I'm almost in tears because I have just confirmed that I'm not mad. I've been suffering from all the symptoms of CFS and auto-immune for the last 3 years. The "doctors" at my surgery have given three answers: "Get a new barber", "I think we should try you on anti-depressants" and "I have to stick within NHS guidelines". Finally I decided to part with the money and get my salivary tests done, specifically EN02 (Genova Diagnostics). I did this after reading and rereading Dr D-P's book. <Tips hat to Dr D-P>. My results confirm that I am adrenally fatigued which is what has put me in a hypothyroid state. There's no question what did this; it was stress, lack of sleep and more stress. They say stress can kill you - well, it does, slowly but surely. Now for the next step.
Coincidentally, I see an endo on Monday. This is only because I argued with my "doctor" and my results eventually showed "slightly raised T3". As I understand it, raised T3 can be a result of cell resistance - caused by... low cortisol. I shall post an update after my endo appointment and, probably, further self-treatment.
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amac
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Good for you! so pleased to hear you are getting somewhere. I have been ill with M.E for 17 years - most of them undiagnosed and am now being treated for Hypo by Dr S. Howevere the road has not been smooth and i am now finally going to do the Genova adrenal saliva test (been sitting in the kitchen drawer for a while now)
Well, dependent on the endo visit, I plan to source hydrocortisone and start taking a low, physiological, dose. As well as my symptoms, I'll monitor my BP, RHR and temperature. I'll also get back on the full self-treatment protocol (advised by Dr P's book) as I've been off it for a while to put myself in my normal condition prior to doing the test. This was so the results wouldn't be affected. It was a theory
A good friend of mine's wife has CFS. I forwarded my results email to him so she could look at them and perhaps consider the test.
I'm glad you're getting somewhere at last and I hope the Endo appointment goes well. Why on earth did your GP think a new barber would help - does he think barbers still give medical advice?!? Still, at least you managed to get a GP to test your T3 which is a major achievement! Good luck on Monday.
I have some hair loss at the nape and just above the ears.
My anti-TPO is in the high range but I'm not worried about that. I think it all goes back to the adrenals. We'll soon find out
My bloods have only been repeated because I sat arguing with my GP repeatedly. In some ways I sympathise with her because she has to stick to the "flowchart" lest she lose her huge income! She is clueless about the adrenal-thyroid link.
Doc's should diagnose based on symptoms and use bloods as back-up, not the other way around...
Hi Amac. Cortisol/adrenal issues are in my own experience indeed the fundamental cause of so many metabolic and related health problems - but it took me 15 years to tumble to the fact. I'd always figured my problems were thyroid related - they were, but cortisol/chronic stress was likely the underlying cause.
I've been working with and posting a lot about it lately, as have others - there's quite a few threads about with lots of angles discussed.
It tends to knock on into so many other areas. As ever in health it's a holistic/balance deal - there's multiple inter reacting and mutually reinforcing factors in play. When one variable gets out of whack, it tends to pull a lot of others with it. You may find it will help to read quite widely to get a handle on what seems to be a wider picture.
This manual (i've linked it several times before) by a well regarded US naturopathic doctor sets out how adrenal problems and chronic fatigue develop from chronic stress, and how they can be treated. clymer-healing.myshopify.co...
The sequence starts with high cortisol levels, but progresses to low levels as the adrenals become exhausted.
Recovery reverses the sequence. One related problem seems to be that after a long epriod of chronic stress the brain (hypothalmus) sets the stress thermostat too high - leaving us with a tendency to chronically high cortisol levels and exaggerated stress responses. I didn't end up with full blown adrenal fatigue, but did find that when i started supplementing my adrenals that my cortisol related blood pressure issues seemed to worsen.
Cortisol is a funny business. Too much is a huge problem, but so is too little - and realistically medicine only diagnoses issues in extreme scenarios. When in practice lots are suffering negative effects. There's quite a bit out there on the topic (by mostly naturopathic practitioners) if you dig.
This series of web pieces (and the manual) describe what seems to be a commonly used method of re-programming the stress response/hypothalmus using a variety of means, but especially by taking phosphorylated serine (Seriphos) to partially block the action of ACTH (the triggering of cortisol production) medicinegarden.com/2011/02/...
So far so very good here, but I can't vouch for its safety of anything else as data availability is limited.
Watch out for the high TPO - i found it important for recovery to be very careful with my diet, and to eliminate problem foods. Stuff like wheat, gluten, milk, flour, sugar and anything else you find you react too. (figuring this out can take care - when we feel c**p all the time it's sometimes hard to notice specifics) Elevated cortisol (which you may well have suffered for an extended period before exhaustion set in) messes with gut function and suppresses thyroid. Food sensitivities and other auto immune responses (including thyroid auto immune disease) are common consequences.
With a bit of luck you may have caught it before it got too established (i lost my thyoid to auto immune disease and a cancer after 15+ years of undiagnosed chronic stress, hypothyroidism and auto immune problems) - with the result that if you do address the adrenal and likely related thyroid issues recovery may be possible. (wish i knew in the late 80s what i know now)
I'd be cautious of underestimating the ability of auto immune issues to do harm though - the thyroid especially seems to get hit very early on. If its subject to auto immune attack for long enough then reversing the damage can be a tall order.
You could find that recovery will require work on thyroid replacement, although i tend to agree that cortisol is a good candidate for the root cause of this cascade of problems.
Supplementation is typically important to overcome the effects of poor absorbtion and use of nutrients (vits and minerals) in this situation too.
Another aspect to the chronic stress/cortisol picture is that sorting it seems very often (normally) to entail changing our lifestyle and mental habits. Meditation and mindfulness work can be enormously helpful (see Full Catastrophe Living by John Katat Zinn), as can taking steps to avoid bad mental habits or stressful relationships, jobs and other situations.
Regularising sleep cycles (cortisol can mess with them) can be important too - we had a thread on the topic in the past few days...
'stressful relationships, jobs and other situations' - absolutely. I'm still recovering from 2 x 25 year difficult family setups and paid the price! better to stand well back and become a philosopher, Vajra
Is the manual "Mastering your Life"? - the title does not seem to be medically orientated, and it is in the US.
What is the best way to get on to the related threads you were mentioning? - search on "adrenal"? Or are they grouped somewhere? - I am a bit green at all this!
Have you heard of Detoxx protocols by Kane et al, used by Ian Solley to cure his CFS?
Good going Tegz. I'm not a 'Buddhist' per se, but owe so much to Buddhist teaching and meditation training. I'm another that came up through well meaning but difficult family environments - and as a result of having been conditioned to over achieve ended up burning myself out at work.
It's amazing just how much getting a leg up in the form of some meditation induced calmness/space and some letting go enabled by new (gentler and more comopassionate) perspectives on self and life can help - with taking ownership of our life situation and with self work there's magical stuff that can happen.
'Mastering Your Life' is the manual Philip. The Dr. Poesnecker that wrote it (now deceased) was a big believer it seems in the need for a holistic perspective in working with chronic fatigue and chronic stress - hence I think the title. The basic thesis is that it's not just enough to pop the pills and continue as before. Something must have been wrong in our life set up or our view/handling of it or we wouln't have got ill in the fist place - so change (while difficult) is normally required..
Clymer Health it seems is a non-profit naturopathic practice. The title of the manual is a little misleading in that while not heavy duty science it's actually technical and specific enough to set out the basics of a treatment approach - it sets out the specifics of how chronic fatigue develops from chronic stress, and how he treated it using various supplements.
This site is a little awkward to find stuff on, but searching on 'cortisol', 'adrenal stress', 'chronic stress' and the like should bring up quite a lot. Bear in mind though that what i've set out is just my story. Tumbling to the cortisol dimension was very recent - even if it does seem to be quite a common scenario. It's certainly not specific advice.
Progress on getting sorted has for me been very much a personal journey over many years - with lots of instances of synchronicity and intuition pointing to what might at first have been an obviour route to improvement.
There's been multiple steps at quite widely spaced intervals, and they likely won't be the same for anybody else. Stuff like realising hypothyroidism was the core problem, having a thyroidectomy which removed a badly diseased thyroid, using meditation and mind work to get some peace, finding T3, getting my mercury fillings out, getting my immune system calmed down through diet and supplements (thanks T3 Paul), improving my use of T3 (thanks to lots here), supplementing the stock deficiencies, and most recently (and very belatedly) tumbling to the central role of chronic stress/high cortisol in the situation all delivered steps/played their parts.
Matching symptoms to treatment possibilities (takes lots of reading and contemplation) has been a central means of finding ways forward - and of course there's no guarantee that the situation will remain long term stable. There's not necessarily any quick fix available - not unless we get very lucky.
I've not seen Detoxx, but toxicity is potentially a part of the story - it can play havoc with our stress, auto immune and use of thryoid hormone. Mercury from tooth fillings as above seems to have been a factor in mine.
It must be such a relief after years of CFS which I too have been struggling with. I am awaiting test results from Genova Diagnostics for adrenal fatigue. When I mentioned I was having the testing done to my doctor she looked at me as if I was crazy and said my blood tests done at doctors would show if my sodium levels were low, indicating an adrenal problem, I was told my bloods were all fine but am going to ask for a print out at next appointment. I shall keep a lookout for your posts and am keen to hear about your move to recovery 🌞🌀🦋
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Problems with Genova Diagnostics and getting results
Hypothyroidism and high cortisol, low dhea
Cortisol saliva results
Cortisol results
Recent blood results (T3 only) 
