Can someone HELP me understand cortisol and the effects of adrenal fatigue?

[darkmatter22]

So a year ago I had my testosterone checked because I always feel shitty run down and tired- An it was 137 so I began TRT-

I would sleep a lot but still feel tired- Fast forward 6 months I did a sleep study i have moderate to severe sleep apnea got a cpap machine been using it every night Im also doing trt replacement and results have been mixed number will show good levels but i still feel achy lack of drive- I keep my E in check switched to subq take vitamins etc but I still feel crappy most of the time I dont feel depressed but I saw some ppl on here talk about cortisol levels.

From reading a trying to understand it it linked me to read about adrenal fatigue I feel like I have 90% of the symptoms- I went thru all my blood work I have and I dont see any tests for cortisol- How does one get this checked and has anyone had these problems or dealt with cortisol or adrenal fatigue?

Thanks-In my mission to feel better it has been a long road- Could I eat better and exercise more yes I should but im always feeling shittty so its just hard to get any momentum- when I would eat better and excerisese for 5-6 months nothing changed even blood work looked the same..

There has to be something else going on.

Im 5'9 210 37 years old and Ive been feeling like this for 5+ years- always dragging etc...

Any help would be great.

[BallSak]

Could very well be adrenal fatigue. Go get your cortisol checked first thing in the morning. My doc likes cortisol to be 15+ in the morning.

[phaedo]

"Adrenal fatigue" is more Internet hearsay than a legitimate diagnosis.

Adrenal insufficiency may be at the root of your problem, but so can a myriad of other imbalances. You need to run a full thyroid panel (not just TSH) and if you're concerned about adrenal issues, ask for a diurnal cortisol saliva test and ATCH cosyntrophin stimulation test. Conclusive evidence to your symptoms cannot be deduced from a single cortisol draw.

[dhickey]

4x cortisol saliva test will tell the story. I get mine from canary club.

[BallSak]

"Adrenal fatigue" is more Internet hearsay than a legitimate diagnosis.

Adrenal insufficiency may be at the root of your problem, but so can a myriad of other imbalances. You need to run a full thyroid panel (not just TSH) and if you're concerned about adrenal issues, ask for a diurnal cortisol saliva test and ATCH cosyntrophin stimulation test. Conclusive evidence to your symptoms cannot be deduced from a single cortisol draw.

Are you a doctor, phaedo?

[V-ROID]

So how much Test are you taking and when? Did your doc prescribe you Anastrozole?

[darkmatter22]

How would you have it checked in the morning? Is it a kit I would buy? Thank you for replying everyone? Just like everyone else im on my own journey to have a better life and feel better.

[BallSak]

Blood test. Like he said above, it could be a myriad of things but an AM serum cortisol is a good place to start. Saliva tests can be swayed one way or another depending on how hydrated or dehydrated you are. My doc doesn't like ATCH tests because your body over-responds unnaturally to the stimulation.

Check your thyroid labs again and make sure your free T3 is where it needs to be.

[thisAngelBites]

"Adrenal fatigue" is more Internet hearsay than a legitimate diagnosis.

Disagree with this. You will definitely find physicians online (and IRL) who think adrenal fatigue is nonsense. Those physicians believe that you either have Addison's disease (very rare - where your adrenals produce significantly less steroid than what is compatible with life) or Cushing's disease (where your adrenals produce far too much steroid) and that any place between these (extremely large) reference ranges is normal.

So yes, adrenal fatigue is not a legitimate diagnosis, as far as many practitioners are concerned, but this has no bearing whatsoever on whether it is true that a condition exists whereby the adrenals are not making the optimum amount of cortisol, but are neither making a sufficiently small amount in order to be considered to be indicative of Addison's.

This model of thinking relies on test scores to be the ultimate diagnostic tool. One score on a test, and you're fine, one point less, and you have a life-threatening disease. One result at one lab, and you're fine, another result at another and again, it's life threatening.

It's not a terribly nuanced way of thinking that finds a patient with very low normal test results, but not in Addisonian ranges, and assumes they are fine, ignoring the many symptoms of Addison's they are displaying, until they finally test with one point less, then it is proclaimed that they have a serious medical problem.

This way of thinking also denies the fact that for many, many illnesses and disease there are mild and severe forms, and in many cases, progression from mild to severe. For example, this way of thinking denies the experience of many men on this forum, whose testosterone levels may not be completely tanked. Many physicians (and people reading their thoughts on the web) would therefore would say that Low Testosterone is more Internet hearsay than a legitimate diagnosis. But there are people here who have had testosterone in the low end of the normal range, and were symptomatic of low testosterone, whose symptoms were, in fact, alleviated by the administration of testosterone.

This is the kind of thinking that underpins this Internet hearsay position, which I find decidedly unpersuasive.

[BallSak]

Disagree with this. You will definitely find physicians online (and IRL) who think adrenal fatigue is nonsense. Those physicians believe that you either have Addison's disease (very rare - where your adrenals produce significantly less steroid than what is compatible with life) or Cushing's disease (where your adrenals produce far too much steroid) and that any place between these (extremely large) reference ranges is normal.

So yes, adrenal fatigue is not a legitimate diagnosis, as far as many practitioners are concerned, but this has no bearing whatsoever on whether it is true that a condition exists whereby the adrenals are not making the optimum amount of cortisol, but are neither making a sufficiently small amount in order to be considered to be indicative of Addison's.

This model of thinking relies on test scores to be the ultimate diagnostic tool. One score on a test, and you're fine, one point less, and you have a life-threatening disease. One result at one lab, and you're fine, another result at another and again, it's life threatening.

It's not a terribly nuanced way of thinking that finds a patient with very low normal test results, but not in Addisonian ranges, and assumes they are fine, ignoring the many symptoms of Addison's they are displaying, until they finally test with one point less, then it is proclaimed that they have a serious medical problem.

This way of thinking also denies the fact that for many, many illnesses and disease there are mild and severe forms, and in many cases, progression from mild to severe. For example, this way of thinking denies the experience of many men on this forum, whose testosterone levels may not be completely tanked. Many physicians (and people reading their thoughts on the web) would therefore would say that Low Testosterone is more Internet hearsay than a legitimate diagnosis. But there are people here who have had testosterone in the low end of the normal range, and were symptomatic of low testosterone, whose symptoms were, in fact, alleviated by the administration of testosterone.

This is the kind of thinking that underpins this Internet hearsay position, which I find decidedly unpersuasive.

^^^^^I agree with this.