Pregnenolone With Cushings

[Hoodlt]

We suspect my son has Cushings. As everything is taking a very long time, we are just working now to relieve his immediate symptoms. We have tried Milk thistle but only had so-so results. He has elevated liver enzymes from the Cushings so I think the support it gives his liver is enough reason to keep doing that. We are also using Vitamin C and Cascara. He is doing better, but not great. The deep feelings of sadness and loneliness convinced him to go on an anti-depressant but luckily he hated it and stopped after a few days. We believe no, after a DEX tests that Cushings is adrenal (just guessing but DEX test indicated it is not pituitary). Thoughts on giving him some pregnenolone for the loneliness? Thank you.

 

[Ella]

Don't give pregnenolone. Dr Peat said it is hard to find pregnenolone which is not contaminated. Pregnenolone actually gave me cushings - fat face. My cortisol was already through the roof before starting preg. I would look to thyroid hormones - have these been tested and including a little liver in the diet and plenty of sunshine to get his vitamin D levels up. Focus on the diet, sunshine and exercise to keep muscles strong. If he can afford it, employ the services of a strength trainer to prevent losing muscle strength. Does not need to be anything crazy. Vitamin D so, so important here. Lots of sunshine and muscle work. Go slow, as injury is a huge factor under the influence of cortisol.

Thyroid hormones increases the excretion of cortisol, so start with thorough investigation of thyroid function.

[Serum cortisol level variations in thyroid diseases]. - PubMed - NCBI

Support the liver with good quality protein. Gelatin broth can't recommended it enough for detoxifying the liver. Gelatin should be your first go to solution for liver detox. Reduce inflammatory amino acids in the diet as they will impact on thyroid function. Be sure to balance high phosphate foods with calcium.

 

[Hoodlt]

Don't give pregnenolone. Dr Peat said it is hard to find pregnenolone which is not contaminated. Pregnenolone actually gave me cushings - fat face. My cortisol was already through the roof before starting preg. I would look to thyroid hormones - have these been tested and including a little liver in the diet and plenty of sunshine to get his vitamin D levels up. Focus on the diet, sunshine and exercise to keep muscles strong. If he can afford it, employ the services of a strength trainer to prevent losing muscle strength. Does not need to be anything crazy. Vitamin D so, so important here. Lots of sunshine and muscle work. Go slow, as injury is a huge factor under the influence of cortisol.

Thyroid hormones increases the excretion of cortisol, so start with thorough investigation of thyroid function.

[Serum cortisol level variations in thyroid diseases]. - PubMed - NCBI

Support the liver with good quality protein. Gelatin broth can't recommended it enough for detoxifying the liver. Gelatin should be your first go to solution for liver detox. Reduce inflammatory amino acids in the diet as they will impact on thyroid function. Be sure to balance high phosphate foods with calcium.

This is all very good advice. I was very hesitant on the pregnenolone. In the middle of a Wisconsin winter we will struggle to find sunshine but I will dig deep to see if we can't do something this spring. Doing high quality liver capsules and can totally do the broth. Trainer sounds like a good idea, too. I was also hesitant about thyroid as people with high cortisol can be very sensitive. Would you start with a very small does of NDT, T4 or T3? Lucky for me, I have all of the above. Thoughts on using red light on his adrenals but supporting that light with a lot of fuel? Thank you for taking the time to reply.

 

[Ella]

I was also hesitant about thyroid as people with high cortisol can be very sensitive. Would you start with a very small does of NDT, T4 or T3?

I too was hesitant and my only regret was not starting earlier. I wish I knew earlier thyroid hormone increases the excretion rate of cortisol. I may have prevented the kilos packing on. Trying to lose the weight was the most scariest ordeal I have had to go through, so you don't want to get fat in the first place. My body broke down physically where I could not exercise. I had to rebuild my strength and ability to walk again. If I had the money, I would have employed strength trainer. Harder to go at it alone.

I can't recommend dose as everyone's case is different. My rt3 was low; below reference range so I knew my body was hanging out for thyroid hormone. I was well-nourished which helped. I had worked on nutrient and mineral repletion and lowering stress by eating every 3 hours. In the beginning when starting thyroid, I would get uncomfortably hot and temperature would go too high. This was in the middle of a summer heat wave. I was sensitive to heat at the best of times, so it was not an easy transition. I was on pregnenolone at the time. However my motivation to get things done greatly diminished. So I stopped everything to allow my body to find its normal set point. I micro-managed everything testing pulse and temperature. I kept my pulse at around 80 - 85 and feel most energetic when pulse is in this range. So I eat to keep to this range. If I skimp on food, pulse drops below 80 and energy levels follows pulse. I have finally started to feel normal again. Waking 5am, not having to eat every 3 hours and even if I do work after midnight, I don't need a nanna nap during the day. My energy levels are more reliable. I finally love my body and my legs are looking lean, loose skin tightening and no cellulite. My face has returned to normal - seeing my bone and cheek structures again :)

I use temperature to gauge how much thyroid hormone I need. I tried t3 but it was the t4 I really needed as it was at the lower end of the range. My TSH climbed from below 2 up 11 when this whole ordeal started due to going into menopause.

You need to do thyroid labs and then suck it and see.

Thoughts on using red light on his adrenals but supporting that light with a lot of fuel?

Red light is wonderful. Exposing eyes to morning sun and afternoon sun will breakdown cortisol. Stress + lack of sunshine is a recipe for disaster. My situation was extreme as there were many stressful events which contributed to my downfall. I had to change my whole lifestyle in order to reclaim my health. It is extremely hard if you don't change the patterns which led to your condition. The body needs to feel safe, happy, loved and content - not in a war zone 24/7.

He needs to get out there, socialise have a sense of community, friendship and family. If these are lacking, then a hobby or a passion. You can work longer hours and go without food when immersed in something you are passionate about. I see this as a positive stress or as Selye termed it, eustress as opposed to distress. When healing, there is a tendency to isolate oneself. I think this is a positive thing, because it helps you to reflect on what's wrong and sort out the changes to make. I love being alone. It is such a luxury having time to do the things I love, without the interruption of others coming into my space. However, if being alone means you are spending too much time in your head focusing on the slightest discomfort, this is not so good. I guess this is where pregnenolone sounds attractive. I found it useful for stressful ocassions which required me to focus on just ploughing through the workload, multitasking to achieve deadlines and demands. If it wasn't for the cushingnoid features, I would not have minded so much. Working at that capacity has it benefits, but then working at that capacity kicked started my demise.



The biggest contributor in reclaiming my health has to be Sunshine, Thyroid and controlling my environment. I say sunshine and not vitamin D. I tried vitamin D supplementation and experienced strange symptoms. I have never experienced joint pain in my entire life. I have been a dancer since young age and my body is incredibly flexible compared to most people. So if I experience joint pain, I know it is not normal. With Vitamin D, the joint in my right thumb starts clicking and being stiff. The left thumb is fine. When I stop the Vit. D it goes away and comes back when I supplement. I am not doing high doses, only 2000 units/day, but due to getting plenty of sunshine, perhaps it is too much. Also I experience difficulty in my breathing, like the start of a lung infection. Also rare for me as even in the worst of winters, I never experience chest problems or asthma type symptoms. I think it may be due to Vitamin D antagonising Vitamin A. I think as my metabolism is at a higher rate, my requirements for Vitamin A increases. I can stay outside in the sun working in shorts and singlet and never experience these symptoms, yet with the Vitamin D supplement I get the symptoms. I don't do well with supplementation as my body is so finely tuned.