TO: Mandy44 Re: Adrenal Insufficiency

[Jimlow]

Hi Mandy44,
Thanks for the kind words. My knowlege is really limited. I have a little knowlege in some of these areas because of my own fervent search for reasons why my own thyroid med was not working when I started it. I had a very similar reaction to yours, in fact almost brought this up in regard to your problem but was concerned I might be sending you on a wild goose chase and didn't want to plant an unfounded concern in you. Your search leading you to info about adrenal insufficiency causing certain symptoms to worsen if you start thyroid med, without first correcting it, is same info I first found. I also ordered home tests from "www.testsymptomsathome.com" for morning and midnight cortisol/dhea levels. Over a year period, I took 4-diff. saliva tests and  1-urine test(24hour) and all five were either low normal, borderline low and clinically low. After showing these to my Doc, he had me get an "ACTH Stimulation Test" but I passed it well! He remarked that my urine result of "10.7" was "very low"(can be up to 119 for males). The ACTH Stim. Test,  ruled-out full blown adrenal insufficiency, yet I still have symptoms of adrenal dysfunction of some type.
Tina999 has a theory, that about this, that sounds very possible. Besides her and myself, Ar1281a and ShannieK are all going through this strange varient of adrenal insufficiency. We're working on finding answers now and appreciate all your imput on this too. When there is not a clear answer, Docs tend to attribute to emotional or stress. My wife actally laughs when she hears this.(continued below>>>>)

[Mandy44]

I definitely will post anything I can find....And like I said before emedicine is a great resource.....I didn't know that DHEA was a marker for adrenal problems....Mine was high and I always attributed it to PCOS until now, I think I will have it tested when I go to see my doc next week- I also had high cortisol levels- but 24 hr urine showed normal results. I agree that more research needs to be done on all of this. If you go to this site it does list docs who are doing research across the country on thyroid issues- might be worthwhile to check some out in your area, it also lists diagnostic criteria for endos....You just have to search around it-
http://www.aace.com/index.php

[Jimlow]

We've been married 22-years and she know I do not have psycho-somatic symptoms. I rarely went to the Dr. for anything before my thyroid condition and was told by a Doc that was in my head too, until blood tests revealed Hashimoto's/hypothyroidism. I was once had a broken hand set without anethesia, not wanting to have it done at Dr. Office/Hospital. I averaged a Doc vist about once every 4 or 5 years.
Anyway, I can kind of understand Docs not wanting to tackle this because little research backs them up on treatments for sub-clinical A.I..  Some research I found, very interesting is that both Chronic Fatigue Syndrome & Fibromyalgia, present with a sub-clinical form of hypocortisolism. One emotional disorder that also does is "Post Tramatic Stress Disorder". The other emotional disorders, depression, anxiety and chronic stress, all cause elevated cortisol levels. One survey gruop that did studies on low cortisol found in Fibro & CFS patients, was the National Institutes of Health, so would be difficult for Docs to dispute that aspect of it.
Thanks for joining us in this research, please share anything you might find, we're eager to hear!!