Adrenal glands

[Julie]

Hi everybody,

I have a question. I was almost on and off Budenofalk (entocort) for about a year. Since I have stopped taking these meds, I feel extremely tired, I feel overwhelmed and stressed out. I just don't feel well overall, not just my abdomen. I have also have headaches and my muscles feel tired.

I read that you can have a problem with your adrenal glands if you stop taking budenofalk. Should I go and see my doctor about this? Is it because of a malfunction in my adrenal glands? Do you have the same problem? What can I do about it?

Grtz

Julie

[tex]

Hi Julie,

It's certainly possible to develop adrenal fatigue (MC can contribute to the problem), and based on your symptoms, you might have it. It might be a good idea to consult with your doctor about these symptoms, and ask him or her to test your adrenal function.

Tex

[Julie]

Thanks Tex;

Some people think it's all in my head. Glad to hear that it is possible. I have to go to the doctor today, I will ask her.

Thank you!

Julie

[tex]

Hi Julie,

Many members here have had their doctors tell them the same thing (that it's all in their head). One member was even told by her GI specialist not to come back, until she had been treated by a psychiatrist. I hope that your doctor is more open-minded.

Tex

[Julie]

Hi Tex,

I've just been to the doctor. She (I'm writing about my general doctor, not the specialist who is treating my LC) took some blood and wil check my cortisol levels, vitamine levels and white and red blood cells just to make sure. My doctor was very open about it, she told me that she had already seen some cases of adrenal fatigue because of entocort, budenofalk, ...

I will know more Friday. I'll keep you posted.

She did tell me this: if it isn't adrenal fatigue, I should see someone to learn how to deal with stress because you can have flares because of it (just like you told me a while ago). I will do that if it's a fact that my cortisol levels are good.

Thanks

Julie

[Julie]

Hi Tex,

I am super worried: my cortisol levels are very low. I've been reading some horrible things about this! Is it true that this can even be life threatening?

Of course, I don't feel well at all. Everything hurts, including the abdomen again.

I have to do two more bloodtests on Monday. I hope these tests won't be worse than the previous one.

Grtz

Julie

[Julie]

Hi Tex,

I forgot to ask another question: since my cortisol levels are low, is this called adrenocortical insufficiency or adrenal fatigue? I read that an acute form of adrenocortical insufficiency is life threatening. Is this what I have now? My doctor didn't talk about my adrenol levels...

Thanks

Julie

[fatbuster205]

Thanks Tex;

Some people think it's all in my head. Glad to hear that it is possible. I have to go to the doctor today, I will ask her.

Thank you!

Julie

Oh Julie,
A good retort to anyone who suggests our problems are "all in our heads" is "would you like a sample?" I did this once years ago, with a very ignorant doctor who was working in Spain where I was working at the time (he wasn't Spanish! but Irish!!!) - note I too am Irish! I promptly produced a sample resembling a McDonald's chocolate milk shake, both in colour and consistency! He shut up then and referred me to a consultant! Not that he was able to diagnose me - this is 20+ years ago! But his face still makes me smile smuggly!

You know your own body - you know when things are not right! Listen to their advice, do your own research and then either work with them - if they are "on side" - or go elsewhere if you can. If the latter, you just have to be persistent!

But also remember, chronic illness and fatigue takes its toll on us all! "All in your head" may be a hint of depression? This illness is so debilitating in ways not readily recognised by the medical profession sometimes it may be necessary for "timeout" aka anti-depressants? Tex - would really like your opinion on this idea (I don't want to advocate something that perhaps I shouldn't?)? But IMHO sometimes anti-depressants just enable you to deal with life and the issues that come with it? I am not suggesting everyone reaches for the A-Ds but equally, if needed they do work (I was on them twice: first time for about 1.5 years; second time for c.10 years?; I have been off them now about 8 years and feel great - when my MC is controlled!!). I do have down times but not like before so for me the A-Ds worked!

I really hope, Julie, that you get resolution but know we are here!
Take care,
Anne

[tex]

Julie,

Please try not to worry, because worry makes our symptoms worse. Unless your blood pressure is extremely low, your situation is not critical. If your lab tests indicated that your situation was critical, surely your doctor would have hospitalized you, or prescribed a glucorticoid to relieve the cortisol insufficiency. The tests scheduled for Monday will probably be to determine the cause of the low cortisol level, because there are several ways that this problem can develop. Once your doctors figure out the cause, then they can treat it.

In general, "adrenal fatigue" is the collection of symptoms that are caused by "adrenal insufficiency". IOW, adrenal fatigue is what you feel, if you are low on cortisol.

We have a member who lives in Spain who has had adrenal problems for quite a few years.

Tex

[tex]

Hi Anne,

Yes, for some of us, an antidepressant can be beneficial, because they can help to reduce stress, and this is a very depressing disease, by it's very nature. For those of us who have alternating C and D, since SSRIs cause an increase in serotonin levels, and this increases gut motility, SSRIs can sometimes help to prevent problems with C. On the other hand, for some patients, certain antidepressants have the side effect of causing C.

Also, untreated gluten sensitivity has been shown to cause depression. Of course, in that case, it's better to cut gluten out of the diet, than to take an antidepressant. This is a rather complex issue, because unfortunately, most antidepressants can also trigger MC for some of us, so we have to be very careful about taking them. We have several members of this board who have been able to control their MC symptoms simply by discontinuing the use of an antidepressant that they were taking. With this disease, it seems there are never any simple answers.

Adrenal insufficiency can also cause depression, but in that case, it's better to treat the adrenal insufficiency, than to mask the symptom with an antidepressant.

Tex

[kayare]

Hi Julie,

Thanks for your post since this is exactly the way I have been feeling. The periodic, yet persistent, cramping wears me down, but it is more than that. I'm going to schedule an appointment with my doctor to have some blood work done as well. I'm glad no one yet has told me that it's all in my head!

Kathy

[Gabes-Apg]

Julie
in the few years before my MC Dx (when i started having what i now know to be MC symptoms) I had quite a few issues with my adrenals.
My body was not producing enough cortisol.

If you google 'adrenal fatigue' there are some great articles and supplements /diet changes you can do to correct this.
I agree with tex, better to resolve the cause of the issue than mask the symptoms with anti depressants.

Long term wellness, living with MC and other medical conditions are reliant on a healthy adrenal system to support the immune system.

One main cause for adrenal fatigue, is stress, - ie, how we react to stressful situations, do we give our body enough time to recover from stressful situations. etc. this applies to physical, mental and emotional situations
One thing that MC has tought me is that we have a limited bank of physical, emotional, mental energies. If we deplete the bank too much of any or all of these energies we become unwell. the best fix for this is retraining the brain a bit, and making sure we rest and recouperate when needed. knowing our limits and not overcommiting ourselves.

hope this helps

[ant]

Anne wrote:

A good retort to anyone who suggests our problems are "all in our heads" is "would you like a sample?"

Thanks for making me laugh!.

On the question of adrenal fatigue I recently visited a Complementary Medical Doctor who took my pulse and said my kidneys were "weak". She suggested acupuncture to strengthen my kidneys and thus my adrenal glans.

Dear Gabes, I know you are an advocate of acupuncture. Does that make sense to you or anyone else?

Best wishes, Ant

[Gabes-Apg]

Yep sure does

all our organs are interconnected, when one (or more) are out of balance it affects all of them in some way.

What acupuncture does is treats the original cause of the issue. When the originator of the issues is treated or 'balanced' the rest of the organs then will also balance.

if the kidneys are the cause of the weakness and this is affecting the adrenals, the best way to fix it is treat the kidney. if you treat the adrenals, it will help BUT it is not dealing with the cause. ie it may keep happening until you treat the kidney.

in the 'pre MC Dx' days my acupuncture treatments were focussed on reducing inflammation and balancing the adrenals, as these were the cause of the digestion issues (NB this is how it applied to me it is not the same for everyone)

one my current issues with the kidney/BP issues. Acupunture/ Chiro /Kinesiology have not been able to determine if the kidney is causing the BP, or the BP is causing the kidney issues.

[Julie]

Hi everybody,

here's an update: I've been hospitalized (yet again, 4th time this year). This because my cortisol levels were 0,5 in the evening. It should be 3. So it is very low in my case. I feel horrible (sweating, diarhea, nausea, acne, brown spots on my body, feeling weird and confused in the head, my muscles hurt and feel tired and even my haert hurts and pounds fast and hard, ...).

Here's what happened: I took budenofalk (entocort) 3 mg three times a day during a year. I had to stop this treatment abruptly, this because my doctor told me too stop it. This means I had to stop it from one day to another. My adrenal glands didn't have the time to start making cortisol hormons. It got to such a low level that my nody ached. Every organ hurts. Please be careful when you want to stop cortisone-treatment! My doctor told me that I could have gone into a shock condition. Thank god it didn't come to that. My doctor even said that it was a mistake to stop it abruptly.

I will be here for a few days, maybe three. I will have to take hydrocortisone for a while and then slowly wean it off.

Thank you for all your replies and remember: be carefull with cortisone treatments! Wean it off.

Grtz

Julie