I've been researching the detrimental effects of having consistent chronic pain and i came across something interesting when your body is under constant chronic pain.
Cortisol is a hormone made by the two adrenal glands (one is located on each kidney) and it is essential for life. Cortisol helps to maintain blood pressure, immune function and the body's anti-inflammatory processes. Located inside the brain, the pituitary gland regulates the amount of cortisol released by the adrenal glands.
So we are under constant pain from eagle syndrome and not only we are suffering from the nerve compression and all that, but our bodies are producing too much cortisol, when it should not as it's similar to adrenaline when it's only used when needed. Excessive cortisol is also known as "Cushing’s syndrome"
These are some of the side effects i found of having long-term cortisol:
Anxiety
Depression
Digestive problems
Heart disease
Sleep problems
Weight gain
Memory and concentration impairment
Suppressed immunity
Hypertension
High blood sugar (hyperglycemia)
Insulin resistance
Carbohydrate cravings
Metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes
Fat deposits on the face, neck, and belly
Reduced libido
Bone loss
Easy brusing
Dental decay
I'd like to know what you all think as i found it kind of interesting on how our bodies would react to this constant pain. I mean there's definately some repercussions having eagles long term. Maybe some cortisol drug treatments could help deal with the pain to?
Here are some articles i read on chronic pain and cortisol.
I had my second Eagles surgery in October. One thing I noticed very quickly was that I seemed to have no more 'Fibromyalgia' pain, or dental pain or Reynaud's. I am watching this. I just had blood testing for another condition, so will check the cortisol levels. I also do not grind my teeth or clench my jaws like before. These are only a few changes I noticed.
I first started having bad headaches in 09.....I wonder if thats when these started to grow. Ive had thyroid disease for 20 yrs. I first felt the 'bone' in my throat in 2012 when a CT was done and DXd with ES. I want to get these removed....but fear they will grow back and cause more of those horrible headaches I had in 09. Thoughts? I also want to get my cortisol levels tested. I KNOW my adrenals are off. Been hypo for 20 yrs and last year I swung hyper and now have DX of hashimoto.
Seeing that you have Hypothyroidism now. Did the doctor say you have too much iodine? If you are currently on some iodine supplement, maybe just take less of it but don't stop completely as your thyroid needs iodine in order to function properly. But because we're also under constant chronic pain from eagles, our adrenal glands would be under constant stress and keeps pumping cortisol.
I know that we have no idea what causes eagle syndrome, but i feel it could be diet related. Maybe we didn't have enough nutrients that caused a autoimmune response to send calcium deposits to our styloids or something? Just a thought.
As for the styloids to grow back, there was something that caused it in the first place. So i wonder if eating a healthy diet with enough nutrient value. Getting enough sun for vitamin D so that we can absorb calcium properly and so on.
Thoughts?
Lisa said:
I first started having bad headaches in 09.....I wonder if thats when these started to grow. Ive had thyroid disease for 20 yrs. I first felt the 'bone' in my throat in 2012 when a CT was done and DXd with ES. I want to get these removed....but fear they will grow back and cause more of those horrible headaches I had in 09. Thoughts? I also want to get my cortisol levels tested. I KNOW my adrenals are off. Been hypo for 20 yrs and last year I swung hyper and now have DX of hashimoto.
I personally believe it’s related to the thyroid. I have a friend that just got ES diagnosed and then found a nodule on his thyroid. I also have ES and just last Tuesday had a huge nodule on my right side biopsied (awaiting results now). Many ES patients have thyroid issues or nodules. Some just have thyroid symptoms. The parathyroid gland located on the thyroid is responsible for calcium placement. I am convinced there’s a relation!
Hopefully we're onto something here! If only some university did a study on e.s patients
Heather B said:
I personally believe it's related to the thyroid. I have a friend that just got ES diagnosed and then found a nodule on his thyroid. I also have ES and just last Tuesday had a huge nodule on my right side biopsied (awaiting results now). Many ES patients have thyroid issues or nodules. Some just have thyroid symptoms. The parathyroid gland located on the thyroid is responsible for calcium placement. I am convinced there's a relation!
Yes, I had Eagles, thryoid cancer and a parathyroid adenoma all at the same time. All of these are related in some way. Autoimmune issues are either cause by or causing these problems. Those symptoms all apply to all of them and until we have it all under control, we are miserable. I am 4 years post the thryoid cancer and parathyroid adenoma and almost 2 years post the Eagles surgery. While my bones are osteoporotic and I have back stiffness and some neck stiffness, my blood pressure, anxiety, sleeplessness and every other issue are almost gone most of the time. Wish I could get relief from my neck and back issues but am working on it. Not ready for surgery again. Just got over surgery to repair a torn hip muscle and lots of therapy to help the strained shoulder and other hip muscle from being on a walker for a few weeks. This is still too rare for anyone to be interested in researching but if someone does do some research, I would love to be a part of it.
I got my blood taken out today for a cortisol test. Will update on what it finds. If it doesn't find anything of interest, i'm going to get another test on a cellular level. It seems to be common with everyone doesn't it, the thyroid problems and stuff.
As you can see, the ENT doctors will disregard the symptoms that i posted that most of us eagle syndrome sufferer's will have, saying that an elongated styloid won't cause that. But it's because of the bodies response to chronic pain that causing it. They only say those things to save their own asses incase the surgery wouldn't fix them.