How I Treated My Adrenal Fatigue

[JumpyTheFrog]

Teenager - I went off gluten for four years. Eight years of constant sinus infections cleared up immediately. I also stopped getting strep throat several times a year and GI problems went away.

 

March, Year 0 - Unmedicated birth of first child. Transition and pushing took at least 5-6 hours total. The day my child was born, I lost my ability to sleep normally. It always took 45 minutes to get to sleep after every feeding at night or at nap time.

 

Sept, Year 0 - I went off gluten again; this time for good.

 

Jan, Year 0 - My son finally began sleeping through the night and after a week, I began sleeping well again. I felt well for about five days.

 

Feb, Year 1 - I got three colds in a row and then a stomach bug. My son had roseola, which years later, we suspected helped trigger conditions for CFS (Chronic Fatigue Syndrome) in me. I got over the stomach bug, but my energy never returned. Horrible insomnia began and I couldn't fall asleep until 3am on a good night and 5am on a bad night, no matter how tired I was.

 

March, Year 1 - A friend loaned me the book The Diet Cure by Julia Ross. I took all the quizzes in it and it suggested that my adrenal glands might be dysfunctioning. I track my body temperature three times a day and charted it. My temps were low (always under 97.7) and all over the board. A constant low suggests hypothyroidism but an irregular low pattern suggests adrenal trouble.

 

April, Year 1 - I took the Diagnos-Techs brand saliva test through http://www.canaryclub.org/. It did not require a doctor's prescription. (My current doctor uses this brand in her office, so it is reputable.) My cortisol levels were tested four times in a day, because cortisol is supposed to be highest in the morning and lowest at bedtime. My levels for the whole day were all low, especially in the morning. They weren't low enough to be considered Addison's disease or be treated by most doctors, but it was enough to make me miserable.

 

Symptoms: Insomnia continued, poor memory, poor coordination, trouble concentrating, fatigue, light-headed upon standing

 

May, Year 1 - Began vitamin regiment (possibly from the Adrenal Fatigue book by James Wilson), tried 3mg melatonin, 5-HTP, and GABA for a few days

 

Symptoms: Minimal improvement

 

June, Year 1 - Began taking Isocort supplement, which at the time was an extract from animal adrenal glands (it has since been reformulated). My daytime energy got a little better, but other symptoms remained the same

 

More to follow in another post...

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Edited February 24, 2012 by HoppyTheToad

[JumpyTheFrog]

Sept, Year 1 - Began seeing a FNP (family nurse practitioner) familiar with adrenal issues. Cortisol levels slightly better but still very low. Serotonin and adrenaline were less than half the lowest result considered normal. Norepinephrine was barely at the low end of normal.

 

She had me take a supplement called Travacor to help with my sleep. 5-HTP, theanine, and taurine were the main ingredients. It helped me sleep almost normally for about three weeks and then stopped working.

 

Dec, Year 1 - My FNP began having me take Adrecor as well. It improved my energy levels immediately. I only felt terrible part of the day, instead of all day. I began waking up on my own, without an alarm. I also began taking 3.0 mg of melatonin, which started to help a bit, after 1-2 weeks.

 

Jan, Year 1 - Morning cortisol level finally normal (with continued use of Isocort). Cortisol levels later in the day were still low. My sleep continued to be somewhat better, although my energy level was still lousy for much of the day. Still, it was a huge improvement from even November.

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[JumpyTheFrog]

Feb, Year 2 - I attempted to wean off melatonin and my sleep got worse again. The stress of moving also made it worse. I went back on it at 1.5 mg instead of 3.0 mg.

 

May, Year 2 - Sleep still poor, daytime energy getting much better. Feel about 70% of normal. Still on all my vitamins and Isocort. Was able to do 70% of normal activities, despite poor sleep. Was also able to do aerobics three mornings a week, without too much fatigue, as long as I salted my water. Without drinking salted water in the morning, I couldn't exercise without feeling dead for the rest of the day. (It sounds gross, but at the time, salted water tasted better to me than plain water. Later on, as my adrenal glands healed, salted water started to taste yucky to me.)

 

June, Year 2 - I took a stool test through EnteroLab and found out I am also casein (dairy) intolerant.

 

July, Year 2 - I came back from vacation (when I felt fine) and was completely unable to exercise one day. Two minutes into the warm-up, I was as exhausted as if I had the flu. Went home and didn't try to exercise anymore. (Was definitely not pregnant yet.)

 

July, Year 2 - I got pregnant and weaned off Isocort in one month. My FNP was out of ideas and I sought another doctor. I was going downhill fast and knew that I needed adequate cortisol levels for a healthy baby.

 

Fall, Year 2 - I was off all supplements and needed full time hired help to watch my son and me (severe morning sickness).

 

Nov, Year 2 - Back on vitamins, added mega-doses of sublingual B-12/folic acid and about 5-6 mg of iodine daily. B-12 fixed the insomnia within one week. Vomiting down to a few times per week or less. A morning blood test show my cortisol to be within normal levels. (I should've had another 24 hour saliva test, to compare it with my previous results.)

 

Jan, Year 2 - Increased iodine (Lugol's drops) to 12 mg per day. Within a few weeks, energy improved greatly. Felt the best I had in two years. (Please don't try iodine until you read more of my story. It may have backfired on me later.)

Edited February 24, 2012 by HoppyTheToad

[JumpyTheFrog]

April, Year 3 - Gave birth to second child. I recovered much better than after my first birth. The sleep deprivation of having a newborn didn't affect me as much.

 

Sept, Year 3 - Doctor number 2 checked my thyroid. I expected to be hypo, since I'm feeling tired again, but the results come back that I was hyper. Doctor tells me to stop iodine.

 

Dec, Year 3 - Hyperthyroidism gets worse and treatment is necessary. She gives me 7-8 vitamin C (and other vitamin IVs) instead of traditional treatments. They worked and my thyroid levels all came back into range. The hyperthyroidism wasn't Grave's Disease (antibody levels were too low), so it was either postpartum or caused by all the iodine I had taken for a year.

 

Summer, Year 4 - I felt worse than ever and doctor 2 was out of ideas. I found a new doctor that specialized in chronic fatigue syndrome. She tested me and found a bunch of other problems to treat. When I took another saliva test, I expected my cortisol levels to be low. Instead they were high. (It took a year of phosphotidyl serene to bring my cortisol levels down to normal.) I was diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and felt worse than ever.

 

Fall, Year 4 - Finally, after almost four years, I found the combination that helped me sleep. 0.75 mg sublingual liquid melatonin plus 4 Source Naturals brand NutraSleep tablets. Neither one works well by itself, but in combination, I can sleep (although it takes 2 hours to kick in). I still need to have a relaxing evening, a hot bath, and a cool room, but good sleep is possible.

 

Fall, Year 5 - After a year of treatment of CFS, I begin feeling much better. After two years of not being able to drive, I begin driving (and exercising again!)

 

Today - After 5 years, I am finally at about 85% of normal. CFS was much, much worse than adrenal fatigue.

 

In another post, I will list what I would've done differently to treat the adrenal fatigue issues, which maybe would've kept me from sliding in CFS.

Edited February 24, 2012 by HoppyTheToad

[JumpyTheFrog]

I hope I didn't bore all of you. Someone had PMed me and asked how I treated my adrenal fatigue. Here are some additional thoughts:

 

I don't know what role my second pregnancy may have had in kickstarting my adrenal glands. It may have helped, but I have little doubt that overall, in the end, my second pregnancy (and caring for a baby) made my health worse, just as my first did. Both times, it took about 6-12 months for my body to fall apart after the birth.

 

I wish I had bought and regularly used a glucose monitor and tested by my blood sugar levels. I had symptoms of hypoglycemia. I generally had little appetite and would be a total zombie when DH came home from work. Halfway through supper, once my food started to digest, I would perk up. I should've paid more attentional to Dr. Wilson's advice in his book to stay on a high protein, low carb diet. I especially should've had a lot of meat at breakfast.

 

I never should've gone back on gluten in college.

 

I wish I had found my current doctor sooner. I was too focused on getting better without prescription drugs. I thought that vitamins, herbs, and food would be enough. Neither of my first two doctors were aggressive enough in treating me.

 

I wish I had found a way to deal with the stress of adjusting to motherhood. My first child was a difficult baby and my legalistic church wasn't supportive of me. If you are familiar with Myers-Briggs, I am an INTP, which means I totally didn't fit the stereotype of a "godly submissive, patriarchy-loving wife." I had a rough time adjusting to being a mom. Being around a group of people that insist babies are nothing but "blessings" and to think anything else is selfish made it even harder for me. I would've been better off joining a group of first-time moms that would be willing to say, "Yeah, babies can be annoying, and I don't really like this either." Instead, I was surrounded by older women with 5-7 kids that couldn't remember how hard it was to be a mom with no experience.

 

I wish I had understood that combining sleep supplements often works much better than taking either alone does. It was my current doctor that told me this. I had tried just about everything and had reached the point that I wondered if I'd need to take sleeping drugs, before I found something that worked. Several years of only getting 3-5 hours of sleep (when I needed 9 back when I was healthy) takes its toll.)

 

My second doctor was probably right when she warned me to not fool around with iodine. I do think I was deficient, as it cleared up some cysts in my breasts within the first month. It was taking it for the next 11 months that was probably the problem. I think a much lower dose, under supervision, may have been okay, but it isn't something I'm inclined to mess with again.

Edited February 24, 2012 by HoppyTheToad

[Jean in Newcastle]

Thank you, Hoppy, for answering my PM! Coincidentally (or not!) I've just gone off of wheat this week (for the second time in my life) because I realized that I have signs of a wheat allergy (but not gluten at least as far as I can tell so far). The last two days without wheat have been a step in the right direction.

 

I can relate so much to what you've gone through. Thanks again for typing all that out.

[Amy in NH]

I went to an endocrinologist last year with symptoms that looked (to me) like hypothyroidism and/or adrenal fatigue. She disagreed with either of those diagnoses. I've feeling better on and off since last year. Things have been pretty good lately. Today was a bad day, though.

 

Thanks for sharing your experience.

[JumpyTheFrog]

I would highly recommend keeping a daily log of symptoms, energy ratings, sleep ratings and time, and what new treatments you are trying. Most of the above information is from a log I kept. I'm glad I did, because I had forgotten several things I had tried.

 

My current doctor had me rate several things each day and then give her the average at each appointment. It helped me see which CFS treatments were working and which weren't. In my logs, I kept notes about what new supplements or drugs I started. If I noticed that I felt better a week or two later, that was evidence they were helping.

[JumpyTheFrog]

I went to an endocrinologist last year with symptoms that looked (to me) like hypothyroidism and/or adrenal fatigue. She disagreed with either of those diagnoses.

 

Most traditional doctors won't acknowledge adrenal problems unless they are extreme (Addison's disease for deathly low levels of cortisol and Cushing's Disease for absurdly high levels). It's kind of silly, because I don't think people go from normal levels to extreme overnight. Symptoms start long before doctors will recognize you as having a problem.

 

Try reading about temperature tracking, and consider a saliva cortisol test.

[JumpyTheFrog]

One other thing I should note is that despite my constant, terrible insomnia, whenever we went on vacation, my sleep would improve (until we got back). This happened about 4-5 times over a few years. I think having our parents help with the kids helped and/or there was something environmental that was bothering me. We were in two different apartments and then a rental house, so perhaps there was a mold issue in them.

 

In any case, it's good to keep a log of when you are feeling better and worse. It's harder to spot a pattern without this data. For example, you might notice you feel worse in the fall, and look into SAD (seasonal affective disorder) and get vitamin D levels checked. Or maybe every spring you feel worse and need to check for seasonal allergies.

[Amy in NH]

Most traditional doctors won't acknowledge adrenal problems unless they are extreme (Addison's disease for deathly low levels of cortisol and Cushing's Disease for absurdly high levels). It's kind of silly, because I don't think people go from normal levels to extreme overnight. Symptoms start long before doctors will recognize you as having a problem.

 

Try reading about temperature tracking, and consider a saliva cortisol test.

 

I tracked my temperature for months. She seemed surprised that I had done that, and ignored the fact that my temps were abnormal. I felt like that piece of objective evidence was completely discounted. The only other piece of objective evidence I had was that the thyroid tests I had done at my PCP were on the very low end of the normal range. She didn't seem to think that they were abnormal enough to matter. I had specifically requested a Free T3 & T4 at the PCP, but the endocrinologist stated that they were unnecessary.

 

My other pieces of evidence were all subjective.

 

She did give me a shot of something (can't remember right now) and then a lab test an hour later. She wrote to me later to say that the results were normal and ruled out any problems with my adrenal gland. My insurance company didn't cover the lab test, and I'm still paying on the bill.

 

I kind of assumed she would know what she was doing since she works at Dartmouth. But between the PCP and the endocrinologist, they made me feel like they didn't believe me. I was just feeling "sluggish" is what my PCP wrote in the letter accompanying my labs. I wasn't sluggish! I was debilitatingly exhausted, couldn't sleep through the night, and I'm still experiencing adrenaline rushes each morning. The only reason I can sleep through the night now is because I take Benadryl just before I get into bed.

Edited February 24, 2012 by Amy in NH

[zookeeper]

Most traditional doctors won't acknowledge adrenal problems unless they are extreme (Addison's disease for deathly low levels of cortisol and Cushing's Disease for absurdly high levels). It's kind of silly, because I don't think people go from normal levels to extreme overnight. Symptoms start long before doctors will recognize you as having a problem.

 

Try reading about temperature tracking, and consider a saliva cortisol test.

 

:iagree: Completely agree with this! It took me years to find a dr who would treat my thyroid and adrenals. My regular dr just brushed me off, didn't believe in adrenal fatigue. I'm so thankful to have found the dr I see now! She has changed my life!!

[JumpyTheFrog]

She did give me a shot of something (can't remember right now) and then a lab test an hour later. She wrote to me later to say that the results were normal and ruled out any problems with my adrenal gland.

 

It sounds like you had an ACTH stim test. They inject the patient with ACTH, a hormone the pituitary uses to signal the adrenal glands to make cortisol. If cortisol levels go up, the doctor will assume the adrenals are working. But what if a patient has low ACTH levels because the pituitary isn't sending the proper signal? This test wouldn't catch that problem.

 

Also, a person may have enough total cortisol for the day but the rythym might be off. When my levels were high last year, at bedtime my cortisol was almost as high as it was in the morning. No wonder I couldn't sleep. One purpose of cortisol is to help a person wake up in the morning. If it's too high at night, a person won't sleep well, even if their level is fine or low the rest of the day.

[JumpyTheFrog]

Ways to find a doctor that can help:

 

-look up integrated medicine practices

-a doctor that prescribes Armour thyroid of bioidentical hormones is more likely to believe in adrenal fatigue

-call a compounding pharmacy and ask if they know of any doctors that do the above

-look around on forums and Yahoo groups for adrenal fatigue and see if someone has a list of doctors. I found doctor 2 on a list of thyroid docs. When I saw her, my cortisol levels were normal, but she said she was willing to prescribe hydrocortisone in low doses if need be

-An endocrinologist seems very unlikely to accept the idea of adrenal fatigue. They deal with patients with adrenal failure, as in they will DIE if not treated, rather than "just" feeling dead

[JumpyTheFrog]

After I went to bed last night, I realized that I really should've emphasized what a large role stress played in my body falling apart. Moms, please make sure you take time to care for yourself, before you get a chronic illness. Sometimes putting yourself last for too long means you become unable to take care of your family, and your kids wind up with less quality time with you, instead of more.

 

At our previous legalistic church, many of the moms who bought into the QF ideaology are now suffereing with their own health troubles, that I think they could've avoided if they had spaced their babies farther apart or settled for 4 kids instead of 7.

Edited February 24, 2012 by HoppyTheToad

[Jean in Newcastle]

After I went to bed last night, I realized that I really should've emphasized what a large role stress played in my body falling apart. Moms, please make sure you take time to care for yourself, before you get a chronic illness. Sometimes putting yourself last for too long means you become unable to take care of your family, and your kids wind up with less quality time with you, instead of more.

 

 

 

Oh yes. Stress definitely is not my friend. When I started this chronic illness journey I was so stressed that I was having blackouts (would find myself in a room with no idea how I even got there).

[OrdinaryTime]

Thank you so much for sharing! I posted a thread about adrenal fatigue a week or so ago and am working hard to get as much info as possible right now. I'm hoping to find a good doctor soon, but in the meantime will start tracking temps. I just started a gluten free/no sugar/low carb diet.

 

I really appreciate folks sharing some of the successes they've had in treating AF. It gives one hope that life can get better!

[thescrappyhomeschooler]

I think I need to check into adrenal fatigue. I've gone gluten free since May, and my intestinal problems have completely disappeared. I also used to be plagued with sinus problems all winter, but haven't had even the slightest cold all year. I've mentioned to a few people that I think it's because I stopped eating wheat, and they look at me like I'm crazy, but I know that's the reason.

 

Anyway, thanks for sharing all that. It's very informative and helpful.

[JumpyTheFrog]

I should also emphasize how helpful drinking salted water was when my cortisol was low.

[Jean in Newcastle]

I should also emphasize how helpful drinking salted water was when my cortisol was low.

 

I saw that. I always crave salt and my dr. told me to indulge because my sodium levels are below normal.

[mommy5]

This is interesting! I suffered for years with hypothyroidism which probably had a huge impact on low-adrenal function ... add in to that years of stress coming at me from several different angles and then a viral infection that seemed to wipe me out. I spent years where it seemed my immune system was not working properly. Somehow this past year I feel like I've been healed. My thyroid levels have been just about perfect ... other infections disapeared. I only wish I knew "how" it happened ... I had really increased my salt levels and lowered sugar levels ... I also lowered my carb intake dramatically (but am still not low-carb) and increased fats and proteins by a lot. I also went "off" of any whole grains (which I used to eat a lot of) I'm pretty sure my body wasn't absorbing certain nutrients because of them -- which seems odd but I think there is something to that.