OT cortisol repairing adrenals Re: Function better with less sleep?

[Guest guest]

> I've had saliva hormone testing done (ZRT labs) earlier this

> year and in 2007 as well. Both times it showed abnormally HIGH

> cortisol in the morning and throughout the day, then abnormally low

> at night. Also LOW (age-adjusted) DHEA-S. Seems to indicate Stage

> 2 (maybe Stage 3) of adrenal fatigue, at least according to this

> reference: http://www.chronicfatigue.org/ASI%202.html. I think

> I've been operating at Stage 2 for many years. Glad it hasn't

> progressed further.

that's what i guessed. starting out same as me. i'm too HIGH cortisol

mornings & too LOW afternoons. labs say stage 4.

i learned that it was this excessive cortisol in the early mornings

that was keeping me from solid restful sleep. the adrenals would be

cranked on first thing in the morning and i FELT like i had a lot of

energy.

BUT by midday, my worn out adrenals couldn't keep producing cortisol

and so i'd crash. badly. like clockwork.

being a mixed bag like we are, too high/too low, it's tricky to

support the adrenals. like me, your daily OVER-ALL cortisol is

probably too high. (if you're stage 2 or 3 it's probably even higher

than mine.) you have to be very careful about supplementing with ACE

and HC as you don't want the over-all cortisol burden to go up.

what's been working wonders for me is something val, over at

NaturalThyroidHormonesADRENALS suggested: i take pure phoshatydil

serine (PS) at night and then anytime i wake up in the night i take

another capsule. i use up to 500mg of PS each night/early morning,

y'know, during my HIGH cortisol periods. i also take melatonin and

tryptophan. (i take tryptophan throughout the day.)

just before my LOW cortisol period is about to start, i take a little

licorice root (be careful with that stuff) and now, since i'm under

quite a bit of stress, i've worked back up to taking about 15mg

hydrocortisone in 3 doses a couple hours apart. don't do the licorice

root for longer than a few weeks.

you might not even need the HC. if you're stage 2 or 3 the PS,

melatonin and licorice root might be enough to get you started. if i

were you i'd try it for awhile and just concentrate on getting some

deep REM sleep. make yourself stay in bed, rest flat on your back

during the day whenever you can. take it EASY. that might be enough

to give your adrenals the energy they need to make it through the LOW

cortisol period.

the good news is that at least those babies are working, you just

want 'em to get in a more natural even rhythm. sleeping with a mask

helps and bright light in the morning helps this process too.

as i said it's tricky because, while you're high/low cort and feel

exhausted much of the time, i'll bet you dollars to donuts :-) that

your cortisol burden is too high OVERALL for the day and you don't

want to increase that load, compounding the problem.

i made that mistake before i got labs and so that's why i caution

you. for me, the symptoms of too high cortisol were very similar to

the symptoms of low cortisol. in either case i was exhausted.

no matter what, try to get solid sleep and DO NOT use adrenaline as

fuel. it's addictive! it's nigh to impossible to break the habit but

you must.

that rush of fuel you feel from lack of sleep (or exhilaration from

stress) is from adrenaline and the only problem there is that there's

just a limited supply and before you know it you're at stage 4 like

me. or worse where you're not making any cortisol at all.

~robin