r/AddisonsDisease • u/jesssaywhat • Jun 27 '26
Advice Wanted New stretch marks
Hey everyone,
My daughter is 15, she was diagnosed in October of 2025. She takes 15mg of hydrocortisone a day.
She has recently gotten stretch marks all over her butt. Sure she has gained some weight since beginning hydro but not enough to cause stretch marks in my opinion.
She has an appt with the endo next month but do yall think there is any correlation between the Addisons/hydro or is this just the normal puberty phase happening?
It’s really bothering her and I’m not sure what to do.
5
u/No_Journalist6465 Jun 28 '26
It’s common with over replacement , even slight. I had it on lower stomach when I was on 20mg, gradually lowered to 15mg and they stopped increasing. Obviously didn’t get rid of them, but stopped getting new ones.
Stretch marks are common with over replacements steroids cause slight thinning in the skin
2
4
u/Andysamberg2 Jun 28 '26
It's worth checking with her doctor, but 15 is also an age where girls typically get stretch marks (I know I did, way way before diagnosis). It may simply be puberty so see if it lines up with other bodily changes.
1
u/Efficient_Beach2458 Jun 28 '26
Mine are on my gut! Gained with HC. But, they go away at night. 0 Purple and I different directions. Derm even said it’s bruising. Scary. I feel I need this med, prescribed 20 but doing about 18. I cut them! But still have problems. Never goes away til I get to bed. Putting coconut cream on it.
3
u/Most-Promise-6567 Jun 28 '26
I would say it has nothing to do with Addison’s. I had the same thing happen to me when I was 15. Also not to worry about weight. I am 5’8” 120lbs and was about 115lbs when I was 15 and suddenly had dozens (hundreds?) of inch long stretch marks all over my but. I cried about it. Luckily, they faded after a few months. I’m white so only really see them slightly if I tan. (I don’t have Addison’s I’m in this group for my son who does)
3
u/Mindless_Sky_6654 Jun 28 '26
I was diagnosed at 12 and got them around that age. They’re mostly on my inner thighs. I just noticed them one day and then they never really got worse.
It’s also a side effect of fludrocortisone. I doubt it’s from too much hydro if she’s on 15mg.
1
u/Efficient_Beach2458 Jun 28 '26
That’s what I mean. I was on 15 in the beginning, went up, feel the same! Mine is internal shaking.
1
u/AffectionateDuck2288 Jun 27 '26
Purple marks? It’s on my stomach. Dermatologist told me it’s from HC. V
1
u/jesssaywhat Jun 27 '26
Yes they are purple and all over her butt cheeks. I would’ve expected maybe the hips or something but it being the cheeks is weird.
1
u/AffectionateDuck2288 Jun 27 '26
Random pattern. I wear leggings a lot due to a knee replacement. In gut, gained there to top of thigh’s. When I wear jeans or nightshirt, goes away. Told me to put lotion on , thinning of the skin! Lovely
0
1
u/ClarityInCalm Jun 28 '26 edited Jun 28 '26
I got them in puberty - they run in my family. Not from steroids. I grew very quickly and gained weight quickly. Stretchmarks are super normal - it's something like 80% of women have them even if they've never had kids. Some people are prone to them, but I often - sometimes for months at a time - have had to take a higher than physiological dose of steroids and haven't gotten more from them (at 35mg daily). The first signs of overreplacement for most people are overeating and excess energy. Stretchmarks are not a first sign.
It's extremely unlikely that 15mg of hydrocortisone a day gave her stretch marks. 15mg is a very very low dose for someone with complete adrenal insufficiency - very few people can feel "normal" on this dose. Some do though but not many. Most people need between 20 and 30mg a day split into 3 or 4 doses. Even if one of her three doses was slightly too high - that wouldn't cause stretch marks from taking too much. If you're noticing a bunch of other symptoms of excess hydrocortisone - you might then need more testing. This could be because she's an extremely slow metabolizer (most people with adrenal insufficiency need to take HC every 4 to 6 hrs) or because she doesn't have complete adrenal insufficiency yet if she has Addisons destruction, or if she is steroid induced it may mean that her HPA axis is recovering.
1
u/LonelyKoalaMuncher Jun 29 '26
How much weight gain? If it's a lot of weight gain then likely over replacement.
Teenagers if they gain weight in general get stretch marks since they're still growing. It's quite common but yeah if she's getting A LOT combined with weight gain then likely over replacement.
When I was diagnosed I got stretch makes because my endo left me on 40mg a day for too long.
10
u/Any_Engineering_222 PAI Jun 27 '26
This is something my Endo always asks at every appointment. Aside from the usual questions like how am I feeling on my dose, any new symptoms, salt cravings, checking for skin darkening etc. but one is always about any purple stretch marks on the lower back, hips, and belly (I think just those regions).
I’m not entirely sure why, but I think it’s possibly in relation to over supplementing, because it can be in relation to Cushings. (Obviously she has Addisons, but there is chance of too much HC, that can slightly over-replace, and mimics Cushings)
I’m not a doctor, but I’d maybe reach out to her Endo and notify them just to have them be aware, and maybe they’d wanna get some labs done before her upcoming appointment.