Post Diagnosis: Second Year

Hi. I'm back. 

It's been a while since I last wrote a blog post but as my first day of lectures dawns upon me, I thought I should do a little update. I've been staying mostly quiet about my health because I had a very long struggle to stabilise it and I was trying to focus on that. Thankfully after a gruelling exam season and summer, my health has finally stabilised! My dose has now also decreased and I feel healthy again. Although I do experience some pretty painful symptoms and I am awaiting some blood test results in regards to my thyroid and HBA1C (Type 1 Diabetes) levels.

Over summer, I worked full-time, a decision that I made despite protest from my family, asking me to do reduced hours. It was a really refreshing experience and helped me grow a lot and learn about the real world but on top of that, I feel like I have become more resilient to the symptoms that I experience as a result of my condition. The worst of my symptoms are the sciatica that I've developed in my legs. It can be the worst pain in the world honestly. Felt like cutting my legs off at times but at least the lethargy was gone for the most part. I still did have days where I could not get up and periods of sickness but I did expect that.

Now moving onto the actual condition since this is what the blog is about! As my dosage decreased after having two successive cortisol curves done on me, I believe this is pretty strong evidence that stress and environmental factors do have an effect on the amount that you need to take in order to function. At work, I was simply working - it wasn't too stressful and most of the time we'd be having a lot of banter. Eventually, after being re-tested, they found that I did not need to take so much. So, for those reading that may suffer with Addison's Disease or know someone with it, please take care of your mental health! You should be doing so anyway, but it is more so important when your stress response is affected like that. Obviously, I am not a clinician so I won't call this medical fact but as a sufferer, I believe I am the best source of information in regards to the condition. "Overdosing" on hydrocortisone like that can have very negative side effects in the long term such as Cushing's syndrome, osteoporosis and etc. 

And going back to me. I am hoping that second year will go smoother than the first. It really was a rollercoaster but I'm also really proud of what I achieved in first year considering the circumstances and I hope to aim higher. I'm hoping to take part in initiatives in regards to disability and broaden access to help for within my faculty for students who suffer from a health issue. As time goes on, I learn a lot more about my condition and ways to control it. I hope I will reach a stage where I can truly "get rid" of all the symptoms and help others learn more about Addison's Disease.

- T