NR stands for "non-reportable" due to the DHEA result being above the maximum value that can be measured accurately - for their machine when doing that test
i had all highs last year and i had a dex supression test that came back normal and a 24 hour urine that came back normal
im actually dealing with PALS at the moment due to my useless endo so i mailed them a copy today and requested a copy of all test results with ranges as my endo only sends me what she wants too and says normal but without ranges
i diid mention in my first complaint to PALS that i suspected something wrong with my cortisol and that it needed more than a standard NHS blood test....at least now PALS can see that im not just some old patient making things up and hopefully will act on it
High cortisol and high DHEA is Stage 1 adrenal fatigue I think.
With a TSH of nearly 14 your cortisol is high to try and substitute for your missing thyroid hormone. Also the fact that you are dieting will boost your cortisol too.
I had high cortisol (although I haven't tested for a couple of years), although it wasn't as high as yours by a long way. Like you, I have also found it very hard to take sufficient thyroid meds to get my Free T3 up high enough to feel well. And I can't tolerate T4 either. In order to get my T3 dose to where it currently is (still not high enough), I had to creep up on it, constantly moving the size of doses, number of doses, and timing of doses. Sometimes I had to drop back a tiny bit for a week then try again.
What size of doses and timing of doses do you use?
I really think your dieting must be a big factor in your high cortisol. If your body has insufficient calories coming in then cortisol and adrenaline is produced to help the body cope with that too. Also, what kind of diet do you follow? Do you eat a low fat diet or a high fat diet? How often do you eat?
it is a low fat diet but the last few weeks ive been so dam hungry ive not stuck to it at all and have had cravings for bread, cheese and sugar.......not sure if cortisol related or not
but normally ill have a breakfast, lunch, dinner and maybe something late evening.....as a rule i dont go hungry and eat lots of fresh fruit veg and meat
With regard to your T3 dosing, have you tried taking a tiny dose at bedtime, just before you turn the light out to go to sleep? I actually found it helped for a long time, and I slept better.
It might not help you, but it won't hurt to try the experiment. You could try cutting the third of your doses into 2 and shift a bit to bedtime.
Also, could you take your first dose at 7am, and eat breakfast at 8am? Taking your first dose at 9am seems rather late, but perhaps there are good reasons for it.
I'm also wondering what goes on in your life around late afternoon (don't tell me if you don't want to, I don't need to know) that could make your cortisol shoot up for the third sample?
Can you do things differently at that time to ease your obvious stress?
The whole thing with dosing is to experiment, experiment, experiment. For a long time I took the bulk of my T3 dose early in the afternoon because I couldn't tolerate it in the morning. After a few weeks like that I started shifting tiny amounts of the big afternoon dose to the morning but I did it very slowly. Now I can take the bulk of my dose in the morning without having over-dose or hyper symptoms.
ill give the link a watch tomorrow when kids are at school and hubby at work
i can try a bedtime dose and an earlier dose in the morning, i only take at 9am as had coffee in the morning but now on decaff so that works
the afternoon well the kids are all home and normally riots are happening (i have problems with my 12 year old who has some proper anger issues and if things dont go his way or someone looks at him all hell breaks loose
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