Cortisol levels and iron therapy?

[owl87]

Hi everyone,

Does anyone know/has experienced changing cortisol levels as iron deficiency is resolved? I’ve been undermedicated and iron deficient for a while so have been taking iron medicine and initially felt better but 2 months in i appear to be experiencing horrendous high cortisol symptoms. I have heard that low iron reduces cortisol output so I wondered if rising levels could be causing this?

I also wanted to ask i need to up my t3 as I’m very undermedicated however I was already having trouble raising which I assumed was due to iron deficiency and would be helped by iron but now I’m having horrible palpitations/wiredness/anxiety etc from this issue. How can I raise the T3 without making the symptoms worse? Thank you!

[Hidden]

I would have thought that if your iron levels had improved then your cortisol levels would be back to normal, there is no evidence to support high cortisol with normal iron levels. You say you are experiencing high cortisol symptoms, what symptoms are you getting?

[owl87 in reply to Hidden]

Ah thank you thats interesting! I have a rounded face, weight gain (after previously when having drastic weight loss I had low in range saliva cortisol), bad acne, anxiety, bad palpitations and periods of tachycardia, insomnia, waking with adrenaline attacks at 3am in the night and blood sugar problems.

[Hidden in reply to owl87]

So many of these symptoms, although could be related to other issues, could be due to Cushing's syndrome so your symptoms along with the high cortisol result should be followed up by your GP. Your GP can do an early morning cortisol blood test, however make sure you get a copy of the results as GP's aren't used to understanding the results as they rarely see it. Cortisol is normally at it's highest first thing in the morning & then drops through the day, it then starts to make more around 3-4 am, however if you have Cushing's the am level could be normal 350-550nmol/Ls, but stay high during the day instead of dropping. Your GP could also do a 24 hour urine to measure cortisol levels. The fact that you are waking with "adrenaline attack" could be your body starting to produce cortisol. Have a look on the Pituitary Foundation website you can find out about Cushing's, if you are on Facebook then there is a group called Cushing's UK where we can help you. Are you on long term steroids? They can cause high cortisol levels.

[owl87 in reply to Hidden]

Thank you, I haven’t had a high cortisol result - it use to be low in range then about 6 weeks ago before these symptoms started my morning cortisol was about 500. I’m not taking any steroids.

[Hidden in reply to owl87]

Oh sorry I read it wrong then as you said you were getting high cortisol symptoms?

[owl87 in reply to Hidden]

Sorry I should have been more clear in my original I was wondering if the symptoms could be high cortisol caused as I’ve had hypothyroidism for many years now but used to lose weight not gain it as a symptom and this was when I had saliva cortisol come back low in range whereas now I appear to be gaining it instead.