Adrenal Stress Profile - Cortisol & DHEA - Comments and advice please.

[Justy]

Hi all, just got my Genova Diagnostics Adrenal stress profile results back (saliva)

Cortisol results:

Sample 1 (post awakening, approx 7.50 am)

18.2 (12 -22) In range.

Sample 2 (+ 4-5 hours - approx 12.15pm)

1.5 (5.0 -9.0) Low.

Sample 3 (+ 4-5 hours -approx 5pm)

4.4 (3.0 -7.0) In range

Sample 4 (prior to sleep -approx 11.45 pm)

0.5 (1.0 - 3.0) Low.

Total daily Cortisol: 24.6 (21 -41 nmol/L) In range.

DHEA Levels:

Sample 2 (AM) 0.07 Low

Sample 3 (PM) 0.41 Low No ranges given for DHEA results

DHEA : Cortisol ratio - 0.41 (1.0 - 4.0) Low

DHEA Mean - 0.10 ( 0.30 - 1.00) Low

I am sure this explains my problems with taking Armour thyroid (got much more ill after initially feeling much better)

Please also note i have been using an inhaled steroid long term, but dose low (in the past has been very high)

Any suggestions/expalanations gratefully received - is this why i feel so appaling? are these results terrible or not that bad? Interesting that they are normal on waking - and yet feel so crap when i wake up.

All the best Justy

[Hidden]

Sorry you had no replies, I am posting to push this back onto the latest activity.

For future reference, people tend to get a better response in the Question section.

L

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[Justy]

Thanks Louise - yes i was unsure of the best category to post in.

Has anyone got any comments or idea for me - im not sure what all this means!

TC Justine.

[vajra]

HI Justy. I'm cautious about seeming to offer advice, but drawing on the Clymer Health manual (produced by a doctor at a US naturopathic clinic) I've been working with clymer-healing.myshopify.co... it seems that low to intermittently low cortisol and DHEA levels might suggest the beginnings of adrenal fatigue, and/or some possibly stress induced disturbance of the sleep/diurnal/adrenal cycle.

There's also possibly natural variability (?) and certainly disease processes which might lead to low cortisol, but the latter is definitely professional doctor territory.

Both low and high cortisol can lead to turning down of the thyroid metabolism (less T3 conversion, more reversing of T3) - seemingly in order to give the adrenals a chance to go partially off line to recover. Which produces hypothyroid fatigue symptoms, but is also sending us a clear message that it's time to back off on stress and workload to give them a chance.

Continuing to push at this stage/forcing up risks worsening the situation, creates an exposure to hypothyroidism, difficult adrenal problems and the many complexes of fatigue and secondary illness we tend to see around here.

The manual sets out the stages by which we may progress from chrocially raised cortisol (adrenal output) to adrenal exhaustion - with an internediate stage where they pop and bang to deliver high oputput at times, and low at others.

It seems from the manual that post traumatic as well as ongoing (and even foetal) stress can lead to an ultimately inappropriate programming/training of the HPA (hypothalmus/pituitary/adrenal) axis so that we over react to stress. This it reckons can often be reversed.

I've posted at length over the past few months on the promising results i seem to be obtaining by following this route (it entails the use of adaptogens as described - it's early days yet), but my adrenals were at the earlier or likely more recovered stage where my cortisol output was chronically raised most of the time.

This is are a good series of pages that describe what chronically high cortisol feels like: medicinegarden.com/2011/02/... I'm unclear on the symptoms of the possibly subsequent low cortisol feel like - but they reportedly mix many of the symptoms of hypothyroidism with an extra 'deadness' caused by the low cortisol.

Getting some rest/getting away from the sources of stress (if this is indeed what's going on) is essential. Which tends to mean lifestyle changes and/or working to re-programme the HPA - the latter if the problem is down to a post traumatic or a learned stress response.

The manual outlines methods of supplementing the adrenals where fatigue has set in, and there are others here with experience of that.

ian