Cyclical Cushing's

I think to explain what Cyclical is, we need to first talk about endocrine tumors in general. Unlike many other tumors, they produce hormones and affect the body that way. They also turn on and off, which is unique to endocrine tumors. Now, it just depends on how long a switch it is. Some folks turn on and off like a toggle switch, like a light switch. For other people it's like a riostat, a dimmer switch where you can slowly dial up the lights.

I think that even folks with florid Cushing's have cycles to, just not very dramatic. These people will and do consistently have high test results, with no normal or low readings. The difficulty lies when you have a tumor that shuts off and on, with patterns that are difficult to see at first. This is why journaling is VITAL, so that the pattern can be visualized. Folks with Cyclical Cushing's can have very dramatic swings in their physiology, which of course, gets captured in the test results.

And that is the problem. There are many, many doctors that do not "believe" in Cyclical. If you have one normal or low result, they will only focus on that normal or low, claim the other High results are a fluke or find someway to write it off.

Technically it is impossible to have both Cushing's and Addison’s, because these diseases are polar opposites. Cushing's of course is too much cortisol, and Addison's is too little. Many doctors who don't understand the nature of endocrine tumors refuse to see the obvious. I've had the argument with several doctors and nurses who insist that it isn't possible to have both because they insist tumors don't shut off and on. They keep telling me that it is a gradual process, not something that flips.

And they are idiots because they will not see what is standing before them.

Those of us who fall into this category have a very difficult time getting both diagnosis and treatment. There are a few of us here on the board who are documented to have both Cushing's and Addison’s, I'm one such platypus.