I need answers!

[AJlowry]

For the last three months my face has been completely swollen to three times its size and hard. I gained 15 pounds in my muscles have become very weak. I am constantly tired. I start every day feeling like I've been run over by a truck. My doctor has  done so many tests on me and it's all coming back negative. We tested for MS, lupus, we done tons of blood tests for things he was looking for and they've all come back negative. He thought I might have cushions disease but the results just came back and I blow a one with the Cortisol  levels in my body.  It's been a month and a half since he gave me steroids to be on for six days to see if it helped anything and it didn't. He seems to think my quarters all level is below a one from steroids that I was on over a month ago, which I don't understand because they should be out of my system by now. I just want to know was going on with me and why my face swelling  Will not go away. I am beyond frustrated

[TheLightSeeker]

Yes, it is normal when excessive & prolonged stress is experienced.
High cortisol output cannot be sustained for long periods, so when this happens, other stress hormones like adrenaline take over, as cortisol levels decline.

No, Addison's disease, should not be on the table...yet.
You must test for Pseudo-Cushings, before anything else. IMPORTANT!
If you can afford a reputable Functional Medicine Doctor, trained in Holistic Endocrinology AND NAET, you will probably avoid further delays and half answers.
Conventional Endos do not recognize Adrenal deficiencies (Adrenal Fatigue) until it becomes an Adrenal failure (too late to reverse) and that is why you are mentioning Addison's. Have the issue addressed properly now and get Adrenal Fatigue ruled out.
A reliable test to do for this is a functional adrenal profile (Cortisol x 4, 2 averaged DHEA-S).  Specimen:Saliva ( to measure active free fractions of hormones)
I have no idea what tests you had, but it is important to test cortisol 4x (throughout a 24 hour period) as it is a circadian hormone.
As a ref. only checkout BioHealthLabs website.

Hope this helps.
Niko

[AJlowry]

My cortisol level was below a 1. We thought it was cushions disease but turns out my levels were way low. Cortisol levels match Addidons disease but my symptoms match Cushions. It's really confusing and frustrating.

[TheLightSeeker]

There are a few possibilities.
Your immune system is obviously in overdrive, reacting excessively to
"something" which is considered offensive.
The abnormal swelling may be due to excess histamine, which may not recycle properly in your body for reasons I will not get into, as it is a bit
too technical. TMG or SAMe supplementation would help with this.
If it's something ingested, you can do either an elimination diet or
Dr. Coca's Pulse Test (free down load). Takes a week to complete and then you may need someone to interpret it.
There's a short version- not as accurate but acceptable- and I can send it to you if interested.

Steroid intake is usually the first line of (medical) defense, however, if your cortisol levels were very high already  then what? It was not clear from your post though. I'm just making the assumption that due to all the stress
you had from this, your cortisol levels would be very high, to start.

So elimination or avoidance of the offending substance and lowering histamine (not with antihistamines)  are definitely worth consideration.

If you want to take it a step further, consider going to a holistic doctor
who is trained in NAET and can also help you rule out angioedema, with some possible underlying hormonal/adrenal/neurotransmitter issues.

My comments are not intended as a substitute for medical advice.

Best wishes,
Niko