Jackie,
I feel for you about your weight gain... it truly is so disheartening when you are really trying to play by the rules, yet to continue to gain weight... that has been my life for the past 4 years. My other symptoms are so many, but, here are the worst ones...

*My hair has changed texture... it is wavy now (was dead straight), more coarse (was fine), thinner (was very thick), and falls out (way before RNY).
*Hair on my body where I do not want it: My neck and face, my inner thighs and about 10 hairs per breast... yeah...
*Skin tags, moles on neck and chest...
*Strange raise mole-looking rash on my feet/ankles/lower calves...pretty huh?
*Totally exhausted with zero energy, and extremely depressed... More fun huh?
*Buffalo hump on the back of my neck (fat on top of my shoulders) THIS is one of the tell-tale cushing's signs...
*Trunkal Obesity is what the Cushings Experts call my stomach! It is hard as a rock and looks exactly like I am 7-8months pregnant.
*I bruise so easily...do not touch me too hard, or you will see it tomorrow.
*It takes forever for a scrape, bug bite, wound, etc. to heal...
*My eyesight is definitely changing for the worst.
*The skin on my hands is definitely thinning...oh, and the age spots on my hands are totally gross...they look like old lady hands, not 39 yr. old hands!!! Lovely.
*I feel like I need to urinate, but, I barely have anything come out!
*My face is so red (on cheeks) I look like I am on FIRE...and most of the time I sweat when no one else in the room is even remotely hot! Ridiculous!
*MOON FACE-another Cushing Term... I always had a round shaped face, but, I just look like I could POP! I really look like a monster compared to what I looked like a few years back!
*My lower back and body is very prone to fractures and brittle bones...
*My skin is so dry, and I have 'cotton mouth' all day long.
          (I could go on, but, I think these are the major symptoms that I have been dealing with)

There are only 3 other symptoms that I do NOT have that are common with Cushing's:
*Irregular/weird periods
*Acne
*Horrible stretch marks across abdomen/ breasts and outer upper thighs...

I hope this helps...

Jackie, PLEASE DO NOT give up even if every doctor tells you that you are crazy, and that you are just FAT!!!
I cannot believe that I was one of the 15 in a million that get diagnosed in a year!

I really wish I had pushed harder to find out if I had Cushings before I had the Gastric and changed my entire life...but, I think the RNY will be beneficial in the long run...
 
Good luck, God bless and keep me updated on your journey!

Lisa

Lisa, would you please tell me what symptoms you had that made you suspect the Cushing's?   I am almost 4 years post op and am beginning to suspect this of myself.   I initially lost 126lbs; lost 105 in 6 mos. honeymoon and the other 20 in the next 6.   About 1.5 years out I got hit with many serious stress situations right in a row and I knew I was overloaded on the cortisol.  I began having psych issues I put down to low B-12 being leached from the stress but while supplementing helped it didn't rectify things and the pounds (no matter how many 5dpt's I did) just kept steadily packing on.   I just happened to be investigating hormonal/endocrine stuff the other night and came across some pics of cushing's patients and they look like my body...what it looked like before my RNY and now again that I've put on almost 50lbs in 2 years since these stresses started.  My chiro noticed and mentioned to me edema in my wrists and ankles and asked if I were under stress, having headaches or sleep issues.  When I said yes he checked out my adrenals and said they were inflamed and began working them at each of my visits.  Chiro has helped alot with anxiety and depress and cognitive issues but bloat and "kidney" pain is present.  I feel like I might be whining; maybe I'm just not trying hard enough, maybe too many carbs have crept back in but I listen to my surgery buddies talk about how they eat and what they eat and while they are fearful of gaining 1 or 2 pounds they don't believe it possible they could gain what I have in 2 years, nor might I add, does my surgeon.   The theory is I must be eating non-stop and I'm not.   (I will admit my desire to eat is almost non-stop and I fight it constantly which is why I get so mad when I go back to basics for 3 weeks, convinced I'm not trying hard enough only to GAIN 2lbs.)  I THINK the stress of trying so hard is actually producing more cortisol which is packing on those 2lbs!  I don't understand why I've packed on this weight and those folks are "cured".   I don't feel cured by RNY of my obesity disease and I wonder if the disease I had before and still have is really Cushing's.  BTW, in my research thus far, Kirklin is mentioned as one of the best for Cushing's; you are lucky to be in their vicinity.   I think I'll go research who is here in PA.   Thanks for letting me go on about this...I'm a little nervous.   J.

 I  was smart and asked for a business card after the appointment. I have just e-mailed the department coordinator and asked for an appointment for a second opinion. This is life changing surgery. I WON'T let the DR. make this decision for me, as he seemed to opt for the simplestest for HIM, and not what would best suit my body type. I need FACTS to get it right for MY needs..
  Thanks for the information and moral support. ~ Barbara

 Lynn, Thank You for your interest. What I am unhappy about, is that after all this weight loss (170+ lbs.), the plastic surgeon said that my stomach apron skin wasn't usuable for the reconstruction.  Is this true? He said that he couldn't use the skin (and then do a tummy tuck, afterwards - as I had hoped for). He also said that the remaining breast (which is nearly flat now and was VERY large) is a problem due to it's former size. He said that I may lose THAT nipple, too, in the reduction. (As he was telling me this, he mentioned that he could give me a "good price" on the tummy tuck and excess skin removal surgeries). I was wondering if he suggested the  Lattisimus Dorsi Flap, so that he could do the tummy tuck seperately, and charge me for it.
 This is a new surgeon, I don't know his thinking. I understand that the radiated breast skin is different, now.  But, I don't understand why the stomach apron cannot be used. I have lost so much weight, that I really don't have much body fat left. How could I have a reconstruction WITHOUT an implant, as he suggested (for a size "B") with so little body fat?  How would the breast be full and round without body fat - OR an implant? And how is the skin on my back superior to the stomach skin? Is it because it hasn't been stretched as much by the weight gain/loss?

I did have my RNY after reconstruction.  I suspect that I would choose smaller implants if I were doing it at my current weight.  Not too much smaller and I'm still happy enough with the size I have.  I have had no complications with the RNY or the reconstruction.  I was boobless for almost 5 years before I opted for reconstruction so my chest was all healed before I started that process.  I'm also happy I had implants instead of autologous flap reconstruction.  They may not look as real as flap reconstruction would but they are perkier LOL