Re: Help with hypo/adrenal/hormone issues/Aldosterone?

[Guest guest]

Sensitivity to bright lights can be from low aldosterone, might be worth having

that checked.

Here's a link about it, from the STTM website. (I know all about the " pupil

test " , because I fail it every time.)

Here's the link

http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/adrenal-info/

Here's the description of the pupil test, from that link:

TEST TWO:

This is called the Pupil test and primarily tests your levels of aldosterone,

another adrenal hormone. You need to be in a darkened room with a mirror. From

the side (not the front), shine a bright light like a flashlight or penlight

towards your pupils and hold it for about a minute. Carefully observe the pupil.

With healthy adrenals (and specifically, healthy levels of aldosterone), your

pupils will constrict, and will stay small the entire time you shine the light

from the side. In adrenal fatigue, the pupil will get small, but within 30

seconds, it will soon enlarge again or obviously flutter in it's attempt to stay

constricted. Why does this occur? Because adrenal insufficiency can also result

in low aldosterone, which causes a lack of proper amounts of sodium and an

abundance of potassium. This imbalance causes the sphincter muscles of your eye

to be weak and to dilate in response to light.

>

> I am a 33 yr old female. For the last 6 months or so I have been working with

my ND to try and figure out what I need to do to feel better. Back in July I

had normal TSH but low FT3 and FT4 and high RT3. He put me on generic cytomel

and I am currently taking 30 mcgs, been at that dose for awhile and had to fight

him to even let me go that high. Labs done in Oct showed that my TSH was

suppressed, T3 and T4 were better but still not high enough and my RT3 was

lower but still not a good ratio to the FT3. I also have had 2 24 hr saliva

tests for cortisol. The first one showed that my cortisol was high 3 of the 4

times and it took a huge dive at the noon reading to below normal. He put me on

PS for this. I just repeated the test and I now have a more normal rhythm but,

the morning was very high and the rest slightly high. He told me to double my

dose of PS. When I first went to see him, I was bleeding every month in between

my cycles and he put me on natural progesterone cream--60 mgs every day with no

days off. It did stop the bleeding but I was not comfortable being on it every

day so I told him that I would like to reduce the dose to 30 and only use it the

second half of my cycle. I have only been off of it for 3 days now. My saliva

DHEA was also low so he had me start out at 5 mg and work my way up to 15. I

can't say that I really felt any better on it but I did start having migraines

every month while on it. My last test showed that DHEA was over range now so he

had me stop and hopefully the migraines will too.

>

> Basically I feel like I have been messing with so many things at once and I

don't really feel any better. Definitely not like my old self. Could the high

dose of progesterone cream be contributing to my high cortisol?? I am so tired

and frustrated and I don't know where else to go from here.Here is a partial

list of symptoms--there's probably more--just can't remember them all.

> Symptoms:

> fatigue

> hair falling out

> pale

> dry skin/hair

> cold

> no sex drive

> bloating

> weight gain

> sensitivity to bright lights

> brain fog

> feeling off balance

> forgetfulness

> spaced out feeling

> headaches

>

> Can anybody help? If you need more info just let me know.

>