Posted by bleauberry on December 11, 2007, at 19:35:33
In reply to Cortisol, thyroid, testosterone, posted by dapper on December 11, 2007, at 2:20:54
> I would like to get my blood work done and get readouts on my cortisol, thyroid, and testosterone levels. For those of you who are well versed in this, what kind of range should I be looking to fall into with these three groups? If I don't fall into the 'normal' category on any given test, what should I think about taking to get within the appropriate range?
I'm certainly no expert on this topic, but I do visit forums to see what other people and experts say. Mercury toxic folks have all these problems. Here's what they do...
First, realize lab tests are just a basic overview, but in no way give a definitive picture. The bottom line is, what are your symptoms. Many people who have had apparently normal lab results but still had plenty of symptoms, and a doctor that refused treatment due to normal labs, well these people treated themselves and got a whole lot better. For example, just because you have a normal amount of T3 floating around in you does not give you any clue as to whether the receiving receptor is getting enough of it.
For hypothyroid symptoms, people use T3, T3+T4, or Armour Thyroid. Most docs give T4 in the assumption it will convert to T3 properly. This often does not give desired results.
For hypoadrenal function, to raise cortisol people use adrenal cortex extracts and/or licorice root. Docs who really know what they are doing routinely prescribe physiological replacement doses of cortisol via oral hydrocortisone in doses of 5mg to 20mg per day. This has minimal impact on adrenal function, but dramatically improves symptoms. Docs are scared of it because of the known bad side effects of hydrocortisone...except those side effects they are thinking of are at much higher doses, far higher than phsyiological replacement doses.
Testosterone I don't know much about. It can be boosted orally or through shots by prescription. It can also be boosted by various libido enhancing herbs such as tribulus. DHEA can boost testosterone, but I do not believe it is nearly as safe or free of side effects as websites claim. Safe doses are in the 5mg to 10mg per day range, unless a lab test clearly shows DHEA to be very low to begin with.
These kinds of things are pretty much out of the ballpark for most docs. A great many people who go these routes and get improvements or cures do it with their own research and their own choices of treatments. A doctor is guaranteed to take lots of money, but if your lab results are fairly normal, most of them will shrug off your symptoms as something else and not even give you a trial of what you think you need.
Also keep in mind each lab has their own scale of what is considered "normal". And these normal ranges are quite wide. Say for example your lab test shows normal but on the lower end of normal, well, the doc is going to say your're normal. When in reality it could be that for you and your unique biochemistry, that number really needs to be in the high normal range or even totally out of the normal range completely.
Symptoms are your best guide. Lab results help to clarify the picture. Use them both but do not rely on either one alone.
poster:bleauberry
thread:800073
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20071204/msgs/800220.html