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Need Some Adrenal Advice-Have Low and High Cortisol

Misfit Toy

Senior Member
Messages
4,178
Location
USA
I am having both low and high cortisol levels. Just had my adrenal test come in and it goes like this.

Low, high, normal and high.

What does one do for Low levels in the AM? Also, high levels at night? What supplements work? I am on DHEA-5 mg 3 days a week because my DHEA is so low.

Here is what I have tried and what didn't work;

Seriphos made me feel nuts. Holy Basil and night made me unable to sleep due to my heart racing from it. I felt awful on it.

I don't know what to take. So many of us are made sicker by this stuff.

Here are my levels;

AM - 3 (13-24)
Noon -14 (5-19)
Afternoon - 6 (3-8)
Midnight- 5 (1-4)

This is causing it hard for me to go up on my thyroid medication. I really wish I could lower my high level at night because I don't get to sleep until 4 am.
 
Messages
15,786
Low, high, normal and high.
Your cortisol curve itself is actually normal - you're just peaking at the wrong time. It might be a form of a sleep phase disorder, which doesn't seem too uncommon in ME/CFS patients.

Basically your body thinks you should be waking up at noon and going to bed at 3am. If you aren't getting enough sleep, it might help to just go with it instead of trying to fight it.

Instead of taking meds in "the morning", you'd be taking them during "your morning" (early afternoon), etc. Though it's probably a good idea to check with your doctor and explain the problem.

I haven't heard of anything consistently helping ME/CFS patients with this problem to shift to a normal pattern. Taking melatonin for a few days helped me recover from an otherwise intractible shift resulting from jet-lag, but I doubt it's that simple for people with a chronic problem. And it made me feel like a zombie while taking it.
 

Misfit Toy

Senior Member
Messages
4,178
Location
USA
My DHEA is at the bottom of the barrel and so is pregnenalone. I am so tired and worn out. @PeeWee

Since I had my thyroid out, it's just so much worse and the thyroid meds...I keep being told they won't work unless I treat the adrenals, but how?

I have CFS, I am not like other normal patients with thyroid issues.

@Valentijn -you are right. My body thinks I should get up at noon. Exactly. I am on a very different schedule than everyone else.
 

Misfit Toy

Senior Member
Messages
4,178
Location
USA
@Misfit Toy Did your DHEA drop after you had your thyroid out? What was your DHEA reading when it was at its lowest?

pee wee, it was bad before the thyroid removal. It' a 12 right now. It's been awful. Also, I have zero levels of detectable levels of iodine. I have no iodine at all.