Sugar???

No, my Husband has never had a thorough adrenal evaluation. But he goes into adrenal crisis (non-stop vomiting, dehydration, fever, severe headache, confusion, etc.) when he gets any kind of significant illness and after surgery, even if he gets extra IV prednisone during the surgery - and the symptoms don't stop until he gets a big injection of steroids. His doctor agrees with us that this is adrenal related, and has given us injectable cortisol to keep in the house just in case he goes into one of these "episodes" again (he's had several... after a nasty urinary infection & reaction to the antibiotics given for the infection, after wisdom teeth surgery, after appendix surgery, and after trying to taper down his daily dose of hydrocortisone (did it too quickly)). I'm also curious what his thyroid is doing, but his Endo is a by-the-book kind of doctor and doesn't listen too well (you know, one of those who still thinks vitamin D and calcium are all we need for bone health, when my DH has seen huge improvements (up 11% in 1 year) in his severe low bone density with the addition of fish oil despite taking the big doses of Vit. D & calcium prior to starting the fish oil and not seeing the bone density improvements until the fish oil was added...his diet is so limited that he was deficient in essential fatty acids)......

I had saliva and blood cortisol tests done, but everything tests normal. I know this isn't true - I feel stress way more than I used to. So I am thinking it is time to bug my doctor about doing some adrenal tests (perhaps the saliva and the 24hr. urine). I know my immune system is messed up seriously, and I have chronic ongoing inflammation (ESR has been well above normal every time it is checked starting in 2005; was only intermittantly elevated prior to that). I'm pretty sure poor adrenal function has some role in this, and also plays a role in my chronic severe insomnia (though the insomnia is getting better with a topical progesterone supplement...my estrogen:progesterone ratio was out of whack, despite both numbers being "normal" and so my doctor has me on the progesterone).

I'm also suspicious that I have something going on with my thyroid. My TSH used to run in the 0.5-1.0 range, and my free T4 used to be a little bit high, but this past couple years, my TSH has been a little higher than that and my most recent one was 2.58...from the stopthethyroidmadness website, it is suggested that anything over 2.5 is potentially low thyroid, although the free T3 & free T4 should also be checked... A new LLND I saw last month wants to re-check my TSH, free T3 & free T4, and I should also ask about reverse T3...never had the rT3 tested.

Thanks & take care,

I don't have an Endo (the last one I saw was not worth going back to), but my Husband's Endo is a strictly by-the-book guy and he goes by the lab range and not the new recommended range.

Everyone who has ever tested my TSH also goes by the lab range and not the new recommended range.

I was on IV abx for about 2 years, but have had enough for a while...tired of the side-effects and lack of efficacy of the meds for actually improving my health (instead of just treating symptoms while I'm taking them). This is why I went to a new LLND recently, and I think she's going to do a better job of getting me well than who I've been seeing for Lyme treatment. She's ILADS trained, too.

The tachycardia and pain after eating could be vegas nerve irritation, caused either by Lyme/coinfections or by food sensitivities. Lyme/coinfections are known also to cause blood vessel inflammation, which can affect circulation to the GI tract and cause pain elsewhere also...and can also cause heart rhythm issues.

Another thing that can cause heart rhythm issues is electrolyte imbalance and/or dehydration. An RBC elements test from Doctor's Data (lab) might be interesting, if your doctor is open to non-standard tests and your insurance covers it for you (expensive test). This test tells intracellular nutrition, which can't be tested using blood serum like the standard labs do (such as what the comp. metabolic panel tests show).

That's cool that you're experiencing improvements in the symptoms during your monthly cycle... That's been a big problem for me, too...interestingly, one thing I found was that I needed to stop eating gluten and corn to get rid of the migraines and cramps...although I'm sensitive to airborne gluten / corn also, which makes shopping for food a challenge (in-store bakeries, etc.).

Fasting blood glucose is always normal for me. I've never had the 3-hour glucose tolerance test w/ insulin drawn hourly. However, I do think I get reactive hypoglycemia at times - it was really bad when I was in college, but I found that I needed to avoid sugar as much as possible and then I did ok -- got rid of the meanness/nasty temper and mood swings this way. But now I am ok with sugar as long as I eat protein with it. I think my problems in college with sugar were from nutritional imbalance (chromium deficiency, stuff like that...).

Thanks for all the info...take care,

Forgot to mention also that I may have an iodine deficiency at the root of my lower thyroid...I've had a lot of problems getting enough or the right kinds of nutrition particularly within the last several years. Lyme has totally trashed my gut, my absorption/digestion is poor at best, and I was on IV nutrition only for a little ovefr 2 years...and the stuff in the IV nutrition was not comprehensive for what is needed long-term. So yeah, I'm a mess nutritionally and this may be what I need to focus on (and my new LLND agrees and wants to get me able to get more benefit from what I do take in foodwise, as well as help expand my intake variety if possible...a difficult task, given all the food intolerances/allergies/sensitivities I deal with).

Good - glad you are going to look into the vegas nerve issue more. But don't count on the GI doc being helpful with this - many are not educated on all the issues with Lyme and vegas nerve issues...may need a Neurologist who is Lyme-Literate...

Take care,