Now an Adrenal Problem!? (low preg, high prog, low 4x cortisol)

**asiandudexxx** · 03-23-2013, 11:32 AM

I'm actually not surprised since starting Armour and hCG not feeling THAT much better. Plus, since it sounds like I have a pituitary problem, it's pretty common for a good amount of my endocrine hormones to be out of whack.

03/08/13

17-OH-Pregnenolone 109 ng/dL (reference range 53-357)
Down from 207 ng/dL on 1/08/13
[I supplemented with 150-200 mg preg daily with dose split up between 1/08 - 3/08)

Progesterone 3.3 ng/mL (reference range 0.1-0.3 ng/mL)

DHEA SO4 9950 ng/mL (reference range 1000-5500 ng/mL)
This is from supplementing with 25-50 mg DHEA daily. Stopping supplementation now.

4x Salivary Cortisol
7:40 AM 0.06 mcg/dL (reference range 0.025 - 0.600 mcg/dL) L
12 PM 0.142 mcg/dL (reference range <0.010 - 0.330 mcg/dL)
4 PM 0.080 mcg/dL (reference range 0.010 - 0.200 mcg/dL) L
12 AM 0.010 mcg/dL (reference range <0.010 - 0.090 mcg/dL) L

It looks like my preg is oversynthesizing into prog and getting backed up. Should I stop the preg supplements?

I started taking isocort the day after the test and felt AMAZING for a day or two. Now I don't feel anything from it. Should I up the dose?

My doc recommends adrenotone over isocort/cortef since he feels it is hard to come off both. I'm going to consider it once I run out of isocort. Has anyone had any experience with it?

**HRTstudent** · 03-23-2013, 01:59 PM

You could be tking too much pregnenolone. That's not uncommon I imagine. Personally, I think it's insane some amounts I see people taking because it only takes me like 50-75mg daily and I end up with too much progesterone regardless of the form of pregnenolone (even the alleged "time release" MLM stuff).

Pregnenolone blood tests are not that reliable either. I am far from an expert on pregnenolone biochemistry, so I am not certain what to make of the correlation between pregnenolone and 17OH but do know that there is a difference between "Pregnenolone" and the test you got done, "17 hydroxy pregnenolone".

I will say... I'm not yet interested in the supplements you are taking, but talk about your Armour... Are you on the right dose? How does your thyroid look?

**Trific** · 03-23-2013, 02:25 PM

I started taking isocort the day after the test and felt AMAZING for a day or two. Now I don't feel anything from it. Should I up the dose?

At least you got those two days, now if you can just figure that out you can maybe get many more of those days!

**asiandudexxx** · 03-23-2013, 05:22 PM

Originally Posted by Trific

At least you got those two days, now if you can just figure that out you can maybe get many more of those days!

Serious. Though at times I feel like I'm chasing the end of the rainbow!

Originally Posted by HRTstudent

You could be tking too much pregnenolone. That's not uncommon I imagine. Personally, I think it's insane some amounts I see people taking because it only takes me like 50-75mg daily and I end up with too much progesterone regardless of the form of pregnenolone (even the alleged "time release" MLM stuff).

Pregnenolone blood tests are not that reliable either. I am far from an expert on pregnenolone biochemistry, so I am not certain what to make of the correlation between pregnenolone and 17OH but do know that there is a difference between "Pregnenolone" and the test you got done, "17 hydroxy pregnenolone".

I will say... I'm not yet interested in the supplements you are taking, but talk about your Armour... Are you on the right dose? How does your thyroid look?

yep, 17-oh-preg is the intermediate metabolite between preg and dhea. I thought I remembered reading that it was the test to get if I wanted to measure preg levels, but I can't find any evidence for that.

I'm thinkin preg is getting shuttled to prog since DHEA is also sky high and my body doesn't know what to do with it. If I drop both at least I'll be saving a little $$ in supplements.

The Thyroid is tricky and I'm still not on the right dose of Armour. I've been on 1 1/2 grain (90 mg) since January. I did it with 20 mcg t3 until February where my BW came back with high Total/Free T3. Dropped the T3 but didn't dose Armour for 48 hours before my last BW so my t3 was low. I plan on taking my next labs 12-24 hours after my last Armour dosage, and if my T3 is low again on the next BW I think I will up the Armour.

The thing is, I probably could only tolerate a small thyroid med dosage since my cortisol was so low. Even though I still felt hypothyroid, my doctors kept complaining about my tachycardia and wanted me to DECREASE the dosage (90 mg isn't that much, a lot of people are optimized at 180-330 mg or 3 - 5 1/2 grain). Since I'm taking isocort now, I think My body will be able to tolerate the increase and I can finally get to a good dosage.

What's the story on your thyroid?

**Trific** · 03-23-2013, 06:27 PM

....

**HRTstudent** · 03-23-2013, 07:49 PM

Originally Posted by asiandudexxx

Serious. Though at times I feel like I'm chasing the end of the rainbow!

yep, 17-oh-preg is the intermediate metabolite between preg and dhea. I thought I remembered reading that it was the test to get if I wanted to measure preg levels, but I can't find any evidence for that.

I'm thinkin preg is getting shuttled to prog since DHEA is also sky high and my body doesn't know what to do with it. If I drop both at least I'll be saving a little $$ in supplements.

The Thyroid is tricky and I'm still not on the right dose of Armour. I've been on 1 1/2 grain (90 mg) since January. I did it with 20 mcg t3 until February where my BW came back with high Total/Free T3. Dropped the T3 but didn't dose Armour for 48 hours before my last BW so my t3 was low. I plan on taking my next labs 12-24 hours after my last Armour dosage, and if my T3 is low again on the next BW I think I will up the Armour.

The thing is, I probably could only tolerate a small thyroid med dosage since my cortisol was so low. Even though I still felt hypothyroid, my doctors kept complaining about my tachycardia and wanted me to DECREASE the dosage (90 mg isn't that much, a lot of people are optimized at 180-330 mg or 3 - 5 1/2 grain). Since I'm taking isocort now, I think My body will be able to tolerate the increase and I can finally get to a good dosage.

What's the story on your thyroid?

I think you have a lot of work to do on your thyroid.

This is a big ticket item along with your nutrition.

**asiandudexxx** · 03-24-2013, 02:03 AM

Originally Posted by HRTstudent

I think you have a lot of work to do on your thyroid.

This is a big ticket item along with your nutrition.

The more I fix, the more problems I find out I have LOL.

Not sure if I've mentioned my nutrition here specifically? But it feels good to actually be at a healthy weight/bf%. It's amazing the results I've had from just a few months of HRT.

**HRTstudent** · 03-24-2013, 03:17 PM

I have no idea what your nutrition looks like... I'm just saying that is one of the biggest things anyone can do to have major impact on both wellness and disease. And also, specifically for you, it appears you need to work out the thyroid dosing issues.