# High Adrenaline, High Cortisol.. but can't seem to fit into any box..



## 106473 (Feb 7, 2017)

I think my DP is secondary to my high adrenaline and high cortisol, anyone else had these tests? anyone relate?

TLDR at the bottom. Thanks in advance. 28, Male, 182cm, 18 stone (was 12 previously), White, Duration 4 years/5,

Current medications; Xanax, Doxazosin, Escoltapram (Tried 30 + mediations listed below)

Smoke lightly, drink to crash this wired existence once a week.

Complaint: Stimulated beyond belief 24/7 until after many days no sleep and stimulation, I crash. Sweating, tremors, fatigue, weight gain, dilated pupils, adrenaline rushes, bladder shrinkage, depersonalization, anxiety, depression, etc.

The above makes sense, as my Cortisol and Adrenaline is high, but WHY? Endo's and physiatrist can't work it out either. They have both said anxiety disorder would not make the levels I have.

I've spent 4 years, many thousands and free health care, everyone agrees it's extreme (been hospitalised etc) but no one on earth seems to know what it is. I've had had EEG's, MRI's, CT's, Endo's, P Docs, Cardiologist, GP's.

Ruled out: Phaeochromocytoma, Cushing's, Thyroid Glands (CT + Bloods), Adrenaline (CT + Bloods), Bipolar, POTS (tilt test etc), Autoimmune disorders (Bloods etc). Amongst many other things.

Now, after 4 years what we know on paper is my adrenaline is high, "Plasma adrenaline - HIGH - rose to 568 above the normal range of 0-459 No nocturnal fall - On the 24-hr BP/HR autonomic profiles mean daytime BP was 133/92 and HR 88, without the expected nocturnal fall. Worse when standing, The BP was elevated at times when he was polysymptomatic, the highest being 162/101 when standing. No evidence of autonomic failure".

We also know that every time I do a urine test for Cortisol it is above the range slightly.

But we can't pin this to anything, for instance as well as being stimulated I am now allergic to pseudoephedrine and ADHD stimulants, which they tried amongst many other things to see how I'd react. One doctor said I seem "Angernegic" but couldn't label me with any condition, my own GP is now reading about Adrenaline Fatigue, as he said the other something like "I never believed it was a thing until I've spent 2 years on your case".

Waiting on Spit test this upcoming week for:

lgA

Coristol

DHEA

Medications tried:

No change:

Lithium (Highest dose), Melatonin, Depakote, Quetiapine (50 to 800mg,), Lamotrigine (couldn't tolerate), Olanzapine 20mg, Buspirone /Promethazine/Buspirone/ Diphenhydramine (makes my heart jump) Mirtazapine, Zopliclones (15mg), Zoloft.

More Wired/Stimulated:

Elvanse, Backlofen, Phuesdephridrine (Sodafed), Guanfacine, Coffee, Clonidine

Descriptio Clonidine

Slightly helpful: Propranolol 80mg for shakes, Clonazepam

Sometimes lower stimulation for a few hours;

Xanax, Doxazosin

TLDR;

High Corisol and Adrenaline in urine and blood respectively, what could I have that isn't ruled out (Phaeochromocytoma, Cushing's, Thyroid Glands (CT + Bloods), Adrenaline (CT + Bloods), Bipolar, POTS (tilt test etc), Autoimmune disorders (Bloods etc).


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## PerfectFifth (May 2, 2016)

I have similar issues: anxiety/unable to relax, wildly fluctuating blood pressure (from 100/60 to 200+/115+), gut issues, weird inner restlessness/itchy feeling inside, muscle twitching, frequently unable to fall sleep and randomly waking up fully alert and unable to go back to sleep, occasional arrhythmia, DP/DR, sweating, elevated heart rate, cold flashes, fatigue. I'm thinking it must be also adrenaline/cortisol-related.

I know it's not anxiety because there is no correlation between my mental state and the symptoms, or rather the symptoms come first, and then I might get distressed BECAUSE of them. I also, like I mentioned in the list, wake up to this feeling often, which means that it's impossible that it's be psychologically-caused. It's fucking awful.


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## PerfectFifth (May 2, 2016)

NervousWreck said:


> You sound like my lost twin seriously. Exact same, do you feel so sleepy but then wake up and can't sleep at all? I'm at the ER, 150 pulse


Yep. It takes me hours to fall asleep even though I'm exhausted. I often have to be up for 24+ hours to have a chance at getting any sleep.


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## 106473 (Feb 7, 2017)

NervousWreck said:


> Hi man, I haven't "liked" your post as I understand the sheer fkin turmoil of the stimulation you describe.
> 
> I myself have had pheochromocytoma and cushings ruled out. My feeling of being insanely stimulated has come on only recently, do you feel like you want to jump out of your own skin, run at 100 miles per hour, but feel tired and exhausted at the same time?
> 
> ...


I get you man.

Yep I am so stimulated constantly, then I crash and extremely fatigued, I am fatigued also when I am stimulated (just incase you thought it goes one then the other), my eyes are dilated etc, they can prove as above my adrenaline and cortisol is out of wack...

I've been given some heavy medications such as A1 adrenaline blocker which is suppose to stop your adrenaline getting too high, like a more powerful beta blocker which I also take from time to time. Mine is soooo extreme that even writing this is stimulating me.

Yeah same, my feet are shaking.

We need to keep in touch as you might have what I have, but doctors are like confused in my case, as mental health usually doesn't show high adrenaline on paper, (i suggest you get Cortisol spit test and pee test and have your adrenaline levels checked, my adrenaline levels were only found in the blood when they did it with a tilt test, i can explain these if you need)

Sounds like you are stimulated like me... hmmmmmmm, my next step is to take this information I have back to [Redacted] St Mary's autonomic who gave me the adrenaline blocker and tell him it's not working, with a new test of Cortisol to show it... but weirdly as you can see very few people have this stimulation problem.. I don't believe this is DP.

It's either;

Anxiety so high that fight or flight is stuck on

Endo (which I've been ruled out for everything under the sun)

*Cushing's syndrome - research this*

That's all i can think of (thought i was gonna write a list)


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## 106473 (Feb 7, 2017)

Where said:


> You've been to an endo for your elevated levels but they're stumped?


I've been to 4 endo's and they are all stumped


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## 106473 (Feb 7, 2017)

PerfectFifth said:


> I have similar issues: anxiety/unable to relax, wildly fluctuating blood pressure (from 100/60 to 200+/115+), gut issues, weird inner restlessness/itchy feeling inside, muscle twitching, frequently unable to fall sleep and randomly waking up fully alert and unable to go back to sleep, occasional arrhythmia, DP/DR, sweating, elevated heart rate, cold flashes, fatigue. I'm thinking it must be also adrenaline/cortisol-related.
> 
> I know it's not anxiety because there is no correlation between my mental state and the symptoms, or rather the symptoms come first, and then I might get distressed BECAUSE of them. I also, like I mentioned in the list, wake up to this feeling often, which means that it's impossible that it's be psychologically-caused. It's fucking awful.


Same man, I know it's not anxiety, it's fight or flight bursts. I know because it doesn't matter if i'm just laying in bed or whatever, I wake up stimulated like you do. Mine has just got extreme, I wake up shaking before tablets now a lot because of the fight or flight..

You should get Adrenaline and Cortisol tested, as said above my Adrenaline in the blood was only found doing a tilt table test and getting bloods during it then it went way over.. one reason i know to keep laying down as much as. But ruled out for anything that's related such as POTS.


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## 106473 (Feb 7, 2017)

NervousWreck said:


> [quote name="PerfectFifth" post="608658" timestamp="1572762910"]I have similar issues: anxiety/unable to relax, wildly fluctuating blood pressure (from 100/60 to 200+/115+), gut issues, weird inner restlessness/itchy feeling inside, muscle twitching, frequently unable to fall sleep and randomly waking up fully alert and unable to go back to sleep, occasional arrhythmia, DP/DR, sweating, elevated heart rate, cold flashes, fatigue. I'm thinking it must be also adrenaline/cortisol-related.
> 
> I know it's not anxiety because there is no correlation between my mental state and the symptoms, or rather the symptoms come first, and then I might get distressed BECAUSE of them. I also, like I mentioned in the list, wake up to this feeling often, which means that it's impossible that it's be psychologically-caused. It's fucking awful.
> [/quote
> ...


What did ER say?


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## 106473 (Feb 7, 2017)

PerfectFifth said:


> Yep. It takes me hours to fall asleep even though I'm exhausted. I often have to be up for 24+ hours to have a chance at getting any sleep.


I was in Hospital after 9 days no sleep, they monitored 4 of those, this shit is nuts, believe me I didn't believe that was possible till this shit got bad.

I don't sleep at all without Xanax, i just stay up until someone sedates me.


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## 106473 (Feb 7, 2017)

NervousWreck said:


> Going through a serious attack now, not nervous just so agitated and restless and the question we both ask is why? I have had urine catecholamines and plasma metanephrines, all in normal range, I used to take propanolol but I still had Sinus Tachycardia.
> 
> What I can honestly tell you is this stimulation/agitation/restlessness has only developed in me since the start of this DP/DR, honestly I have never had anything like this.
> 
> ...


Yeah, I keep asking why, i believed it was anxiety till i was hospitalised for staying up for days and being so stimulated they thought i was on drugs until they realised i wasn't lol, I had catecholamines done many times and they showed nothing till St Marys did it with a tilt test, why? I guess this adds some stress to your body, but even he told me this isn't anxiety, he said like cortisol and adrenaline yes but the cause, no, if you are waking up stimulated and it doesn't stop, something has gone wrong... obviously he said it like a doctor not like I just did lol.

Mine started a year AFTER DP. A good year (by that i mean i was feeling alright). I know 30+ peoples story on here and until you no one I've met is stimulated lik plugged into a light bulb like us.

I feel like giving up, pretty much at the end of my rope myself man, it's been 3 years of constant stimulation, with weeks in bed, but ever so often I get a minor break through.

NO, might be caused by stress but now our adrenaline is running wild if you ask me, an easy way i find to tell is just look how big my eyes are depending on how stimulated i am.

Anyway, Cushing SYNDROME not Disease is very interesting.. have a read about it


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## 106473 (Feb 7, 2017)

*Cushing syndrome* occurs when your body is exposed to high levels of the hormone cortisol for a long time - so caused by anxiety but not anxiety.

Edit:

24-hour urinary free-cortisol test

Mine is above range

Late-night salivary cortisol test

My cortisol doesn't drop in 24 hours

Low-dose dexamethasone suppression test (LDDST) *haven't done*

In this test, you will take a low dose of dexamethasone, a type of glucocorticoid, usually around 11:00 p.m. A health care professional will draw your blood the following morning, usually around 8 a.m. Sometimes doctors use another type of LDDST test, in which you take dexamethasone every 6 hours for 48 hours. Your blood is drawn 6 hours after the last dose.

Normally, cortisol levels in the blood drop after taking dexamethasone. Cortisol levels that don't drop suggest Cushing's syndrome.

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/cushing-syndrome/symptoms-causes/syc-20351310

https://www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/endocrine-diseases/cushings-syndrome


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## 106473 (Feb 7, 2017)

NervousWreck said:


> What are the doctors doing for you regarding your cortisol and adrenaline mate? They know your levels like what are they doing about it or is it just simply they can't find a cause for it? For me it is like the attacks lead into panic attacks for me, the worst thing is people saying "go get some talking therapy" Yeah sure, but as we know, WHY do we feel like this? We are not THINKING of anything. They will never understand


They tried the 30 medications I listed.

As for now - Alpha A1 Blocker 1mg, Beta Blocker 40mg x 2, Escotalapram 30mg and Xanax x 4 DAILY! and still can't bring this down.

But I read an article that Cushings Syndrome not Disease does not respond to these, hence the third test mentioned above. My Cortisol didn't drop with Xanax even though it can help my wired, my Cortisol pee test (done like 6 at least) still came in high.

What are they doing, well nothing, but a doctor online has said he seen someone like me with Cushings Syndrome who is negative for Cushings. I am gathering information, doing a salava test in two days, then going back to St.Marys (very famous [Redacted] hospital) with my findings (already been twice) and see where we go.

I don't get panic attack, I just feel like 1,000 cups of coffee are in me. I have talk therapy and my therapist doesn't think it's the issue at all, she can see how stimulated I am, she knows now just by how I walk in the room, I keep paying for her though as it's hard to have a long term health condition, never mind one untreated.

They will when you get a diagnoses, seriously, take a bit of time and see if Cushings Syndrome sounds like you, the others i'm sure your Endo ruled out...

BTW, I am gonna have to sign off because i'll only get more stimulated, i'll check in tomorrow


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## 106473 (Feb 7, 2017)

Hmmmm, I should maybe email you my diary and some of my systems, thoughts etc, and will keep everyone posted (updates) on this forum, that's if you wanna, just give your email and we will talk more.

I don't have low blood sugar, i get mine checked a lot.

I'm doing a Cortisol spit test with Iga and DHEA - costs around £100/$100. Worth doing.

I'm also contacting a top specialist who has seen me twice once I complete this test within the month.. will update that here too

Sorry you are going through such a tough one, i'm in the same boat, but my Fatigue is taking over, spent 16 hours in bed 3 days in a row, the second I am up the fatigue turns into complete stimulation (with fatigue)... it's a tricky one, but what I have is beyond anxiety, I know there is something wrong with my endo side because i've failed two tests, Adrenaline and Cortisol now. Even though 4 Endo's don't know, someone does.

I want you to read the Mayo Clinic Link

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/cushing-syndrome/symptoms-causes/syc-20351310

This can actually be caused from Chronic stress. It's got three tests to diagnose yet no one looks for it as it is not normal, 20 in a million


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## James_80 (Feb 27, 2016)

NervousWreck said:


> Currently thrown myself into bed with an attack of whatever the hell is happening to me right now, heart started racing out of nowhere, trembling and shaking everywhere and a horrible unexplained weird burning pins and needle shooting through me.
> 
> Crying my eyes out, not going to hospital what will happen will happen, I give up.


That sounds horrible, sorry to hear that happened. How you doing today?


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## James_80 (Feb 27, 2016)

NervousWreck said:


> My heart rate settled after like 4 hours but today I am extremely restless and nervous for no reason at all, I feel extremely spaced out, just got my blood work up back, all clear, no diabetes.
> 
> I have a 24 hour blood pressure test soon and if it comes back high I may have to see a cardiologist, my doctor strongly believes the cause is my anxiety but he is an excellent doctor and will refer me to a cardiologist if appropriate. I've had like 60 normal ECGs and a cardiologist will do an "Echogram" and other tests if appropriate.
> 
> Thanks so much for asking how I am once again James, I am starting to think caffeine may be making me a lot worse.


It's good you're having all the tests done to rule anything out. How much caffeine do you have? I would say try cutting that back and see if it makes a difference. Try and cut the coffee out completely if you can. Just a cup or two of tea a day is all I can manage myself. Any coffee and I will feel an initial good buzz and then will crash later in the day and feel awful the next few days. Do you take any multivitamins? Might be worth cutting them out and see how you feel. They made my anxiety much worse as well. Any changes you make in your diet might not show up until after a few weeks so give it time.

Are you on any medication? Propanolol helps with racing heart and palpitations and panic attacks. A sedative atypical antipsychotic can really bring your anxiety levels down but takes a while to get used to them. Ssris are first line medication given out by doctors but make you worse at first and I wouldn't recommend you take them unless you have them alongside a benzo like diazepam. Good luck!


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## mind.divided (Jul 2, 2015)

Anxiety causes adrenaline and cortisol to be released. Source: I'm studying endocrinology


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## PerfectFifth (May 2, 2016)

mind.divided said:


> Anxiety causes adrenaline and cortisol to be released. Source: I'm studying endocrinology


Yes, when the systems are working as intended, it's released in a stressful situation and then goes back down afterwards. There are disorders/diseases that cause imbalances in these hormones.


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## 106473 (Feb 7, 2017)

oh sugar, i turned off notifications, didn't realise this was trending.

99% sure I have Cushings Syndrome (20 in 1 million)... that's not me 99% sure that's St.Marys [Redacted] (cost a bomb).



http://imgur.com/2ypnz1H


Read that and scroll down to the second picture.

Cortisol is 5x past red, i also hit a tumour marker a few weeks ago

Ps, 6 years of tests!


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## 106473 (Feb 7, 2017)

NervousWreck said:


> I drink 2 teas every morning and the odd Lucozade, I stopped Propanalol back in June as it made me unable to exercise and I felt worse on that. I refuse to go on any drugs I don't trust them. I've actually researched vitamin B1 deficiency and it's effects, so I started taking it 3 days ago.
> 
> I know a lot will rage and think I am stupid for not being on drugs but Propanalol never helped me and I have also been on SSRI, Citalopram.
> 
> ...


Where do you live?

I've had in the UK EEG, MRI x2, CT x2... no reason you can't get one (if in the UK)


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## 106473 (Feb 7, 2017)

mind.divided said:


> Anxiety causes adrenaline and cortisol to be released. Source: I'm studying endocrinology


Yah, but my scores were seen by Endo's (3, 1 for a year), they didn't know what they were looking at, as Cushing's disease I kept not hitting the markers, then I spent a bomb and went to the head doctor of St.Mary's a few times and he was like, dam.. 5x over in the red, we are looking at Cushings Syndrome, he said to be fair most endo's would learn about it but never see it, it's 20 in 1 million as i said, so i get why they could miss it, but then again I don't... anyway, getting there.

Also told by St.Mary's that I don't have anxiety disorder, I have endocrinology causing it atm and yeah basically till i get that sucker out of there, it's a chicken and the egg situation, can't fix anxiety. He knew when he tried 3 Cortisol blockers and mine got higher


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## 106473 (Feb 7, 2017)

ps, this is not a normal DP thing, just incase anyone skims reads this. it came with a lot of physical symptoms, tremor, not sleeping for days, stimulated 24/7 past anxiety stimulation. more hypomania, huge adrenaline rushes, never feeling tired yada yada


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## 106473 (Feb 7, 2017)

Sure, but you confused me, as you changed the writing in the quote lol.

Do you have any of the classic triad of Cushings such as stretch marks? What colour are they? Moon face/"Buffalo Hump"?

Yes I kinda do, but I have Cushings Syndrome the rare rare rare version of Cushings disease which is actually pretty common and easy to spot.

I have huge stretch marks, yeah, they are red and purple. Moon face, yeah if you look at pictures it has rounded a lot.

My Symptoms:

Symptoms

Feeling stimulated / "wired" (constantly)

Not sleeping daily, went 9 days confirmed in hospital

Easily over-stimulated

Dilated pupils (got pictures)

Adrenaline rushes (pumping in my veins)

Tremors hands and legs, spasms/sore muscles (weak and shaky on my feet)

Excessive sweating

Extreme fatigue

Bladder shrinkage (directly linked to how stimulated I feel)

Weight Gain - (Extreme 7+ stone in two years)

Yeah pretty nuts..


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## 106473 (Feb 7, 2017)

NervousWreck said:


> It really gets me down Endos have not picked this up on you. Shocked, I don't know what to say to be honest, what is the next step of action for you now?
> 
> I'm sorry I understand the difference between syndrome and disease but does this mean like the syndrome may go away? I mean if you've had all these tests and they can't find any cause for it can it possibly be an acquired syndrome from plain long term stress/anxiety?
> 
> ...


Yeah but 20 in a million, shocked as I said myself, I went to one for a year. He kept using Urine Cortisol, which i've recently learnt isn't the best way, kept passing them but recently I fail them which shows progression.

What you need is dhea cortisol and iga saliva test, I did the comprehensive £107. NHS won't do this btw.

https://smartnutrition.co.uk/health-tests/adrenal-stress-test/

Mine was 5x past red, that's the graphs I showed you. This will tell you straight up if you have Cushings, as my Endocrinologist explained many times, anxiety patients have odd moments of high Cortisol but don't fail Cortisol 24 hour tests.

Disease - Pituitary gland is too big (Brain). They can test this in bloods at your doctors easily. Mine only comes in slightly over, if it was a problem it would be thousands over. Plus medications make it slightly high. I still keep an eye on it. Called prolactin, it's in a lot of Bloods i've done over the years standardly.

Syndrome - Usually to do with ACTH production, I was explained as I've had abdominal and brain MRIs, CT's and extensive testing on my Adrenaline glands etc is a rare forum where the begin tumour could be somewhere 'odd'..

My next step.. well St.Marys proved my Adrenaline was over the range, so he had something to run with. He also commented on how ill I was, I was soaking with sweat, hands were shaking etc. St Marys gave me cortisol blockers (2 types) both stimulating me, which showed my body is fighting it basically. After that failed he sent a letter to my GP to refer me to [Redacted] Royal Free specialised unit. I've left that in with my GP but no idea when that's coming back, gonna go in January, for some reason you can't seem to ring and ask.

Then I failed IGA, DHEA and Cortisol REALLY bad, like off the chart for all in one way or another, which is a test they use for this (there is 3). I rang St Mary's and he said yeah, you are waiting on a ACTH stimulation test and a full body MRI basically.

Then recently I Failed C-Terminal Glucagon (CGLUC) - Scan, weirdly we don't know who did the test (i've done a lot lately), I've had no one to talk to about, just read about failing it is a tumour indicator, my GP didn't know what it was and said that's basically for a specialist.

Naw it can't be stress or anxiety, you try staying up 9 days with 'anxiety' lol. When I say 'stay up', i mean I didn't go to bed at all, no rest or need, doctors can see now why, living on 5x what the peak of adrenaline should be, it's like someone who goes on a speed bender for many days goes into.

That's one big clue that I had something more serious going on, I have a good other 10 symptoms that I didn't mention up there ^. It started slow, like hair falling out etc, now it's a complex mess. Oh and try eating your normal diet and going from 12/13 stone to 19 stone in a year or two, i was always the same weight. Which is normal for Cushing Syndrome and can't be avoided. My stretch marks, i mean 8 stone in a couple of years, easy to see why they are deep bright purple.

Also it's hard to understand but I am STIMULATED to the point they thought I was in full mania. It never goes away. This is my main thinking what you complain about is nothing like what I have, I tried 30 medications to stop it and all we could find is Xanax 2-4mg gives a bit of a dip but soon comes back in an hour or two, nothing else I take apart from Beta Blockers. My own P Doc has stopped giving me AD's for now, as Cushings comes with depression (+DP on top gives me double yay), so until I fix that, we can't get a dose that will touch it.

28.

I have seen how they look.. I don't fit that extreme. My face is very round now, but with 8 stone on me, I don't look like i'm suppose to anyway.

Stretch marks I agree doesn't put you into anything. Heart rate doesn't really change in Cushings, you looked into POTS?

Cheers, all I can say is change doctors, I changed GP 6 times or something.. get that test and show a list of symptoms, the main ones unless I missed something (not really fully with it) mention heart which can rise during anxiety, stretch marks which anyone can get and waking up a lot, which again falls into maybe high stress hormones, but not Cushings, like I say, i'm not a little over, i'm 5x past red. I'd for £100 get one of those tests. One of the things it does show you is how ready to sleep you are (the 11pm one), if it's high normal, could mean you don't have any Endo issue at all, just high anxiety that wakes you up, which I am sure a lot of people get here.

I never want to put someone off, but if you could list them, maybe I could tell you who you should go see, if they still think it's health anxiety or nothing, sometimes you got to believe that, yes anxiety is a real bitch... Mine was just far beyond anything doctors had seen and I spent 10k and NHS. I'd go private with a list to the right type of doctor for a clean bill of health...

Also Cushings is so specific, you can rule yourself out of it. Test above.

(even writing this, I am now stimulated to the moon and just had to take Xanax to stop shaking and my eyes have dilated, I know because they bloody hurt when that adrenaline kicks in, which my test shows).


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## 106473 (Feb 7, 2017)

NervousWreck said:


> "Good" Afternoon to you, Hotel, as always I am hoping you are getting somewhere, trust me, I do.
> 
> Right,
> 
> ...


See our symptoms don't match up.

My blood pressure and heart rate can be a little low or little high just depends on when they get me, but nothing like 145 bpm, your heart would feel like or does feel like it's beating out of your chest. Guess I wasn't really thinking of just how high that is.

Yeah I think you can safely say you don't have Cushings or Phochromocytoma which shows up on that test.

Okay I'm getting pushed to my medical limit here.

Dexaethason Suppresion Test Vs ACTH test.

"The dexamethasone suppression test (DST) is used to assess adrenal gland function by measuring how cortisol levels change in response to an injection of dexamethasone. It is typically used to diagnose Cushing's syndrome."

"An ACTH test measures the levels of both ACTH and cortisol in the blood and helps your doctor detect diseases that are associated with too much or too little cortisol in the body. Possible causes of these diseases include: a pituitary or adrenal malfunction. a pituitary tumor."

hmmmm they are similar, I know ACTH is a longer thing, but the details, well that's what they are paid big dollar for. Both show if Cortisol is doing its job.

So if you did a DST, I believe it's HOURS of waiting or overnight? and then blood drawn before and after? it's a suppression test, you should feel a lot less cortisol and some probably calm? never talked to anyone who had it but I imagine as it's dropping your cortisol / blocking it.

IgA was the other, it's more an indication of antibodies, if you google it, it will mention things that I've been ruled out for. DHEA is good as it can show stress response, but yeah i'd rather not go too deep, I didn't do Endo school, lol I know what tests I needed and that took a lot of research, understanding it like they do, that's another world.

I don't think we have matching symptoms AT ALL BTW. I am open to you having an Endo issue, but it's not mine.

7 day ECG? good, they have to work out why your heart goes so high. I have to do one a lot before meds. I've also seen a cardiologist, but Endo is defo right now where you should be, this also should get you under a full time Endo? so is he writing to your GP? consultants in A&E can't just pick up a new case, least i've never heard it work like that.

Awwh me too, been in bed for days.

I mean you just got more tests in a day than I did for years.

Yah time to give Cushings up, I'd follow this guy.

Yeah they are, yep appeared very quickly and large, faded down now. (stretch marks)

No Tachycardia, no blood pressure issues.

I do agree, this is why I knew my Cortisol was wrong, it's like 24 hours a day, none stop adrenaline feeling, this is where we are similar, but Cortisol is a basic Endo function, just because we share that, doesn't mean a similar conclusion will be reached, or I could have done one sample which shows high Cortisol (done many) and then got a diagnoses. I mean eg, high cortisol could come from an adrenaline gland issue for instance or for Cushings disease the brain (which you don't have), same symptom, very different...

Sounds like you are on the right track, plus no need to pay for that test


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## 106473 (Feb 7, 2017)

oh you have this in episodes?

well, first thing you need to do is accept it. Until you accept that anxiety is a condition, okay not a disease (even better!), the sooner you can put in place what you need.

1. GOOD therapist, who is trained in CBT but doesn't just run through CBT all the time. I went private for mine, NHS are too white lab but you might find a good one, it depends just I guess.. i'd try NHS first, no harm.

2. GOOD p doc... again I went private but whatever, maybe my local services aren't up to power. Bupa did pull out of NI with one sentence saying "We find the services in NI to be sub standard".. so your local might be a lot better.

3. Self care... holy grail of dp page I enjoy, well written, i listen to books audio on anxiety well did, read a lot and got informed with what I was dealing with. One of the things once you learn self care is, you learn to use it without knowing or thinking about it, my favourite when I am anxious is distraction, I learnt to do it, but it happens naturally... like if i feel anxiety or something I just switch up instantly what I am doing or divert my mind.

Until then, find something when you are having what are probably panic attacks that bring you out of them.

For me it was her 




I don't like ASMR or anything she says much in the video is just get lost kinda listening, but this can be anything.

You found the answer man, time to go to a GP and get the referrals,

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step


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## PerfectFifth (May 2, 2016)

This is the first time I feel somewhat relaxed in a long, long time. What helped me? Steady-state low-intensity cardio; that is aerobic exercise. I think a big contributor to my nervous/anxious state has been that I've been training too hard. That has put my sympathetic nervous system into more or less permanent overdrive. The past week or so, I've done exclusively aerobic exercise (heart rate between around 125-150BPM), and I feel like it's significantly helped calm down my body and thus mind.

Now, I realize I'm most likely not in the same boat as most of you in this thread-nor am I suggesting that your issues are necessarily caused (or fixed) by anything like this-but I just wanted to add this as a heads up: exercising too hard can fuck you up both mentally and physically, even for a long time after the exercise. It's essential to have a balance of low and high intensity training. Aerobic exercise promotes normal function of the parasympathetic (rest & digest) autonomic nervous system (regardless of overtraining).

I read about this from some articles such as these:

https://robertsontrainingsystems.com/blog/long-duration-low-intensity-cardio/

https://biostrap.com/blog/hacking-your-parasympathetic-nervous-system/



> Aerobic Exercise. Studies have shown that light to moderate aerobic exercise such as walking or swimming for at least 30 minutes per day at least five days per week can improve the PNS
> 
> (parasympathetic nervous system) response. Over time, the PNS response and Heart Rate Variability increase and Resting Heart Rate decreases. Mind-body centered exercise such as yoga and tai chi carry similar benefits.


Turns out it *did* make a difference for me, as I can now somewhat relax and enjoy things. I no longer feel the need to fidget around constantly and punch a hole into a wall as much. My sleep has improved.


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