Addison’s Disease
Addison Disease is a relatively new disease for me. I was diagnosed with it two years ago, although I am sure I was living with it for many years prior to being labeled with the disease. I saw and felt the signs, but kept thinking it was from my thyroid condition. I actually have my chiropractor to thank for finding out that my cortisol levels were weak. She had me take a saliva test throughout a 24 hour period. It showed flat lines in the morning and low for the day. So I took this with me and the doctor did other tests. Sure enough, it was what they had thought, Addison’s. This was my third autoimmune disease.
Addison’s is an autoimmune disease that affect the adrenal glands. Your adrenals are these little organs that lay atop your kidneys. They are extremely important to your body, especially during stress related illness or trauma. With Addison’s your body stops producing the hormones your body needs which leaves you feeling tired and weak. In some cases a person can go into adrenal crisis during illness or trauma, which could lead to death.
I was put on hydrocortisone, which is a steroid to replace the hormones my body wasn’t producing. I did not want to go on this medication, but I was pretty much told I had no choice. So, I started taking the medication. I took it for months and months and I still didn’t feel good. I mean I was better than I was, but still very weak. In fact, I felt I needed those pills and couldn’t do anything until I took them. Horrible to say, but I felt dependent on them.
After I studied the disease, I realized I had not taken very good care of my adrenals. I had let my emotions and anger from my other illnesses reek havoc on my body.
Thankfully I had taken up meditating and it helped tremendously handling the news of this illness and getting my stress under control so my poor little adrenals could get some much needed rest. There are hundreds of thousands of people suffering with what is called “Adrenal Fatigue”. This is due to the amount of stress and strain we put on our bodies everyday. If you have a chronic illness your stress can be higher than most and you have to find a way to reduce it.
Now, stress alone didn’t cause my Addison’s disease, it was the usual combination of a virus, toxins, and stress that are to blame. So, my game plan was the same as with my other illnesses, boost my immune system, remove the toxins and deal with my stress.
A few months of changing my diet, removing toxins, getting reiki treatments, I started to feel better. I was getting physically stronger, my legs didn’t shake after a little exercise or short walk. I started walking my dog on nice long walks and wasn’t afraid I wouldn’t make it back home due to my weakness. This was HUGE for me. Now I’m back to doing yoga and a cardio sculpt workout everyday!!!
If anyone out there has Addison’s disease I want you to know you CAN FEEL better. You can feel normal and happy and full of energy. I still take my medication, although smaller doses, but I don’t feel dependent on them as I once did. In a few months I have a check-up and I am looking forward to seeing what my doctor has to say about my improvements. It is hard to test cortisol, since it changes throughout the day, but it might be time to have my autoimmune markers tested. I know my adrenals are working so much better than they did and to me that is a miracle.
Now, I also want to say everyone is different, some people have other underlying conditions that make it almost impossible to have much improvement. Yet, I’ve learned quality of life is more than our physical body, our soul holds so much joy for us to tap into and for those that are having a really hard time, they are truly angels here on earth. I send you so much love and understanding.
