Re: Fw: Dr. Peatfield about Deltacortil

[Guest guest]

,

I am really confused now. If my cortisol is about 10 points above the

normal range, and it remains the same 34 at 8am as at 4pm. How does

that indicate Adrenal Fatigue or worse? Shouldn't my cortisol be

LOWER than normal to indicate Adrenal Fatigue?

>

>

> notice how he says that UNTIL THE ADRENALS ARE DEALT

> > WITH AND MADE STRONGER, even a small amount of thyroid may cause

the

> person

> > either not to feel the effects of the thyroid hormone or give

them SIGN OF

> > OVERDOSAGE.......diana

> >

> >

> > ADRENAL PROBLEMS (Replacement Cortisone Therapy)

> >

> > By Dr Barry Durrant-Peatfield MB, BS, LRCP, MRCS

> >

> > The adrenals sit just above the kidneys and most of us have heard

hat

> these

> > are responsible for the fight or flight reaction to stress.

> > Briefly, there is a rapid increase of the glucocorticoids, to

enable the

> > body to cope. It is the failure of this mechanism to work

properly, in the

> > presence of general stress, or the stress of illness, that we are

> concerned

> > with in the use of

> > replacement cortisone therapy. We call this condition Low Adrenal

Reserve,

> > or simply, Adrenal Insufficiency.

> >

> > The most severe form of the syndrome is called " s

Disease " , after

> the

> > great Guys Physician, , who was the first to

describe it in

> > 1855. It was then usually due to tuberculosis destroying the

glands.

> > Patients were dusky coloured, with terrible weakness,

malnutrition,

> collapse

> > and coldness, and the illness ran a fatal course. It is pretty

rarely seen

> > in clinical practice. But we are concerned with the mild form of

> deficiency,

> > where the patient

> > may be well, until subjected to stress and/or illness. Then, many

of the

> > symptoms may appear with prostration and collapse; or there may

be level

> of

> > insufficiency present all the time, with varying degrees of

weakness,

> muscle

> > and

> > joint pains, and general ill health.

> >

> > So what do we look for in the way of symptoms? It is rarely clear

cut,

> > because the deficiency is so often part of another illness, and

may

> > therefore have something of the symptoms of both. We are

particularly

> > concerned with thyroid deficiency, which, if of longstanding, or

fairly

> > severe in degree, is most

> > often associated with adrenal insufficiency, as well as a direct

> > result of the stress on the system low thyroid function will

cause.

> >

> > The patient will complain of weakness and episodes of prostration,

> > frequently feeling quite unwell without being able to pinpoint

the cause.

> > Episodes of dizziness, sometimes cold sweats, caused by the blood

sugar

> > becoming abnormally

> > low, are not uncommon. Often, an odd internal shivering is

described.

> Aches

> > and pains of a rheumatic nature are other frequent complaints.

The patient

> > often complains of the cold, and is likely to be cold to the

touch. The

> > subject does not feel well, and may look ill, with dark rings

under the

> > eyes, and a

> > general pallor. There are likely to be digestive problems, with

> > excessive wind and bloating, and bowel disturbances. The

menstrual cycle

> may

> > be disturbed, or absent and libido low. Depression and anxiety

may also be

> a

> > feature. Some of the

> > symptoms complained of by patients with M.E. -- Myalgic

Encephalitis --

> are

> > very similar, leading to the well-grounded suspicion that M.E. is

> associated

> > with low adrenal reserve. Certainly, frequent minor illnesses are

common,

> > with an

> > overlong course of quite minor infections, which may also have an

> unusually

> > severe effect on the patient.

> >

> > Low thyroid function has some of these features, and it may be

difficult

> to

> > distinguish one from the other; In fact it should not be necessary

> because,

> > as I pointed out above, as the two are often together, so too

must the

> > treatment overlap and be designed to relieve both.

> >

> > The complications of treating hypothyroid or underactive thyroid

patients,

> > is that their consequent poor adrenal reserve may become suddenly

obvious,

> > as soon as the thyroid is treated. The thyroid supplementation

may, at

> > worst, precipitate the adrenal problem; but what usually happens,

is that

> > the thyroid replacement may either not apparently work at all, or

the

> > patient may have thyroid over dosage symptoms on quite a low

level of

> > replacement. Hence, where low

> > adrenal reserve is suspected, it is possibly dangerous, and

certainly ill

> > advised, to treat the patient without supplementation of the

adrenals, in

> > the manner

> > explained further below.

> >

> > If a high index of suspicion of adrenal insufficiency is raised by

> > the

> > history given by the patient, then what are the signs the doctor

> > looks for to

> > establish the diagnosis? Actually, it is sometimes difficult

where the

> > problem is not particularly severe; but there are some pointers.

The blood

> > pressure is usually quite low, often very strikingly so. The

difference

> > between the lying, (or

> > sitting) blood pressure, and the standing one, may be very

important.

> > Normally, it rises when the patient stands. In low adrenal

reserve, it

> > either does

> > not change at all, or lowers further. The pupil reflex is slow, or

> unstable,

> > or even reversed, to bright light. Reflexes may be abnormal,

especially

> the

> > Achilles reflex -- in the heel. The heart sound is

characteristically

> > altered.

> >

> > It is satisfactory to confirm the clinical impression by blood

tests; but

> > these sometimes are unhelpful. The level of cortisone in the

blood may be

> > measured, but it is widely variable. However, DHEA, mentioned

above, is

> > quite a good

> > indicator of adrenal cortex function. The urinary excretion of

> > adrenal hormones is an excellent indicator -- but the practical

problems,

> > (it has to be over 24 hours), and the expense of really good

laboratory

> > analysis, tend to limit

> > this test to hospital in-patients.

> >

> > It is, in our view, perfectly practical and reasonable, to

establish the

> > diagnosis on clinical grounds, and because the therapy given is

of very

> > low -- physiological -- doses, there is no possible risk to the

patient,

> > however long it

> > is needed. In a very large number of cases, the adrenal

insufficiency may

> > right itself over two or three months, making further

supplementation

> > unnecessary.

> >

> > THE TREATMENT

> >

> > You will be given hydrocortisone 10mgm, which is the natural

form, to take

> > in a dose appropriate to your needs. Half a tablet three or four

times a

> day

> > is usual, later to be increased, if required. Hydrocortisone has

the

> problem

> > of

> > very rapid uptake by the system, and it needs to be given every

four

> hours,

> > at least. This creates practical problems for many patients, and

we use

> more

> > often, Deltacortril, or Prednisolone. 2.5mgm is usually given to

start

> with,

> > increasing to 5mgm after a few days. Rarely, a total dose of

7.5mgm may be

> > required.

> >

> > Most patients feel benefit within a few days. You will be asked

to ring

> the

> > surgery if you are in the slightest doubt about how you feel, or

how

> things

> > are

> > going. A report by phone after a week is pretty important, and

then we see

> > you in two or three further weeks to assess matters. You will

probably

> have

> > been

> > asked to keep a diary of events. If you have a thyroid problem,

the

> thyroid

> > replacement will start after a week, at a very low dose, working

slowly

> > upwards.

> >

> > It sometimes takes many weeks for all the benefits to come

through, but

> some

> > improvement is clear within a week or so. Adrenal insufficiency

related to

> > low thyroid function corrects itself, as the thyroid levels

improve, and

> > usually

> > after, two, three or four months, have recovered sufficiently for

the

> > cortisone therapy to be stopped.

> >

> > The question is often asked. Will the cortisone replacement

suppress

> > my

> > adrenals? The answer is that in physiological dose it does not at

> > all; and in any

> > event, the adrenal activity is curtailed anyway, making the

options

> > quite

> > clear. Suppression occurs in the super-pharmalogical doses, which

do

> > not concern us

> > in this context. Even then, the adrenals are able to recover, if

the

> > primary

> > illness is dealt with, and the dose reduced gradually.

> >

> > Low adrenal reserve means that under a state of challenge, the

> > problem is

> > going to show. While on replacement treatment therefore, any

further

> > illness and stress is best dealt with be a temporary increase of

dose.

> > Influenza, heavy colds, dental extraction, injury and the like,

require,

> for

> > example, the 5mgm Deltacortril to be doubled, just for a few

days. (I find

> > that a 5mgm

> > dose almost completely prevents jet lag; and influenza is over in

one or

> > twodays.)

> >

> > We have now a considerable fund of practical experience in the

treatment

> of

> > the adrenal deficiency syndrome, and are very much aware of its

great

> > benefit.

> >

> > It should not be considered in isolation, however, any may well

be part of

> > the management of other deficiencies. The aging process is the

result of

> > deficiency in a number of different aspects of the system, so

that full

> > benefit may

> > not be gained until both nutritional and hormonal imbalances are

looked

> for

> > and corrected.

> >

> > The article on this page © 1994 Dr. Barry Durrant-Peatfield All

> > rights

> > reserved.

> >

> >

> >

[Guest guest]

> ,

>

> I am really confused now. If my cortisol is about 10 points above

the

> normal range, and it remains the same 34 at 8am as at 4pm. How does

> that indicate Adrenal Fatigue or worse? Shouldn't my cortisol be

> LOWER than normal to indicate Adrenal Fatigue?

>

>

The way it was explained to me is that stressed adrenals will

overproduce cortisol at inappropriate times before they totally burn

out. High cortisol creates insomnia, easily startled, sometimes panic

attacks...my son got OCD - his was continuously high...if you look at

a graph of your cortisol levels during the day, you would see that on

either side of the range - higher or lower by about ten points-

indicates adrenal fatigue...even higher or lower than just outside

the ranges indicates adrenal exhaustion. My one son's range was okay

at rising, shot way up at noon,, and then was extremely low at 5 and

9PM...even though he spiked, he was still way higher and sometimes

way lower than normal. this indicated exhaustion...and exaggerated

adrenal response. Just because you are producing cortisol does not

mean your adrenals are not stressed...something is stressing them

terribly to make them release more cortsol than they should. The

hydrocortisone they give at 20mg - roughly 1/2 of what healthy

adrenals produce under normal circumstances - is meant to " rest "

them, but not shut them down. it takes a little longer to rest

adrenals which are continuously overproducing cortisol (on their way

to buring out) and to get them to calm down that it does to

supplement what burned out adrenals cannot make enough ogf. This is

why people who are overproducing have a longer period of time where

they feel they are getting help from the hydrocortione..but

eventually - within weeks - they do get stronger and stop

overproducing. Sometimes, people who are making too much cortisol

prefer to strengthen adrenals with glandulars and vitamins and try to

reduce stress, etc. because the " wired " feeling they mmight at first

experience with hydrocortisone is something that makes them feel they

are on the wrong path to recovery...but whAt it actually is, is an

adjustment period, until the adrenals can settle down and know they

do not have to overproduce any more.

[Guest guest]

The below is also in the ADRENALS FILE on this site for those who

want to refer to it again, or recommend it to others. This is a

great discussion going on!

Janie

> > ADRENAL PROBLEMS (Replacement Cortisone Therapy)

> >

> > By Dr Barry Durrant-Peatfield MB, BS, LRCP, MRCS

> >

> > The adrenals sit just above the kidneys and most of us have

heard hat

> these

> > are responsible for the fight or flight reaction to stress.

[Guest guest]

No, never any adjustment time. The hc has really been a savior around here. I

also never wake at the 2-4 AM zone anymore as I did before Armour and hc. That

had become a killer for me. I know the quiet strong type of energy you mean.

When I first took it the change in my physiology was amazing.... is was like

that saying of the " engine purring " . I had not felt balanced energy for so long.

This whole experience with my hubby and self with our adrenals has been a huge

wake-up call. We are both passionate and driven people. We did this to ourselves

and fortunately can see that. We know the answer lies in changing our way of

life. The hc is a supplement, not a medication. The true healing can only come

with a life balanced towards fun, not work and stress. I guess it is fortunate

that we are working on this together so we can be supportive for each other.

I'll tell you one good thing about needing that hc every 4 hours....if you are

late in your dose....you FEEL IT! It's a good reminder for now about life-style

changes. This is a self-made illness.

Roxanna

Roxanna V. Knight-Plouff, D.V.M.

W Plouff

North Star German Shepherd Dog Rescue Inc

northstargsdr@...

www.northstargsdr.org

Re: Fw: Dr. Peatfield about Deltacortil

> ,

>

> I'll add my experience with hydrocortisone and sleep. My hubby and

the 8 pups get up around 5-6:30 AM. Naturally, this tends to wake me

up! If I feel like I will not be able to finish my sleep to get 8

hours, I start my hc for the day at that point. It lulls me back into

a snug and soft sleep with no agitation no matter who is barking,

jumping or fussing. It does its job so that I can handle the normal

stress of being woken up while I am still needing more sleep and just

nod off back to sleep.

> Roxanna

did you have any type of " adjustment period " where you weren't

sleeping as well at first? I didn't but I believe i wasn't making

much cortisol...I never tested myself this last time before i took

it. Isn't that stuff amazing if used in physiological doses vs the

pharmacological doses usually prescribed?? It's a type of

energy/endurance you can't describe...not wired, not an " unhealthy

feeling " energy, but a steady quiet strength. It can only be

compared to when I was young and never had to think about energy or

exhaustion.