E205 - Addison's Disease Ground Hog Dog - Margot's Story
1,043
Published 2024-04-15
Margot shares her diagnosis of Addison's Disease in 2013 after years of being told it was "ALL IN HER HEAD", and fighting the progression of what she refers to as "BIOLOGICAL EXHAUSTION". The physical exhaustion that rest never resolves.
Feeling like she was living the movie GROUNDHOG DOG...all she wanted was to feel better. Hyperpigmentation, extreme weight loss, crippling fatigue, unable to regulate her body temperature led to her fear of going to sleep on not waking up. Repeated patterns over the years of symptoms that fell on deaf ears in the medical community.
One night feeling as if she was having a heart attack she ended up in the ER. Dismissed again by the ER nurse as Margot desperately sought care. Extremely low blood pressure FINALLY made her story legitimate. The ER doctor quickly recognized she had ADDISON'S DISEASE.
The goal was a 40 minutes episode but when friends share and relate it turns into 1 hour and 20 minutes.
Listen, watch, relate, share, laugh and cry with my new friend Margot.
Please comment on the video below and help make our voices heard!
We are a family and as a family, we can make a difference.
THE PICKLE JAR PODCAST through donations at:
www.gofundme.com/f/thepicklejarpodcast
If you would like to share your journey on THE PICKLE JAR please go to www.chronicallyfitcanada.com for more information.
DISCLAIMER: The information from THE PICKLE JAR represents the experiences of the host Jill Battle and the individual experiences of each guest. No information is intended to provide or replace the medical advice of a medical professional. The host or guests are not liable for any negative consequences from any treatment, action, application or preparation, to any person following the information from the podcast.
All Comments (10)
-
I thank GOD!! For this podcast and YouTube channel!! 🙌😭 A friend shared your podcast with me!🙌 it has helped me SO much! This episode has me in tears!! Her story is SO similar to mine!Feeling SO many emotions! Because of the harsh reality of living with Addisons, and the comfort of hearing others that have and do experience what I have and continue to live with! Fighting every single day for LIFE!! Refusing to give UP!💪😭🙌
-
I love Margot's energy! Despite everything she has been through, she's still incredibly strong and has a positive outlook on life
-
Thankyou for this podcast
-
Margot's symptoms of Addison's is exactly like mine. I told my son she sounded like a carbon copy of how I felt. Only difference is I'm 70 yrs old. For probably 2 years my blood work was terrible. What was supposed to be high, mine would be low, and visa versa. So in a followup appt back on Feb 29, 2024, my doctor asked me to pull up the back of my shirt. One look at my back, she asked if I'd been going to a tanning bed. (No...never.) Then she said I have Addison's disease. I'd lost so much weight that my weight that day was 95 (from 125 a year earlier). She also was concerned because my potassium level reached an all time high at 6.9. My doctor called me at 8:00p.m. after having another potassium blood draw that day and told me I needed to go pickup a prescription that would lower my potassium. I got home and mixed the nasty stuff with water and began drinking it. I got all of it down except the last ounce before I started throwing it up. Meanwhile, the lab tech at the hospital (where the last potassium draw was sent) called and said I needed to go to the ER because I was in danger of a heart attack or death. My son came and took me to ER. They immediately did more blood work and slapped an EKG on. Told me I was in danger of a "widow maker heart attack." Hours later, the ER doctor told me I was being admitted. I had an IV in all night and the next morning I started my steroids. Almost immediately I felt 100% better. One night while in the hospital, two nurses came in my room at 3a.m. to wake me up. They said my heart monitor alert went off and they needed to check my blood pressure. The took it laying down, sitting up, and standing up. I remember asking them, "Am I dying?" They said my BP was 52/40. Immediately they put compression hose on and strapped things on my legs to massage them to prevent blood clots. Even with extremely low BP, my heart event monitor said I stayed in tachycardia (rapid heartbeat). Fast forward to coming home, I was just like Margot; I could not lay in bed to sleep because I felt like I was smothering and couldn't breathe well. I had to sleep sitting up for several weeks. Also, I was always a person who would sleep 10-12 hrs a night. After starting the steroids (Hydrocort and Fludrocort) I was unable to sleep more than 4 hrs. Just in the last week I've finally been able to sleep about 8 hrs/night, so I think my body is adjusting to the steroids. Today I went for an MRI on my adrenal glands. Said it would be about 48 hrs before the report got to my doctor. Oh I forgot to also tell you for the last 2 years I've also developed kidney disease. I'm in stage 3a kidney failure. So that's another worry of mine. Jill, I love listening to you and your guests and thank you so much for bringing Addison's disease awareness to more people. No one in my family, nor any of my friends, have ever heard of it. People need to be made more aware of it because it's practically unheard of, and it just might save a life if the symptoms were discussed more openly.
-
I understand only to well. You explained it well!! It took 10 years from symptoms to diagnosis for me. I was diagnosed in 1998 at age 36.
-
Thank you both so much for this video! I'm at the stage where I think I need to go sooner to the hospital because my Appointment not till May 1 st. ❤
-
Boy, do I understand!!!!
-
Listening to how severe your symptoms were and how long it went on before anything was done about it was more frustrating to me than funny. It’s good to have a positive attitude, but there is nothing amusing about almost dying and no one taking the symptoms seriously,
-
Have Margot checked B12....no supplement of B12 for 4 to 6 months others they will be falsely high. MS is a B12 deficiency....I have done research on this. B12 shots work better than B12 supplements
