Hello Wonderful HU people!
Perhaps some of you in the know could shed some light on the results of my saliva cortisol test. It was suggested that I may not be converting well due to adrenal fatigue. Can any of you see anything of concern?
Thank you!
R xx
Hi Rhsana,
I'm certainly not an expert on adrenal fatigue but all your cortisol levels seem very high, not very low. If your adrenals produce too much cortisol for prolonged period of time, they eventually get tired and cortisol drops below the range.
Do you know what could be causing so elevated cortisol levels? I had elevated cortisol every time I took medication containing T4.
I know you have recently switched from ndt to T3. How are you feeling? Are you feeling any different on T3? Are you sleeping well???
Take care xx
Hey Kitten1978 ,
I thought it may have something to do with that as my resting heart rate has steadily been coming down since stopping all T4 meds. I initially thought it was the T3 but when I came off T3 it was still elevated. I also did the saliva test in the midst of a 'flare up' (not sure If I can use that terminology if I don't have hashi's?) That being said it was on a day I worked from home so I thought my 'stress' levels would be less, but it appears not. So I am confused.... low cortisol means adrenal fatigue, not high? R xx
My heart rate is also much, much slower than when I was on T4 meds. I actually have a normal heart rate now, although I'm not optimally medicated.
Yes, low cortisol means adrenal fatigue. It's when adrenals get so tired they can no longer produce sufficient amount of cortisol. Hopefully your levels will come down now to normal levels, since you have eliminated T4 meds 
xx
Thanks Kitten1978 , hopefully, you are right and it is the T4 (though I was off it for about a week when I did the test). Just in case it isn't. Are high cortisol levels such as mine something of concern?
T4 has a half life of 7 days so after one week there was still a lot of T4 in your system. It takes several weeks for T4 meds to get out of your system.
If adrenals produce too much cortisol for too long they eventually get tired and adrenal fatigue sets in. Saying that, I had very elevated cortisol but my adrenals are in a better shape that I thought they would be. I guess the best thing you can do now is to optimise your T3 meds to make sure that your body doesn't have to compensate by producing excess cortisol and make sure all your nutrients (B12, D3, iron etc) are optimal...which is exactly what you have been doing. It may be worth to re-test your cortisol in few months to see whether your cortisol levels have normalised. Take care xx
Super! Thank you Kitten1978 , very helpful advice 
xx
Dr Myhill's article on adrenals and interpreting adrenal stress test results
drmyhill.co.uk/wiki/Adrenal...
ETA, that links doesn't seem to work.
Google "Adrenal Gland - the gear box of the car (DHEA and cortisol) – underactive" and there should be a link to Dr Myhill's article.
Thank you SeasideSusie ! I am really not having much luck with links these days; it says It cant be found:
Adrenal Gland - the gear box of the car (DHEA and cortisol)
There is currently no text in this page. You can search for this page title in other pages, or search the related logs.
R xx
See my ETA in post directly above. If you put that phrase into Google you should get the link that works.
Hurrrahhh! We have lift off! Thank you!! xx
Glad you found it . I've no idea why a link taken from the page the article is on doesn't work any more. I don't try to understand computers any more, it fries my brain
Yes it's hard to ketchup with technology! (Sorry couldn't resist) Rx
You might find this link interesting :
stopthethyroidmadness.com/s...
It shows the various stages that cortisol and DHEA levels go through from just starting to go wrong to almost total failure.
Personally I suspect people might spend years at each stage, particularly in the early stages. Whether it speeds up as failure gets closer, I couldn't tell you.
Even in the early stages, when cortisol is too high, it can be very difficult for some people to lower it back to normal levels.
Thanks humanbean - have you had any experience with bringing your cortisol levels down? R xx
I have tried Seriphos (the old formulation which was Phosphorylated Serine) but it was a few years ago when I was seriously ill with non-thyroidal problems. I found it almost intolerable - it made me feel as if I had severe flu on top of all my other problems. Having said that, I do admit the circumstances under which I took it were far from ideal. I would be willing to try it again now if I had to, since my health has improved.
I only took it for a short time - about 3 or 4 weeks perhaps, but I really don't remember accurately any more. I found it reduced the severity of my insomnia for a while but the effect didn't last.
In the last three months or so I have started supplementing with Holy Basil (HB). I'm taking these :
amazon.co.uk/Swanson-Spectr...
But shop around - that link is not a good price. It can often be bought for £5 - £6.
HB is working really well for me. I started taking 1, twice a day, but gradually increased it. I think the idea is for people to take a dose an hour before each high cortisol level. I took up to 8 (2, 4 times a day) but I've reduced it back to 4 (2, twice a day) usually, with the occasional extra 2 if I feel jittery.
Since I started I have finally been able to increase my T3 by 1/2 a tablet a day. I was under-medicated before and couldn't raise it without dreadful jitters and racing heart, but I'm coping fine now.
When I first started the HB I had problems with wanting to sleep so much that I couldn't control it. I also ended up nocturnal for a while. I spent a large portion of Christmas Day asleep for example. I'm glad I persisted though - I'm now sleeping reasonably well at night, and am awake through most of the day.
Yes others have mentioned Holy Basil! I am still researching what this all means, so is HB used to help sleep or lower stress levels? I don't have an issue with sleep as much as I did. R xx
Cortisol levels and sleep are so intertwined that anything which affects cortisol is likely to affect sleep - they can't really be separated.
If cortisol is high at bedtime then getting to sleep can be almost impossible for many people.
And lowering stress levels... I would say this isn't a good way of thinking about what Holy Basil or other substances that lower cortisol actually do.
Holy Basil can't fix chronic pain or fix low nutrients or increase thyroid hormone levels or fix any other causes of stress such as a nightmare commute or a bullying boss, for example. All of those things will cause stress and HB won't do anything to change them. It might make it a little bit easier to cope with the stress, but that is the best people can hope for, I think.
If cortisol stays high for a long time it can get "stuck" with the tap on high, even if the initial stressors that caused it are fixed or go away. Holy Basil may be the thing that turns down the tap for some people. It seems, for the moment at least, that I'm someone it works for. There are others who get no benefit. Sadly, it is all trial and error - there are no guarantees for anyone.
Teenage adrenal fatigue 
Adrenal Fatigue Syndrome
THYROID AND ADRENAL FATIGUE SYMPTOMS
Testing for Adrenal Fatigue
Hypothyroid, adrenal fatigue and Candida
