Posted by Minnie-Haha on November 23, 2004, at 17:56:52
In reply to Re: Cymbalta -, posted by curious2know on November 16, 2004, at 22:07:05
> i might have a cortisol imbalence and from what i understand there isnt much out there to treat that exact problem...
I tried to "bablemail" you, but that didn't work so if you don't mind sharing through the thread: You mentioned that you may have a cortisol imbalance. Here's MY cortisol story:
Fourteen months ago I awoke one night with what seemed like flu symtoms -- nausea, chills -- and extreme anxiety, too. I have been to many doctors since then and have been seeing an endocrinologist for over a year. He found thyroid nodules (though my TSH was fine) and put me on thyroid medication to shrink them (but that caused me to go hyperthyroid and to aggravate my symptoms). Finally, about a month ago, he did a 24-hour urine free cortisol test and found that it was elevated. Though the amount -- 114 ug -- is not indicative of Cushing's disease, it could be "pseudo Cushing's". So now I'm trying to educate myself on this. Pseudo Cushing's, as I understand it, is frequently caused by untreated depression. I was DXd Bipolar Type 2 six years ago, but started doubting the DX a couple of years ago because of some things that started happening and some things I learned about other disorders. Here I am back to a square-one sort of situation. Did the high cortisol cause my insomnia, anxiety and depression? (anxiety was not previously an issue for me) Or have insomnia, anxiety and/or depression caused my cortisol to go -- and stay -- up?
On top of it all, I can't seen to get my various doctors to work together to figure this out, so I do the best I can, which is very difficult, since my mood is frequently very low and my cognitive skills, too. My number one problem seems to be lack of sleep (I fall asleep OK, but wake in the middle of the night), but nothing I've tried -- drugs or behavioral changes -- seems to help much. My psychiatrist has mentioned Cymbalta, but I've kinda been watching to see what others experience.
So, willing to share YOUR (cortisol) story?
poster:Minnie-Haha
thread:401647
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20041123/msgs/419448.html