Can someone answer me a really stupid question about adrenal insufficiency. I have read a load of stuff about this and do not understand it at all. My question is: how can a surplus of cortisol in stage 1 adrenal fatigue cause weight gain, but (presumably) low levels of cortisol in stage 3 (which is where I suspect I am) not lead to weight loss??
Am I missing something? Any help gratefully received!
Ummm I don't know! lol I've never read that high levels of cortisol lead to weight gain.
I know why you don't lose weight when your cortisol is low, that's because you need cortisol to convert T4 to T3. If you don't have enough T3, you won't lose weight. It's the T3 - lack of and enough of - that controls the weight.
But as with everything, where hormones are concerned, you need just the right amount to function correctly. Too much is as bad as too little.
Hugs, Grey
Hi Grey. Here are some of the references I got the high cortisol = obesity from.
Stomby, A., Andrew, R., Walker, B. R., & Olsson, T. (2014). Tissue-specific dysregulation of cortisol regeneration by 11βHSD1 in obesity: has it promised too much?. Diabetologia, 57(6), 1100-1110.
doctorschierling.com/blog/f...
hormones.gr/157/article/art...
Plus a load of other articles on sub-clinical Cushing's disease (my GP decided that I had Cushing's at one point, so I read about it a lot. I don't have it!)
These seem to contradict other articles on adrenal fatigue, hence my confusion. As you say, it's all horribly complicated
Hi Ali, thank you for those links. The first one is brilliant! I think you ought to post that here for everyone to read. So many people say the have Fibro without any idea what it is. This is so clearly explained, they will learn a lot. I did, and it reminded me of many things that I'd forgotten. Terrible memory!
It explains very well why high cortisol makes you put on weight, especially in certain areas. (Which I knew but had forgotten!) I thought it was really good, and I've saved it for future reference.
I don't know what other articles you've read, but it didn't contradict anything for me. It all seemed quite logical. It didn't go very much into low cortisol problems, but that wasn't what it was about.
I also learnt that - according to that - I have/had Fibromyalgia!!! lol I have all the qualifications. Fortunately, when I mentioned it to one doctor, he laughed in my face. My next doctor diagnosed adrenal fatigue - low cortisol - so treated me for that. Not completely gone yet, but I'm working on it.
some of the references I got the high cortisol = obesity from.
Stomby, A., Andrew, R., Walker, B. R., & Olsson, T. (2014). Tissue-specific dysregulation of cortisol regeneration by 11βHSD1 in obesity: has it promised too much?. Diabetologia, 57(6), 1100-1110.
Plus a load of other articles on sub-clinical Cushing's disease (my GP decided that I had Cushing's at one point, so I read about it a lot. I don't have it!)
These seem to contradict other articles on adrenal fatigue, hence my confusion. As you say, it's all horribly complicated
Just to follow up on adrenal 'insufficiency' I have found a couple of blogs that I have found really helpful:
gutcritters.com/ really well researched and thoughtful
selfhacked.com/2014/11/23/a... debunks the notion of adrenal fatigue
I also like
adrenal insufficiency and thyroids
PRIMARY OR SECONDARY ADRENAL INSUFFICIENCY
stage 3 adrenal insufficiency 
Fatigue with adrenal insufficiency
