T1D & Addison's without constant low BGs?

[bflohockeymom]

Hello all,

My 12 year old daughter has been experiencing what we've been calling "episodes" for the last few months. Her endo called today with the idea to test for Addison's. She's had so many other tests already that have all come out negative (Thank goodness!!!) but this disease seems to match more of her symptoms, although not all. The episodes happen randomly but at least a couple times a day, sometimes up to 8-9 times per day. They seem blood pressure related although by the time she's having the episode her BP is "fine" (although lower than the norm). She will suddenly get blurred vision, feel dizzy and nauseous, her pupils dilate, and she has trouble speaking. Sometimes she's so dizzy she vomits. The episodes normally last no more than 10 minutes and then she's totally fine. The doctors say it's like something sparks her BP to drop and then she has this episode. This can happen if she's laying down (even sleeping!) or when she's standing or playing but isn't correlated to a drop when she stands up after sitting or laying down. I have noticed that there is one week in the month when she has more of these episodes every day and her blood sugar levels are very low no matter what we do. However, after that week is over, her BGs are back up and the episodes go back to 1-2 per day. She doesn't get her period yet but this pattern definitely seems cyclical. So I guess I'm just wondering if it can even be Addison's if her BGs are easy to control all but one week of the month. I know it's a slow progressing disease and of course I'm panicking because I really don't want my daughter to have yet another obstacle to overcome. Diabetes is hard enough!

Thank you for any insight you can provide while I wait impatiently for blood test results!

[gkardel]

The low blood pressure, low blood sugar, dizziness are symptoms of Addisons although her pattern of the symptoms is a bit unusual. Other symptoms to look for related to Addisons are tanned appearance of skin, decreased insulin requirements, weight loss, low sodium and high potassium levels in blood, and fatigue.

Sorry for the delayed response but I hope your daughter is doing better and the tests results gave some insight into her symptoms.

-Glenn