Re: Need Advice on Adrenal Issues

[Guest guest]

>

> Need your help on adrenal issues. 2 years ago cortisol was

> significantly below normal over 24 hours, but just barely reached up

> to just below the lower boundery of the normal curve in early

> evening. This year the same test shows cortisol below normal all

> day, but then begins to rise about dinner time and spikes extremely

> high overnight, causing me to feel anxiety/butterflies when I wake

> up.

>

> So apparently my adrenals can work, just at the wrong times and they

> go way overboard when they do. After that they are exhausted and

> sink way low until the next evening.

>

> How to treat that? How to get the adrenals back in sync?

Andy has suggestions in the adrenal section of his " Amalgam Illness "

book. Start with the diet recommendations (cut out sugar and fast

release carbohydrates, eat small meals and snacks with protein at

every snack). Then there are supplements - the adrenals need lots of

antioxidants like vitamin C, lots of B vitamins. See AI for other

supplements and doses. Then there is adrenal cortex extract. Many

use the one from Thorne if you can get it, but there are other

sources. Check archives for posts from Andy, but I think he suggests

2-3 caps 3x per day? taken early in the day so as not to interfere

with sleep. And, if all that isn't enough there is Rx cortisol if you

can find a health care practitioner to prescribe it. You may only

need 5-10 mg or so in the morning. See guidelines in AI.

Actually,

> lately the morning anxiety is gone, so I bet a retest which I can't

> afford would show my cortisol is again very low all day and night.

> That's what it feels like.

>Nothing Rx or supplements helps my

> depression, and I get fatigued very easy.

>

When you can afford it, test free T3, free T4 (these should be at the

high end of the normal range) and anti thyroid antibodies. Thyroid

problems are well known to cause depression and supplementing T3 can

help a lot (but the adrenals must be treated first).

> Licorice didn't agree with me. It felt like I was intolerant of it,

> similar to a food intolerance.

>I tried Isocort on 2 different

> afternoons just to sample it and I was surprised how tired, sleepy

> and depressed I got. Was it just one pill of Isocort that did that?

>

When I first started on Cortef at 20 mg per day I was sleeping 18 h

per day. My adrenals were exhausted and took a snooze as soon as they

got the opportunity.

> My doc said to put over the counter hydrocortisone gel on my buttock

> boils to reduce the swelling until our next appointment where he

> will take a closer look at them. He said the hyrocortisone gel will

> not absorb in the system. I think he was wrong.

You're right, he's wrong.

I got kind of

> nervousy with a fast heartbeat and didn't know what was going on,

> until I remembered about the cortisone gel on my buttocks. I wonder.

>

> Can you get a dose of cortisol from the gel applied to the skin?

Yes.

It

> felt like it. And if so, how would one know what dose they were

> getting with each dab from the tube?

>

My tube is 0.5 % (0.5 g/100 g). I don't know how to figure out how

much of this drug is absorbed. A pharmacist might be able to figure

it out for you. What you could do is use a consistent amount each

morning. If you use cortisol cream the sites of application have to

be rotated or you can get abnormal skin growth. It's best to use

cortisol with the advise of a physician, and as you discovered they

don't always know.

In Amalgam Illness there is a section where Andy talks about using

cortisol cream but I think his suggestion is only as a method of

getting a doctor to eventually write a prescription for the oral stuff.

I have used cortisol cream when I couldn't take cortef by mouth

because I couldn't stop throwing up. It works good and fast.

J

> Many questions here. I appreciate your help very much.

>

[Guest guest]

I have adrenal issues as well, and it is common for people with

adrenal fatigue to feel more energized at night. I don't know why.

Cortisol works for me at 15mg, but I think I will try the adrenal

extract next, since the cortisol doesn't seem to help them heal.

I've been on the cortisol for about 8 months, but when I go off of

it, my adrenal are still not working.

>

> Need your help on adrenal issues. 2 years ago cortisol was

> significantly below normal over 24 hours, but just barely reached

up

> to just below the lower boundery of the normal curve in early

> evening. This year the same test shows cortisol below normal all

> day, but then begins to rise about dinner time and spikes

extremely

> high overnight, causing me to feel anxiety/butterflies when I wake

> up.

>

> So apparently my adrenals can work, just at the wrong times and

they

> go way overboard when they do. After that they are exhausted and

> sink way low until the next evening.

>

> How to treat that? How to get the adrenals back in sync? Actually,

> lately the morning anxiety is gone, so I bet a retest which I

can't

> afford would show my cortisol is again very low all day and night.

> That's what it feels like. Nothing Rx or supplements helps my

> depression, and I get fatigued very easy.

>

> Licorice didn't agree with me. It felt like I was intolerant of

it,

> similar to a food intolerance. I tried Isocort on 2 different

> afternoons just to sample it and I was surprised how tired, sleepy

> and depressed I got. Was it just one pill of Isocort that did

that?

>

> My doc said to put over the counter hydrocortisone gel on my

buttock

> boils to reduce the swelling until our next appointment where he

> will take a closer look at them. He said the hyrocortisone gel

will

> not absorb in the system. I think he was wrong. I got kind of

> nervousy with a fast heartbeat and didn't know what was going on,

> until I remembered about the cortisone gel on my buttocks. I

wonder.

>

> Can you get a dose of cortisol from the gel applied to the skin?

It

> felt like it. And if so, how would one know what dose they were

> getting with each dab from the tube?

>

> Many questions here. I appreciate your help very much.

>