I've been taking various adrenal hormones for the past few weeks with mixed results. Overall, it's been positive: they seem to have helped me get over a three-month-long case of bronchitis and I have more energy. Using a dab of hydrocortisone at bedtime has prevented me from grinding my teeth at night. On the downside, the adrenal glandular (containing adrenaline) gives me palpitations if I take too much of it. I've been getting too hot and cold (mostly too hot). Too much hydrocortisone made me puffy and gave me a slight case of acne. Taking adrenal cortex after midday gives me acid reflux and keeps me up at night. (I'm writing this at 4:30 AM.)
Your adrenal hormones help with healing, controlling blood sugar, controlling inflammation, and dealing with stress. They make some of your sex hormones.
Why is adrenal fatigue apparently becoming more common? Your adrenal hormones are made of cholesterol--including LDL, the "bad" cholesterol. Salt is also important for proper adrenal function. What's the dietary advice been for fifty years? Avoid salt, red meat (full of cholesterol) and fat (which Mother Nature packages with cholesterol in animal foods). What's been one of the most popular drugs of our lifetime? Statins. A common side effect of cholesterol-lowering statin drugs is aches and pains. If lowering cholesterol or restricting your salt reduces your cortisol (a hormone that helps with healing and inflammation), it's a no-brainer that that would lead to inflammation and pain. It might also explain how statins lead to diabetes in some people: remember that your adrenal hormones help control blood sugar.
My cholesterol was up 80 points last spring--over 200. I think my body was doing its best to make adrenal hormones (and thyroid hormones). Or maybe it was up because cholesterol wasn't being converted to those hormones. In either case, I hadn't started a fatty meat fest. I'd been on one for years and my cholesterol stayed fairly low.
Speaking of thyroid hormones, low-fat diets and statin drugs could also account for the rise in thyroid problems: your thyroid hormones are also made of cholesterol. Along with heart disease, diabetes, overweight, acid reflux, and mental health problems, I think we can add thyroid and adrenal problems to the list of disasters that low-fat diets and/or statins have caused.
Sources:
Stop the Thyroid Madness, Updated Revised Edition by Janie A. Bowthorpe, MED.
Adrenal Fatigue: The 21st Century Stress Syndrome by James L. Wilson, ND, DC, Ph.D.
Safe Uses of Cortisol by William McK. Jefferies, MD, FACP
Your adrenal hormones help with healing, controlling blood sugar, controlling inflammation, and dealing with stress. They make some of your sex hormones.
Why is adrenal fatigue apparently becoming more common? Your adrenal hormones are made of cholesterol--including LDL, the "bad" cholesterol. Salt is also important for proper adrenal function. What's the dietary advice been for fifty years? Avoid salt, red meat (full of cholesterol) and fat (which Mother Nature packages with cholesterol in animal foods). What's been one of the most popular drugs of our lifetime? Statins. A common side effect of cholesterol-lowering statin drugs is aches and pains. If lowering cholesterol or restricting your salt reduces your cortisol (a hormone that helps with healing and inflammation), it's a no-brainer that that would lead to inflammation and pain. It might also explain how statins lead to diabetes in some people: remember that your adrenal hormones help control blood sugar.
My cholesterol was up 80 points last spring--over 200. I think my body was doing its best to make adrenal hormones (and thyroid hormones). Or maybe it was up because cholesterol wasn't being converted to those hormones. In either case, I hadn't started a fatty meat fest. I'd been on one for years and my cholesterol stayed fairly low.
Speaking of thyroid hormones, low-fat diets and statin drugs could also account for the rise in thyroid problems: your thyroid hormones are also made of cholesterol. Along with heart disease, diabetes, overweight, acid reflux, and mental health problems, I think we can add thyroid and adrenal problems to the list of disasters that low-fat diets and/or statins have caused.
Sources:
Stop the Thyroid Madness, Updated Revised Edition by Janie A. Bowthorpe, MED.
Adrenal Fatigue: The 21st Century Stress Syndrome by James L. Wilson, ND, DC, Ph.D.
Safe Uses of Cortisol by William McK. Jefferies, MD, FACP
Comments
A word of caution: if your cortisol is already high, this may make things worse and keep you up at night. If your cortisol is normal or high at night, I'd look into wearing a splint (I used to wear one) and reducing sources of tension and inflammation.