Posted this at the spine forums, but I am going to post it here too:
Symptoms of adrenal insufficiency: fatigue, weakness when standing, low blood pressure, hypoglycemia, aversion to touch, light, pain all over sort of feeling. The disruption of aldosterone will cause salt issues, when my cortisol is low I cannot hold fluids. LOW CORTISOL MAKES NEUROPATHIC PAIN MUCH WORSE. So, if I had fatigue and the symptoms above, I would definitely try to save 150 bucks to get a 4x cortisol test. You can get a blood pressure cuff and see if your bp is resting low. It's low blood volume causing your bp to be less. Bringing the adrenal function up, brings the bp up. I got tired of standing and blacking out.
It's a combination of cortisol results and symptoms that can give an idea of how the adrenals are functioning.
I know a couple of us here have had this same discussion, nothing makes us feel better but steroids. I remember specifically two others with damage at the t10 level as well who said they had crippling fatigue as well. There is not good documentation (that I've found so far) regarding what exactly that means for us, but it does seem to be common knowledge that damage to the t10 can cause issues. I don't have hard citations on that, will continue to look. Although pubmed has some documents on the matter. (Keyword:cervical adrenal insufficiency for example). So its not only damage to the t10 where adrenal issues show up.
If the adrenal insufficiency is mild, you can treat it naturally. Dr. Wilson has a book on adrenal fatigue that covers the natural options for boosting cortisol and adrenal function. If it's severe or bordering addison's disease, you will probably need hydrocortisone or steroid therapy. I'm going to learn a bit more before I make any kind of official post but I'm off for a bit, trying to get my adrenal glands back up to baseline.
____ For those on the fence, maybe slight fatigue and aches and pains. For your adrenal cascade, you need Vitamin C, B5 for stress moderation, and fat for cholesterol production. Cholesterol makes cortisol. I've been using coconut oil for this. Then you need the other vitamins in normal amounts or a good multivitamin. Salt in the morning to help the adrenals and avoiding sugar as much as possible. I end up taking my multivitamin at night as sometimes vitamins seem to excite the nerves and make them more sensitive. So I do it late when I know I'm not up walking much anyway.
I'm sorry this post is a bit all over the place. I'm still tired a lot and will be resting. As I get the right levels of adrenal hormones again, I should be up on my feet more.
If anyone sees any incorrect commentary or general thoughts, you can post a comment below for others to read. Best wishes.
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