Difference between Pituitary and adrenal

[jjohnson5409]

How can your doctor determine wheather it is a pittuitary problem or adrenal problem?  all my results point to both.

low cortisol level...  8.2   8am
atch    10  

tsh 0.94
FT4 0.8
FSH 7.1
LH 2.2
Prolactin 3.8    range 3.0-22
estradiol     57  

feeling like **** today.   should I ask my doctor to order a ct/mri of the pittuitarygland or adernal glands.  would they be able to tell anything by these test?   what about a Thyroid stimulation test?    
thanks for your help.

[kevieb]

my acth test started at 2.4 and i only reached 11.? afte the stimulation and second draw.----definitely adrenal insufficiency and not normal response to ACTH.  i take 30mgs of hydrocortisone daily 20 around 8 am 10 around 3pm---i feel like crap, but i also have fibromyalgia.   i've heeard the half life of hydrocortisone is only 4-6 hours---so i wonder if this explains why i feel so crappy during the day.  i get shaky at time and "just don't feel right" i also take 25 mgs of DHEA daily and 60mgs of armour thyroid.  i have had thyroid nodules for 13 years now--but they don't seem to be a problem--not by ultrasound or biopsy.
i just want to feel better.  my pituitary is the cause of my adrenal insufficiency, so i know there is no "natural" remedy for me---and apparently no hope of it ever getting better, either.    i've heard it is easier to treat the adrenal problem if you don't have to treat the thyroid problem, too--but my life seems to run on murphy's law.

your level of 6 is still in the normal range--but right near the bottom.   your level tripled after one blood draw---which is good,  you want it to at least double and to eventually rise over 20.

hydrocortisone did not make me gain any weight in 2 years---they are only replacing what your body would normally be producing on it's own.
good luck--i hope you can figure out what is going on---but it doesn't sound like it is necessarily adrenal related.

[remar]

I'm glad to hear your waiting to take the thyroid meds until you see the new Endo.
Do keep us posted on how your doing. Take care. Remar

[jjohnson5409]

No,  I am going to see a new Endo per my GP bcause he was not satisfied either.  He told me to wait to take the pills until I see the other Endo on Sept. 23rd.   I see the infectous dz guy on tuesday.   I did buy some adrenal support and thyroid helper in a Natural store.   I have to do something until then.  I also started taking Tumeric root capsules for the inflammation.   I will keep you guys posted!  

[remar]

I know this is frustrating and maybe you do need to see another Dr.
Hum? I don't know about mixing herbs with thyroid meds.
Research Adrenal Insufficiency and you'll see that you can have a high WBC with it. Maybe there is something else going on like an infection and you need to have that checked out.
Dealing with thyroid problems takes alot of patience, and if you add in adrenal fatigue it's even more frustrating.
Did your Dr seem concerned about your enlarged liver? You need to find out what the reason is that it's enlarged.
Did you go ahead and start the thyroid meds today? Take care. Corena

[jjohnson5409]

Are there any herbal meds you can take instead of prescription?   I have been hearing DHEA.  is that one?   The endo said I was fine and does not want to classify me as having adrenal insuff.   ??????????    he said since I responded to the stimulation then I was ok.  But hello, I started out at 6!     that is really low as I understand.   He said I needed to go see a Infectous dz doc for the unknown high wbc and high Crp.   Passing the buck!!!!    What is wrong w/ these doctors.    I don't even want to go.  I think I will follow my GP get the thyroid meds and treat the Adrenal w/ herbal stuff.  Sounds good?  

[remar]

I'm concerned about you taking thyroid meds with your adrenals being out of balance. I understand what your going through. My Endo wants me to get the cortisol test, which I will. She started me on thyroid meds before this test and I had a terrible reaction. I'm not saying you will, this was me and we're all individuals. She should have checked my cortisol levels first because I have all the symptoms of adrenal insufficiency.
There's more than one HC med so maybe you can do some research on them. Take care. Rema

[jjohnson5409]

I go today to the endo again!   I got some of the results of the stimulation test.

start cortisol   6
after 30minutes   18

then they took another one at 60 minutes but i do not know what that one was.    I feel like I just want to die!!!!    i can not take this anymore, and after reading the side effects for HC and the like , i think I rather die.   that is all i need is to gain more weight for no reason!   I feel like I will just cry.  Can it be something else?   can't i just take the thyroid stuff and it will help?  

thanks for your help

[remar]

I agree with Peggy. Your adrenals need to be stabilized before taking thyroid meds. Research adrenal fatigue and it will tell you this.
Are you seeing an Endo? I'm surprised he/she wants to start you on thyroid meds before they know what's going on with your adrenal glands.
From my research you can have a high WBC if your adrenals are not working properly.
Can you wait awhile until your tests come back before you start thyroid meds? I think that would be the safest thing to do.
Keep us up to date on how your doing. Take care. Remar

[jjohnson5409]

So does that mean no thyroid meds until the HC is working ?  Why don't these doctors know this???    And how will we know it is working ?   another blood test?  

thanks for your help

[peggy64]

adrenals need to be stabilized before starting thyroid therapy.

[rumpled]

No. You will need both, but the thyroid may need adjustments as you start to get better.

I don't fight off infections either...

[jjohnson5409]

I go thurs to thyroid meds.  the doc told me even if it is a cortisol thing I still need T3 and T4 replacement bcause mine is low.   I just did the cortisol stimulation test this morning.  the results will not be back until friday.  so the doc may also put me on cortisol-HC .    He thinks that the reason my C-reative protein and WBC are so high is because i have no cortisol to fight off any normal bacteria or infections.  ???   Should I not go on thyroid meds and just see what the cortisol does?  

[rumpled]

Sounds like you have some inflammatory thing going on - CRP indicates that...
WBC is infection.

Are you going to get on thyroid meds?

[jjohnson5409]

I had the adrenal ultrasound thrus. and it showed enlarged liver and the adrenals looked good.   I am so out of it though.  i feel like i am not in this world!  

I had additional blood test done:

FT3 - 230  Low
WBC   14.8  High
Absolute Neutrophils 14,000  extremely high
Neutrophils -  79.6 %
RA   was 13   and 14 was high???     dr said nothing to worry about
C- reative protein was extremely high  8.7

Now this scares me!   I wonder if I had some kind of parasite or something effecting my body!!!    Can Thyroid, adrenal or pituitary cause your WBC to be high?  

thanks for your help!!  

[rumpled]

They can - usually antibody tests, the stim tests, and the imaging will help.

My adrenals scanned normal both before and after removal, even though they were very enlarged so imaging is not perfect. That has happened to a lot of people, not just me.

Pit MRIs have to also be done correctly - dynamic is best and the new 3T MRIs are best since they are more sensitive.

You can have more than one problem.