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Insomnia and hydrocortisone. Anyone have positive results?

WoolPippi

Senior Member
Messages
556
Location
Netherlands
My daughter was put on 5 mg hydrocortisone, because she was unable to get up for months after falling sick with this demonic illness. Over the years it's gone up. Now she's on 18 mg daily for the adrenals.

She wants to wean down,and is having trouble.
Why would she want to? Her body is telling her the supplement is quite welcome.

See Sing's post -above this one- about the myth that cortisol is bad. And an excellent book about safe usage

Can one permanently damage the adrenals on these doses?
No.
She's merely supplementing what her adrenals do not put out themselves.

Influencing the adrenals starts at 60+ mg per day, broadly speaking. Damage occurs in other tissues first and can be monitored there: jittery caffeinated feeling, osteoporose, symptoms of Cushings' syndrome, hormone blood levels. See book Sing mentions.

A CFS doctor prescribed this initial hydrocortisone.

Because it's a good aid to help the body deal with the stress of being ill.
 
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WoolPippi

Senior Member
Messages
556
Location
Netherlands
Does anybody know why this injection made me feel so good? Actually totally normal with a person who has a normal health I guess??
You got dosed with a powerful drug. An "upper". Anabolic steroids. Rocket fuel.

What you experienced was a high.

A high that plays into the human tendency for addiction.
Do not try to repeat this glorious feeling. It was a one of. This is what temptetion feels like.

However. It does tell you that your body is struggling to produce enough cortisol at the moment. This is valuable information. Use it to educate yourself about your condition and ask your doctor for help. Perhaps ask him/her to try low dose of the drug Hydrocortisone, 5 mg per day.

Stay away from the powerful anti-inflammatory steroid drugs like the two you got prescribed and Prednisone.


I read in many articles that cortisone is bad for long term use.People who used it had horrible side effects. I didn't. I had got better.
The articles refer to long time usage of the drug. 3 months and longer. You had a short course.

Also: I couldn't find information about the two drugs you took: into how much cortisol it is converted in the body.
See the post below yours for good information about safe usage of the better known milder drug Hydrocortisone.
 

erin

Senior Member
Messages
885
@Sing thank you for the valuable information.
What kind of specialist do I need to see? Immunologist?
I don't think my ordinary GP here at the hospital will have time even to hear my story. Different dr each time and very detached they all are.
My GP in the UK has been great on the other hand. I maybe wait until I go back.
 

erin

Senior Member
Messages
885
You got dosed with a powerful drug. An "upper". Anabolic steroids. Rocket fuel.

What you experienced was a high.

A high that plays into the human tendency for addiction.
Do not try to repeat this glorious feeling. It was a one of. This is what temptetion feels like.

However. It does tell you that your body is struggling to produce enough cortisol at the moment. This is valuable information. Use it to educate yourself about your condition and ask your doctor for help. Perhaps ask him/her to try low dose of the drug Hydrocortisone, 5 mg per day.

Stay away from the powerful anti-inflammatory steroid drugs like the two you got prescribed and Prednisone.



The articles refer to long time usage of the drug. 3 months and longer. You had a short course.

Also: I couldn't find information about the two drugs you took: into how much cortisol it is converted in the body.
See the post below yours for good information about safe usage of the better known milder drug Hydrocortisone.

Thank you for a detailed reply.

I didn't realize the drug I was given was so strong. It definitely could be addictive. I have no intention of such. I helped me a lot with the herniated discs. And the bonus help for my m.e.. Though the dr prescribed this had no idea what m.e. is. He told me to see a neurologist.

I will search about low dose Hydrocortisone.

I was researching the forum about cortisone and I had come across your other posts. They were very specific about your condition, you seemed to know a lot about the stuff. Thanks for sharing it.

The drugs I took

the corticosteroid injection
DIPROSPAN http://cheapdrugmart.com/diprospan-1-ml-ampoules-

and the other one is an anti-inflammatory
Oksamen – L freeze-dried for injection 20 mg

http://www.mn.com.tr/products/p_detail_Oksamen.aspx?productID=26
 
Messages
5
since there's been more discussion since i last posted in this thread i wanted to make a followup comment.

while cortisol supplementation can make you feel better, ideally you'd fix whatever's going on that causes the imbalance in the first place. long term supplementation can also suppress your body's own production over time, so there's also a danger of making things worse by going that route. when at all possible work with a health professional to resolve the underlying problems. the results will be better that way.
 

perrier

Senior Member
Messages
1,254
Why would she want to? Her body is telling her the supplement is quite welcome.

See Sing's post -above this one- about the myth that cortisol is bad. And an excellent book about safe usage


No.
She's merely supplementing what her adrenals do not put out themselves.

Influencing the adrenals starts at 60+ mg per day, broadly speaking. Damage occurs in other tissues first and can be monitored there: jittery caffeinated feeling, osteoporose, symptoms of Cushings' syndrome, hormone blood levels. See book Sing mentions.



Because it's a good aid to help the body deal with the stress of being ill.
Thanks for writing. Yes, I'm very familiar with Jeffries. But my daughter started to have life threatening GI haemorrhages in 2011, requiring transfusions, and the source of th bleed in GI tract has not been located to date. One doctor told me the hydrocortisone could have done this. I don't know. Th CFS doctors follow Jeffries. But she is exhibiting some symptoms of osteoporosis at such a young age. So, I don't know.

It has not made my daughter functional. She's housebound, bed bound, always feeling sick, flu feeling, malasise, low BP, the whole list...and nothing has brought relief. She's worse without the hydrocortisone, I guess. Totally flat out.

I sure hope this horrific illness gets addressed soon.
 

WoolPippi

Senior Member
Messages
556
Location
Netherlands
Thanks for writing. Yes, I'm very familiar with Jeffries. But my daughter started to have life threatening GI haemorrhages in 2011, requiring transfusions, and the source of th bleed in GI tract has not been located to date. One doctor told me the hydrocortisone could have done this. I don't know. Th CFS doctors follow Jeffries. But she is exhibiting some symptoms of osteoporosis at such a young age. So, I don't know.

It has not made my daughter functional. She's housebound, bed bound, always feeling sick, flu feeling, malasise, low BP, the whole list...and nothing has brought relief. She's worse without the hydrocortisone, I guess. Totally flat out.

I sure hope this horrific illness gets addressed soon.
I hope so too, it sounds horrible what she's going through.

Osteoporosis is one of the markers I have to watch out for with my long term Hydrocortison supplement so that seems to imply indeed that your daughter is on too high a dose. And it is not bringing a cure, how frustrating, since what you describe sounds so cortisol-related. :bang-head:

I'm sure you have looked into Aldosterone supplementation in combination with Cortisol. Aldosterone = Florinef = solely for BP
She doesn't take any herbal supplements that agitate the adrenals such as Ashwagandra or Echineaforce?

I found relief by eliminating all stressors from life ("silly stressors" such as negative people, noises, warm showers, ambition to shower more than once a week, eating nuts, watching news, eating the egg whites)

And helping the body by eating gelatineous foods (chicken stock; fish jelly; gelatine). Gelatine is easily absorbed. It's basically what cells in labs get fed.

And helping the lymph system by stretching and yawning. All while lying in bed, just like a lazy dog/:cat: would do. Nothing fancy or tiring.
Just breathing and yawning and stretching like a lazy animal helps the lymph system eliminate waste. It was the thing I had to do before I was able to lift my head.

and, lastly, making the stomach acid more sour. Taking HCL pills with every meal or whenever feeling nauseous. Or drinking diluted lemon juice.
This takes away nausea and gets bile flowing, which is a major waste eliminator. Cortisol usually makes the stomach acidity and it takes a lot of energy. With HCL pills you ease up on that demand on the body. I'm in recovery and I'm still on the HCL pills, even with HC supplementation.

I so hope the best for you and your daughter.
 
Messages
211
@erin i logged in to let you know my experience with 0.25mg dexamethasone was like yuors, i felt absolutely normal for the first time in years. crying of happiness, even. this wasn't a high, it was just my normal self, breaking out a shell of misery. i replicated this several times later. however the last 2 times i couldnt replicate it at the same dosage, so when ill try it again i will try a higher dosage.

i also came to this thread particularly because of my insomnia. after the dexametasone experience i started wonedering why i reacted like that. i cant just take dexamethasone so maybe i needed to fix whatever was broken. i realized one such option was to fix a glucocorticoid receptor issue.i realized such issues are part of mood disorders. so i got my self trying antidepressives and finally ive hit upon a good one. vortioxetine. this pill gave me energy back. i suspect this energy is tied to a resensitization of the glucocorticoid receptors.

Now It seems this has changed my reaction to sleeping pills. they seem to work much better but. im still experimenting but they actually seem to always work now, instead of once in while.

i also ahve a vague idea of this behaviour happening after strenous exercise at night but due to the nature of my problem i cant do that often. so i was wondering if the key here for the sleeping pills to work better really is a higher HPA, and if anyone who says sleeping pills dont work very well or leave you with worse sleep than withouh...maybe try to take HC just before bed and add the sleeping pill and see if there is a difference.

Im talking about benodiazepines. clonazepam, a very bad sleeping pill, has been now helping me sleep wonderfully instead of making me feel dead for the day the next day, without any obivous improvemen in sleep, most of the times i used it. once in a while things would fall in place and it would wokr,....about once in a blue moon. and the dosage i had to use for any sleeping pill was ridiculously low.....something was way off with this HPA axis I think. seems to be fixing now. I believe it was this axis.

my sleep patern is the same as WoolPipi:
- fall aslep for 5 hours
- lay awake for an eternity
- possibly sleep again in 2-4 hours time if the Gods allow and there is no anxiety to block it.

I also have this pattern for many years.
 

Sing

Senior Member
Messages
1,782
Location
New England
@erin

Im talking about benodiazepines. clonazepam, a very bad sleeping pill, has been now helping me sleep wonderfully instead of making me feel dead for the day the next day, without any obivous improvemen in sleep, most of the times i used it. once in a while things would fall in place and it would wokr,....about once in a blue moon. and the dosage i had to use for any sleeping pill was ridiculously low.....something was way off with this HPA axis I think. seems to be fixing now. I believe it was this axis.

my sleep patern is the same as WoolPipi:
- fall aslep for 5 hours
- lay awake for an eternity
- possibly sleep again in 2-4 hours time if the Gods allow and there is no anxiety to block it.

I also have this pattern for many years.

Also @WoolPippi

In addition to one or two 5 mg Cortef during the day (morning and mid-afternoon), I take from 25 to 37 mg Trazodone to sleep at night. Also some Gabapentin for pain and sleep. And extended release N-A-C, which is N-Acetyl-Cysteine, a supplement which is a pre-cursor to Glutathione. This last also helps with pain and sleep, interestingly. L-Tryptophan, another supplement, is also helpful for sleep and to a lesser degree, pain.

For awhile I also took a low dose Clonazepam and it helped with pain and sleep but my doctor wanted me to get off so I did. Also after awhile I realized it was making me depressed. So now I am happy with the regime above. I had tried for years to be properly awake and functional during the day and sound asleep at night, first using nothing, then every supplement and herbal remedy--the "natural" route--and finally gave in to a pharmaceutical approach: Cortef during the day and Gabapentin and Trazodone at night, but add in the NAC and Tryptophan, supplements I learned helped me too.

None of this bothers me or seems to cause problems or side effects, but rather is helping me normalize and balance the particular system I have with ME/CFS and Myofascial Pain Syndrome.

Oh yes, I too had had, and would still have, the poor sleep pattern you describe of sleep half the night then wake for 2,3 or more hours, then be able to fall asleep later for a couple of hours, a pattern which does not work in the real world. Back in those years I slept through the entire night about once a year by accident.

So, yes, I got motivated to find some pills to help and accepted the idea that my system needs help.

Trazodone, I recently read, was one of two medications--the other is low dose Naltrexone--which was found to help with the glial problem in the brain. So there is an additional benefit of calming down an unhealthy immune activation in the brain, if such is the case with you.
 
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Messages
73
You might consider trying alternative medicine’s approach to adrenal fatigue. I take two products - Adaptocrine and Adrenastim. I use a doctor in Ithaca, NY.