Posted by Sarah T. on March 22, 2005, at 0:43:27
In reply to Re: Acupuncture??? » Sarah T., posted by Pfinstegg on March 21, 2005, at 23:40:59
Hi Pfinstegg. So, you think that a 24-hour urinary free cortisol of 125 isn't too bad? That's interesting. I thought it must be bad because 100 is the upper limit of normal, and I've had values like this for years. This is not an isolated occurrence. As long as I've been tested for urinary free cortisol, the values have never been below 100. Before they started testing for urinary cortisol, they tested for 17-ketosteroids. Those were elevated, too.
When I've had the DST, I've taken 1 mg of dexamethasone the night before.
Yes, I do have a lot of anxiety, depression and stress in my life, and the external stressors are unlikely to change soon. I am not currently on any medication that should be causing the elevated cortisol or the hair loss, and over the years, I've found that whether I have been medicated or medication-free, the cortisol levels have been quite consistent. And, as I mentioned previously, it didn't matter whether I was on an activating medicine or a tranquilizing one. The urinary cortisol levels were always above
120. Although I've had the elevated cortisol for years, the hair loss has occurred within the last six months or so.Have you ever tried Phosphatidylserine? If so, did you take it at night? I asked that question of another poster yesterday, and I'm interested to hear what others have to say. Do you take fish oil? If so, do you think it helps? Have you ever heard of spironolactone being used to suppress cortisol? I know that it is an anti-androgen, and until a few days ago, I'd never heard of it being used as an anti-cortisol drug. Someone suggested it to me the other day. When I looked it up on PubMed, nearly every citation I found suggested that sprinolactone can actually increase cortisol levels.
I'd like to hear your thoughts on one other idea. I have a lot of difficulty metabolizing medications and I'm quite certain that I have some genetic polymorphisms for the CYP 450 enzymes. Do you think it is possible that my elevated cortisol might be caused by a similar problem, such as the inability of my liver enzymes to thoroughly break down cortisol, just as they inefficiently and inadequately break down nearly every antidepressant I've ever tried?
poster:Sarah T.
thread:472644
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/alter/20050225/msgs/473871.html