a test previously done at my GYN and the DHEA came back very low. So it kind of seems like something with my hormones is off.
Well my blood test came back showing low cortisol but not severely low. So I am having an ATCH stimulation test done and I think they are checking for Addison’s. I definitely hope they figure this out. I know that this type of autoimmune disease is not common so I’m still not convinced even though it would make since that I could have this. I have had no energy and other medical problems which my doctors haven’t been able to figure out for the longest time.
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Has anyone had an ATCH test done?
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I still haven’t had mine done. I’m guessing you probably don’t have Addison’s because it is very rare. Maybe it’s just adrenal fatigue? People say the saliva test is much better because it shows what’s going on over a 24 hour.
I definitely can tell my new Endocrinologist is a good one. She has run tests on me that I didn’t know existed. Doctors have never tested me for these things. You should definitely ask an Endo if you have lots of fatigue or any of the other symptoms. I’m not sure how much the tests are though.
I am just really confused now. I took the ACTH stimulation test and won’t get the results until next week. I asked for a copy of the blood work from my last test and it showed kind of low Cortisol of 6.3 in the morning and a low ACTH of <5. I think they are trying to rule out Adrenal gland issues. From what I can understand if you have Addison’s you have low Cortisol and high ACTH levels. So the crazy part is the other hormone that is real low. It definitely seems like something is going on and I just have to wait to talk to my doctor.
Bad thing is for so many years I have felt like hell and my doctors always came back to the Type 1 diabetes…when none of the tests they did showed anything. This just shows you that it is good to get second opinions or change things up every now and then.
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Well my doctor said they don’t think it is Addison’s. My levels weren’t low enough. I am just really confused now since the one ACTH level initially showed as less than 5. I thought she was finally figuring out the cause to all of the various symptoms I have. I guess they are just going to continue to monitor it. I am definitely glad it’s not another autoimmune disease.
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That’s great! It must be a relief. I still haven’t done my test. I’ll let you know when I do. I may do a saliva test at home as well for the cortisol levels. I will have to pay for that myself though.
I am definitely happy. I couldn’t imagine having to take steroid pills. Well good luck with your tests. I actually have a few more that my regular doctor wants to run. It’s a good thing I am not afraid of needles. Lol
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I hope you get this figured out. I’m going to do mine soon with my next blood work.
Thanks I appreciate it. I think something is going on related to autoimmune stuff. I guess it’s definitely not Adrenal glands though. My doctor ran more blood tests and I have a positive ANA and a Speckled pattern. But just a tiny bit of inflammation. I’m not sure what that means since my doctor said it was a false positive ANA. I have been experiencing knee issues recently. But for a while extreme fatigue and hard time dealing with stress. I’m to the point where I’m afraid to go to new doctors because they just want to run a ton of tests. Lol.
Well let us know if you have the Adrenal gland tests done. I know I read that a common symptom is a lot of extreme low blood sugars. So if you do have some of the symptoms definitely get it checked.
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Hi Kristy.
You might check for Graves Disease too. I had that and found out because of the symptoms you describe.
Sorry you don’t feel well. Someone will figure it out. I’m getting mine done this week so I’ll let you know. I’m also very exhausted. I came home from work last th and fell asleep for several hours.
I finally got the test and both were in normal range. I didn’t do it in the am though- late afternoon. And I was on steroid antibiotic drops and ointment for a stye in one eye so I wonder if that affected it. My pth is still high, vitamin d is low WBC and mchc are low again and thyroid antibodies are up. I’m still pretty fatigued but to be honest I’ve felt that way since I was put on insulin. My a1c was down a lot so that’s good at least.
Sorry I haven’t looked on here in a little bit. Things have been crazy. Well it’s definitely good your A1C isn’t bad. So do they think you have autoimmune thyroid? I am checked for that all the time. Or have they looked into Celiac disease? My old Endocrinologist said Celiac and Thryoid are common for Type 1’s.
My doctor thought I had a false positive for Lupus but I still might have to go to a Rheumatologist. This month I had some fluid drained from my knee and X-rays done that showed a little bit of joint narrowing and arthritis. So at least I have proof that I’m not imagining all of this pain. Lol. Hopefully I will find out more soon.
I hope you are able to narrow things down soon too. I think hormone fluctuations can occur a lot in women even if not related to autoimmune stuff. My blood sugar has varied a lot from month to month and I use a Dexcom CGM to help some.
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That’s good you have figured something out at least. I know what you mean about imagining it all I have often told myself I must be imagining this due to others thinking that and then I ended up in the hospital lol.
I have hashimotos which is autoimmune hypothyroidism but you also get periods of hyper with it early on. My grandfather had graves and my father has hashis too. My last test showed my antibodies are higher for it but I’m still on a low dose of Levo.
I also have some kind of gluten and grain sensitivity- when I eliminated those for cross contamination for gluten and no grains at all I stabilized and I gained back some weight and my Bg normalized more again without crashing every time I ate. Lately I’m doing tighter control again but I am having more lows for sure. I need to have more fat on my body for Bg to regulate better. I’d try eliminating all of those and sterilizing your dishes etc. to see if it helps you. If you think ther is a problem of course. I also recently found a nice gluten free restaurant right around the corner. I’ve only been there once with a friend who was visiting recently but we plan to go again soon.
I may do the saliva test for cortisol at home. Otherwise I’m just taking it day to day.
I hope your knee gets better soon. I had an old injury there that flared up just from doing a few squats I think but now I’m able to go down stairs again without a big spasm- going up was better. I have had a bad back spasm again also. Keeping my fingers crossed and I hope it’s mending a bit. I have been taking arnica every day. I realized lately I have been in pain for many years now and I’m so fed up with it. The rheumatologist says I have osteoarthritis now as well as osteoporosis. I’m not sure what he was basing it on. After the last accident I have some bulging discs now.
I hope you don’t have lupus. I was tested for that and was negative. Dexcom is a lifesaver for me. Couldn’t live without it.
Sorry this became a long list of issues 
A home test for Cortisol sounds like an option. I guess it’s kind of complicated though. I know I’ve heard that women have a lot more issues controlling blood sugar because of fluctuating hormones. My doctors have been going crazy doing tests lately. I probably have my Endocrinologist to thank for that. She noticed I have been walking with a limp. So I went to a Neurologist and he wants to run a bunch of tests. Plus I have to go to the Rheumatologist. Lots of fun. Well all I know now is that extreme fatigue can be caused by a lot of things. Glad my problems aren’t from adrenal gland problems because I hate taking steroid medicines.
I would consider evaluating your stomach issues, if you have another autoimmune that will usually cause fatigue. I think there are a few autoimmune diseases that cause stomach problems. Can’t remember off hand except for Celiac disease.
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Thanks. I have evaulated most of them. I have some type of gluten and grain problem so eliminating gluten for cross contamination and all grains helped but did not eliminate all those issues. I’m having problems with my knee and back so I haven’t bothered to do the cortisol tests. Oh well. I’m still exhausted 
I hope you are feeling better. For some reason I can’t see your reply when I type here now. Ugh. I’m considering a steroid shot for my knee because it’s not getting better. But I’m worried about Bg effects.