Stress and Cortisol

[gluten]

Hi, In reading the posts many have stated they due to any kind of stress will start a flare. Since, we have a condition that causes physical stress does that keep our cortisol levels elevated and any other type of stress raises the levels even higher. Jon

[Gabes-Apg]

Jon
I am sure a wise person like tex can express the more medical/technical side of this.

for me, a few years before the MC was Dx'd (but there were slight indicators of it) I had issues with adrenal fatigue, and that my body could not produce enough cortisol to support me during stressful events.

These days, technically my MC is in remission, but a day where adrenalin occurs will cause a major MC Mud BM (most times a near accident or an accident)
the impact of the adrenalin and cortisol on my guts causes big inflammation reaction (that within 12 -24hours will be gone)

[dfpowell]

I was actually wondering the same thing. I did come across some information which mentioned "people who are regularly active show a decreased cortisol response to an emotional crisis when compared to sedentary controls." I'm not sure how this can be applied or how effective it would be for those dealing with MC. Perhaps Tex will have some input.

[Gabes-Apg]

Donna
in my case, how I have used the situation/knowledge I have re my body, is that I have to manage the adrenalin.
Not just stress, but the whole thing, making sure that the high's are not too high and lows are not too low, and I don't spend my days drifting between the two.

keeping life fairly level, calm. Distancing myself from toxic drama types, not allowing myself to get wrapped up in others hype.
having realistic expectations on myself, and others, goals, dreams etc.

[tex]

Hi,

Sorry to disappoint, but I have never pursued the cortisol angle, mostly because it hasn't been mentioned in the research articles that I have studied that deal with mast cell issues and IBDs. Doctors don't routinely test for it, so the only time that my own cortisol level has been checked was at my request, and since I wasn't reacting at the time, it was normal.

I had it checked when I was trying to track down the reason for my contradictory thyroid function markers (low Free T4 in combination with normal to low TSH). Everything checked out normal in the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA or HTPA axis), so I stopped investigating that aspect.

Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) and cortisol are markers of Crohn's disease, for example, with an inverse relationship. IOW, Crohn's patients typically show low DHEA levels, and high cortisol levels.

CONCLUSIONS: DHEAS as a marker of inflammation was low in CD and UC. In CD patients, low DHEAS and high cortisol serum levels were associated with higher humoral inflammatory activity. With respect to humoral inflammatory activity in CD patients, DHEAS and cortisol seem to be inversely regulated, which may have an impact on several immune functions, such as IL-6 secretion.

Association of humoral markers of inflammation and dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate or cortisol serum levels in patients with chronic inflammatory bowel disease.

Corticosteroids mimic the function of natural cortisol, so since treating IBDs with corticosteroids apparently reduces inflammation, perhaps the elevated cortisol environment is part of the body's natural defense process for suppressing IBD symptoms. But note the findings of this research study that involved using DHEA to treat Crohn's patients who were refractory to conventional treatments:

CONCLUSIONS: In a pilot study, dehydroepiandrosterone was effective and safe in patients with refractory Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis. Adjustment of the dehydroepiandrosterone dosage may further improve the treatment success.

Patients with refractory Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis respond to dehydroepiandrosterone: a pilot study

And while it's true that chronic stress may lead to chronically-increased levels of cortisol, (which is deemed to be an undesirable trend), that flies in the face of using corticosteroids to reduce inflammation, (since corticosteroids mimic naturally-produced cortisol). There is a lot that we don't understand about how all this is related to autoimmune disease.

I was actually wondering the same thing. I did come across some information which mentioned "people who are regularly active show a decreased cortisol response to an emotional crisis when compared to sedentary controls." I'm not sure how this can be applied or how effective it would be for those dealing with MC. Perhaps Tex will have some input.

That's why exercise is beneficial for MC symptoms — while individual periods of exercise may actually raise cortisol levels, regular exercise reduces the stress response to cortisol, which breaks the cycle of cortisol perpetuation.

Does Regular Exercise Lower Cortisol Levels?

Tex

[Lilja]

Hi,

My doctor told me yesterday to take iodine, in order to fix the adrenals. Together with iodine, he said it's important to take selenium as well. I will follow his advice, and in the meantime I have been searching the net for information about the adrenals, and came across an article, which I found interesting. "The HPA axis - why treating just the adrenal doesn't always work".

https://sassyholistics.com/2016/03/01/h ... cription-3

Lilja

[tex]

Yes, every organ in the body affects other organs in one way or another, especially certain endocrine system organs that regulate other organs based on feedback from those (or other) organs. But most physicians are trained to try to analyze and treat problems as if every organ exists in a "vacuum", independent of the rest of the body, which is totally unrealistic.

The hypothalamus and pituitary gland also regulate the thyroid (the HPT axis).

Tex