Adrenal fatigue !?

[PrideR]

Guys...last month of my life was a f*kin hell. Started having sudden panic attacks,general feeling of illness,irritability, anxiety,no appetite, barely slept. Got bloodwork checked but no hormones. Lately i've been coping with heavy training and some stress at work. Next week i'll be getting hormone results ( Cortisol, test, ACTH, DHEA etc ) but man i still feel like shet and i still thinking i might have something worse. Can this be adrenal fatigue ? Did anyone have experience with this ?

[600@50]

First off it's good that you've been to the doctor and had bw done. You should know that training can be extremely stressful on the body. So if you are having these anxiety attacks and other stress responses and possible adrenal fatigue you probably should not be adding to your condition by training hard. However some light to moderate training may be beneficial. You and only you can decide how hard to push.
Done correctly in your case going to the gym and working out could be a great stress reliever. Best of luck man.

[PrideR]

thank you for your feedback ! I'm getting better but still afraid to workout. My mood is still f*cked up. Still waiting for Cortisol + ACTH results.

[Booz]

I had all those symptoms agood while back and was diagnosed with severe exhaustion,plus I had severely low testosterone which I was seen by an endo for....

[600@50]

It might be a good idea to have a thyroid function test. Usually they look at TSH, T3 and T4 as basic tests. Low thyroid is becoming more common in men but some docs tend to not look at it as a cause for fatigue and such.

[PrideR]

thyroid is ok. Cortisol is messed up.

[Quester]

Morning cardio can help to alleviate stress.

[600@50]

thyroid is ok. Cortisol is messed up.

I guess at this point just see what the doc comes up with. Is throid on the low side of normal? Are you going to a gp or endo? If they will listen and take time with you hopefully they can help you. Keep us posted.

[dreadnok89]

I had all those symptoms agood while back and was diagnosed with severe exhaustion,plus I had severely low testosterone which I was seen by an endo for....

I had crippling anxiety and after getting a blood test my total test was 90! Started hrt and never looked back. This was 7 years ago

[PrideR]

I guess at this point just see what the doc comes up with. Is throid on the low side of normal? Are you going to a gp or endo? If they will listen and take time with you hopefully they can help you. Keep us posted.

TSH is 1.84 so on low side. I went to an endo. My mood is back to normal but i still get a wierd sickness sensation followed by yawning..

[600@50]

Unfortunately too many doctors use the "normal" range as the basis for how they prescribe meds with total disregard for how the person feels. Some people function better at high normal and some function fine at a low normal. Try to explain how you are feeling AND functioning to your doc. If he or she refuses to listen then go to another one. Doctors work for you and need to listen to your concerns.

[PrideR]

went to a psychiatrist and put me on prozac for 1 month. I'm not sure i will be taking it.
Planning to take another blood test with t3/t4/tsh/cortisol etc.

[600@50]

Personally I think the antidepressant should be the last resort. See how your bw comes back and go from there. Don't give up.

[PrideR]

Now i'm starting to get hypoglycemic episodes. I guess is related to high cortisol ?

[hammerheart]

TSH is 1.84 so on low side. I went to an endo. My mood is back to normal but i still get a wierd sickness sensation followed by yawning..

That's almost optimal, not nearly on the low side. Care to post actual bloodwork?

[hammerheart]

Now i'm starting to get hypoglycemic episodes. I guess is related to high cortisol ?

You are getting shaky which doesn't necessarily mean low blood glucose. I've been there, I get really, really, angry when my serum glucose goes down. Shakiness may be induced by high cortisol status, though.

[PrideR]

I almost fainted yesterday ( all shaky and COLD hands with dizziness ) a clear sign of hypoglycemia . Last 2 days i didnt ate all that much. Maybe that's the cause. I heard that high cortisol fcks blood sugar.
I'll post bloodwork when i get home. I'm still agitated....

[hammerheart]

I almost fainted yesterday ( all shaky and COLD hands with dizziness ) a clear sign of hypoglycemia . Last 2 days i didnt ate all that much. Maybe that's the cause. I heard that high cortisol fcks blood sugar.
I'll post bloodwork when i get home. I'm still agitated....

The only clear sign of low blood sugar is a low blood sugar reading, unfortunately.

High cortisol raises blood sugar an is potentially triggered by hypoglycemia. The adrenal cathecolamines (nor)adrenaline secreted together w/cortisol can make your hands shake.

If you don't ate enough, or ate unhealthy (simple sugars/carbohydrates) it will worsen any endocrine problem you might have.

[PrideR]

today went to a diabetic doc to check me. My blood sugar is ok. He told me I'm having panic attacks not low sugar. What should I do next ?

[hammerheart]

today went to a diabetic doc to check me. My blood sugar is ok. He told me I'm having panic attacks not low sugar. What should I do next ?

Stop bothering about having low blood sugar first. Even if it happens, it's not that bad. Just eat some carbs and that's enough to fix it.

High cortisol is rather suggestive of stress and anxiety states. What is your night sleep like?

If you don't want to jump on anti-depressants, you can try supplementing with a B-50 complex, 30-50mg of Zinc (citrate is both cheap and effective, otherwise go for l-optizinc), Vitamin D3 (at least 2k IU), 5-HTP, fish oil.

Also look into sublingual methyl-B12 (start with 1000mcg).

Some ppl feel better enough on this regimen, if you can afford the supplements it's worth giving it a try imo.

[PrideR]

I have no trouble sleeping. In the daytime i feel agitated and nervous. Took b-50 zinc magnesium and theanine for 4 weeks, no improvement.

[hammerheart]

Have you ever tried 5-HTP? It works in a similar way to anti-depressants.

[PrideR]

nope. didn't tried it. I notice i get that sickness/shaky feel mostly before evening. After that i feel normal again. I suspect its the morning cortisol.

[gymffiti]

Personally I think the antidepressant should be the last resort. See how your bw comes back and go from there. Don't give up.

I had / have very similar symptoms to the OP (BW finally revealed I had low T)

Antidepressants (Celexa) helped with my mood, but did nothing for my anxiety and panic attacks

Adrenal fatigue could be part of the problem for the PrideR ... Coffee has occasionally brought on panic attacks for me

[joebailey1271]

nope. didn't tried it. I notice i get that sickness/shaky feel mostly before evening. After that i feel normal again. I suspect its the morning cortisol.

I get reactive hypoglycemia, shaky, sweaty, weak feeling. The way I understand it is my body senses sugar and just dumps insulin in response instead of slowly releasing it. If I just eat a banana by itself, my blood sugar will bottom out. I tested this, I bought a blood sugar machine and about 30 minutes after I ate a banana it dropped to the 50 to 60 range. Diet coke even causes this, I guess when I drink one, my body senses the sweetness and dumps insulin causing the low sugar feelings, I now eat a ketogenic diet, this keeps my blood sugar more stable at about 90. I got tired of the up and down feeling from the fluctuating blood sugar. On the plus side, I do not have that constant hunger feeling like I did eating carbs.

[hammerheart]

I get reactive hypoglycemia, shaky, sweaty, weak feeling. The way I understand it is my body senses sugar and just dumps insulin in response instead of slowly releasing it. If I just eat a banana by itself, my blood sugar will bottom out. I tested this, I bought a blood sugar machine and about 30 minutes after I ate a banana it dropped to the 50 to 60 range. Diet coke even causes this, I guess when I drink one, my body senses the sweetness and dumps insulin causing the low sugar feelings, I now eat a ketogenic diet, this keeps my blood sugar more stable at about 90. I got tired of the up and down feeling from the fluctuating blood sugar. On the plus side, I do not have that constant hunger feeling like I did eating carbs.

I had that problem before TRT.

[joebailey1271]

I had that problem before TRT.

Yea that could be the cause of his anxiety, I know it gave me anxiety when my blood sugar fluctuated so much.

[hammerheart]

Yea that could be the cause of his anxiety, I know it gave me anxiety when my blood sugar fluctuated so much.

Except I don't get anxious, but angry. Now I can binge on bananas w/o much discomfort. I believe the impaired tolerance is mostly from low oestradiol.

[PrideR]

I get reactive hypoglycemia, shaky, sweaty, weak feeling. The way I understand it is my body senses sugar and just dumps insulin in response instead of slowly releasing it. If I just eat a banana by itself, my blood sugar will bottom out. I tested this, I bought a blood sugar machine and about 30 minutes after I ate a banana it dropped to the 50 to 60 range. Diet coke even causes this, I guess when I drink one, my body senses the sweetness and dumps insulin causing the low sugar feelings, I now eat a ketogenic diet, this keeps my blood sugar more stable at about 90. I got tired of the up and down feeling from the fluctuating blood sugar. On the plus side, I do not have that constant hunger feeling like I did eating carbs.

i heard that on hypoglycemia you get instant sweat? it is true ? I went to a diabetes doctor and told me hypoglycemia will cause extreme sweat & i am just having panic attacks.
My doc prescribed ativan when panic kicks in and Prozac for 1 month before bed. I dunno what to do !?

[Quester]

PrideR, I hope your feeling better! How are you doing now?