Possible adrenal fatigue and high cortisol, but want to work out

[Everydaystruggle]

So I started almost 3 weeks ago with dr saya and defy medical. He believes that my adrenal glands are not function optimally and to belive I have high cortisol. Unfortunately my next blood work which he will be checking my cortisol with a a4 point saliva test and testing acth as well but that's not till October 15th. My resting heart rate in the morning is 90-97 beats per minute, which is such an uncomfortable and uneasy feeling that I have been dealing with for over a year now. He also started me on trt. My goal is to get back in the gym on the 20th of this month. BUT, I keep reading that working out will raise cortisol which I don't want. I'm not sure what to do. I don't know if they can check my adrenal function now and then do my follow up blood work for my trt in October. I'm also on 30mg of dhea nightly and 100mg of 5htp nightly as well. Hopefully maybe by the 20th which will be a month on the medicine that maybe my cortisol will. One down? Any help is appreciated.

 

[CoastWatcher]

So I started almost 3 weeks ago with dr saya and defy medical. He believes that my adrenal glands are not function optimally and to belive I have high cortisol. Unfortunately my next blood work which he will be checking my cortisol with a a4 point saliva test and testing acth as well but that's not till October 15th. My resting heart rate in the morning is 90-97 beats per minute, which is such an uncomfortable and uneasy feeling that I have been dealing with for over a year now. He also started me on trt. My goal is to get back in the gym on the 20th of this month. BUT, I keep reading that working out will raise cortisol which I don't want. I'm not sure what to do. I don't know if they can check my adrenal function now and then do my follow up blood work for my trt in October. I'm also on 30mg of dhea nightly and 100mg of 5htp nightly as well. Hopefully maybe by the 20th which will be a month on the medicine that maybe my cortisol will. One down? Any help is appreciated.

Defy will typically provide a lab order upon request. Contact them and explain you'd like to do a cortisol check. Should that fail, and I would be astonished if they don't help you, go to www.discountedlabs.com. It's where many of us self-test.

 

[Everydaystruggle]

Dr say actually ordered the test but it's not till October 15th along with all my labs for trt. I'm wondering if they can do the saliva test, and acth test now and then do my other blood work for my trt in October.

 

[johndoesmith]

Dr say actually ordered the test but it's not till October 15th along with all my labs for trt. I'm wondering if they can do the saliva test, and acth test now and then do my other blood work for my trt in October.

You can order labs from them at any time, just ask.

Do you pay for labs or do you get the insurance prescriptions?

 

[CoastWatcher]

You can order labs from them at any time, just ask.

Do you pay for labs or do you get the insurance prescriptions?

I am not a Defy patient, johndoesmith is, and it's been noted here by many others that if you are a Defynpatient and you want labs, you call, and you get labs. Patient-focused medicine.

 

[AbsoluteZ3R0]

Adrenal fatigue and high cortisol are opposites. Adrenal fatigue is when your adrenal glands do not produce enough cortisol. The good thing is that testosterone typically lowers cortisol, so you may not need any further treatment beyond testosterone to control your cortisol. Working out only transiently raises cortisol, and this is a good thing. There are studies showing that the higher the post-workout spike in cortisol, the stronger the anabolic signal. Because cortisol is a stress hormone, high levels following a workout trigger a stronger anabolic counter-response following rigorous exercise. It is only chronically elevated cortisol that is an issue. In any case, you should work out regardless of your cortisol situation (unless your doctor tells you otherwise). Many of the deleterious effects of chronically elevated cortisol can be countered to some extent by exercise.

 

[madman]

Adrenal fatigue and high cortisol are opposites. Adrenal fatigue is when your adrenal glands do not produce enough cortisol. The good thing is that testosterone typically lowers cortisol, so you may not need any further treatment beyond testosterone to control your cortisol. Working out only transiently raises cortisol, and this is a good thing. There are studies showing that the higher the post-workout spike in cortisol, the stronger the anabolic signal. Because cortisol is a stress hormone, high levels following a workout trigger a stronger anabolic counter-response following rigorous exercise. It is only chronically elevated cortisol that is an issue. In any case, you should work out regardless of your cortisol situation (unless your doctor tells you otherwise). Many of the deleterious effects of chronically elevated cortisol can be countered to some extent by exercise.

Excess cortisol is released in the early stages of adrenal fatigue it is only in the later stages when cortisol production by the adrenals is hindered.

 

[madman]

So I started almost 3 weeks ago with dr saya and defy medical. He believes that my adrenal glands are not function optimally and to belive I have high cortisol. Unfortunately my next blood work which he will be checking my cortisol with a a4 point saliva test and testing acth as well but that's not till October 15th. My resting heart rate in the morning is 90-97 beats per minute, which is such an uncomfortable and uneasy feeling that I have been dealing with for over a year now. He also started me on trt. My goal is to get back in the gym on the 20th of this month. BUT, I keep reading that working out will raise cortisol which I don't want. I'm not sure what to do. I don't know if they can check my adrenal function now and then do my follow up blood work for my trt in October. I'm also on 30mg of dhea nightly and 100mg of 5htp nightly as well. Hopefully maybe by the 20th which will be a month on the medicine that maybe my cortisol will. One down? Any help is appreciated.

Lack of sleep/chronic stress/over training/low calorie dieting increase cortisol. You may have been experiencing adrenal issues for some time and your levels in the early am upon waking and throughout the day may very well be low. Once you have the testing done you will have a better idea of what is going on.

 

[AbsoluteZ3R0]

No, excessive cortisol and acth stimulation is what eventually leads to adrenal fatigue. It in and of itself is not adrenal fatigue. If you are capable of producing sufficient levels of cortisol, you are not yet fatigued.

 

[Vettester Chris]

Everything at this point is speculation. No tests have been run, so truthfully we don't know if it's elevated or not (?). Run the labs, let's see the circadian profile, plus get a DHEA saliva lab with the 4x cortisol kit, which will provide a correlation analysis to help further assess your adrenal profile.

 

[Everydaystruggle]

Dr saya order a 4 point saliva cortisol test, along with a acth test.

 

[madman]

No, excessive cortisol and acth stimulation is what eventually leads to adrenal fatigue. It in and of itself is not adrenal fatigue. If you are capable of producing sufficient levels of cortisol, you are not yet fatigued.

Reread the post I stated in the early stages meaning before one reaches fatigue in the later stages when cortisol production is hindered. He does not even know if he has high cortisol and may very well be low hence he may have been experiencing adrenal fatigue for some time. Only testing will tell.

 

[cleverusername]

Want to point out that I was given incorrect timing schedule for taking swabs from someone over the phone @ Defy. The correct times should be 8 am, noon, 4 pm and midnight. You can deviate a bit, but make sure they are done before eating and or brushing teeth. even though I swabbed at incorrect times (3 am instead of 8 am) my test was still readable, and there was no need to retest thankfully. IMO there should be a 5th swab for waking, for those that are waking at 3 am or significantly before the 8 am swab. You can also call or email defy and get a Lab order whenever you like, fairly easy process and they are always willing to help!