Posted by bleauberry on April 2, 2009, at 4:32:35
In reply to Re: hydrocortisone, posted by paul9 on April 1, 2009, at 21:47:42
It is so frustrating to be given inappropriate tests a condition. Without measuring the entire daily curve of cortisol, any other test is inappropriate.
Me for example. My cortisol is extremely low 18 hours in a day. But from 10pm to 6am it spikes so high it almost goes off the chart. Between 6am and 10am it is falling rapidly, passing through the normal range on its way down. You can see what dramatic differences one might get in a single cortisol test. In a 24 urine test, my results would balance out to appear in the normal range, though in fact my cortisol is extremely whacked out crazy.
Having a spike like I do is another form of adrenal fatigue. There is a time of day, at rest for me, when the adrenals make an attempt to recover. They go too far, out of control, and basically blow their wad for the rest of the day, over and over every single day. It is a relentless cycle that for me is normalized rapidly with a mere 1.25mg HC during mid morning. That somehow influences the entire feedback mechanism. With the adrenals not needing to try to catch up at night because daily levels are now normal, there is no spike. No lows due to the dose, and no spike due to the dose. It's quite fascinating actually.
One word on "normal" range. These ranges are extremely broad and apply to healthy individuals. We don't fit that. Our normal ranges are much less broad, because we are not healthy. Our ranges need to be more specific, more individualized, or the word I'm looking for is..."optimal", which is different for each person. It is kind of like in hypothyroid...someone can test in the middle or the low end of normal, and yet have severe symptoms of hypothyroid that respond well to thyroid meds.
Symptoms tell the story more than numbers.
poster:bleauberry
thread:887989
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20090330/msgs/888168.html