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General Updates / My Adrenal Health Updates / My Personal Experiences

General Update #7

Read the last blog in this series. 

After finding out I had adrenal dysfunction in the form of high cortisol all day, back in January, I worked on lowering this. 

I’ve come on in leaps and bounds with how I feel, and I saw it in my thyroid blood tests too, as my Free T3 has come down to normal levels.

So when I got my latest adrenal stress test results today, I was devastated to see that my cortisol has not come down. It’s actually kind of got worse.

In January, I had elevated cortisol at all four tested points of the day. For my June readings, I show elevated cortisol three times of the day, with the other one now optimal (good). But the elevated ones have got worse. They’re ‘more elevated’. I just don’t understand it! I feel so much better and I’m sleeping better. Confused is an understatement.

I think I could have blood sugar imbalances, after reading about it in Dr Datis Kharrazian’s book, and I think I might get hypoglycaemia (low blood sugar) when I eat refined carbs and sugar. My diet for the most part these days is good, but I want to rule out low blood sugar, still. When you have low blood sugar, the adrenal glands produce extra cortisol, so I need to check if this is what’s causing it, and if not, well, then I can tick it off. So, I’ve ordered an at-home blood sugar testing kit.

I also had some more bloods taken last week and it found my MCH (mean corpuscular hemoglobin) is below the ‘normal range’, and my ferritin is also low in range at 47. Sources suggest it being 70-90 for optimal iron levels. So my doctor has given me some iron tablets to see if they help.

After returning to two NDT tablets a day for my thyroid, my full thyroid panel reads well and I’ve been feeling good, so my thyroid seems under control for now.

It’s just these darn adrenals!

I knew it was too soon to say I was feeling better! Well, I guess I am feeling better, it’s just that the high cortisol is still concerning long term, plus I do still have room to improve some more.

I’ve been reading that low blood sugar can cause high cortisol and vice versa, plus high cortisol and low blood sugar can cause high blood pressure. And back in May my blood pressure was still a bit too high. My GP says low blood sugar causing high cortisol is possible, so encouraged me to monitor my blood sugar levels at home and make adjustments where necessary.

Sigh. Round two, commence.

Do remember that you can keep up to date with my personal health journey via Instagram. My Instagram is updated with realtime updates and you’ll be able to follow along as and when everything happens over there!

Do you have any experience with any of this?

You can click on the hyperlinks in the above post to learn more and see references to information given.

Read the next blog in this series. 

About Author

Rachel Hill is the highly ranked and multi-award winning thyroid patient advocate, writer, speaker and author behind The Invisible Hypothyroidism. Her thyroid advocacy work includes writing articles, authoring books, producing her Thyroid Family email newsletters and speaking on podcasts and at events about the many aspects thyroid disease affects and how to overcome these. She is well-recognised as a crucial and influential contributor to the thyroid community and has a large social media presence. Her bestselling books include "Be Your Own Thyroid Advocate" and "You, Me and Hypothyroidism".

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