Re: Honest question - do you really think you've got AF ?

Oh just admit it Yoe. You're so trying to be edgy and cool :)

Doctors generally don't believe in AF. To me AF is the result of many other things going on, as low cortisol seems to coincide with other conditions like thyroid problems, POTS and other types of dysautonomia, Mast cell disorders and mastocytosis.

I don't believe that cortisol issues are the cause of these things, but rather a biproduct of something bigger going on.

I know plenty of people who have one or more of the above conditions, and poor digestion is a very common factor among all. So it's really a question of the chicken or the egg...did gut issues cause these things to happen, or did these conditions cause the gut issues?

Unfortunately in many cases it comes down to genetics. Most people with Mastocytosis have the gene mutation which caused it. Many others were born hypothyroid, hypopituitary, etc.

Personally I believe that I have always had a mast cell issue because I always had allergies. Most of them were common allergies (pet dander, dust pollen) which I outgrew, but now my allergies are back with a vengeance and have spread immensely to foods and other things which I never had issues with. When I hit puberty I had really rough periods and PMS, and during both my pregnancies I was EXTREMELY ill and never able to carry to full term. So hormonal issues have always been prevalent. Was it the mast cells causing it, or was the hormonal imbalance causing the mast cells to become angry...who really knows?



I never had the blood test done for cortisol, but I did have one for aldosterone when I was diagnosed with RSWS. Saliva tests showed low cortisol as well, which made sense to me because if my glands aren't making aldosterone they probably aren't making much cortisol either. I've never met a traditional MD who believes in adrenal fatigue, but it never made sense to me that they saw it possible to have an under functioning thyroid or pituitary and not under functioning adrenals. If you're hypothyroid it doesn't mean that your thyroid isn't working at all, in the majority of cases it just means that it's slow. Why couldn't the same go for the adrenals? I always hated how black and white they are about the adrenals. Either you have Cushings, Addisions, or you're fine. There's no in between.

Does AF exist alone? Highly doubtful. But is it a bi-product of something else screwed up? Most definitely. I think they should call it "Confused Adrenal Syndrome" rather than adrenal fatigue. Because it seems that they are just confused and receiving mixed messages! Tweet