Question???

[pmgamer18]

"Pituitary" I wonder is this my problem.

I have had low T for 22 yrs. my first test was Total Testosterone 120.
My LH was 3.33 mIU/mL range 2.00 - 12.00.
My FSH was 4.95 mIU/mL range 1.00 - 12.00.
My Prolactin was 8.80 ng/mL range 1.58 -23.12
I was told I am primary meaning my testis don't work to good.

Last yr. I added HCG to my 150 mgs. / wk. T shots. My Total T went way up from 650 to 1087 ng/dl range 262 - 1593.

I asked my Dr. to do a MRI on my pituitary and the test showed nothing wrong.

I stayed on the HCG because this is the best I have felt in 22 yrs.

On my last 4 blood tests my IGF-1 looks to me to be low 114 ng/mL range 75 - 212. This is my last test.

About 7 months ago my Thyroid was checked.
FT1 = 8.10 ug/dL range 6.33 - 12.40.
T uptake = 1.02 Units range 0.66 - 1.27.
T3 total = 1.15 ng/mL range 0.8 - 2.2.
T4 total = 8.26 ug/dL range 5.0 - 12.0.
TSH = 2.156 uIU/mL range 0.4 - 4.7.

I had my Cortisol tested it was 10:30 am = 9.04 ug/dL range A.M.= 7.0 to 25.0 and P.M.= 2.0 - 9.0. My Dr. said it is fine.
I now feel he is wrong it should have been up over 15.

My wife has Thyroid Problems and we now feel her meds like Armour can't get high enough she gets up to 2 grains and gets hyper. We read this could be because of Adrenal Fatigue not enough Cortisol to carry the med from the blood to the cells. We read that you can do some tests like shine a light in her eyes to see if your pupil says closed we did this and her pupil starts to open and close but it does not go big. She checked mine and my pupil did not last as long as hers and opened wide and kept trying to close.

I feel I have a pituitary problem causing my problems. Every winter I get Bronchitis and can't get rid of it like my immune system is not working good. In the last 15 yrs. any infection I get it takes 3 to 4 refills of Anti-B's to get rid of it. In the morning's when I wake up I am always fatigued takes me forever to get going. So my Dr. gives me Concerta 36 mgs. to help with my energy. Now I feel this is not good to take if I have low Cortisol levels.
Any input would be a big help here. When I added HCG to my T shots last yr I did dam good until last fall when the Bronchitis started now I have trouble breathing. I am on Spiriva Handihaler for 45 days Dr. says I have a lot of inflammation in my lungs I failed a breathing test.
Thanks

[love_en]

I would venture that your AM cortisol is low. I am surprised that you are not sicker than you are. Having low cortisol has a great effect on how you react to infections and stress. That thing you have going on with your lungs is suspicious also. I believe that COPD/asthma is a sign of adrenal deficiency. If you read all of the posts on the adrenal sticky, you know that healthy AM cortisol levels are closer to 30 and an ACTH stim test puts you past 50. Problem is, most doctors are even more stubborn about adrenals. To them, there is no such thing as adrenal fatigue and Addison's is so rare that no one ever gets it. Chrisgj is the man to talk to about this. He knows lots about living with adrenal deficiency.

[pmgamer18]

Originally Posted by love_en

I would venture that your AM cortisol is low. I am surprised that you are not sicker than you are. Having low cortisol has a great effect on how you react to infections and stress. That thing you have going on with your lungs is suspicious also. I believe that COPD/asthma is a sign of adrenal deficiency. If you read all of the posts on the adrenal sticky, you know that healthy AM cortisol levels are closer to 30 and an ACTH stim test puts you past 50. Problem is, most doctors are even more stubborn about adrenals. To them, there is no such thing as adrenal fatigue and Addison's is so rare that no one ever gets it. Chrisgj is the man to talk to about this. He knows lots about living with adrenal deficiency.

Been talking to Chris at 2 sites. You right about Dr.'s I now feel my Dr. is blowing off my wife telling her he can't help her after doing a test with Prednisone 1mg. for 10 days. He asked her to let him know if she feels better taking it and when we called we could not get to talk to him. Could not get passed the his aid. She is going in for her blood test tomorrow any why and asking for a refill if the Dr. does not give her one then we are going to look for one the will test and treat us for this. Dam shine a light in both of are eyes and the pupils don't stay closed. I layed down and took my BP and then stood up and took it and it went down. Should have gone up. You think you have a good Dr. and he does everything to be sure you ok and you later find out you have another Range chaser. My morning cortisol even being late morning at 9 is not normal. I will end up treating my self you watch Dr.'s are to few and far between the good ones that is.

[love_en]

Does your doctor know that your blood pressure falls if you get up from a sitting or prone position? Not that 99.9% of doctors would diagnose, much less treat it properly. The in vogue diagnosis for this is Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome. Instead of telling it like it is, the medical community comes up with another bullshit disease. The treatment for this is stimulants and increasing salt intake. The actual problem is underperforming adrenals. I know for myself that I can eat all the salt I want and it comes right back out a few hours later.

My doctor of 15 years knows I have orthostatic hypotension, heat intolerance and some other symptoms that should cause suspicion. Last year, I demanded an AM cortisol, that came back at 28, good right?. An even more useless endo did an ACTH stim test, I only went up to 38. In my lay person's mind there is little difference between 28 and 38. Chris knows a healthy man stims way past that.

I have heard many horror stories about doctors and adrenals. Having low T will make you feel like crap, low cortisol may kill you and painfully. I have been following what is happening with your wife. 1 mg of prednisone is nothing, that is normally used to taper off someone who has been on high doses for a long time. Replacement doses are 5-7.5 mg. I know you are not a small guy, so I wonder how you are still alive on an AM cortisol of 9. The replacement dose for a large, physically active man is definitely above 5 mg.

I sometimes wonder if the practice of medicine would be improved if tests for things like cortisol, thyroid and testosterone were poor at best. Right now, it seems that the tests are not reflecting what is happening to the patient. I can attest to that. There was a time when hormonal problems were diagnosed by the occurance of certain sets of symptoms and treatment was titrated to relief of symptoms. Doctors are doing this now when they experiment with serotonin antidepressants and they think nothing of it. So I am having a very hard time with the double standard towards hormones.

[Matt Muscle]

Phil, perhaps you should repeat the AM Cortisol test and do it at 8.30, plus see if your doctor will do the ACTH stim test. That low initial result certainly needs further investigation.

[pmgamer18]

Hi Love_en and Matt Muscle,

This morning I felt like my old self for the first time since last fall. Last night I had my granddaughters friends mother a Dr. just moved in last yr. from Germany she is a Dr. but not lic. yet for the U.S. She checked my eyes and did the BP test. She said my eyes stay closed down and my BP went up for laying down. She said not to do the Eye test in a dark room and you need to use a cuff not a wrist BP gauge. She checked my wife and her BP went down and her eyes don't stay closed down. The Dr. told me looking at my test that my Dr. could have thought this test was a PM test. The labs are not putting the time of day on the test. She told me most men my age on long term TRT have Adrenal problems and get sick with things like sinis or Bronchitis infections that they can't get over. She feels I need more testing. So I will need to go back over this with my Dr.

The Prednisone 1mg is = to 5 mgs. of Cortef and lasts a lot longer. I am told this at the Thyroid Madness site. I had posted that my wife had a blood Test yesterday and the Dr. refilled her Prednisone. I al so asked if after being on this 10 days if she should up the dose to 2 pills a day. Can't seem to get a answer.
I wonder if her Thyroid tests will change on Prednisone 1 mg. for 10 days. She is still holding at 2 grains of Armour yet does not have that hyper feeling anymore. So wonder if she should try upping the Armour.

[love_en]

I have been lurking at the stopthethyroidmadness forums as well. I do not think it would be a good idea for your wife to up the Armour until her prednisone is raised to a full replacement dose. 1 mg of prednisone is only enough to cut your natural production via the feedback mechanism.

I did catch the point made by Marianco that T will reduce cortisol output. Have not been retested, but if that were true, my AM cortisol is not at 28 anymore. Although that number should be framed in a proper point of reference. It was 90+ every day that month and all of my bones and joints were in terrible pain. Pretty sure you read this, but fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue and irritable bowel syndrome are recent maladies that came around after doctors started testing TSH and AM cortisol.

[mxim]

you are not primary if hcg brings your T levels up that much. also,if you were primary,your LH would be a hell of alot higher than 3.3. thats my opinion.

[novice]

Can't DHEA treat adrenal fatigue? Also I agree with mxim, doesnt sould like your primary phil.

[pmgamer18]

Originally Posted by mxim

you are not primary if hcg brings your T levels up that much. also,if you were primary,your LH would be a hell of alot higher than 3.3. thats my opinion.

I messed up on this test the first test I had I can't find and have some of it in my plainer. The 3.3 is my level on T shots every 4 weeks can't remember how much t it was. My LH and FHS from menory was very high this was a note in my plainer as to why the Dr. said I was primary. My DHEA is low normal so I take 25 mgs a day. Doing this gets me to mid range. My wife got here test back today and her morning Cortisol was 18 and her Ferritin was 20 dam low. My Dr. told her to stary on the armour and the Prednisone 1mg and see the Endo he wants her to see. We are not going to this Endo he does not use armour so we found a Dr. at the Armour web site and he treats Adrenal problems and uses armour. I talked to him first and he sounds good.
I will post her tests late when she gets home from work.