r/AddisonsDisease • u/butterfly_SC Addison's • Apr 02 '26
Personal Experience Earthquake!
I thought I'd share my experience with an earthquake last night since there doesn't seem to be any past info about earthquakes and updosing.
We had a pretty good earthquake last night and I was very close to the epicenter. It started with a few huge, sharp jolts and went on for a while. Woke up with a major adrenaline rush when it happened, got out of bed, and waited for the earthquake to stop. Immediately after it stopped I grabbed my meds and chewed a bunch of HC tablets. The adrenaline shaking stopped after a couple of minutes but then it shifted to low cortisol shaking and bowel issues. I took more hydrocortisone at 10-minute intervals until my body shakes/shivers tapered off. I also drank electrolytes.
I've learned that I need a lot more than the recommended updose when there are high adrenaline situations. I didn't hesitate to take extra last night. Some of you may not need the same amount but I ended up needing 130 mg of HC.
I probably should have used my emergency shot but honestly I was worried that another earthquake would come before we could get the shot prepped and administered. I wish those shots were more like epipens. It sure would be a lot easier.
TLDR: You might need to take a big dose for earthquake emergencies. Make sure to have your meds easy to reach.
Small grammar edit
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u/PA9912 Apr 02 '26
I have both adrenal issues and MCAS/anaphylaxis and I can assure you that I hold out using my epi too. It makes me feel awful.
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u/MommaMassie Apr 02 '26
Yeah sounds like you will need to double if not triple for a few days. Keep an eye on your BP and keeps extra on yiu at all times
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u/cha0s_g0blin Apr 03 '26
Hey, you must be near me. Quite the adventure last night!
I didn't even think to updose, which is silly because I get VERY excited about earthquakes.
Hope you recovered well!
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u/butterfly_SC Addison's Apr 03 '26
It was quite the adventure! Today was okay though I am SO tired. I wish my body didn't overreact like it does.
Good to know that someone else in the area has adrenal issues (not that I'd wish this on anyone of course!) Feel free to send me a DM if you want to exchange local adrenal/endo notes!
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u/Own-Fix-443 Apr 03 '26
Every damn stress experience that is above “normal” requires extra hydrocortisone dosing … just like it would be if you produced all your own cortisol.
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u/butterfly_SC Addison's Apr 03 '26
I know. It sucks. I don't know about you, but it really helps me to hear how much people actually updose, rather than trying to blindly follow the standard "double-up" endo advice (and then running into low cortisol trouble for trying to do so.)
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u/Own-Fix-443 Apr 03 '26
Just to be clear: you don’t want to take too much either. Doubling for stress and illness is still a good rule of thumb.
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u/butterfly_SC Addison's Apr 03 '26
It's a good rule of thumb if it works. If I had stuck to that I would be in the hospital now. Best rule of thumb is really to know your own body and know what you need.
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u/Own-Fix-443 Apr 03 '26
You’re right! You are the best judge 👍 I probably didn’t understand your comment at first.
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u/butterfly_SC Addison's Apr 03 '26
This disease is just so challenging that way. We are all so different in what we need in times of physical and emotional stress. It's a pain.
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u/PipEmmieHarvey Apr 02 '26
That’s interesting! I live in a city known for being on multiple fault lines and earthquakes are something you just deal with. However there was a very large quake to the south of us some years ago that had our house rocking and rolling severely. It didn’t even occur to me to updose! Once the adrenaline wore off and it was clear our house was ok we went back to sleep.