Adrenal Insufficiency Support Group

Had a car accident - someone hit me in the traffic circle and then sped away! Anyway, I got out of the car to look and started violently shaking, it was cold out so I thought I was going hypothermic and didn't think of it as a crisis at the time. But I shook relentlessly and so badly I could hardly drive. Called the police, who called an ambulance. I was so confused mentally I couldn't think to take my pred - didn't remember I had a water bottle with me for ex., didn't even know where to pull off the road, had to call police and let them talk me through getting into a Walmart parking lot. Then I couldn't remember that my registration etc. was in the glove compartment. They called an ambulance but with their help I took my pred and by the time the ambulance came I was feeling somewhat better. My husband had also arrived - and so he started driving me to the hospital about 15 min away because I didn't want to go in the ambulance, but by the time we got there the shaking had pretty much stopped. Feeling just worn out today, kind of sore, headachey and nauseous but other than that ok. This was my first crisis, I looked up the shaking online and sounds like a crisis for sure, the only thing was my bp went high not low - it was up in high 150's on the top, I don't remember the bottom # but it usually reads 120.

The thing I saw online this am though, said shaking that bad with AI can be life threatening so I really should have gotten into the ambulance like the emt said. How do you make good decisions when you are so cloudy thinking in a crisis situation? I think I have to educate my hubby to not let me make any decisions if that should ever happen again. He needs to take over and he usually sits back and lets me lead...

And my poor new car! It was just a baby - barely six months old.

Deb

Well Deb, somebody just brought this up on the FB page - she gets so confused during a crisis she refuses any and all treatment. So you are not alone. And yes, based on my experiences, you were verging on a crisis. You probably should stress dose at least double for a couple of days to replinish.

THere were a lot of suggestions for her. I started with what you said, letting friends & family know to force her, also to list with her doctor and local hospital and police (so if she calls 911 from home) that refusing treatment is part of her symptoms...so if she is demonstrating ANY symptoms, they load her in the ambulance and take her in.

Very interested to see other peoples' suggestions! Very glad you are okay!!

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Cynthia

I'm so glad that you're alright! hugs!

So sorry you had to go through this, but so thankful you shared with us so we can all learn from it.

Thanks,

Tanya

Big hugs. I just came out of hospital on Monday from a crisis and...guess what! BP was sky high! With SAI, we get relative adrenal deficiency so it manifests differently but still needs to be treated. How are you feeling now?

So sorry to hear I also get high blood pressure and low blood pressure... I am glad I am not alone in that... I was begining to think something else was wrong with me besides SAI!

The car accident would be scary enough, and then that you had to experience the shaking on top of everything...... {{hugs}}

I totally understand not thinking (even if you had been clearheaded) that something is severe enough to go to the ER. I mean, how does one determine "severe enough"?! An example...one time, I played tennis in the TX sun with a 19yo. I tried my best to demonstrate that a 40yo could keep up. By the time I was done, I was DONE. As I was driving home, cranial nerve function was literally stopping. I called my dh (who was home) and commented on this (in a curious way), saying I was testing it and that it was strange how I was having trouble. He was like OMG PULL OVER YOU'RE HAVING HEAT STROKE. I said no, I can make it home (it was a straight shot, and I promised him I'd pull over if I needed to). Still, by the time I made it home, I was having more severe symptoms. Dh got the neighbor to come over right away to watch the kids, then drove me to the ER parking lot. We sat there until I felt better (or else we would've gone in).

But, in short, I agree with the above. A) notify your sig others to have the authority to tell you what to do if *they* interpret it as a crisis (and promise to listen); and also if you're not sure, then sit together in the ER parking lot and see what happens. We did that another time when I was experiencing a bad shaking episode. Luckily, that time it subsided and he turned the car around and drove us home.

edited because it inserted a funny face when I was meaning to make a point...

Post edited by: Footprints11, at: 02/09/2012 09:03 AM

Still feeling done in. Decided to updose today and tomorrow and see if I can't get back under control. Having lots of hypothermia, still slight trembling off and on (hands so shaky yesterday I couldn't hold my coffee cup in front of me), very very tired, sore muscles in legs/hips especially when I first wake up, foggy thinking but not confused. Neck and chest (from seatbelt)is sore also so it's possible some slight whiplash kind of stuff but in my opinion not enough to cause this low cortisol reaction. Do have some tingling/numbness right arm, probably coming from the neck. My reaction at the accident is bothering me because I don't believe the accident was that severe to have caused an immediate crisis type thing like that...so it's puzzling. I do usually tend to have more low cortisol type moments in the winter months and have a horrible time with the cold so it's possible just standing outside for a few minutes in the wind could have done it I guess, on top of the shock of getting hit. I have also had a horrible month at work with the budget cuts, it's not a happy place to work right now, so maybe it's all just catching up with me.

Deb

Yup, sounds like the stress is cumulative and this just tipped you over the edge. Take care of yourself! I hope you're feeling much better soon.