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	honorh 2008-06-17 12:45 am UTC (link)
	Cymbalta was originally used to relieve pain in diabetics, but it's now being marketed as an antidepressant. Does it never occur to people that medications that work on brain chemistry can have more than one effect? (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	ari_o 2008-06-17 01:46 am UTC (link)
	I think the troll was just trying to stir up people who are already upset, but on the off chance that s/he really believes that SSRIs SRNIs are only for depression we can dismiss him/her as an idiot. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	squishycat 2008-06-17 05:09 am UTC (link)
	Or, you know, that even pain caused by chemical imbalances in the brain is still real pain. It's not fake pain just because it doesn't originate with damage to the place where you feel it. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	ari_o 2008-06-17 05:40 am UTC (link)
	Oh come on. We all know it is demons. If you just let the leeches suck them out with blood it'll feel all better. :D (Reply to this)(Parent)

	silrana 2008-06-17 11:48 am UTC (link)
	Not just brain chemistry medications. I have an adrenal gland condition, and the only pill that blocks the effects of the hormone I'm pumping out at ninety miles an hour is classified as a diuretic. According to this loser, I guess all I need to do to handle my condition is pee a lot. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	jaythenerdkid 2008-06-17 02:32 pm UTC (link)
	Oooh, which hormone is that, if you don't mind my asking? (Sorry, medical student, currently studying haematology+renal for her exams. I see people's stories and automatically think, "that's like that case study we did!") (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

silrana
2008-06-17 06:58 pm UTC (link)

No problem. It's aldosterone. If you want the mile-long name, I have idiopathic adrenal hyperplasia/primary hyperaldosteronism.

And I'm used to medical students asking questions, since my doctor teaches at the medical school and usually has one or two in tow when I have my checkups. He also took great joy in telling me that I am a question on one of his endocrinology tests.

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jaythenerdkid
2008-06-18 03:42 am UTC (link)

Aldosterone: synthesised in the...adrenal cortex?, responsible for the excretion of K+ ions into the distal convoluted tubule of the glomerulus, also has a function in Na+ retention. Can aid water retention in the presence of ADH, but not on its own because it doesn't make the membrane permeable to water.

Idiopathic means they have no idea what causes it, right?

Well, thanks for answering my question! That was really helpful. ^.^

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silrana
2008-06-18 04:10 am UTC (link)

*chuckles* I'll leave the exact reactions to doctors, but the end result is that it sends my blood pressure screaming through the roof. As in walking around with stroke level bp if I didn't take my meds.

Yes, you are exactly right. Idiopathic is the fancy medical term for "We have no idea why it happens, it just does".

It's a very oddball condition. A lot of places don't have anyone experienced in the test to rule between my form and the hyperaldosteronism caused by an adrenal tumor. The test requires tiny tubes to be run into both adrenal glands, then blood samples taken simultaneously. Because the blood vessels going into the right gland have a funny 'kink', it is easy for the test to be done improperly because the tube doesn't get far enough in.

If it gives you any idea, to get properly diagnosed I had to go from Florida to the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota. I had that test a few years ago in October, and the head of the endocrinology department bragged to me that they had done 58 tests so far that year. The only other place with that many was Harvard Medical. So if two high-powered places like that had done it so few times, you can imagine how rare it is in most hospitals.

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jaythenerdkid
2008-06-18 04:25 am UTC (link)

Wouldn't they pick up a tumour with an...ultrasound, or something? *Is terrible at medical imaging-related things*

It does sound like a really interesting condition, yes. Do you ever get doctors or medical students asking if they can write papers and things about you? (Because if I were working in the endocrinology department where you were, I would totally ask.)

And wow, only 58 of a certain type of test in one year really is quite astounding.

*Is taking notes* If primary hyperaldosteronism comes up on my exam, I'll be all set. ^.^

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	ari_o 2008-06-18 04:48 am UTC (link)
	Not with many tumors actually. I have a pituitary tumor that took half a dozen MRIs to find and I had a parathyroid tumor which required an injection of a radioactive isotope and then this weird scan was something like a very long X-ray. I don't know about other posters tumor though. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	jaythenerdkid 2008-06-18 07:24 am UTC (link)
	Hmmm, fair enough. The very long x-ray thing, could that have been either nuclear medical imaging or angiography? They're the only other scanning methods I can think of. (Well, that and a CT.) (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	ari_o 2008-06-18 08:28 am UTC (link)
	I think it was probably nuclear medicine. It definitely wasn't a CT--although I've had those too. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	jaythenerdkid 2008-06-18 08:39 am UTC (link)
	Thanks! I've only ever had an X-ray (the time I broke my arm) and a couple of pelvic ultrasounds. As a medical case study, I am pretty useless. (Well, there's the severe microcytic anaemia, but that's boring.) (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	ari_o 2008-06-18 06:35 pm UTC (link)
	Revel in your boring. I envy you! (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	jaythenerdkid 2008-06-18 06:39 pm UTC (link)
	Well, I also have family histories of diabetes, cancer, strokes, ulcerative colitis...and I am allergic to almost everything. But as far as things with which I actually present to a GP? I got nothin'. (Reply to this)(Parent)

silrana
2008-06-18 05:01 am UTC (link)

I had ultrasounds and MRIs and catscans. The problem is that adrenal tumors can be very tiny and hard to detect. The treatment for an adrenal tumor is removal of the entire gland. That is *very* tricky, and is another reason I was at Mayo rather than a local hospital, in case the test went the other way. If the surgery is not done exactly right, the gland can shoot a massive dose of adrenaline into the patient's system, with fatal consequences. So they have to be very sure before they go poking around.

My condition isn't so rare that it's worth writing papers about. In fact, more information is being circulated about it because some researchers believe it might be more common than people realize. It's just that doctors never used to look for it.

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	jaythenerdkid 2008-06-18 07:23 am UTC (link)
	I see. That makes sense. Well, I think it sounds interesting - but then, I have a bit of an interest in endocrinology (my second love, after psych). ^.^ (Reply to this)(Parent)

	ari_o 2008-06-18 04:46 am UTC (link)
	LOL Harvard tested my thyroid and pituitary and found my tumor! :D (Reply to this)(Parent)

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