I really got interested in cortisol when I met 6 months back a super fit young chap who was a national standard rower who was part of the Olympic team and had to give everything up due to a nasty auto-immune disease that he has subsequently cured.
As part of that he has to limit any intense exercise dramatically and even now refuses to train more than 30 minutes for 3 times a week as he cannot control the impact of raised cortisol on his health i.e. his sporting ambitions have gone for good.
The lengths it took him to reduce his inflammation was staggering including red light therapy and a ton of other stuff. He felt I needed to be far more careful about cortisol if I was going to address long term weight loss, sugar control and immunity issues.
There are many relevant issues on this topic on you tube, one perhaps that is more comprehensive than most is the one from Dr Berg - he certainly got me thinking about the correct vitamins, minerals, exercise intensity (his comments on High Intensity Interval Training are fascinating i.e. only do for a few seconds at a time not to raise cortisol), diet, sleep, blood sugar management, yoga the list goes on.
I am in danger of repeating the earlier post i put up about feeling warm, but cortisol issues do need to be discussed more in my view as they are the one thing that can get in the way of fixing just about everything else - I am sincerely hoping brain focus and belly fat can improve as these are next on my list
Hi, he had to address a range of issues including extreme food sensitivities, stress in addition to cortisol. Because of his training background of incredibly intense training week by week with a national team, the thing that struck me was his advice to me even now that he is cured to highly restrict intense exercise as cortisol. The hope is once you are "fixed" you can go back to your old life....
Interesting. I’ve developed severe food intolerances over the past few months and recently tested my cortisol and DHEA levels via Regenerus; cortisol low/suboptimal, DHEA way below range. I’ve hypothyroidism and am on 62.5mcg of Levothyroxine. Feel utterly dreadful, with bouts of horrible inflammation. I’m scheduled to have an endoscopy in a week’s time and have been referred to rheumatology. Likely that thyroid responsible. I was playing 1st team hockey this time last year, albeit struggling energy and recovery wise. I’m basically unable to exercise now, other than short walks and occasionally biking the short route to work (teacher, unbelievably stressful right now). I’m pretty sure I’m a poor converter, got thyroid blood tests back yesterday. Will sort a separate post tomorrow, too addled today. Thanks for your response 🙏
I wan't to be competing to be winning GFA at local park runs - I cant tell you how frustrating it is to not be allowed to do this at the moment- and as you only have one life and I want it back I am prepared to go the moon and back metaphorically to get to the bottom of these metabolic issues not only to feel well but ultimately to compete again - if I dont get there it will not be for lack of trying.
My one big lesson from the clever folks who administer this board is I discounted their great advice on getting optimal D3/B9/B12 that were all low. If you are in the same camp as me you will not have much of a hope of getting any sporting life back ignoring all the other issues to address if these are not absolutely spot on
Amen to that! Fortunately I’m pretty bloody minded. And, on a more serious note, my eldest daughter was diagnosed with hypothyroidism in the summer and if I was to glean any positives from my current situation it’s that I’m gaining an insight into how thyroid dysfunction can wreak havoc on every bodily system.. Through educating and advocating for myself, I feel confident that I’ll be able to help her. But fingers crossed it won’t come to that. Take care 🙌🏼
Just to make you smile, I ran with my daughter in my first park run for 7 years on Saturday and have done nothing more than gentle zone 1-2 training, so 30 mins/5k stuff so set myself the target of 25 mins and came in at 24.53 (way behind my daughter of course).
Funny think was I "collapsed" after 3km no surprise and found the adrenaline to have a very fast last 1km to hit the target. This adrenaline booster has simply not happened for years as I had no gears to lift up into so is a decent confidence boost.
i will now try to up the training intensity as my body/immune system finally seems ready for it - so after all these some real hope. So very much hope this all happens for you too!
I did our park run a few times- actually it’s a *seafront* run! - and was stupidly pleased with my time of just under 30 minutes. I loved the atmosphere and vowed to keep it up, but, hockey generally got in the way. Funnily enough, I was walking my dog along the stretch of sea wall yesterday, just after the run had finished, and allowed my mind to meander to a time where I could perhaps dust off my Lycra and give it a go once again. Pinning my hopes on T3…..🤞🏼
final comment and I will leave you in peace but did my first HIIT sprint interval session in a while 6x300m repeats at 22min 5k pace - body seemed to actually enjoy it lols
Wish I could get T3 but cannot so will go the long term way of working to improve t3 conversion from t4 - 5 years into this and only some steady progress to report so far - but will retest at year end post these recent changes and see how much that has helped ….
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Update #4: Adrenal Results 
Can anyone explain adrenal issues relating to hypothyroidism and how to manage it?
Trochanteric (hip) Bursitis
Terrible DOMS after exercise 
Looking at DHEA again and the Cortisol link popped up...
