Friday 28 September 2018

September 2018 - a bit of an update

Well, it has been a while since I last updated this blog.

The main reason is that there really isn't much to tell, which is of course a good thing. If you are still reading this and have a pituitary condition or adrenal insufficiency from whatever cause, then you'll know there really isn't a textbook to manage this condition. I think that is the basis for this update.

I mentioned before in the blog that the whole point of me taking Hydrocortisone daily is to try and mimic the body's natural production of Cortisol, or lack of it in my case. Apart from the overarching objective of keeping me alive, the Hydrocortisone helps the body deal with stress, keep blood sugars steady and maintain blood pressure. The natural cycle of producing Cortisol is our Circadian Rhythm, this raises Cortisol in the early hours of the morning to its peak around 8am and then gradually tails off during the day with a slight peak approaching 6pm.



However, I take 3 tablet doses a day around 7am, 12:30pm and 6pm, which cannot hope to totally mimic the graph above, but it does its best. So I do my best, and some days I'll get it wrong - at least that is what it feels like.

The simple fact is if you take the tablets when you normally take them, it doesn't always work. I have to take extra sometimes, adjust the timings sometimes.....it really is just a game of "what will today bring". The difficulty I have had and still have, is accepting this. It is a lot easier for conditions that just require a tablet to be taken per day, and that's it. With adrenal insufficiency you have to accept you'll need to adjust the dose or the timing of the dose, sometimes every day of the week and that it ISN'T your fault. I've done nothing wrong, but for reasons I can't always fathom my body needed that extra Cortisol kick today. It takes a lot of self-monitoring for the signs and when I've done that well, I've been aware of an improvement in how I feel.

The summary of all that rambling is, I'm doing fine but it does require some thought some days rather than just plough on regardless, and I'm not brilliant at having to do that.

Something that always occurs at this time of year is 'Man vs Hedge' and this year is no different. The hedge has had its annual prune and this year it took many weeks between starting and finishing, but that was more because of the weather and my availability than anything else. I now know before I start that it will be hard work, 5 years-worth of experience has taught me that. Just take the extra Hydrocortisone and take it easy - I could have reached this decision quite a few years ago, it isn't that hard!

Finally, I've been for all my regular checkups and everything is still on track, MRi shows no tumour regrowth, blood tests ok, eye clinic done and optic nerve still stable.