r/adrenalfatigue

Hi. I have HPA dysfunction and was just diagnosed with Hashimoto’s thyroiditis/hypothyroidism. I currently take Effexor XR and HRT therapy and it has taken my anxiety level from a 10 to a 3. I started NP thyroid medication 2 weeks ago. I’m feeling exhausted as always. My provider suggested that I try an adrenal gland supplement, since the adrenal glands and thyroid work together, so I purchased one and took 50 mg today. I didn’t feel any benefit from it today.
Also of importance, my Dutch test showed that my cortisol was on the high end of normal, but my metabolized cortisol is very low at 4%. I read that my cortisol levels might drop significantly now that I started taking thyroid medication, because my body might believe that it can begin to metabolize the cortisol and not hold onto it anymore since the thyroid is being optimized.
Does anyone have any knowledge or advice on my situation? I’m afraid to keep taking the adrenal cortex supplement if I don’t need it, but if it might help me temporarily I will take it.

18M my symptoms started 3 months ago while trying to sleep i had a sudden high hr that went up to almost 150 bps along with shaking, i was very scared thought it was a heart attack but went to the er and told me i am fine and its probably a panic attack. Couple of days went by started to feel a bit lightheaded and my hr would elevate on simple tasks such as going up a stair. Had very high hr alertness and monitoring. The phase after it was pots like symptoms i contacted a cardiologist and made a 24 holter + stress test + heart echo which is the ultrasound. All were perfect too. The phase after it was extreme dizziness and lightheadedness with fluctuating symptoms of pots. I was really scared and sure that there is something abnormal with me. So i decided to take another 24 hour holter thats when i felt the pvcs and it was only 14 in the whole 24hrs but i felt them hard and again the doctor said its normal. After that i had some good days with no palpitations nor dizziness where i felt normal again started to exercise and have normal tasks until a week ago i felt abit lightheaded again and while trying to lay down felt almost 3-4 back to back pvcs. It was so scary and humbling because in the first episodes they maxed out at 1-2 max but these where very scary. Now i am here 3 months after the first er visit and don’t really now whats wrong with me. They keep saying anxiety. A note too i usually feel the pvcs when changing positions as bending down, or throwing myself onto a sofa, etc. and a pretty strange symptom too is when i have a fast breath from my nose rarely i get a pvcs but it feels so uncomfortable its like the pvc is coming if someone there understands what i mean.

Hi everyone. I’m 24 and honestly feeling really lost and hoping maybe someone here has gone through something similar or has any insight.

Back in 2020, I got diagnosed with secondary adrenal insufficiency after having symptoms for a while and abnormal cortisol/ACTH testing. The weird part is that doctors could never really figure out why it happened.

Some background:

I’ve been on inhaled corticosteroids for asthma since I was around 5 years old.

I was also on Depo-Provera for about 4 years.

For years I felt awful and nobody could connect the dots. Eventually I stopped the Depo shot, and after that my cortisol and ACTH levels significantly improved. Month after month I actually started feeling better and thought maybe my body was recovering.

Then everything changed again around October of last year. I suddenly started developing intense anxiety and random panic attacks out of nowhere. By December, I started having symptoms again that felt very similar to my adrenal insufficiency symptoms from before — fatigue, weakness, nausea, headaches, body pain, feeling shaky/unwell, dizziness, etc.

I got retested and my cortisol and ACTH were both low again. My doctors are confused because they thought things were improving before. I have an MRI coming up within the next couple weeks to rule out a pituitary tumor or other issue.

I was also on hormonal birth control again (the patch and the pill on and off for about a year) until January. It’s now been around 4 months off of it and I still don’t feel better.

For asthma meds, I’ve been on Dulera for about 5 years at varying doses (50, 100, and 200) and before that I was on Flovent and multiple other steroid inhalers growing up. My doctors are now wondering if long-term corticosteroid exposure could be contributing and are talking about possibly starting Dupixent so I can gradually lower steroid use.

My endocrinologist also recently recommended that I stop working for now because the stress/anxiety and how physically unwell I’ve been feeling have gotten so bad. I also don’t tolerate the hydrocortisone very well. I had a lot of episodes in 2020 because I just don’t tolerate steroids well they prescribed me a .1 and .5 compounded hydrocortisone now and I can’t tell if it’s helping or not. i’ve been taking it for a couple days and then off of it for a couple days, my endocrinologist recommended I don’t do it and then they recommended. I do do it so I’m a little lost.

The symptoms have honestly become debilitating. Most days I can barely do anything. I either just sit around all day because I have no energy or I’m constantly dealing with pain, anxiety, weakness, headaches, nausea, weight loss or other symptoms. I feel like my life completely changed in my 20s and nobody can fully explain why.

At this point I just feel overwhelmed and confused. Has anyone experienced secondary adrenal insufficiency from inhaled steroids or hormonal birth control? Did anyone have recovery and then suddenly get worse again? I’d really appreciate hearing from anyone who’s dealt with something similar or can help in anyway because I feel like nobody can give me answers right now.

So I've been dealing with this for an embarrassing amount of time. Just wanna share my experience and see if anyone has thoughts, can relate. (Yes, I've seen doctors and they have no clue, no advice.)

My "blood sugar" crashes all day long - I know I have to eat carbs/fat/protein every 3-4 hours, but it never gets any better. I say "blood sugar" because my bloodwork is great and I test my blood sugar all the time and it's fine - even in a major crash.

During the day crashes are my fault and I can do better. But overnight? There is absolutely nothing that will prevent me waking up in a crash, peeing all night. Then feeling like I'm gonna die in the morning.

I've tried everything - spoon of pb before bed, entire small meal or granola bar before bed, healthy/blood sugar balancing meals, walking/not walking at night, etc.

Here's the thing - my body feels desperate for sugar. None of the recommendations seem to apply to me - I don't really need to avoid sugar and I feel worse when I do. Junk foods like pizza and ice cream help me sleep better than a healthy meal.

Honestly I think this is my body's reaction to my life sucking, but I feel way less equipped to fix that lol so fixing the crashes seems more possible.

My next attempt is gonna be eating a Lara Bar before bed bc they're sugary. It prob won't work but idk anymore. As others on this subreddit have said, we can't heal without sleep.

I’ve never posted before so please be patient with me 😬
I recently had an unrelated ER visit where they discovered a tumor on my left adrenal gland, when I went down the rabbit hole I assumed I had high cortisol based on symptoms, body type, weight gain, etc. I’m currently in the process of getting VSG because I’ve gained 60lbs in the last 5 years and 20lbs of that was gained within two months.

So the part that is confusing me is that I had a follow up with my PCP and got an AM cortisol test and it’s low! 5.4 ug/dL . Has anyone else experienced this? Is it possible to experience both? MRI is in a month and the results came in on Friday and haven’t been reviewed yet but Google is so unhelpful and I’d love to hear from people who actually have gotten useful information.

Edit to add: I have an MRI coming up 05/28, endocrinologist referral appt on 07/01, haven’t heard back about cortisol results yet since I checked mychart on my own.

I’m hoping to get more info on what others did to receive either a proper diagnoses or managed their symptoms on their own!

**“Does anyone else here have digestive issues like SIBO or EPI?

Besides digestion problems, I’m also dealing with:

fatigue

anhedonia (loss of pleasure)

low blood sugar

weight gain

Would appreciate hearing if anyone has similar symptoms.”** Doctors dont do anyting

My understanding is that it is a diagnosis of symptoms only. There is no clinical evidence that shows that it exists. And the worst part is that there is no particular treatment for it, other than to reduce stress (much easier said than done). Does this sound about right, or am I missing something?

I am new to this sub. I've been under immense stress for as long as I can remember. Combine that with my personality/character trait of being unable to handle stress to begin with and that's a recipe for disaster. I also have been diagnosed with ADHD, had depression. Been struggling pretty much my whole life. I am self employed, so going on welfare and sit at home doing nothing to get better is not an option for me (this is what most people do where I live with similar problems).

I knew something was off for the longest time, but didn't feel like I had time to work on myself, so I just kept going. Until now. I got two tests done; Cortisol and DHEA, see pictures.

https://preview.redd.it/2573f8w9vpyg1.jpg?width=1622&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c5b18e544e2f97914a151fe91f551b4806b6ffc0

https://preview.redd.it/ofo59cw9vpyg1.jpg?width=1606&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7e1319b301e63848218c83102deaea2c1e5bcef2

I am looking for help interpreting these results and also looking for tips and tricks.
I went to the doctor with these results and he is looking into them, but he said himself that he is not specialised in this field, so I don't have high hopes in that regard.

Thank you for reading and your insights.

I'm finding a lot of symptoms from adrenal fatigue overlap with CFS.

About a year ago, after a VERY high-stress period (like, insane cortisol, couldn't sleep for days), over-exercising at the same time, undereating, I had a massive 'fatigue crash' where I couldn't get up to shower, I was so weak things were falling out of my hands, my parents had to come stay with me. The crash felt like a PEM crash where I feel like I'm poisoned or ill or something. It lasted almost 2 weeks.

It's been about a year and I still get those deep fatigue crashes but ONLY when I use my large leg muscles. So gardening, yardwork...def can't exercise. I also just have bad fatigue in general even when I'm not 'crashed.' After fixing my low iron my energy improved, but I still have no tolerance for exercise and I still get fatigued if I walk too much or get stressed.

The 'crashes' and chronic fatigue line up with CFS but also adrenal fatigue. How can you tell the two apart?

(I also have gut issues like acid/IBS/IBD and possibly SIBO, not sure if that's relevant).

https://preview.redd.it/0wl9om55kyyg1.png?width=1316&format=png&auto=webp&s=f65458c9971b2259efe6309a9450be7b7f4c483d

https://preview.redd.it/zvkgsm55kyyg1.png?width=1126&format=png&auto=webp&s=a01a049a153d81c2be995646ee2f0aedbb491db6

Edit: I am seeing an integrative/functional health doctor who ordered me the tests I attached. He said I have stage 2 HPA dysfunction. But also loosely mentioned once it could be CFS. So idk.

Hi, I’m looking to see if any women has a similar experience to mine, which is adrenal dysfunction that my doctor think was caused by fertility treatments.

In a nutshell : been diagnosed POI at 35, which led me to a little depression. Had to rush the décision of trying having kids as solomom, as I was single, because they told me I only had months if I ever wanted to be a mom.
Did all the fertility treatments (insémination + one round of IVF) in 2023 for a year-ish, without success. That was 2 and Half years ago. Right after it ended, I started having intense symptoms of perimenopause, it took 1 year before I could have HRT and get some relief. By then, I felt soooo exhausted, I have a demanding job in legal field and my brain fog was intense, couldn’t concentrate, always looking for my words, and just more and more lethargic while I’m usually full of energy. Was getting unable to manage my stress response and I was getting very irritable. I wasn’t able to be a high achiever anymore which was required by my job, I was barely functional and went on work leave for burn out.

The salivary cortisol test I did reveal I have very low cortisol in the morning and it drops even lower before noon. After that is a straight line. Seems to be why I have no energy. My doctors says it’s a physiological burn out and thinks this was probably caused by the intense stimulation from the fertility treatments while which left my body depleted and disregulated my thyroid-surrenals-ovaries axis.

Anyone with a similar story?

Just started. First day was ok. Yes more energy but weak legs ! Concerned. Woke up two days with similar to a burning ulcer. Only on 1 mg of T. Anyone on both? This is just the beginning of it to get used to it. I’ve been looking things up all morning. Be nice if Doctors would answer the phone.