Blood Panel for Hyperthyroid/Stress Hormones?

[youngsinatra]

Yes, but I didn't manage to do it at 8 am like it says on the panel, it was around 10:30.

Reference range for plasma (according to my results paper) is 101,2 - 535,7 nmol/l at 8 am.

If cortisol peaks at 8 am and then slowly decreases from there throughout the day, that means at 8 am my value was probably around 500, right?

Yeah. According to the normal cortisol curve, serum cortisol should be around 20-25% lower at 10.30 AM in comparison to 8.00 AM.

So an estimated calculation could be:
454 nmol/L x 1,2 (for 20%) = 544 nmol/L (roughly at 8:00 am)

So definitely on the high side. Ray said serum cortisol should not be higher than the middle of the reference range. (so ~300 nmol/L)

 

[Peater503]

Yeah. According to the normal cortisol curve, serum cortisol should be around 20-25% lower at 10.30 AM in comparison to 8.00 AM.

So an estimated calculation could be:
454 nmol/L x 1,2 (for 20%) = 544 nmol/L (roughly at 8:00 am)

So definitely on the high side. Ray said serum cortisol should not be higher than the middle of the reference range. (so ~300 nmol/L)

I see.

I wonder why I have this much cortisol anyways. I wouldn't say my life is currently all sunshine and rainbows but I would not consider it to be very stressful either. Like from a scale of 1-10 probably around a 6.5 right now, much less than it used to be. But this being on the higher end probably explains (partially) why I have such high maintenance calories.

Is the only way to address this to somehow minimize stress in my daily life, or are there any other specific treatments/supplements you would recommend? I'm taking magnesium every day for a while now because I heard it's somehow important for managing stress. I'm also taking cyproheptadine now cause someone recommended that in another thread to put on some weight.

 

[youngsinatra]

From my experience, lifestyle change and food are the best cortisol-lowering things. Deep sleep, breath work, massage, sauna, walking, cuddling with a loved one, warm bath or showers, getting sunlight in your eyes, eating nutrient-dense solid meals every 4-5h - starting with breakfast 30min after waking, to balance blood sugar and keep the pressure off the adrenals that need to compensate with cortisol for blood sugar rollercoasters. (highs and lows)
Coffee preferably only with/after breakfast.

Herbal teas like chamomile have been shown to lower cortisol by around 50% iirc. You can achieve this with 2-4 cups a day.

I feel a much bigger cortisol lowering effect from those things than any of the 100+ supplements I have tried and taken.

I personally find magnesium not that effective in comparison to lifestyle habits for reducing cortisol. (But avoiding magnesium deficiency is definitely important to keep HPA axis functional and not excessive)
The studies on aspirin and so also only show minor reductions in cortisol levels.

 

[youngsinatra]

I also find stress can also become numbing over time. As chronically high cortisol lowers T3, raises RT3, thyroid becomes less active, the body temperature and heart rate slows down, and you can end up feeling more fatigued and slowed down rather than amped up. That what happened when I was doing fasting/keto/carnivore. At first, the burst of stress made me feel frickin alive but then a few months later I felt so hypo like I couldn’t get out of bed because of low energy.

 

[Ahmed ELH]

@youngsinatra recommandations are on point, I've found Vitamin D3 first thing in the morning, L-Theanine and Chamomile very efficient at reducing cortisol levels.

 

[Logan-]

@Peater503 consume lots of sugar and salty foods. Stay mostly away from pure water. Keeping your intake hypertonic is key.

Take thyroid, magnesium, high ca to phosphorus rate, cascara. Try to lose weight if you are fat.

Consume little fat/oil, moderate protein, high carb.

Sometimes doing an abx course does wonders in changing one’s hormonal profile.

Also, maybe get a cat, if you can take care of it. They are fun.

 

[Peater503]

From my experience, lifestyle change and food are the best cortisol-lowering things. Deep sleep, breath work, massage, sauna, walking, cuddling with a loved one, warm bath or showers, getting sunlight in your eyes, eating nutrient-dense solid meals every 4-5h - starting with breakfast 30min after waking, to balance blood sugar and keep the pressure off the adrenals that need to compensate with cortisol for blood sugar rollercoasters. (highs and lows)
Coffee preferably only with/after breakfast.

Herbal teas like chamomile have been shown to lower cortisol by around 50% iirc. You can achieve this with 2-4 cups a day.

I feel a much bigger cortisol lowering effect from those things than any of the 100+ supplements I have tried and taken.

I personally find magnesium not that effective in comparison to lifestyle habits for reducing cortisol. (But avoiding magnesium deficiency is definitely important to keep HPA axis functional and not excessive)
The studies on aspirin and so also only show minor reductions in cortisol levels.

Thank you for these recommendations. I do most of these already, like breath work, walking, warm bath/showers, sunlight, nutrient dense meals, but I will definitely incorporate the chamomile tea and also sign up for some massages.

The only thing I don't understand is where this high cortisol comes from in the first place. Why are my values that high in the first place if my life is not chronically stressful? Could it be genetic related? Or somehow with my (apparently) underactive thyroid, since RP said healthy TSH is 0.4 or less?

Because if my thyroid is the reason for my high cortisol, this means no amount of food or lifestyle changes will help, but only supplementing with thyroid will, like RP did, right?

The main reason I did this blood test was to see if there's anything with my thyroid and/or stress hormones that is causing my maintenance calories to go up extremely, like RP described in this answer here. I plan to do further testing, but so far, it looks like I'm in the scenario with an underactive thyroid and overproduction of stress hormones, causing my maintenance calories to go levels that make it quite literally impossible to put on any weight, and also explaining why I have been skinny for pretty much all my life (My BMI has always been equal to or lower than 18)

 

[Peater503]

@youngsinatra recommandations are on point, I've found Vitamin D3 first thing in the morning, L-Theanine and Chamomile very efficient at reducing cortisol levels.

I know in France the "Ampoules" for vit D are quite common, but I imagine it's way less effective to take a big dose like that per month rather than take a small dose daily right? lol

 

[youngsinatra]

Thank you for these recommendations. I do most of these already, like breath work, walking, warm bath/showers, sunlight, nutrient dense meals, but I will definitely incorporate the chamomile tea and also sign up for some massages.

The only thing I don't understand is where this high cortisol comes from in the first place. Why are my values that high in the first place if my life is not chronically stressful? Could it be genetic related? Or somehow with my (apparently) underactive thyroid, since RP said healthy TSH is 0.4 or less?

Because if my thyroid is the reason for my high cortisol, this means no amount of food or lifestyle changes will help, but only supplementing with thyroid will, like RP did, right?

The main reason I did this blood test was to see if there's anything with my thyroid and/or stress hormones that is causing my maintenance calories to go up extremely, like RP described in this answer here. I plan to do further testing, but so far, it looks like I'm in the scenario with an underactive thyroid and overproduction of stress hormones, causing my maintenance calories to go levels that make it quite literally impossible to put on any weight, and also explaining why I have been skinny for pretty much all my life (My BMI has always been equal to or lower than 18)

Yes, a low-ish T3 could cause less cortisol clearance and resulting higher cortisol levels.

 

[Peater503]

Yes, a low-ish T3 could cause less cortisol clearance and resulting higher cortisol levels.

Interesting. I have a free T3 value from a blood test but it's from like 2 years ago, also free T4, which were 5.6 pmol/l (above reference range) and 13.8 pmol/l (within reference range)

I doubt they are different now because I had the exact same problems back then as now, but will get it re-tested to be sure and post here once I have the results.

 

[Ahmed ELH]

I know in France the "Ampoules" for vit D are quite common, but I imagine it's way less effective to take a big dose like that per month rather than take a small dose daily right? lol

Yes, they are quite common, I felt the benefits too from taking them, but I felt even better taking 10.000IU daily in drops (it comes with vitamin A, E and K, it's vitamin DEKA from sunday naturals) first thing in the morning with a tablespoon of coconut oil.

I've read on another thread that you were part of the tall and thin team, have you tried vitamin B1 and Selenium by any chance? 400mcg of Selenium daily for a week fixed my cold hands and feets.

I actually weight 74kg for 193cm, I used to weight 49kg a few years ago, and was struggling for the last 3 years at around 60kg untill I started B1.

When I first started B1 (I was taking it with B Complex and Magnesium), my appetite hugely increased and high cortisol symptoms completly vanished during that time, I became more performant at my boxing gym and was able to put on weight very fast. I still feel the appetite increase and stress reducing effects from B1, but they are now followed by excess acetylcholine symptoms that I'm trying to fix by increasing AChE activity.

 

[Peater503]

Yes, they are quite common, I felt the benefits too from taking them, but I felt even better taking 10.000IU daily in drops (it comes with vitamin A, E and K, it's vitamin DEKA from sunday naturals) first thing in the morning with a tablespoon of coconut oil.

I've read on another thread that you were part of the tall and thin team, have you tried vitamin B1 and Selenium by any chance? 400mcg of Selenium daily for a week fixed my cold hands and feets.

I actually weight 74kg for 193cm, I used to weight 49kg a few years ago, and was struggling for the last 3 years at around 60kg untill I started B1.

When I first started B1 (I was taking it with B Complex and Magnesium), my appetite hugely increased and high cortisol symptoms completly vanished during that time, I became more performant at my boxing gym and was able to put on weight very fast. I still feel the appetite increase and stress reducing effects from B1, but they are now followed by excess acetylcholine symptoms that I'm trying to fix by increasing AChE activity.

Wow. Yes, I've tried taking a B-complex and also vit A (cause I thought I was hyperthyroid and read somewhere it could help) for a month straight, but unfortunately no noticeable differences :/ Haven't tried selenium yet though.

I am taking daily magnesium (chloride) with water now since 2 weeks, also nothing noticed yet. But then again, I think I might just be bad at noticing the small differences lol. Have also tried taking agmatine sulfate + cistanche as well to boost my appetite. No increase whatsoever lol. Am now trying Periactine and hoping it will do the trick and save me from spending hundreds of euros on more supplements