New diagnosis of Addison disease

I was just diagnosed with Addison diease. I started the hydrocortisone today. I was wondering how long it takes for me to not feel completely exhausted...is there anything I can do for it? Are there any other treatments for it?

Welcome to MayoClinicConnect @lulamae ! I’m glad that you found us. I’ve given you a link to what the Mayo Clinic says about Addison’s disease.
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/addisons-disease/symptoms-causes/syc-20350293
Im not sure how long it will take the hydrocortisone to work, probably not too long. The main key for you for now is to take it easy and rest often. Your body has been hit hard by this and may need awhile to heal. The article about Addison’s disease mentions several things like what to do if you have an infection, importance of carrying you medicine with you, and seeing your doctor when you feel a change coming on. Here is an earlier discussion that you might find useful: https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/cortisol-deficiency-but-with-weight-gain/
Once you educate yourself on Addison’s and make plans to cope with the medical treatments, you’ll do fine. Now, you can go rest!
Will you let me know how you are doing?

Give it a few months. And don’t skip even one dose. I want to give you hope but it’s a constant struggle. I have addisons and I have a thyroid disease since practically birth. I’m 35 and still struggling. I learned a while back when you have one auto immune disease or disorder usually they come in pairs or you have quite a few of them. Have you checked your T3 and T4? Also idk if it’s the addisons but I have issues converting my vitamins. Just between us…I’d try taking a liquid iron supplement everyday sprouts has good ones,ashwaghanda, coq10, the array of b vitamins and D vitamins also. Those are the basics that have made a huge deal. All the mushroom supplements help a lot. Just taking the steroids does nothing for me. I thought I was destined to live like this forever, so I started looking into other natural ways. There’s this nootropic I like that gets my head clear and less sleepy too….
L tyrosine worked pretty fast it’s great…don’t be afraid to experiment. My body’s probably different than yours but I would find out and be extremely thorough about checking your thyroid and other autoimmune diseases. I’d say almost everyone I know who has adrenal diseases have thyroid issues. And even if it’s on the lower or higher side it’ll make you feel terrible so just check that first and foremost. I swear by ashwaghanda…I think I’m surviving because of it…maybe try a mix of liquid iron/vitamin D all of them/ashwaghanda/ and L tyrosine…do your research and pick good brands…you’ll know within the first week that should help BIGTIME! also maybe you need to up your steroid dose after a while. I noticed early on I needed a higher dose of hydrocortisone. Talk to your dr and tell him you want to try a little higher. It took 2 years of telling him it wasn’t helping to realize I needed at least double in the am and double in the pm…it helped immensely. They tend to start us a a general generic dose that everyone gets but we all work differently. Like if I’m doing sports or working out I need a higher dose. The more stress my body has or the more I’m doing I needed higher doses….talk to him about this. It’s worked for friends of mine. And if he’s not willing to try new things don’t wait years….go get a new one. I’ve had nothing but terrible endocrinologist my entire life. 80%of the time they had no clue what they were doing beyond the general dosing recommendations…there are hidden gems of drs out there who are willing to help more and try new things. There’s also other medications they can give you with the steroids…ask about those. Also join the Reddit group Addisons you will be able to read so much and learn so much….keep fighting everyday is a win for us ❤️you got this! Just keep learning as much as you can everyday. Don’t just leave it to your dr and the steroids to help…we need more help in other ways…the steroids alone barely did anything for a lot of us! -Hugs

Thank you for your comment and the information. This has been really scary for me. I went to the clinic last night and was taken to the emergency room. After some fluids and tests I was sent home. I did start another medication about a month ago to help balance my electrolytes but I'm having a difficult time staying hydrated. Still feeling really weak, dizzy and confused. My body feels so off and it's very scary. Took the hydrocortisone this morning felt a little better for about an hour then I'm back to where I was. My endocrinologist is supposed to call to schedule a cat scan of my Adrenal glands sometime hopefully this week. There seems to be a lot of irritability with me with it. Feel bad kinda short with people.

Oh thank you so much 💜 I'm going to try some of those things. I do have a hypothyroidism I was actually diagnosed with that a couple years ago when all this started for me. Just keeps getting progressively worse symptom wise but hopefully the meds and some of that other that I'm going to try will start helping. I am not sure if she tested my t3 or t4 I'll have to ask about that. I think it might cause problems converting vitamins because I take a supplement and I was still low iron wise. I have noticed when I do any sort of activity I feel like collapsing. I can't push my body anymore it refuses to go. I think I might need a higher dose of the steroids this is the second day of them and when I took them this morning I felt a wee bit better for an hour then I was back to where I was. Do you have problems waking up in the morning? Idk how to explain it I'm not tired when I wake up but my mind just won't focus for hours. My endocrinologist seems like an awesome doctor I feel really lucky to have her. Actually I guess I am pretty lucky to have a whole set of awesome healthcare providers. Took a long time to find them though. There are some not very good ones out there. I jumped with this for a long time between providers trying to get answers to how I have been feeling. As for other autoimmune diseases I'm not sure on that front. I don't have a very good rheumatologist right now. My sister has lupus, my mom has rheumatoid arthritis my grandmothers side of the family had a lot of lupus and rheumatoid. So idk maybe . Hope I don't though.

Hi I have had Addisons for 50 years. When do you take your cortisone? I take mine at the same time everyday 6 am with a coffee and stay in bed 30 minutes for it to kick in. Than when younger up and into shower. Always breakfast with a bit of salt and off to work. The routine works. You have to find your dose. When I started we Addison's folks took 75 mg a day. We needed other meds to bring us down.m, help us sleep etc. I complained and dumped a bag of meds on my endo's desk. He was a wonderful DR. and we started to get rid of excess, lower cortisone and when we got to 20 stopped. Then we worked to a number that worked for me. 20 a day 35 years. However , you must learn how you feel. Stress take 5 extra that day. Maybe a cold - the enemy for me and I take 10 extra.. once you learn how you feel you will find your dose. I started high and brought it down. I also take lasix and fludrocortisone. Makes me swell hence the lasix The other trick watch your sodium and stay hydrated. It takes a while you are replacing a very important organ and must learn to listen to your body. Learn all you can how the Adrenal Gland works.
I have done everything they said I could not Travel, baby , surgeries as needed and more. Did not miss anything. Enjoy life and just take your meds. Do not get hung up if tired go for a swim. There is a lot to do in life and Addison's will not hold you back. Getting stuck in your head will.

Listen to your body. You are just learning this. Take an extra 5 mg if needed. Going to the hospital is pretty normal for me. Over the years I need saline and dolu-cortef. Ask your Dr to change your dose if you feel off. Add salt to your diet. This helps me it may not help you. I ate a lot of salty foods. Small amounts and I stayed in a no sugar diet. You will get there. Be smart read a medical journal about what you have. Leg cramps dehydration drink 0 carb 0 sugar Gatorade. Be calm one day at a time , divide into day afternoon night.