Re: Hormone issues - need advise

[Guest guest]

>

> Hi to Andy and all. Need some help on interpreting results.

>

> Hair test from DDI (done in February)is showing Na/Mg ratio at 0.29

> suggesting low adrenaline, K/Ca 0.03 (thyroid at lower end), Na/K 0.84.

Low adrenaline can be due to effects of toxins, not necessarily

a problem with the adrenals. Have you tried tyrosine? Also consider

folic acid, TMG, B6, and B12 (p. 254 of HTI book).

I will address thyroid below.

> Saliva test (done in March) 4x a day shows (to my surprise) normal

> cortisol, low testosterone (4pm and midnight bellow ref. range)and

> dhea-s towards lower end.

With low readings at 4pm and midnight, I'd look at where the morn

and noon values are in the range. And I'd look at the total cortisol

burden and its range. If these are barely in range, then some form

of adrenal support is needed. If the results don't look that bad,

you have to consider your symptoms and decide whether it is worth

trying anyway.

DHEA, herbals, and adrenal cortex extract are easy to get from HFS.

HC will require a prescription or finding another source, which may

take a bit longer.

> Blood test (done this week)shows ACTH 15.3 pg/mL(ref. 9-46)before

> exercise and only 16.7 20min. after. Might add that it was difficult

> to perform exercise so I was partly jogging partly walking. Reason

> might be that my BP did not rise during exercise(as it should) when

> checked immediately after (is this adrenal issue?)

I can't comment on the ACTH, since I am not familiar.

BP not rising during exercise might be due to your low adrenaline.

Not sure, but maybe tyrosine (and the others suggested above) can

improve this.

> Other blood test results: adrenaline 53 ref.<100 cortisol 267 ref.171-

> 530, HGH <0.05 ref.0.06-5, FSH 4.49mlU/ml ref.1.5-12.4, LH 3.61mlU/ml

> ref.1.7-8.6, Prolactin 32.46 ref. 86-324, Testosterone 9.98 ref. 9.9-

> 27.8,DHEA-S 87.4 ref.80-500 FT3 2.98 ref.2.80-6.45 FT4 19.9 ref.10-24.4

I don't know enough to comment on most of these.

Your thyroid is definitely low, with FT3 relatively lower than

FT4 - selenium and iodine might be very helpful with your numbers.

If not enough, then thyroid hormones are needed.

> My hair test is also showing lead intoxication, maybe mercury. I've

> been chelating since beginning of this year with DMSA, recently added

> ALA. It's been difficult both on and off especially last month

> (maybe " dump " has started).

What dose and frequency of DMSA are you using? Are you having

worse symptoms since starting chelation than before, or the same

as before?

> Should I be treating my adrenals and with what? HC? I have hypo

> symptoms. What hormones should I supplement? I think I should feel

> much better with these.

>

> I am going to see endocrinologist next week so I would be grateful for

> your insights.

As far as your adrenal and thyroid results are concerned, most

endos are not going to be very helpful - will not believe you need

support. You don't give a TSH - if it is high, you might get some

help. Otherwise you may be on your own, like many of us.

--

> Zoran

[Guest guest]

>

> Hi to Andy and all. Need some help on interpreting results.

>

> Hair test from DDI (done in February)is showing Na/Mg ratio at 0.29

> suggesting low adrenaline, K/Ca 0.03 (thyroid at lower end), Na/K 0.84.

Low adrenaline can be due to effects of toxins, not necessarily

a problem with the adrenals. Have you tried tyrosine? Also consider

folic acid, TMG, B6, and B12 (p. 254 of HTI book).

I will address thyroid below.

> Saliva test (done in March) 4x a day shows (to my surprise) normal

> cortisol, low testosterone (4pm and midnight bellow ref. range)and

> dhea-s towards lower end.

With low readings at 4pm and midnight, I'd look at where the morn

and noon values are in the range. And I'd look at the total cortisol

burden and its range. If these are barely in range, then some form

of adrenal support is needed. If the results don't look that bad,

you have to consider your symptoms and decide whether it is worth

trying anyway.

DHEA, herbals, and adrenal cortex extract are easy to get from HFS.

HC will require a prescription or finding another source, which may

take a bit longer.

> Blood test (done this week)shows ACTH 15.3 pg/mL(ref. 9-46)before

> exercise and only 16.7 20min. after. Might add that it was difficult

> to perform exercise so I was partly jogging partly walking. Reason

> might be that my BP did not rise during exercise(as it should) when

> checked immediately after (is this adrenal issue?)

I can't comment on the ACTH, since I am not familiar.

BP not rising during exercise might be due to your low adrenaline.

Not sure, but maybe tyrosine (and the others suggested above) can

improve this.

> Other blood test results: adrenaline 53 ref.<100 cortisol 267 ref.171-

> 530, HGH <0.05 ref.0.06-5, FSH 4.49mlU/ml ref.1.5-12.4, LH 3.61mlU/ml

> ref.1.7-8.6, Prolactin 32.46 ref. 86-324, Testosterone 9.98 ref. 9.9-

> 27.8,DHEA-S 87.4 ref.80-500 FT3 2.98 ref.2.80-6.45 FT4 19.9 ref.10-24.4

I don't know enough to comment on most of these.

Your thyroid is definitely low, with FT3 relatively lower than

FT4 - selenium and iodine might be very helpful with your numbers.

If not enough, then thyroid hormones are needed.

> My hair test is also showing lead intoxication, maybe mercury. I've

> been chelating since beginning of this year with DMSA, recently added

> ALA. It's been difficult both on and off especially last month

> (maybe " dump " has started).

What dose and frequency of DMSA are you using? Are you having

worse symptoms since starting chelation than before, or the same

as before?

> Should I be treating my adrenals and with what? HC? I have hypo

> symptoms. What hormones should I supplement? I think I should feel

> much better with these.

>

> I am going to see endocrinologist next week so I would be grateful for

> your insights.

As far as your adrenal and thyroid results are concerned, most

endos are not going to be very helpful - will not believe you need

support. You don't give a TSH - if it is high, you might get some

help. Otherwise you may be on your own, like many of us.

--

> Zoran

[Guest guest]

>

> Hi to Andy and all. Need some help on interpreting results.

>

> Hair test from DDI (done in February)is showing Na/Mg ratio at 0.29

> suggesting low adrenaline, K/Ca 0.03 (thyroid at lower end), Na/K 0.84.

Low adrenaline can be due to effects of toxins, not necessarily

a problem with the adrenals. Have you tried tyrosine? Also consider

folic acid, TMG, B6, and B12 (p. 254 of HTI book).

I will address thyroid below.

> Saliva test (done in March) 4x a day shows (to my surprise) normal

> cortisol, low testosterone (4pm and midnight bellow ref. range)and

> dhea-s towards lower end.

With low readings at 4pm and midnight, I'd look at where the morn

and noon values are in the range. And I'd look at the total cortisol

burden and its range. If these are barely in range, then some form

of adrenal support is needed. If the results don't look that bad,

you have to consider your symptoms and decide whether it is worth

trying anyway.

DHEA, herbals, and adrenal cortex extract are easy to get from HFS.

HC will require a prescription or finding another source, which may

take a bit longer.

> Blood test (done this week)shows ACTH 15.3 pg/mL(ref. 9-46)before

> exercise and only 16.7 20min. after. Might add that it was difficult

> to perform exercise so I was partly jogging partly walking. Reason

> might be that my BP did not rise during exercise(as it should) when

> checked immediately after (is this adrenal issue?)

I can't comment on the ACTH, since I am not familiar.

BP not rising during exercise might be due to your low adrenaline.

Not sure, but maybe tyrosine (and the others suggested above) can

improve this.

> Other blood test results: adrenaline 53 ref.<100 cortisol 267 ref.171-

> 530, HGH <0.05 ref.0.06-5, FSH 4.49mlU/ml ref.1.5-12.4, LH 3.61mlU/ml

> ref.1.7-8.6, Prolactin 32.46 ref. 86-324, Testosterone 9.98 ref. 9.9-

> 27.8,DHEA-S 87.4 ref.80-500 FT3 2.98 ref.2.80-6.45 FT4 19.9 ref.10-24.4

I don't know enough to comment on most of these.

Your thyroid is definitely low, with FT3 relatively lower than

FT4 - selenium and iodine might be very helpful with your numbers.

If not enough, then thyroid hormones are needed.

> My hair test is also showing lead intoxication, maybe mercury. I've

> been chelating since beginning of this year with DMSA, recently added

> ALA. It's been difficult both on and off especially last month

> (maybe " dump " has started).

What dose and frequency of DMSA are you using? Are you having

worse symptoms since starting chelation than before, or the same

as before?

> Should I be treating my adrenals and with what? HC? I have hypo

> symptoms. What hormones should I supplement? I think I should feel

> much better with these.

>

> I am going to see endocrinologist next week so I would be grateful for

> your insights.

As far as your adrenal and thyroid results are concerned, most

endos are not going to be very helpful - will not believe you need

support. You don't give a TSH - if it is high, you might get some

help. Otherwise you may be on your own, like many of us.

--

> Zoran

[Guest guest]

>

>

> What dose and frequency of DMSA are you using? Are you having

> worse symptoms since starting chelation than before, or the same

> as before?

, thank you for reply. I've been taking 12.5-20mg DMSA every

4h for 3 days 2 nights, every week or 2 weeks. Usually during round I

would feel weak, foggy but stable but after round (2nd and 3rd day) I

would feel headaches and dizziness. One round I took ALA only (17mg),

had headaches a week after (redistribution?). I am disolving DMSA in

lemonade and ALA in water and keep it in fridge. I hope it is stable

like that.

Generally I think some things are slightly better since I started

brain fog, some motor skills but some worse (hypo symptoms,

headaches).Since I am chelating lead and possibly mercury how should I

do it, since I read that for lead I should do only one round in a

month.

Zoran

[Guest guest]

> >

> >

> > What dose and frequency of DMSA are you using? Are you having

> > worse symptoms since starting chelation than before, or the same

> > as before?

>

> , thank you for reply. I've been taking 12.5-20mg DMSA every

> 4h for 3 days 2 nights, every week or 2 weeks. Usually during round I

> would feel weak, foggy but stable but after round (2nd and 3rd day) I

> would feel headaches and dizziness.

The symptoms will be reduced if you reduce the dose. I suggest

trying 6.25 mg for a few rounds.

One round I took ALA only (17mg),

> had headaches a week after (redistribution?). I am disolving DMSA in

> lemonade and ALA in water and keep it in fridge. I hope it is stable

> like that.

It's supposed to be stable for about a day. However, I tried

dissolving the DMSA in lemon water and it did not work well at all.

I had a lot of symptoms. The DMSA was not dissolving well and I

was not getting even doses. Symptoms improved a lot when I started

taking it in capsules.

ALA needs to be taken every 3 hours or more often - you don't

mention the timing you used. I would hold off on adding the ALA

until you can make the DMSA experience more comfortable.

> Generally I think some things are slightly better since I started

> brain fog, some motor skills but some worse (hypo symptoms,

> headaches).Since I am chelating lead and possibly mercury how should I

> do it, since I read that for lead I should do only one round in a

> month.

For lead, you can certainly start out chelating more often.

Eventually, as your lead burden is reduced, you may only need one

round a month for the lead.

For me, endocrine issues got worse when I started chelating.

Things improved drastically when I finally addressed them, and then

got worse again when I reduced the endocrine support. I encourage

you not to make my mistakes.

Getting hormone testing made a lot of sense for your situation - now

you just need to decide where to begin with treatment. I hope the

endo will be of some help - if not, there are a lot of resources

available, in the form of experience and suggestions of others here,

other forums, books, etc.

--

> Zoran

>

[Guest guest]

Sounds like your pituitary is kind of tired and not responding well.

This is actually hard to deal with, I'll give you some suggestions but detox is

the big one.

Medicine being a bureaucracy, the people in charge of something never really do

it, thus

endocrinologists don't actually help people with hormone problems. Ask around,

you

might find somoene who does.

You need to find out what the " reference range " means and how it relates to a

" normal

range. "

Sounds like you might have a paradoxical adrenal stress response where you don't

make

ACTH when you need to. This is hard to handle, it is very hard to guess how

much

hydrocortisone to take and when, and the only medication that corrects it is

carbamazepine at high (antiepilepsy) levels which has lots of icky side effects.

If you can get some hydrocortisone and want to take it, it is generally accepted

that it is

safe to take up to 20 mg a day, beyond that you have to keep track and be

careful.

With paradoxical stress response you may not need HC routinely, which then makes

using

it difficult since you have to figure out what is wrong and remember to take it

when you

are spaced out and not thinking straight.

Lots of antioxidants, omega 3 fatty acids, and some DHEA (like 50-100 mg a day)

may

help your pituitary do its thing, or may not.

If stress reduction is possible, use it. This means limiting exercise, not

going on long

shopping trips, etc. If not, see about getting some hydrocortisone and learning

to use it.

Keep track of what you do with it and keep a log of your weight. If you are

UNDERweight

don't worry about using it, if overweight, try to use it in such a way that it

does not lead to

weight gain. With paradoxical response your body often compensates by making

more HC

than it needs when it CAN send out ACTH, so you tend to be overweight and prone

to

further weight gain.

If the DHEA makes you feel a LOT better physically, and especially if it darkens

up the

color of your body hair or beard or head hair, then look into the testosterone

further.

Most " reference ranges " are too narrow so probably you are OK with it, but see

if you can

find oiut what the reference range means or at least tell us which lab did the

test.

Adrenal cortex (extract) nutritional supplement may or may not help. I'd

suggest trying a

bottle of it and seeing if it does. It is fairly innoculus.

Andy

>

> Hi to Andy and all. Need some help on interpreting results.

>

> Hair test from DDI (done in February)is showing Na/Mg ratio at 0.29

> suggesting low adrenaline, K/Ca 0.03 (thyroid at lower end), Na/K 0.84.

>

> Saliva test (done in March) 4x a day shows (to my surprise) normal

> cortisol, low testosterone (4pm and midnight bellow ref. range)and

> dhea-s towards lower end.

>

> Blood test (done this week)shows ACTH 15.3 pg/mL(ref. 9-46)before

> exercise and only 16.7 20min. after. Might add that it was difficult

> to perform exercise so I was partly jogging partly walking. Reason

> might be that my BP did not rise during exercise(as it should) when

> checked immediately after (is this adrenal issue?)

>

> Other blood test results: adrenaline 53 ref.<100 cortisol 267 ref.171-

> 530, HGH <0.05 ref.0.06-5, FSH 4.49mlU/ml ref.1.5-12.4, LH 3.61mlU/ml

> ref.1.7-8.6, Prolactin 32.46 ref. 86-324, Testosterone 9.98 ref. 9.9-

> 27.8,DHEA-S 87.4 ref.80-500 FT3 2.98 ref.2.80-6.45 FT4 19.9 ref.10-24.4

>

> My hair test is also showing lead intoxication, maybe mercury. I've

> been chelating since beginning of this year with DMSA, recently added

> ALA. It's been difficult both on and off especially last month

> (maybe " dump " has started).

> Should I be treating my adrenals and with what? HC? I have hypo

> symptoms. What hormones should I supplement? I think I should feel

> much better with these.

>

> I am going to see endocrinologist next week so I would be grateful for

> your insights.

>

> Zoran

>