Adrenal dysfunction?

[lisa]

Hi, I'm posting a message to try and get other's input/stories. I am suspicious that I have some sort of adrenal disorder. Symptoms are:
FATIGUE, one my days off, I can barely get out of bed
Dizzy, almost all the time
Lightheaded, almost all the time
When I stand, I feel like I'm going to pass out, and I feel my heart beating faster and harder.
It's hard to climb stairs, I don't jog anymore.
Short of breath with exertion or not.
No short term memory.
Slight but definite confusion at times.
Weakness
Achiness, mostly my legs
Neck spasm
Migraine
Floaters in my eyes
No smell/taste
Cafe au lait spots
Low BP
In a fog
No libido
Depression
Anxiety
the list goes on....Does anybody have any comments?

[reactiveArthritis]

thats how I started out when I got sick... I ended up being diagnosed with reiters syndrome.. what does your primary think is going on with you?

[Adamantguitarist]

I have pretty much the same exact thing going on. I have been diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS), but i'm not buying it.

for the past 6 months i have had to stay in the house because i feel so bad; not able to work, or even hang out with friends. This has also happened previously when i was 16 years of age, except that time i stayed in the house for 2 years before i got better.

I have had quite a few blood tests in which they have tested pretty much everything that could be tested. Each and everytime the tests came back normal. I'm now going on 22 and i am no closer to finding out what has been plaguing me all these years.

[gittervet]

Dear friend what ever u do please stay on top of your md. For 8 yrs. i've been misdiagnosised until i changed my doctor and continued to not let up on me and my health. And i just had both of my adrenals removed due to tumors . All due to a few of the symptom that u stated so do yopur research and stay on top of you mds.




much love and many blessing

[Maynard F.Periwinkle]

It's worth realising, while many of these symptoms can be typical of low cortisol, POTS and neurally mediated hypotension - they can also be typical of a much more common, and criminally underdiagnosed condition, chronic overbreathing, AKA hyperventilation syndrome (leading to hypocarbia).

Some of us, through genetic predisposition usually, have a tendancy to chronically overbreathe as a reaction to often very mild stress... Over a prolonged period, this overbreathing becomes a major stress in itself, and causes a number of very serious metabolic imbalances in the body - which can, and inevitably do, end up leading to adrenal problems, breathing disorders (those who develop asthma are considered the lucky ones as asthma is the body's attempts to limit the amount of CO2 we can breathe out), high or low blood pressure, chronic virual infections, etc.

In fact, Professor Buteyko identified over 200 chronic diseases directly caused by overbreathing.

The simple test to find out if you're overbreathing is to relax and breathe normally for a moment... Then at the bottom of a gentle exhale, hold your nose and time how long you can hold your breath before you feel any urge to breathe in...

A perfectly healthy individual should be able to manage 40-60 seconds... I would imagine, given your symptoms, that you may be down below 15 seconds - which indicates you're breathing at least 5x more than you need to and you've become accustomed to chronically low levels of CO2 in your blood...

Recovery can take time - often correcting the breathing disorder will take between 1 and possibly as long as 6 months - then recovering full adrenal function may take up to 12 months.

If your shortness of breath at rest feels like you need to, but can't, take regular deep breaths, then I'd definetly suspect overbreathing to be the root of your problems - I'd suggest finding a qualified Buteyko practicioner, and purchasing Patrick McKeown's Asthma Free Naturally off amazon.com - as it's the best guide for correcting breathing disorders.

For adrenal recovery, start each day with a half pint of water and 1/2 tsp salt... Make sure to take a decent amount of ascorbic acid (Vit C) each day, at least 2g's spread out over the day (powered vitamin C is the best way)...

Recently a study showed that coconut milk (or virgin oil) taken everyday with a B Complex significantly improved adrenal function in less than a week.

Take regular breaks in the day to lie down, and try to take regular short walks - but sort your breathing problem out first (assuming you have one), then focus on not mouth breathing when you walk... (3x 3 minute walks a day are much better than none - and can lead to 3x 10 minute walks if you keep it up)


I'd get serum cortisol testing done (3 readings in a day) - just to rule that out... A chronic viral infection, or damage to the nervous system from a recent infection, would be the other obvious candidate - although I'd suspect chronic overbreathing as a major stressor in most of these cases anyway...

[IMEBUTIMNOT]

do you ever have your face and throat fill with fluid?

[Unregistered]

I was diagnosed with Addison's Disease 2 years ago. My whole body hurt, I had trouble sleeping because my legs would ache, to say I was irritable is an understatement. I would cry at the drop of a hat, scream at the slightest provacation, I became impossible to live with. I was sleeping 10 hours a day and was still tired. My blood pressure was low. I had short term memory loss and my sister tells me I also slurred my words. I lived in a fog. I have some allergies, they turned into illnesses lasting for weeks. My sinuses would become so inflamed my doctor would give me steriod shots. The shots made me feel great. I realize now it is because I needed them. I was treated for depression and arthritis. I was tested for lupus. One day, I fainted, started vomiting and was taken to the emergency room. My doctor was not on call, another doctor came and talked to my husband and me. My husband laid out all my symptoms. The doctor said he suspected I had either Cushing's or Addison's and ordered the tests. Because, the disease mimics other diseases it is hard to diagnose. Unknown to my primary doctor my thyroid was also low, because of this, I didn't have the usual symptoms of diarrhea and excessive weight loss that occurs with adrenal insufficiency. My doctor only checked my TSH not T3 and T4. I went from taking 25mg of levothyroxine to 200mg. My primary doctor told me "it was a good thing you fainted, we would have never found out what was wrong with you". I minimized my symptoms and never laid them all out for him like my husband did because I didn't want to sound like a hypochrondriac so I don't blame my doctor for not diagnosing me. My doctor has done everything to make sure I am getting the proper care now. My symptoms started 10 years before I was diagnosed. The symptoms progressed so slowly I hardly knew what hit me. I take 15 mg of cortef and my husband tells me he has his wife back. There are still problems, my vision is getting blurred due to the steroid use, I have gained 30 pounds because the cortef increases your appetite, and I may still suffer from other side effects later. But I can enjoy my children now. I am 46 years old.

[Unregistered]

I've had similar, though maybe not your exact symptoms for about a year and a half. I had been going to pulmonary doctors all this time ( for my shortness of breath) and I just recently found out that it could be due to thyroid or adrenal dysfunction (two related but very different conditions). From the little that I have read, fish oil seems to be of some help regardless of your condition. I think of particular note is a special form of fish oil called e-epa. Omega 3 fatty acids found in fish oil are DHA and EPA. EPA has shown to have a highly significant role in regulating brain function, whereas dha plays more of a role in things like joint/cardioivascular helath, but may compete with EPA for absorption. Since healthy hormone production seems to be more related to brain function, I would think our best bet would be to go for the pure e-epa (e-epa is regular ultra purified epa with an added ethyl group that allows for much greater absorption. A good dosage would be 500 mg e-epa 2 times a day.) If you do decide to take fish oil in whatever form, don't give up if it doesn't work right away, it may take months before you see any results, and even if you don't, it can't really hurt you. Good Luck.

[Unregistered]

Sounds like body migranes ... I have had regular migranes for years that often now affect my body without the headache. I've woken up completely unable to use my left leg along with multiple other symptoms that you have had - after the migrane subsides sometimes up to 3 days I feel ok.
Mine were due to stress and my adrenals were shot from being so stressed out.
Get a hormone panel testing - saliva tests are the most accurate despite what your doctor tells you... do both blood and saliva
this is the only way to see if your levels are off. Mine were out of control and completely unbalanced ... regulating your adrenals takes a lifestyle change and it doesnt happen overnight. Make a food diary of what you eat and see if somethings make you feel worse. Journal your symptoms and see if they coorilate to stressful events, even if its just your mother in law coming to visit.
Remember your adrenals react when you are in flight or fight response- figure out what makes your body react that way and change the root of the problem instead of just treating your sypmtoms.
Think about it this way ... Everyone has heard of the running of the bulls in spain - when you run your bodys adrenals along with other parts shut everything down except exatly what you need to survive because your life is in danger. your digestive system shuts off, you become focused on surival. If you have ever been in a physical confrontation you will also know how this feels. Now think about this - our body still reacts that way even when our lives are not truely in danger - so your adrenals are secreting all of these hormones that you dont need creating the physical problems you experience. So if you stop and think about what it is that triggers that, along with correcting the phyisiolgy of it you will experience relief.
Body work especially massage and physical therapy with accupressure is so helpful. But see someone who knows what they are doing. Your body is a whole mind -body- spirit . Treating all of it helps maintain for lack of a better term physical harmony.
Ive seen so many doctors, natural healers etc and found that taking care of my mind is essential to keeping my body functioning.
best of luck

[Unregistered]

I have recently been to the doctor to discuss my very similar but not quite so severe symptoms.
He told me it is probably most definitely an adrenal dysfunction of some sort, first step was to just get an ordinary glucose test. That alone will bring up any problems, then if you are, the next step is to find out which hormone is missing. Worst case scenario it could be addisons but there might be a much less scary answer!!