adrenal gland over working?

[195536]

Hi this is my first post although I read most posts every week. I was diagnosed with pmr two and a half years ago. Started on 30mg pred & now on 4.5mg. I have started to feel like I have adrenaline racing round my body & feel very anxious all the time. Has anyone got advice on this? Many thanks

[SheffieldJane]

Certainly describe what you are feeling to the doctor. Hopefully , it is a sign that your own Adrenal Glands are kicking in. This is something we really want them to do at your stage. They have been switched off / turned down for the period of your illness when you were on over 7,5 mgs of Prednisalone. It varies in individuals. You can ask for a Synacthen Test which demonstrates what your Adrenal Glands are capable of doing now.

[195536 in reply to SheffieldJane]

thank you for your thoughts on my problem. I am going to up my preds to 5mg for awhile & see what happens. will ask my gp for a test to see if my adrenals are functioning. I thought I was doing ok as been on 4.5mg for 5weeks.

[bunnymom]

Whenever I reduce I feel anxious. Maybe it's my adrenals?

[Whippet1960]

I suspect that you are short of steroids and that your adrenal glands are not yet fully functioning. They will continue to produce adrenaline even when steroid production is zero. Being short of steroids can be very dangerous (especially if you catch an infection) and may cause you to have very low blood pressure. Please get yourself checked over urgently, especially your BP. If can't do that, then perhaps consider putting Pred up to a safe level say 10 mg a day. If you are short of steroids you should feel better almost immediately. If that works you can come down to 8mg in a few days. You would then need to have your adrenal function assessed.

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Whippet1960]

A recent post pointed to work from a top endocrinology unit suggests that the risk area is much lower than thought previously so being at 5mg-ish is fine. Unless the pred dose is reduced the adrenal glands will never recuperate - so it really wouldn't be a good idea to go back to 10mg. Most endocrinologists would suggest a maintenance dose of about 5mg - so one would fell that that is safe.