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Something clicked with me

drob31

Senior Member
Messages
1,487
I can't tell you why the cortisol is high or low (it's probably the PVN sensing inflammation, infection, or blood sugar issues, histamines, etc), but after reading an interview with David Zava, Ph.D, something that clicked with me, and I now understand something that it seems 99.9% of doctors do not.

It's common knowledge that low cortisol prevents thyroid hormone for entering the cell. It's slightly less common knowledge that high cortisol causes celluar resistance to thyroid hormone. However, high cortisol doesn't just cause celluar resistance to thyroid hormone, it causes cellular resistance to almost EVERY hormone, INCLUDING CORTISOL ITSELF. That's why it can cause blood sugar issues, and symptoms of low energy that mimic mitochondria issues, and also why it can match every symptom of hypothyroidism. It can give you hot flashes, which in women would mimic low estrogen, but their estrogen levels are just fine. It gives men libido problems even though their testosterone levels are adequate, because the cells resist it.

So if you feel like crap when you eat something, it may not be food allergies, it could be blood sugar disregulation. High and low blood sugar, sometimes hypoglycemia, and sometimes insulin resistance because the cells are insulin resistant due to high cortisol.

I'm not sure, but this should also apply to low cortisol as well, but in a different way.

Too much cortisol, again caused by the adrenal glands’ response to excessive stressors, causes the tissues to no longer respond to the thyroid hormone signal. It creates a condition of thyroid resistance, meaning that thyroid hormone levels can be normal, but tissues fail to respond as efficiently to the thyroid signal. This resistance to the thyroid hormone signal caused by high cortisol is not just restricted to thyroid hormone but applies to all other hormones such as insulin, progesterone, estrogens, testosterone, and even cortisol itself. When cortisol gets too high, you start getting resistance from the hormone receptors, and it requires more hormones to create the same effect. That’s why chronic stress, which elevates cortisol levels, makes you feel so rotten—none of the hormones are allowed to work at optimal levels.

http://www.virginiahopkinstestkits.com/cortisolzava.html
 

halcyon

Senior Member
Messages
2,482
I can't tell you why the cortisol is high or low (it's probably the PVN sensing inflammation, infection, or blood sugar issues, histamines, etc)
inflammatoryloop2pic-8bc72.png
 

drob31

Senior Member
Messages
1,487

Nice graphic. The question is what's causing the chaos? I mean personally I think I have an autoimmune issue, but everyone's different. Supressing IL6, IL1b, and TNF-a would seem to be a way to quiet the symptoms.
 

drob31

Senior Member
Messages
1,487
Another thing that would make sense would be to get an inflammatory cytokine panel done.
 

Gondwanaland

Senior Member
Messages
5,092
However, high cortisol doesn't just cause celluar resistance to thyroid hormone, it causes cellular resistance to almost EVERY hormone, INCLUDING CORTISOL ITSELF.
I would love to hear if you reached further conclusions regarding this subject. My husband has been overheating to the slightest stress - for instance regulating the camera to take a picture while birdwatching :confused:
 

drob31

Senior Member
Messages
1,487
I would love to hear if you reached further conclusions regarding this subject. My husband has been overheating to the slightest stress - for instance regulating the camera to take a picture while birdwatching :confused:


It seems he has an exaggerated stress response. When you say overheating, do you mean his temperature actually rises, or that he feels hot? Paradoxically my hands get cold after I eat sometimes, but return to normal after food digests, but this doesn't always happen. It's kind of unpredictable. I wonder if ammonia is a factor here.
 

drob31

Senior Member
Messages
1,487
He explodes in sweat.

I'm a little different, I guess, as my sweats tend to happen during the night, not from exertion. What are his cortisol and thyroid levels like? There is a hypothesis I've had that when cortisol is high or low, thyroid hormone builds up in the blood, and then when it stabilizes, a huge rush of thyroid hormone is felt by the body, causing hyper symptoms. Maybe exertion causes low cortisol levels to rise to normal, and then the thyroid hormone hits.
 

drob31

Senior Member
Messages
1,487
It is not from exertion, it is triggered by a stressful situation, and the silliest things can stress him.

Last time we checked (one year ago) thyroid was perfect and cortisol off the charts high.


Does he have any issues with water retention? Does he have the vasodilation or ammonia issues?

Cortisol masquerades as aldosterone in the kidneys. It binds to aldosterone receptors which would cause potassium loss and increased sodium levels.

My cortisol levels are high as well but still more or less follow a circadian rhythm.
 

Gondwanaland

Senior Member
Messages
5,092
Does he have any issues with water retention?
no
Does he have the vasodilation or ammonia issues?
frequent migraines and diarrhea. migraines alleviated by magnesium and diarrhea by charcoal
would cause potassium loss and increased sodium levels.
This can be true for him. Add to that potassium loss due to diarrhea and frequent salt cravings
My cortisol levels are high as well but still more or less follow a circadian rhythm.
I am intrigued by his overreaction to the smallest things, like he's having cellular resistance to cortisol
 

drob31

Senior Member
Messages
1,487
no

frequent migraines and diarrhea. migraines alleviated by magnesium and diarrhea by charcoal

This can be true for him. Add to that potassium loss due to diarrhea and frequent salt cravings

I am intrigued by his overreaction to the smallest things, like he's having cellular resistance to cortisol


It's very possible his high cortisol levels could be causing resistance to cortisol itself. The question is, how much is high enough to cause this? Since he has salt cravings and his cortisol is high, it's basically like he has the symptoms of low cortisol because of the resistance to cortisol. Another thing I see popping up with some genetic mutations is glucortirroid receptor resistance. Although I mainly saw this in nutrahacker reports, and everyone is telling me nutrahacker is terrible--more like nutraslacker.

Have you tried seriphos with him? How about magnesium?
 

drob31

Senior Member
Messages
1,487
I don't know what seriphos is. After about a month with goods results, magnesium now causes him instant potassium deficiency.

How did you find it caused potassium deficiency? What were the symptoms?

It's almost like a broken cycle. You fix one thing, another thing is revealed, you fix that, then another... etc. But at some point you gotta reach the end.
 

Gondwanaland

Senior Member
Messages
5,092
How did you find it caused potassium deficiency? What were the symptoms?
He got muscle twitches. I just remembered that the night before he had diarrhea from food intolerance (not poisoning) and I forgot to give him electrolytes when he woke up. :bang-head:
His electrolyte balance seems much more sensitive than mine, or at least he is not so deficient in Mg as I was.
 

drob31

Senior Member
Messages
1,487
He got muscle twitches. I just remembered that the night before he had diarrhea from food intolerance (not poisoning) and I forgot to give him electrolytes when he woke up. :bang-head:
His electrolyte balance seems much more sensitive than mine, or at least he is not so deficient in Mg as I was.


My RBC magnesium was low, but went up when I supplemented with oral Mg. First glycinate, then Magnesium Calm. I think this is lowering my potassium however.