Is it all in my head?

[aaamommy27]

I suffer from hypothyroid, gluten sensitivity and PCOS. I have also been told my cortisol is rising at night. I am looking into that. My question is, is that my head constantly spins. I have tried numerous pills to try to help and they all give me awful side effects. I do not tolerate much. I was on lexapro for years and had to stop the lowest dose because it gave me awful nightmares. I am also 40 pounds overweight and despite everything I do, it does not come off. I am really tired of being told it is in my head. Could it be something else? What tests should I have done? What kind of doctor should I seek? I feel sick all the time. I also am getting worse over the years. My allergies to food, my mind and so on.

[donjoe341]

Hi, I am sorry you don't feel well. I have PCOS and inflammation of the thyroid also. I recently found out that I also suffer from insulin resistance. If you have PCOS your hormones are definitely out of balance. I also suffered for a brief time with severe spinning sensation when I would bend over or lay down. I would be sleeping and get very dizzy when I would role over. You see an Endocrinologist to have your hormones and your blood sugar evaluated. Insulin resistance usually accompanies PCOS and causes it to become very difficult to loose weight. Do you see an endocrinologist for your thyroid? If you do, does the doctor know you have PCOS? The test I would have done is a glucose/insulin tolerance test. This will help determine if you have insulin resistance. Other conditions that insulin resistance cause are; high blood pressure, elevated cholesterol, skin tags, darkened skin pigmentation where your clothing rubs or in the folds of your skin. I take prescription progesterone cream for my painful periods and it seems to help. You should read up on PCOS and relation to hypothyroid, progesterone and testosterone.

[aaamommy27]

I am seeing a new endo in a few weeks. I am low in progesterone, but was told it can cause testosterone to rise if you take supplements. I already have the hair growth thing going on too. My testosterone is elevated at times and normal other times. My periods are doing better since eating gluten free though. I was clotting so bad a few months ago I became anemic. I just feel like a big ball of a mess. I cannot seem to get it all to work right anymore. I used to be able to lose weight. I will have the new doc check my insulin.
Thanks for the input!!!

[donjoe341]

I take prescription progesterone cream and it seems to help. I used to get very painful and clotty periods before I started the cream. I am curious who told you progesterone can cause testosterone to rise? I know a young girl who is on a birth control pill for elevated testosterone because of PCOS. She takes birth control pill that has a high amount of progesterone to fix her imbalance. I take the cream because I don't like synthetic drugs. I plan on asking my doctor if I can increase the dose and use it internally. I have read it can help greatly with PCOS. Progesterone cream can also help with hypothyroidism. It helps decrease the amount of estrogen in the body which can interfere with your thyroid hormones effectiveness. Is your new doctor a women. The reason I ask is because I didn't get diagnosed by a man and I saw a male Endo prior to my new Endo. I think women are more understanding of our problems. I wish you the best and hope you get answers.

[aaamommy27]

My new endo is a guy, but I also had to find a new PCP and she is female. I am on my period right now and again it is pretty heavy. I have all the symptoms of low progesterone, and I have a prescription for some. When do you take? I was prescribed for days 21-28 of my cycle. I am trying to see if the new endo can figure out this adrenal thing I have going on. My cortisol keeps rising at night. I will try the progesterone next month.
Thanks so much!

[donjoe341]

I take my prescription progesterone cream starting on day 14 until day 28. Fourteen days strait. I take 25 mg. at night before I go to bed. I will talk to my Endo and Gyno to see if the dosage could be increased and if I could take it vaginally. I have read this is more effective for PCOS. How do you know you have elevated cortisol at night? Before I got the progesterone cream I had my hormones checked through saliva testing. At that time my cortisol was high at night. I then had my cortisol checked through saliva testing 4 times in one day. It showed I was high in the morning. It concerned my doctor enough to check my cortisol through my blood and she said it was normal. I have something going on in my body that is causing my body stress. This stress elevates your cortisol. My doctor checked my adrenals and said they were normal. Maybe yours is different. I am not sure. Having hypothyroid and PCOS can really mess up your hormone balance. Make sure your new endo knows you have PCOS because it is important you get checked for insulin resistance. I have read that PCOS causes a women to be overweight and because of this she will have to much estrogen causing her thyroid hormone not to work efficiently. It then causes you to become hypothyroid. PCOS can  cause the hair on your face because of to much testosterone. You have a double whammy. This is why progesterone is so important. I wish you the best of luck at the doctors. Let me know how it goes.

[aaamommy27]

I did salivia testing for adrenals and it was a little elevated at night. I guess my adrenals are starting to get stressed. This could be that I am not on progesterone and my thyroid meds don't do their job. I am going to look into getting the armour from Canada and also starting Progesterone next month. When I stay off gluten and corn, my known allergies so far, my period is actually lighter. I just started 2 days ago and had some corn yesterday and last night was pretty heavy. Normally I would remain heavy for a few days, but I ate really plain today and my period was lighter. I really think it comes down to inflammation too. I had an allergy test done last year and corn and shrimp came up positive. Kinda different, but I have been trying to stay away from corn and my symptoms have gotten a little better. I see 2 new docs in the next few weeks, so I will see if they can be any help. Thanks for your input!!