Do my symptoms qualify?

[drob31]

I'm really trying to define my condition, and having an issue.

I'm waiting on the results from my cortisol saliva test, however I see it mentioned time and time again that two of the major symptoms of low cortisol are low sodium and low BP. I have normal to slightly high BP, and high sodium levels. Also, I have a good appetite, and I'm not losing weight, but more or less maintaining it.

I believe caffeine and ephedrine initially triggered my adrenal issues. I was using high doses, and eventually I noticed that I was becoming hypoglycemic and had bad fatigue. When I dropped the stimulants about 2 months ago I had a two day period where I sleep 11 hours without disturbance, but still felt dead tired the next day. Of course the of the last two months I have experienced the following:


*Night time urination (2-3x a night)
*Eye sensitivity, which is affected by sleep and blood sugar (caffeine or exercise seems to reduce this, although I'm now trying to avoid caffeine)
*Eye floaters (I don't think are new, but are very noticeable because of the sensitivity)
*Very minor tinnitus in right ear (only notice when sleeping on right side)
*Depersonalization
*Apathy
*Fatigue
*Foggy mindedness
*Low Libido
*Minor PEM
*Sleep issues (I can fall asleep at normal time, but always wake up 2 hours after sleeping to urination, and then my body trys to wake up in the
very early morning 4-7 o'clock on and off, but I resist it and sleep as long as possible.)
*Water retention (I seem to be holding water around my waste. I wake up with it 80% gone, but during the course of the day it builds back up, and is the greatest at night)



So I'm not really sure if I qualify as CFS or adrenal dysfunction, or something else like hypothyroid. I feel like I've bought every supplement that exists, but I recently discovered the methyl cycle block. My endo ordered blood tests for some of the basics like hormones, thyroid, dhea, and AC1 levels, however I'm concerned he will see something like low t3, and prescribe a medication and completely miss the condition, but instead treat the symptom.

The endo already tried to start me with some natural supplements by standard process: desiccated adrenal gland, adrenamin, hypothamex, orchex, catalyn, simplex m, and thyrotrophin pmg. As well as nano-lipo vitamin C, and genesis complex formula. His strategy is to try to treat things naturally first, to give your body the raw materials it needs. If that doesn't work he starts to move on to medications. But I realize how complex an issue it may be, and I'm not even sure what my symptoms point to, and I know he doesn't either.

 

[taroki]

The night time urination and water retention issues could be due to kidney stones. I had those same issues only just recently found out about them when my adjustable bed broke and went flat, then was forced to sleep flat for the first time in many months. Then after urinating a few times, my tummy was flat surprisingly.

I am currently drinking kidney tea to dissolve them and it seems to be working very well. I no longer wake up in the middle of the night to go pee and less bloating. I bought my kidney tea from here : http://www.sensiblehealth.ca

I can now sleep through the night for the first time in 10+ years. Amazing. Still my sleep time is shifted by 2 hours each day (so I am awake about 26 hours and asleep 9 hours) but that's another mystery which should resolve itself after fixing my gut, methylation, detox, liver flush, etc.

 

[Ema]

If I were you, I would wait for the results of the lab testing as that will give you a much better idea of what is going on rather than trying to guess with symptoms that can be vague and overlapping.

I think that is the first step, before just trying handfuls of supplements and seeing if anything helps.

Typically sodium goes low in people with primary Addison's because aldosterone is also low. This causes low blood volume and low blood pressure. But many secondary's have sufficient aldosterone and do not have this issue so it is not required. A person with HPA axis dysfunction could fall anywhere on the spectrum, really.

 

[drob31]

Thanks for the replies. I believe I had a crash Friday night through Saturday morning. I woke up Saturday and felt pretty fatigued, so I took 1 gram of vitamin c, 300 mg pantethine, 500 mg l thyrosine, and a jarrow b right b complex pill, and tried to rest some more. At some point energy just hit my like I tidal wave. I jumped out of bed and started running around and then went and did some pullups.

It's really inexplicable how energy comes and goes, and I have no idea if it's related to the supplements or my body just decided to start releasing cortisol.

In any case I noticed my night time urination is pretty bad. Sometimes it's 3-4x a night. The urine has a distinct smell... like almost salty. I feel like I'm drinking enough water but I know it could be a sign of dehydration. It almost seems like the kidneys can't hold water, which would be a sign of something like diabetes inspidus, but then again I don't have the swelling in the joints that would cause that.

I guess i'll have to be patient and wait for the results, which is difficult at this point. I've been trying to do less activity, but it doesn't seem to make a difference if I do less or more. The time I go to bed seems to be an impact on how I feel the next day.

 

[drob31]

I got my cortisol saliva test results back. They are inconclusive to say the least. I follow the green normal line, except at 6 PM it's really high, at 4 (ref: 1.2-2), and falls before bed. At this point I'm leaning toward hypothyroidism, although my TSH came back normal, as well as T4 and T3 was borderline low.

I've been taking iodoral iodine, and it immediately got rid of the fatigue, although my mind is still way off from working normally.

 

[drob31]

I should mention the doc prescribed armour thyroid to "try" to see if it helps symptoms. I'd like to run iodine for a little while before trying it.

I've been tweaking my morning supplements, and right now I just take 750 mg l tyrosine and 12 mg iodoral iodine (yes, 12 mg). I have a feeling my cortisol is high in the afternoon. I tested this theory with 500 mg of rhodiola, and it prevented my sleepy feeling crash, and kept me in a functioning state without a feeling that I need a nap.

I used phosphatydle serine yesterday before and nap, and I woke up pretty clear minded.

I think taking benedryl yesterday caused my sleepy crashes. I did not take it last night and haven't had a crash today, although I feel like I'm right on the edge of needing a nap.

Eating a meal seems to help energy, and I did have a half cup of decaf.


The endo doesn't seem concerned about testing for RT3, or cortisols effects on T3.

I'm going to do my own full thyroid blood test that includes T3. In the meanwhile I'm going to try to continue to speed up my thyroid by adding in 7 keto. I've also been eating brazil nuts.


My temperature has been between 97.7 and 98.3 for the last few days.

 

[drob31]

I'm not sure what to think anymore...

I got barely any sleep last night, yet woke up with energy, took 1 iodoral (12.5 mg iodine / iodide), and 1500 mg l-tyrosine. Felt relatively normal... then a got a massive boost of energy out of nowhere. I wonder if my miticondria are starting to fire back up, or hormones are fighting to get back in balance?

 

[drob31]

Just thought I'd update you guys. Yesterday I did start getting a little tired from lack of sleep for an hour or so, but all of sudden it went away. I can' t figure it out. I decided to take a nap when I got home because whether I felt like it or not, I needed it. I sleep for about 20 minutes, and then did not wake up groggy, which was strange. Later on after eating, I ended up doing HIIT cardio for 15 minutes, which is 1 minute slow, 30 seconds as fast as possible on an exersize bike, and I felt good afterwards.


My energy isn't super consistent, but I have no been getting the fatigue feeling, and have not been getting post exersize malaise.


I still have the frequent nighttime urination, and water retention (although the water retention has decreased slowly over the last few days.

 

[drob31]

How does these results look for cortisol?

http://curezone.com/aa/?1067980



To update this thread, the iodine / l-tyrosine worked for a week... then I started losing a bunch of hair.


According to Dr Rind, this means my thyroid was coming back online, but then my adrenal glands couldn't handle the burden and my thyroid crashed again.

Now my daily waking temps are 96.2, and I feel cold. Hopefully things will balance out a little bit again now that I'm off, but I took iodine based on the medical advice of a world renowned endo, but one who doesn't know much about adrenal fatigue, and thought my results above meant my adrenals were okay.

Thoughts?

 

[whodathunkit]

@drob31: Are those your personal cortisol results? They look pretty good to me, although the spike in the afternoon can indicate some incipient dysfunction. Mine were almost completely flat, below the level of low for all values all the way across the day last time I did a saliva test. IIRC I had a spike in the evening, too, although it was just a spike when compared to the rest of the flat line. It was still below the low evening range. More like a blip than a spike.

My understanding with iodine is that it can cause some thyroid hormone fluctuations and symptoms in the beginning. I never got my thyroid tested while I was beginning with iodine so I don't know first hand, but I do know my thyroid values improved after I'd been on it for six months, over what they were before I started it. I had a bad detox reaction when first starting, but the symptoms can be milder than what I experienced with it. Maybe more like your symptoms. Depends on the person. Now it's one of my foundational supplements. Love iodine.

I did the adrenal/thyroid dance for a number of years before methylation finally seemed to straighten it out. If you persist it's beatable. It may take some experimenting on what works for you, but it can be done.

My advice is: salt load. Salt your water when you drink it, put extra salt on your food. This is very important to help alleviate any sides while beginning odine. Salt is also good for adrenal adrenal dysfunction. I still put extra salt in my water and on my food, although I don't need as much salt as I used to.

Extra vitamin C. This will also help with iodine sides and adrenal function. Adrenals love vitamin C. I like liposomal vitamin C, although ready-made can be expensive and homemade can be a PITA. For me it's so much more effective that I just suck it up about the expense and inconvenience, and that's what I use exclusively right now. YMMV.

Adrenal glandulars. I think I posted this in another thread but Adrenergize by Enzymatic Therapy and Adrenal Dessicated by Standard Process are cheap and very good.