Borderline Addison’s disease / low cortisol

Who else has experienced this after years of Lyme?

I tried cortef / hydrocortisone and while it helped my energy it wrecked havoc on my body 😭

Please tell me I’m not alone and there is a way out of this ?

Energy increased taking it as directed (one pill, then half pills). Nerve pain and lymph system went crazy as the main issues. All according to my osteopath PT 🙃🙁😪 it was unbearable pain and throwing everything out of whack after the first month. Plus that extra 10 lbs

Ugh. All too familiar!!! I’ve struggled for years with adrenal problems. My body is rlly low in cortisol. the only time it starts producing cortisol on its own is at 2 AM according to my test results.
I would be “wired but exhausted” and couldn’t sleep but so tired I couldn’t do a thing. Then it would catch up with my lymphatic system and my spleen would enlarge regularly- about once a month. It would make me throw up nonstop in between uncontrollably falling asleep for about 48 hours. fun fun.

I’ve taken pregnenolone, Adrenal cortex glandular, both of which I keep on hand for emergencies aka adrenal crash. Those are way too powerful for my body to handle on a regular basis. They kick me into overdrive.

the best thing I take twice a day is licorice root solid- this stuff is like magic for me! wakes me up in AM aand I take at my 2 pm crash. if i’m super super low like a flare it doesn’t help the “I need naps” part, but it helps regular adrenal schedule to stay happy.

I also take A-drenal whiich my LLMD gave me. it has Pantothenic acid, cordyceps, bovine adrenal tissue, ashwagandha, rhodiola rosea root, siberian eleuthero, korean ginseng, astragalus membranaceus root, epimedium grandiflorum herb powder, L-theanine, ginger and beta-sitosterol in it.

I also take a B complex from Thorne in afternoon.

the licorice root solid from Wise Woman Herbals (like a syrup... on amazon btw) is what I can’t live without! I keep emergency vial in my purse because I WILL crash daily without my dose!

lymegirly said...
Ugh. All too familiar!!! I’ve struggled for years with adrenal problems. My body is rlly low in cortisol. the only time it starts producing cortisol on its own is at 2 AM according to my test results.
I would be “wired but exhausted” and couldn’t sleep but so tired I couldn’t do a thing. Then it would catch up with my lymphatic system and my spleen would enlarge regularly- about once a month. It would make me throw up nonstop in between uncontrollably falling asleep for about 48 hours. fun fun.

I’ve taken pregnenolone, Adrenal cortex glandular, both of which I keep on hand for emergencies aka adrenal crash. Those are way too powerful for my body to handle on a regular basis. They kick me into overdrive.

the best thing I take twice a day is licorice root solid- this stuff is like magic for me! wakes me up in AM aand I take at my 2 pm crash. if i’m super super low like a flare it doesn’t help the “I need naps” part, but it helps regular adrenal schedule to stay happy.

I also take A-drenal whiich my LLMD gave me. it has Pantothenic acid, cordyceps, bovine adrenal tissue, ashwagandha, rhodiola rosea root, siberian eleuthero, korean ginseng, astragalus membranaceus root, epimedium grandiflorum herb powder, L-theanine, ginger and beta-sitosterol in it.

I also take a B complex from Thorne in afternoon.

the licorice root solid from Wise Woman Herbals (like a syrup... on amazon btw) is what I can’t live without! I keep emergency vial in my purse because I WILL crash daily without my dose!

I never thought about switching b vitamin into the afternoon!
My doc has me on vitamins to help with adrenals for morning, afternoon and evening. But I’m open to anything. I can also see how trying cortef again could work for me under the correct circumstances.

I’d be open to hearing more about your experiences. What hasn’t worked
For you ?

cappuccinocurls said...


I never thought about switching b vitamin into the afternoon!
My doc has me on vitamins to help with adrenals for morning, afternoon and evening. But I’m open to anything. I can also see how trying cortef again could work for me under the correct circumstances.

I’d be open to hearing more about your experiences. What hasn’t worked
For you ?

My LLMD is the one who came up with the afternoon B dose idea 🙃 I always used to take in AM.

oh my goodness.... I can’t remember all i’ve tried and that failed! haha
one thing that does NOT work for me was my old LLND was having me experiment with Ashwaghanda for sleep. and it wired me all stinking night. so anyways i’ve avoided that even in the AM but my new A-drenal stuff has some in it and that doesn’t bother me but i only take it as needed.

my adrenals are pretty whack, and tbh right now i’m trying to figure them out (again), and we have a test for my hormones esp cortisol again. i’m excited to see how it comes out. without my 7 pill/tincture sleeping concoction, I just won’t sleep!!!! currently i’m exhausted and sleep like all day or get up and do something (like eat) and then have to take a nap. i’m needing 2-3 naps a day to function and if i only get 1 nap a day i feel horrid. we’re talking minimum 1 hour naps.
I only feel awake past 9:30 PM. then by 2 AM I crash (this is without my sleeping concoction).

one HUGE thing that helps when my adrenals rev up at night is taking Phosphatidylserine. at least 200 mg. it basically forces your extra cortisol to shut down and lets you sleep. that’s one of my 7 happy sleepy pills. it’s really amazing. my current LLMD introduced me to that after the first time of testing my cortisol pattern.

that doesn’t help my exhaustion during the day but it lets me sleep!!!!

If i’m not in a flare (like I am currently), I can feel awake after my licorice root solid, and function fairly well and do normal simple tasks at home.

social stress really ramps up my stress and adrenaline and drains my adrenals FAST. so I try to avoid draining people amap. ppl do NOT understand this and I am losing friends but i’m alive and I have to focus on me rn. someday maybe i’ll have enough energy to explain to them.