Post by froufox on Mar 10, 2009 6:51:12 GMT -5
Hi,
I am new to this forum and just wanted to ask a few questions with regard to adrenal insufficiency. I have had CFS for 16 yrs and have several chronic infections and mercury toxicity too.
About 3 and half yrs ago after I had embarked on a chelation protocol for mercury and realising that I might need thryoid support I had a blood thyroid test which showed some degree of hypothyroidism. I began taking a low dose of Armour. Within a very short space of time it was obvious that I was becoming much more hypothyroid ...extreme lack of energy and could barely think straight. I had learnt that this can sometimes be caused by insufficient adrenals.... and as I had always had a lot of symptoms of adrenal fatigue, I decided to have an adrenal saliva test.
My results were very high cortisol and very high DHEA. Despite this and off my own bat and under no proper medical supervision I began to take hydrocortisone ... mainly at a dose of between 10-15mg, tho I did go up to 20 mg for about 10 days at one point. I was on between 1.5-2 grains of Armour during this time. I stayed on h/c for 6 months.
As I say I was under no proper supervision and as I didnt really know whether I was doing the right thing or not to just continue taking the hormones after 6 mths I decided that I should wean off. I went through an absolutely terrible time mentally & physically and my adrenals almost packed up... for example my legs would feel like they were going to collapse at any moment something I had never experienced before and the skin around my eyes got much thinner I came very close to committing suicide as it messed up my brain chemistry so much giving me severe depression no doubt due lower adrenal output's affect on thyroid hormones too.
After weaning off h/c I then had to come off Armour too at it was putting my adrenals under more stress. This helped slightly.
I have been really really struggling since then, but since then I have also been diagnosed with lyme disease plus other co-infections, which I must have had all along but did not realise. I suspect that even though I did not take a very high dose of h/c it seemed to be enough to suppress my adrenals which is the last thing I needed given the infections that I have.
I had a 2nd saliva test done just over a yr ago and the results were pretty abysmal..
7-8am 5.5 (12-22)
11-12pm 2.3 (4-8)
4-5pm 1.4 (3-7)
11-12am 0.5 ( 1-3)
So obviously much reduced levels compared to the first saliva test.
Ive been trying to treat the lyme in the meantime with some improvements here and there, but I am really not sure what to do with regards to my adrenals as obviously you need to have strong adrenals in order to recover. The treatments I am doing I feel are putting more stress on my adrenals and though I have felt some improvement in my adrenal function at times, they still feel much weaker than before I took h/c...I have little physical & mental/emotional reserve and when I crash I crash really badly. I am unable to work, and housebound most of the time. I have much more inflammation in my body, signs of increased ageing, loss of fat around my eyes, increased depression, and very poor cognitive function ...I find it extremely dififcult to read and retain information and have also felt suicidal several times over the past 2 yrs since coming off h/c.
Another thing is that I have severe sugar and fat cravings that get completely out of control. I used to have a lot of cravings for carbs anyway over the yrs pre h/c but since weaning off this has gotten completely out of control and I end up bingeing a lot on chocolate and other sugary and fatty foods. I assume this is partly a severe drop in glucose precipitated by the low cortisol and weak adrenals.
However what is interesting is that I also had a urine cortisol test done about 6 months ago, (6mths after the poor 2nd saliva test)..and the result was high cortisol....
281 (40-240)
and this is where I am confused..as I say the urine cortisol test was done 6 months after the saliva test but physically & mentally I did not feel much better when I had the urine test. These results show that my adrenals are producing enough cortisol but I am assuming that due to taking h/c there is some kind of problem at the receptor stopping my cells from utilising the cortisol, hence the low saliva results?
I know that urine cortisol is bound and saliva is free, so was wondering if anyone here knows what can cause the hormones to stay bound and not be utilised? As I say I have infections and heavy metal toxicity so these are obviously an important part of the picture.
Also as my adrenals seem to be producing cortisol, too much at least according to the urine results, does this mean that taking h/c again would be be inappropriate?
I do plan on having another saliva test done very soon and will let you know my results.
I hope my post is clear. I am really desperate for some advice and I havent been able to find someone who can guide me. Thanks for any comments.
I am new to this forum and just wanted to ask a few questions with regard to adrenal insufficiency. I have had CFS for 16 yrs and have several chronic infections and mercury toxicity too.
About 3 and half yrs ago after I had embarked on a chelation protocol for mercury and realising that I might need thryoid support I had a blood thyroid test which showed some degree of hypothyroidism. I began taking a low dose of Armour. Within a very short space of time it was obvious that I was becoming much more hypothyroid ...extreme lack of energy and could barely think straight. I had learnt that this can sometimes be caused by insufficient adrenals.... and as I had always had a lot of symptoms of adrenal fatigue, I decided to have an adrenal saliva test.
My results were very high cortisol and very high DHEA. Despite this and off my own bat and under no proper medical supervision I began to take hydrocortisone ... mainly at a dose of between 10-15mg, tho I did go up to 20 mg for about 10 days at one point. I was on between 1.5-2 grains of Armour during this time. I stayed on h/c for 6 months.
As I say I was under no proper supervision and as I didnt really know whether I was doing the right thing or not to just continue taking the hormones after 6 mths I decided that I should wean off. I went through an absolutely terrible time mentally & physically and my adrenals almost packed up... for example my legs would feel like they were going to collapse at any moment something I had never experienced before and the skin around my eyes got much thinner I came very close to committing suicide as it messed up my brain chemistry so much giving me severe depression no doubt due lower adrenal output's affect on thyroid hormones too.
After weaning off h/c I then had to come off Armour too at it was putting my adrenals under more stress. This helped slightly.
I have been really really struggling since then, but since then I have also been diagnosed with lyme disease plus other co-infections, which I must have had all along but did not realise. I suspect that even though I did not take a very high dose of h/c it seemed to be enough to suppress my adrenals which is the last thing I needed given the infections that I have.
I had a 2nd saliva test done just over a yr ago and the results were pretty abysmal..
7-8am 5.5 (12-22)
11-12pm 2.3 (4-8)
4-5pm 1.4 (3-7)
11-12am 0.5 ( 1-3)
So obviously much reduced levels compared to the first saliva test.
Ive been trying to treat the lyme in the meantime with some improvements here and there, but I am really not sure what to do with regards to my adrenals as obviously you need to have strong adrenals in order to recover. The treatments I am doing I feel are putting more stress on my adrenals and though I have felt some improvement in my adrenal function at times, they still feel much weaker than before I took h/c...I have little physical & mental/emotional reserve and when I crash I crash really badly. I am unable to work, and housebound most of the time. I have much more inflammation in my body, signs of increased ageing, loss of fat around my eyes, increased depression, and very poor cognitive function ...I find it extremely dififcult to read and retain information and have also felt suicidal several times over the past 2 yrs since coming off h/c.
Another thing is that I have severe sugar and fat cravings that get completely out of control. I used to have a lot of cravings for carbs anyway over the yrs pre h/c but since weaning off this has gotten completely out of control and I end up bingeing a lot on chocolate and other sugary and fatty foods. I assume this is partly a severe drop in glucose precipitated by the low cortisol and weak adrenals.
However what is interesting is that I also had a urine cortisol test done about 6 months ago, (6mths after the poor 2nd saliva test)..and the result was high cortisol....
281 (40-240)
and this is where I am confused..as I say the urine cortisol test was done 6 months after the saliva test but physically & mentally I did not feel much better when I had the urine test. These results show that my adrenals are producing enough cortisol but I am assuming that due to taking h/c there is some kind of problem at the receptor stopping my cells from utilising the cortisol, hence the low saliva results?
I know that urine cortisol is bound and saliva is free, so was wondering if anyone here knows what can cause the hormones to stay bound and not be utilised? As I say I have infections and heavy metal toxicity so these are obviously an important part of the picture.
Also as my adrenals seem to be producing cortisol, too much at least according to the urine results, does this mean that taking h/c again would be be inappropriate?
I do plan on having another saliva test done very soon and will let you know my results.
I hope my post is clear. I am really desperate for some advice and I havent been able to find someone who can guide me. Thanks for any comments.