Hey Marie,

I think the insomnia all starts with high cortisol, I was going to sleep ok but waking 3-4 hours later with my mind worrying about everything...it just went downhill from there. Interestingly the ASI test I did about 8 months after it all started, showed very low all day then in range before bed.

These days i can barely get to sleep, impossible without Trazodone, even still I wake up 1-2 hours later with it...the Trazodone chills the mental chatter for a few hours but has nasty side effects, so i dont know whats worse anymore!, so I drift in and out until 4-5am then get full on mental chatter, then normally the adrenaline starts...

I have just ordered a hormone profile test just to see whats happening. I know it sounds crazy but I would loveto have low cortisol, just so i could sleep!

Thanks for the imput....it's really intriguing the reactions people have to cortisol replacement. Some say it's a lifesaver - others talk about getting other symptoms!

I've been doing Celtic Sea Salt for months - in water - liberally on food. The NB type diet also for a few months now. Very little change in symptoms.

All stressors have been removed from my life also for months now - i'm literally living in a box of solitude and quiet!
But i want to get on with SOME element of living aside from the bare minimum - these symptoms enshroud me, completely debilitating me most days.

Like you Wired - i've had the insomnia...mixed in with some days of needing to sleep constantly. It's a weird ride for sure.

I need to get a recent cortisol reading of the day/night curve as before i was low during the day and rising at night. Couldnt get going in the morning and suddenly would 'wake up' at night....insomnia hell.
But now i'm sleepy all the time, really low energy, it doesn't peak at night. Random episodes of nausea, vomiting, groin/leg pain, temperature plummets to 34, i pass out for an hour, then come round.
I have the feeling the cortisol has leveled off to a constant low and isn't peaking at all. Or perhaps some other hormone(s)/factor is implimented in all this too.

I'm prepared to use hormonal replacement at this stage, even to just improve some symptoms so my will to continue with this healing journey remains strong.

Oh yeah that stuff was horrible. I took it for three weeks and decided that I would rather suffer than take another one. It made my hands and ankles swell like I had elephantitis! It was painful to walk. Plus it made me even more dizzy than I already was, and made me feel like everything was bloated and full, including my brain! HBBJ Sea Salt was a life saver