Does anyone have high cortisol? Adrenal Maladaptation Syndrome?
Hi,
I am new to this forum. I am also kind of new to the adrenal issues so please forgive me if I am asking qs. that are obvious or have been addressed before.
I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism when I was 15 yrs old (I am 36 yr old female) and have been on synthetic T4 from then till 3 yrs ago. I had some stressful events happening about 4 yrs ago and 3 yrs ago I started getting hyperthyroid symptoms on the dose I have been on for 15 yrs! I suspected adrenals and did a saliva test then:
ZRT results (Oct 2004)
Cortisol
AM 8 (3 -8)
Noon 3.5 (2-4)
PM Low 0.5 (1-2)
Midnight Low <.1 (0.5-1.5)
DHEAS 8.1 (3-10)
Estradiol 3.5 (1-5)
Progesterone Low 76 (100-600)
Testosterone 48 (20-50)
At that time I belived my endocrinologist that I was overmedicated and I did nothing about my adrenals.
That was 2 years ago, after many thyroid dosage changes (was on Armour, was switched to Synthroid, now I am on Synth T4 & T3). I have never felt good and 6 months ago I have started having symptoms of dizziness, extreme brain fog, memory loss, extreme fatigue etc. The symptoms come and go. My doc says it is not the thyroid and does not want to consider adrenals and wants me to see a neurologist.
I got the saliva test done again (Diagnos Tech) & these were the results:
DTS results (Nov 2006)
Cortisol
AM High 32 (13 -24)
Noon 6 (5-10)
PM 6 (3-8)
Midnight High 13 (1-4)
DHEAS 5 (3-10)
Estradiol 15 (7-20)
Progesterone 76 (65-500)
Testosterone 17 (8-20)
I am a bit confused about this. Is anyone familiar with the Adrenal Maladaptation Syndrome? I just stumbled upon it today on the internet and I was wondering if this is what I am going through (hyperadaptosis?). Or should I be thinking in terms of Cushings? Is there anyway to easily distinguish one from the othere without undergoing all the cushings tests? I am not sure whats going on with my adrenals.
Any help will be greaty appreciated and I thank you all in advance.