Question: If someone is having a recurrence of Cushing’s Disease, will the symptoms be the same as the original Cushing’s? What symptoms should we be looking for?

Answer: Patients who experience a recurrence of Cushing’s are often more perceptive of changes the second time and are often accurate in suspecting a recurrence. In my clinical experience, sometimes the patient’s symptoms occur before development of abnormal tests (24 hour urine free cortisol, nighttime salivary cortisol levels, 1 mg overnight dexamethasone test). I have learned to pay close attention to patient reports of changes, and to obtain serial tests to either confirm or exclude recurrence of Cushing’s. One important symptom of recurrence is sleep disturbance and new onset of feeling more irritable.

By Dr. Mary Lee Vance, MD (Winter, 2012)