Hello Everyone!

I'm feeling so much better today after just one PM and one AM dose of
Cortef.  I saw the endocrinologist yesterday, and to my surprise he
was willing to make some much needed changes.  He prescribed Cortef
(20 mg AM/10 mg PM) in place of the 3 mg of prednisone I was
previously taking.  That amount of Cortef translates to about 7.5 mg
of prednisone per day.  Also he prescribed 75 mcg/day of Synthroid to
replace the 50 mcg/day of Levoxyl that I was taking.

I had the cortrosyn stimulation test yesterday.  The endocrinologist
said that no matter what that showed, he was going to keep the Cortef
dose stable until my AM cortisol reading comes up to 15, and I'm
nowhere near that now.  The stim test measures the output of the
adrenals under pressure, but the 20 years of prednisone usage has put
my pituitary to sleep.  So, my pituitary won't tell the adrenals to
work anymore.  It may wake up, but it will take years.  The last cort
stim test showed that my adrenals were asleep as well.  I'm not sure
what that means.

To help alleviate my pancreatitis, I will no longer be taking Bactrim
by mouth.  Instead, I will be receiving Pentamadine by inhalation once
a month.

So, the docs actually *are* communicatong with one another, and I am
much the better for it!