Hi:
I hear you loud and clear. Your IGF-1 is too low unless you are maybe 90 years old. I'm Kathryn from Virginia and I have panhypopituitarism diagnosed in Boston at Harvard/Mass. General in 2000. I started on replacement GH in July 2000. I had already been diagnosed with hypothyroidism back in 1996 but no one linked it to my pituitary at the time. I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia in 1995, too.
My pituitary problems were not caused by a tumor; they were caused by rupture of the sella turcica due to severe head trauma. I had symptoms of pituitary failure for over 12 years and had to see an awful lot of doctors before I found one that was willing to take the time to do all the testing required. Before my pituitary diagnosis, my cholesterol had risen from 160 to 295 and my triglycerides from 155 to 605. I was hardly eating anything due to severe nausea during this time so I knew these lipid levels were not caused by eating stuff with fat in it. When I started on growth hormone, these high levels started to very gradually fall. Right now, my cholesterol is down to 184 and my triglycerides are down to 182. That's the good news. The bad news is that it took so long for me to get diagnosed that I developed heart valve problems as the heart had to work so hard to keep going when my hormones were inadequate.
If I were you, I would definitely talk to your endo or neuro about the growth hormone issue as it is very important to have this hormone if the other replacement hormones are going to work at peak efficiency. Right now, my thyroid hormone is at too low a level and I can always sense when my hormones start to go wacko. A key issue is to have your hormone levels tracked very regularly as they are subject to fluctuation whenever something else is wrong, like getting the flu, having surgery, etc.
I empathize with your having to be in bed and feeling rotten. I also go through that plus also have severe pain 24/7 from the fibromyalgia. I have a really great daughter, too. She's my rock and I know I'm lucky to have a daughter like her. I have to share her with her husband and their 3 kids, but I'm happy that she's just a phone call away.
Hope I was a bit of help to you. Let me know if you have any other questions and I'll try to answer the best I know how.
Kathryn
