Blood pressure, BP change after meds

[Tiffy]

Since being released from hospital my bp has gone from 90/60 to 154/70 - today being the peak. My bp no longer drops on standing too... Would this be an effect of the hydrocortisone?

I also had a few scars (recent) that had gone brown in colour and my knuckles were 'brown'/dirty... these have now lightened too.... is this all a positive effect that the hydro is doing it's job?

I had a bit of an upset this morning (me being silly) and got very stressed and emotional so when i checked my bp it was 105/66 and hr was 112. I was weepy and my arms were heavy.... after a nap and calming down my bp rose to 154/70.

I can't locate anything that says how quick it takes for meds to help cortisol in the blood and if previous symptoms go or if they linger. I still feel very tired in the afternoon (about 4pm) and my 9pm i am ready for bed, but still wake up at 3am ish like an alarm has gone off and struggle to go back off again but last night was a first and i feel asleep again quite soon.

Can anbody shed some light please on how long it takes for the meds to start working their magic and if my increase in bp is a good thing that shows cortisol reaction to the hydro?

I still have a pain around my shoulder blade, and right pain under my rib/kidney area though.

[Shelley bob]

I felt better in the first week of taking HC. And yes the tanning will start to go away with proper cortisol replacement. What is happening is that the pituitary gland has been "yelling" at the adrenal gland for cortisol but for some reason the adrenal gland is unable to respond so the pit yells even louder and louder. The hormone that the pit uses to "yell" at the adrenal gland is very similar in chemical makeup to melatonin, the tanning agent in the skin. So when the pit is flooding your system with the signals for the adrenal gland to wake up and produce some cortisol it inadvertently gets the melatonin going too much and you get an "inappropriate tan". So when you replace the missing cortisol your pit stops yelling at the adrenals and therefore the side effect of the skin darkening also stops.
The blood pressure elevation is a good thing as well....that will help you feel better but also it means you have better blood volume which is super important for junior.
You will find that the more balanced your body gets i.e. with proper replacement of cortisol, you will find that your weepiness or over emotional reactions will temper as well. Some people here know that they are under replaced when they start to get weepy.

Hope this helps

[NJO]

I get weepy when I am low on cortisol. I also get more stubborn and anger more easily.

I also used to wake in the early morning hours but now I take my first tiny bit of steroid at this time and go back to sleep. Go with the flow sort of thing.

And I think you start to see the benefits of proper steroid treatment soon...you can still have a deficit for a time but it will build up and you may even need less hydrocortisone than you do initially.

[Joan]

One of the "good things" I noticed when I first started taking the cortisol orally is that the so called "age spots" or "liver spots" (as my mother in law called them) had faded and finally just disappeared! My hands are much nicer looking!