Hydrocortisone

[Guest guest]

I've been taking adrenal support from Fatigued to Fantastic for several

months, but I don't see a noticeable difference. So I ordered

hydrocortisone from myrxforless. I checked the archives and files but am

having trouble finding information about how to take this. I have the 20mg

tablet. Do I take it all at once in the morning or split the dose? My

neurologist several months ago suggested prednisone for my neuropathy, but I

told him no, not yet. So I thought I would try hydrocortisone for both

adrenal and neuropathy support. I am on 4 grains of Armour, taking 3

grains around 6am and the other grain in the afternoon or evening - whenever

I remember.

I've also been taking 25mg DHEA for several months. I had it tested and

scored 23 Low, reference range 39 to 183. My Mother's was 6. My

cortisol was 10.2 , range 6 - 28.5, at around 8 or 9 in the morning. I

know a blood test is not the best for this, but my doctors don't believe in

cortisol testing, period, so I was lucky to even get the blood test. My

liver enzymes were also high for the first time ever.

I'm feeling better, but not as well as I would like - still have lots of

symptoms. I'm trying to self-medicate, but it's a lot of trial and error,

it seems. I see a new endo on wednesday (he's on the Armour website

list) but I don't hold much hope.

thanks for your time, joan

[Guest guest]

Dear Joan,

This is how you do it: Cortisol is used up quickly in the body and

any dose you take will mostly be gone in about 4 hours. So, a one

time dose is not good. Typical adrenal support is 2-1/2 to 5 mg

taken 4 times a day once every 4 hours starting when you get up in

the morning. Typical total daily recommended doses are 10 to 20 mg.

Most people do not notice a lot of improvement on 10 mg. I didn't.

So, it seems that 20 mg to start in 4 evenly divided doses is the

best and you can taper off later if you feel well and think you can

get away with it. It is stressed that if you are on adrenal support

that you be very regular about taking your meds on time. Since

cortisol is mostly used up in 4 hours, being late with your next

dose can be an adrenal stressor and has been found to not produce as

good of results in patients.

Jeffries, in his book " Safe Uses of Cortisol " says that in his

lifetime of studying this, the best regime is 4 equal doses evenly

divided in the day. He also warns that it can take up to 2 weeks to

notice results results. Once you have begun this therapy, you will

need to double your dose if you become sick, need dental work, or

have a lot of stress or activity. Illnesses double cortisol needs

and those on adrenal support have reduced adrenal capacity and

therfore cannot meet needs under these conditions. If cortisol is

too low, then immune function suffers. You will find that if you do

this, you will get over flue bugs and colds really quickly. I sure

do. Anyway, this is what the recommendation is for cortisol support.

I had a lot of trouble with stomach upset with Cortef and so you

need to be aware that the recommendation for taking it is to take

your pill a little while before a meal or food and if this is not

well tolerated you can take it during the meal. (this was on my

bottle label when I first got mine) Basically taking cortef on an

empty hungry stomach can give you a good stomach upset. It sure did

me. This is why I switched to IsoCort, which has 2-1/2 mg of

cortisol per tablet. So, if you have a lot of trouble with cortf,

you have another option or two.

Another tip is that if you want to make a thyroid dose raise, you

can increase your cortisol up to 30 mg a day for a few days at the

beginning of the raise and then drop back down to your old dose.

This makes raises so much easier and helps eliminate that miserable

adjustment period. It takes about 4 weeks of adrenal support to make

your adrenals dependent on it. So, once you have been on it for

around 4 weeks, you will need to taper off slowly over a few weeks.

You should not stop suddenly as this will really burden the adrenals.

Hope this is all you need. Good luck.

Tish

[Guest guest]

Tish - thank you so much. Now I'm scared to take it, but really want to

see if it makes a difference in how I feel. The excerpt below -

please clarify. Do you mean that once I have been on it for 4 weeks and,

at some point in the future (months) want to quit, then I must taper off

and now quit suddenly? Or do you mean that after 4 weeks I should start

tapering because I will no longer need it?

..... joan

It takes about 4 weeks of adrenal support to make

your adrenals dependent on it. So, once you have been on it for

around 4 weeks, you will need to taper off slowly over a few weeks.

You should not stop suddenly as this will really burden the adrenals.