Hi.
I know that Adrenal Fatigue Syndrome is recognized as a clinical condition in USA. Adrenal glands if exhausted can cause the thyroid to struggle.
Does anybody know if and where ( how) I can be tested in UK towards adrenal glands exhaustion?
Thank You.
Genova labs will do a 24 hour saliva test. This is the test that's most recognised. I did it myself. Very easy to do. It gives you an idea of what ones adrenals are doing over a typical day.
Check out Genovas website....
Si
Thank You sporty333.
I will try Genova labs. I have found their price list with list of test they do. I just need to gather some money.
I do not work so I am suffering from financial hardship, and unfortunately
I know that I cannot rely on NHS to help me with tests like that 
Best wishes
E
Adrenal Fatigue is not generally recognised in the USA. A few doctors do accept it, and quite a number of "alternative" people.
See here:
mayoclinic.com/health/adren...
Low levels of adrenal function are called hypoadrenia or adrenal insufficiency - and in the more extreme cases, Addison's Disease. These are recognised both in the USA and here. You can find doctors unwilling to accept the concept of adrenal fatigue and the results of any tests which seem to demonstrate it.
Hello Helvella
When I mentioned Adrenal Fatigue Syndrome to my GP he didnt not know what am I talking about.
I know from experience and you probably know too that here you need to be really on the verge of dying to get a response from NHS.
I know about Addison Disease. Its extreme case as you say. I don't show symptoms yet, but I do match the profile of American adrenal fatigue syndrome.
Its just a matter of finding a doctor here who is open to novelties. That's going to be hard, and only via private appointment only, which sucks for someone on benefits like myself.
Thank you so much for your replies. It is lovely to hear supportive words and know that someone cares.
E.
Edysia, you're right that if you have thyroid deficiency you may well have other hormonal insufficiencies as well. The Pituitary Foundation (pituitary.org.uk/content/vi... can give you information about this. Look under hypopituitarism, which means deficiency in any of the five anterior pituitary hormones, including thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) and adrenocorticotrophic hormone (ACTH). You'll find info on symptoms and treatment. If you have adrenal insufficiency there can be two reasons - either your adrenal glands aren't working (Addison's Disease), or the pituitary gland isn't sending them the hormones to stimulate them (secondary hypoadrenalism). Both these conditions are standard medical textbook stuff and are recognized in the UK. You can do a little self-check to see if you are short of cortisol (produced by the adrenals) if you buy Corlan pellets. These are an over-the-counter remedy for mouth ulcers and they contain a tiny dose of hydrocortisone. If your adrenals aren't working properly, from whatever cause, then you should detect a tiny improvement in how you feel, and that should tell you if you're on the right path. (I would recommend discussing that with your GP beforehand though,) From what you say of your GP in a different post I would seriously think of changing GPs. Someone I knew researched his local GPs carefully and found one interested in endocrinal issues, and then changed to her on change-of-address grounds (his girlfriend lived near her and he moved in!). Dramatic improvement in his treatment! Change of address is the easiest way to change GPs.
I do hope you get your life back, I wish you the best of luck.
Corlan has been renamed. The article below was dated 21 August 2010.
New name for Corlan pellets
Auden Mckenzie is renaming Corlan pellets, as Hydrocortisone 2.5mg Muco-Adhesive Buccal Tablets, from September.
Hydrocortisone 2.5mg Muco-Adhesive Buccal Tablets are indicated for the treatment of mouth ulcers and work by reducing swelling and inflammation in the mouth, according to the company.
chemistanddruggist.co.uk/ma...
Rod
Thank You Headinjuryhypo.
I will look on the pituitary.org.uk site. I do not know the details of pituitary-thyroid axis but I am familiar with Addison disease.
I do not think that I show symptoms of Addison's yet. But a matter of adrenal problem is worth investigating. My TSH is higher than normal( 13) so I think that in this respect pituitary gland is working fine ( I mean it is trying to stimulate my thyroid to produce T4, which is considered at the moment as within a normal range - 12)
I am just having less and less energy to fight and to do any research. It is sad.
I do not know what am I going to do when I totally collapse mentally and physically.
I do live on my own and my family passed away so I wont have access to any support.
I am thankful for forums like this . Its the only way of sharing and receiving support that I can currently get.
I will try Corlan pellets ( Hydrocortisone 2.5mg Muco-Adhesive Buccal Tablets ) I hope it will do no harm. Thank you for this suggestion.
My GP already thinks that I am all fine, despite terrible symptoms and bad blood test results ( thyroid and sex hormones are out of order) so is no point of trying to discuss the Corlan pellets with him or anybody in my surgery.
I wish so much I could move around the country and change my address so I could find better NHS care but I cannot do it. I have no money to re-locate
Wish you all the best.
E.
Reply to this
Dear Edysia, I'm so sorry you are in such a terrible state and I wish I could help. I don't think the hydrocortisone pellets could do much damage as I read on the instructions that it is OK to give them to children, and it is available without prescription. If your sex hormones aren't right, that could be caused by pituitary dysfunction. If you get in touch with me via headinjuryhypo.org.uk I could maybe do some research for you about GPs in your area. I am so lucky that I have my health, and now that I'm retired I have time to spare. Since our son's death I feel very keen to do what I can to help anyone who has endocrine problems.
Thank You headinjuryhypo. Your offer of help is very kind. I do sympathize with you, I lost my family too. I can only imagine how painful it is to lose a child. I am very weak now and I am losing my hope, I don't think that I will manage to get help( not in my situation). I will certainly email you on your website.
thank you.
Regards
Edyta
Dear Edysia, please don't lose hope, and I'll look forward to hearing from you. Joanna
Just would like to mention that hydrocortisone can be a trigger for candida overgrowth in some people who are dealing with thyroid hormone imbalance.
Hello headinjuryhypo, Read your blog with interest. I have to say, with all the blogs I've read there is, amongst the bloggers, "conflict" of opinion. This does not help those of us who are very new to this site or those with far less experience. I do not trust the NHS any more. According to them I have thyroid disease (intolerant to the meds), my adrenals are fine --- all cortisol bloods have come back normal including long & short syns. However, last year had a saliva test which said otherwise very clearly.
This test was done after carrying out a 7day temperature chart where the latter temps were all over the place (these being for the adrenals), doing a eye sensitivity test, sergant's white line and doing Dr Wilson's questionnaire on the internet, then buying his book and doing it again. Even though some sections were not answered I came with moderate to severe adrenal fatigue with some symptoms being very severe indeed. On the NHS there is no fatigue.!!!??? SO ...do I or don't I --- have it?
Vit D test result --- range 50 to 250 --- mine 54!!!. Is this a deficiency? Gp says it falls within the range therefore it's ok. (not deficient) I beg to differ... by the way I feel. Am taking 50mg daily which have just started.
Had B12 done ... result 1900??? what. Then I find out that b complex masks active b12. Don't they know this?
Any thoughts, answers, advice please very welcome 'cos, quite frankly, have come to the end of the road,
Snowstorm, if you look at wikipedia's entry for 'ACTH stimulation test' (= synacthen test) you'll find it says "The test is extremely sensitive (97% at 95% specificity) to primary adrenal insufficiency, but less so to secondary adrenal insufficiency (57-61% at 95% specificity)" - i.e. for adrenal insufficiency caused by pituitary dysfunction, the test misses two people out of every five!! The evidence is a review by Dorin (see ref 1 at the end) which examined all studies from 1966-2002. I already know four people who were told they did not have hypoadrenalism because their results were normal, when it turned out they did when properly tested. Now, apparently, you are a fifth. I should wave the Dorin review at your NHS doctor and clamour for the proper test. And please if you want, get in touch with me via headinjuryhypo.org.uk, I would love to hear from you.
Yes go to your doctor and asked to be referred to an endocrine dept who will do a blood test as well as scans to see id f your adrenal glands are still working or if they have shrunk which they do hope this helps .
I had many chronic fatigue symptoms leading up to the year 2000, by which time my doctor
was looking at me as if I might have been imagining some, or most of them. Grrrrrrr!
When I reached the stage where my brain started doing weird things - like a spark plug that's
stopped sparking - I knew I had to look outside the square.
Well lucky me! I accidentally came across a Clinical Nutritionist 3 hours away, who's email
address was something like brainlongevityinstitute etc, so I rang her immediately. I told her
one symptom, she interrupted and asked me to tell her 2 more symptoms then said she'd tell
me the rest. And she DID! She knew EXACTLY what was wrong with me!
I had to have a very extensive blood test (which incorporated testing for 51 things) at a private
pathology lab. It was expensive, but dividing 51 things into $490, meant less than $10 for each
test - so in actual fact it was very cheap compared with public tests for one thing.
The Clinical Nutritionist could see by the results where I was nutritionally imbalanced & got to
work to fix it. Four months later I was cured, but she said "as long as you stay in that unhealthy
relationship, and keep being a workaholic, you'll have to keep buying all these supplements from
me. So, it's up to you." And she was absolutely right! I got rid of the relationship (9 years
later mind you!), and made my business a bit smaller so I was only working 8 hours a day, but
continued outside of hours renovating houses, so I still need to take a few of her supplements.
I'm due to retire this year hopefully, so then will pay more attention to my health, including starting
juicing, growing my own vegies etc.
I can't recommend enough, to anyone at all, who has chronic fatigue symptoms, to just get yourself
to a Clinical Nutritionist, as fast as you can get there. They're trained in this field, and in my eyes
know far more than damn doctors do. Sometimes they'll suggest you get an individual test done
thru your public path lab, but only because it's so much cheaper for you.
I know how you feel if you have chronic fatigue. And I know you owe it to yourselves to get rid
of it, because no-one deserves to feel that bad!
Cheers,
Liz P.S, I'm currently being treated for Graves Disease, & I couldn't hold a foetus 30 years
ago when I was trying to become pregnant, and I can't help but think those things
are all tied in together. My guru nutritionist is overseas on holidays for a few
months so I'll ask her when she gets back.
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