finally got my adrenals tested found out im in stage 3

myeezy - Could you post the ranges?

What is the cortisol supposed to be?

girlie normal levels are

Morning :5.1-40.2, Optimal 18-35
Afternoon 2.1-15.7, Optimal 6-12
Evening 1.8-12. Optimal 4-8
Evening 0.9-9.2, Opital 2-6,

its suppose to be a curve going from down to top and my chart is flat , flat , up, up

3.10
3.20
2.51
3.34

myeezy24 how old are you? And are you female?

I ask because if all else is negative, could it be peri-menopausal? I had a horrible time with sleep at that point. If you are a gentleman, I am so sorry.

Wow I never knew those are what the optimal levels are. No wonder my LLMD said I was really bad. I knew it wasn't good but I had no idea. My cortisol never popped past 1.8 at any time in the day. I couldn't get out of bed. I am doing much better with hydrocortisone support. I know a lot of people fear hydrocortisone causing immune suppression but it has actually done the reverse for me and boost my immune system numbers. The infections just worn my body down constantly fighting them I needed some support.

Wow - the only one in the optimum range is the evening one.

Even though steroids are generally a no-no for us lymies because it causes immune suppression - when our cortisol levels are deficient - as yours obviously are - sometimes a low dose - hydrocortisone is needed.

How does it help? It is giving your body the cortisol it is lacking.

A common dose is 5 mg in the morning.

My doctor told me to take Integrative Therapeutics, Adrenal-Cortex Fractions, but it contains "titanium dioxide color." which is a chemical used in food and stuff not good for you so I want something similar without this ingredient ?

I was diagnosed as being one point above stage 4 adrenal fatigue almost 2 years ago now. The doctor that finally recognized this put me on whole adrenal supplements as I don't do pharmaceuticals unless I have to because my body just responds much better to the more 'natural' side of medicine.

I made progress on that for the first year, then all progress stopped. I tried to get my doc to change my treatment, but she kept putting me off, giving me one excuse after the next. Well, I finally parted ways with her just 2 weeks ago - panicked over where I was going to get my adrenal meds as I very obviously still needed them. I chose to go back to NatraBio brand Adrenal. It's a homeopathic remedy that I used when I was healing my tick-borne infections the first time and I was told that I needed to check myself into the hospital due to severe adrenal fatigue.

Guess what? I feel much better now that I'm back on the NatraBio brand Adrenal!! Yay me! LOL! I also started using Ashwagandha, first thing in the am and midday. Unlike most people, the ashwagandha actually kept me awake and I assumed that it was due to taking the ashwagandha at night was the culprit, moved to taking it during the early part of my day and I'm doing much, much better.

While life is a bit of a struggle with severely depleted adrenals, if you are careful to follow what you need to do (several small meals, get enough protein, very low stress, get enough rest/sleep, take your support meds/supplements), life is manageable and you can still heal your tick-borne infections. Just realize that there will be many ups and downs along the way.

Life goes on though, and stressful situations will come and go in our lives as we try to heal. If you feel stressed out, make sure that the next couple of weeks you take good care of yourself. And ask questions!! That's where I kind of failed.

I used Standard Process brand adrenal (/goo.gl/QIx0XX) for 20 months and as I said, I made progress for the first year. After the first 12 months though, it did me a disservice, in my opinion.

Using whole desiccated adrenal is very controversial. Many say that a person can't heal on it because it stimulates the adrenals too much, but I *think* that when we are severely compromised (stage 3), that maybe we need something that strong to "take over" production of those hormones for a bit so that our adrenal glands can put more energy into healing, rather than "production" - if you know what I mean (?).

I think I took the adrenal for about 2 or 3 months before I noticed much help with my sleep, but I doubt I'm a good one to compare to, not only have I been sick for almost my entire life, I was on sleep meds during that time - both natural and prescription. They weren't enough, obviously, but they could have "skewed" my view of what was helping and what wasn't as I had to wean myself off the prescription sleep meds during that time.

And yes, at this point I'm taking the NatraBio Adrenal and feel better than when I was on the desiccated adrenal. I think it was time for that change for me - which means those buggers are healing!!