Re: Help with Adrenal Cortex - HPA axis vs adrenal weakness

[Guest guest]

> >

> > The way I think about it is my brain is pumping out lots of ACTH

> > telling my adrenals to make cortisol. My adrenals can't make enough

> > cortisol, so they make as much adrenaline as they can trying to

> > compensate.

>

> ~~~ Could it be the case for some of us with " adrenal problems " that

> our adrenal glands themselves are fine, i.e., not

> fatigued/burnt-out/poisoned, but that the hypothalamus and/or

> pituitary are Hg poisoned, thus we don't have enough ACTH circulating

> at the right times?

Possibly. But remember dysregulated HPA axis can also cause too

much ACTH at other times and this can put heavy demands on the

adrenals and exhaust them. Anyone who has ever had excess

ACTH/cortisol, either from external, situational stress, or from

mercury problems (or both) for any significant time period, probably

has somewhat weakened adrenals.

> And are there reliable blood/urine/saliva tests to tell the

difference?

If you can get an ACTH stim test that would tell you if the adrenals

respond to stimulation. Basically, it tells whether your adrenals are

dead or not dead - not sure if it would detect moderate weakness.

HPA axis dysregulation might be hard to distinguish from weak or

struggling adrenals on saliva test. If a person has low cortisol all

day long, that could mean their adrenals are really weak, but they

might make tons of cortisol at night and it isn't showing up yet on

the 11 pm sample. Either way, though, you would need to provide more

cortisol during the day, partly to function better and partly to help

coax the brain to not make so much cortisol at night.

I think it is possible to measure ACTH, but I've rarely heard of

it and Andy doesn't talk about it in the book. I think HPA axis

problems would be pretty clear from a combination of symptoms and

saliva test. Any type of flat line saliva results - whether low

or middling or high suggests possible poor regulation - cortisol

should be high in the morning and go steadily down through the day.

Any upward trend on the 11 pm result suggests regulation issue.

> I think this could be important in terms of determining what kind of

> adrenal support might make sense for certain people (e.g., if the

> adrenals themselves are fine, supporting via adrenal glandulars may

> not be necessary, but stimulating with ginseng or licorice may be a

> better bet.).

Licorice is good for HPA axis problems. I don't believe it is

stimulating to the adrenals, but can cause problems for someone

with a fast phase 1 (liver metabolism). Could also be a problem

for someone with existing high blood pressure.

ACE and glandular products in general will help the glands heal

and also help them produce more cortisol if they can.

I'm not sure how ginseng works, probably it is stimulating.

Ashwagandha seemed in my experience to act like cortisol - it

clearly suppressed my adrenal function somewhat, I gained some

weight, felt very calm, and slept well when I took it. I have

read information that suggests its molecule is very steroid-like.

HC and cortef provide cortisol more directly, so they supplement

what your body cannot or is not making in response to your needs.

> Anyway, I'm just opening up this question for discussion, for anyone

> who is more authoritative on this subject than I (which is most

> everyone) to chime in. ~~~~ (Darren)

Hopefully others will add their comments. I'm not an authority,

just have read and thought about these things before, and heard what

others have had to say, and read the book (over and over and over :-)

--

> > If you really are low in cortisol, you need it to stay well and

> > get through chelation. It is really far better to have a reliable

> > flying machine (cortisol) than to rely on homemade wings with very

> > melty glue (adrenaline).

>

> ~~~ Love the analogy... very cool. :-) ~~~ (Darren)

>

> > --