1. < Diabetes & Endocrine System

Adrenaline spikes: Med detective needed, award given

Posted by sierrawoods @sierrawoods, Feb 20, 2018

I'm desperate for help. If I was rich, I'd pay a million $ to get answers. It's hard to summarize: I am a 59 yr old woman. 8 yrs ago I started having what feels like strong adrenaline rushes during the night and especially in the early morning. They disrupt my sleep making me severely sleep deprived. It used to happen a few times a month but in the last year, has been happening daily. This is not as simple as anxiety. My life is not particularly stressful compared to years ago and I've always handled stress well. Physical symptoms come first, then anxiety from adrenaline comes after. On rare days, If I sleep through the night, I wake with excess adrenaline and will be hyper the whole day and evening. Sometimes, I will have a severe "crash" in the afternoon with all kinds of symptoms that have me couch-bound. I take a tiny dose of Amitriptyline (10 mg) before bed to help with sleep, but it's obviously not working well enough. I am on Synthroid for non-Hashimoto's Hypothyroidism since 1996. Despite being 59 yrs old, I am not yet officially in menopause (last period was May 2017). TSH, fT4, fT3 are normal. Urine catecholamines (epinephrine & norepinephrine) are normal (although that does not necessarily reflect what is in the brain). Plasma ACTH is normal. I've tested negative for autoimmune disorders. Cortisol was high a few years ago (34.3 mcg/dL) but it's currently high-normal. DHEAS normal. Accompanying the start of this was phantosmia and occasional RLS. My diet is excellent, including a few good supplements. Until last yr when it started happening daily, I was exercising 6 days/wk. I cannot tolerate it any more - any exercise beyond mild cardio/aerobic causes an increase in symptoms. I meditate and have tried all kinds of herbal teas. I've experimented with different possible solutions, to no avail. I'm a voracious researcher (only legit sites) and still cannot figure this out. I'm normally a positive, active, happy person who loves to help others but this is ruining my life. I cannot make any plans, cannot get my work done, cannot even visit friends. I had to stop my volunteer work with children. šŸ™ I'm starting to become depressed and hopeless. I've been to a total of about 9 doctors about this problem and they just shrug their shoulders and send me hope with more disappointment. The only help offered was an addictive prescription for benzos but I refuse to be treated for something without knowing the cause. Ideas: an atypical tumor on my pituitary or adrenal glands? Maybe, but I can't get a doctor to order the necessary MRIs. Perhaps not endocrine but a sleep disorder? High A.M. adrenaline is typical for sleep apnea but it should not cause these severe symptoms, and I really do not think I have sleep apnea (I don't have other symptoms). A neurological disorder? Maybe, but I can't get a doctor to order an MRI of my brain to make sure my pituitary gland is okay. If you've gotten through this far and you have any thoughts, please chime in. If your idea leads to a proper diagnosis and I get well (or treated properly) I will be your slave for life šŸ˜‰ Okay, seriously. I'm not in a good place right now.

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carm | @carm | Mar 22, 2019
In reply to @realanswers "I have had this on and off for about 8 years, and after seeing 70+ doctors..." + (show)
@realanswers

I have had this on and off for about 8 years, and after seeing 70+ doctors - even at very prestigious medical centers of excellence like the Mayo Clinic and Cleveland Clinic - I finally found a physician that could explain (using lab results) why this was happening to me. My physician is trained in the Ritchie Shoemaker, MD protocol called CIRS (chronic inflammatory response syndrome). Dr. Shoemaker found that, by being exposed to mold, some peopleā€™s bodyā€™s canā€™t detoxify/clear the mold and abnormal adrenaline/cortisol zaps can occur. Roughly 20% of the population cannot detox mold because their detox pathways are blocked. It turns out that the basement in my office has tons of mold due to my company having had multiple floods over the years. Iā€™ve been with my company for 11 years and for the first 3 years I experienced very weird symptoms which I couldnā€™t explain. Then I began awakening multiple times each night with jolts of adrenaline/cortisol for about six months. After about six months I started to have lots of other symptoms that felt like MS, however MRIs did not reveal MS. For two years I went from specialist to specialist trying to get help. I then saw an integrative internist that identified that I was hypothyroid and had a TPO of about 1000 (so I had Hashimotoā€™s). When we began to treat with thyroid hormone, I did much better for about 5 years, but they my symptoms returned when my internist put me on low-dose Naltrexone (to try to eliminate the Hashimotoā€™s). Mold and other toxins suppress thyroid function so some of the zaps/jolts can be caused by insufficient thyroid hormone production, but according to Dr. Shoemaker, adrenaline surges can also be caused by an accumulation of toxins as they throw off the bodyā€™s normal processes. The Shoemaker protocol revolves around taking cholestyramine and other binders to remove toxins to get the body working again. Check out surviving mold dot com to learn about this and then either find a recommended practitioner on Dr. Shoemakerā€™s site or ask around to see if any practitioners in your area follow the protocol but just maybe are not Dr. Shoemaker-endorsed. By the way, Dave Asprey, the founder of Bulletproof, had Hashimotoā€™s and other scary symptoms similar to ours due to toxic mold exposure and he, too, used the Shoemaker protocol to cure himself. He's got lots of information about this on his website, bulletproof dot com as well as interviews with Dr. Shoemaker and other healthcare practitioners that understand how to actually cure it. I hope this helps!

Jump to this post

@realanswers ,tinabelle,
Thank you so much for sharing your
stories . For many years I worked in a clinic that had mold between the concrete walls and floors. The same
old building was remodeled 4 times
in the 17 years that I worked there.
The staff became hypersensitive to
all chemicals over the years. Realanswers, Cholestyramine is a cholesterol med. Why was that med given
first? I tried that after my gallblader
was removed many years ago. I will read
Dr. Shoemaker's protocol. Carm

REPLY
asthena94 | @asthena94 | Mar 27, 2019
In reply to @kdubois "Hello @sierrawoods... after taking myself to Mayo, we learned that I had been misdiagnosed by my..." + (show)
@kdubois

Hello @sierrawoods... after taking myself to Mayo, we learned that I had been misdiagnosed by my home medical center with a rare endocrine condition, and Mayo figured out that all of my symptoms were caused by medications/drugs building up in my body for 12 years. They figured out the genetically, I don't properly-metabolize most medications, and the result of these drugs building up inside of me showed clinically as endocrine symptoms. Have you had pharmacogenomics testing done?

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Hello Kelly, I have the same symptoms as Sierra. I am wondering which Mayo you went to to get help. I have the same genetic issue regarding processing toxins based on genetic testing done by my naturopath. I have very high am cortisol etc. and am having the same adrenaline rushes at night and in the morning that Sierra has. I am wondering which Mayo clinic you went to? If I could get some help to know which clinic and what department to make an appointment with it would be greatly appreciated. Thank you so much!

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1 reply
asthena94 | @asthena94 | Mar 27, 2019
In reply to @kdubois "@sierrawoods Mayo Clinic and OneOme have been working to bring prices down. As time goes on,..." + (show)
@kdubois

@sierrawoods Mayo Clinic and OneOme have been working to bring prices down. As time goes on, this testing will become more feasible for all. Fingers crossed. Until then, all my best to you, as well.

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@kdubois - since the genetic testing what have they recommended to get the liver clean or get the drugs out to stop the adrenaline rushes?

REPLY
dm12956 | @dm12956 | May 24, 2019
In reply to @realanswers "I have had this on and off for about 8 years, and after seeing 70+ doctors..." + (show)
@realanswers

I have had this on and off for about 8 years, and after seeing 70+ doctors - even at very prestigious medical centers of excellence like the Mayo Clinic and Cleveland Clinic - I finally found a physician that could explain (using lab results) why this was happening to me. My physician is trained in the Ritchie Shoemaker, MD protocol called CIRS (chronic inflammatory response syndrome). Dr. Shoemaker found that, by being exposed to mold, some peopleā€™s bodyā€™s canā€™t detoxify/clear the mold and abnormal adrenaline/cortisol zaps can occur. Roughly 20% of the population cannot detox mold because their detox pathways are blocked. It turns out that the basement in my office has tons of mold due to my company having had multiple floods over the years. Iā€™ve been with my company for 11 years and for the first 3 years I experienced very weird symptoms which I couldnā€™t explain. Then I began awakening multiple times each night with jolts of adrenaline/cortisol for about six months. After about six months I started to have lots of other symptoms that felt like MS, however MRIs did not reveal MS. For two years I went from specialist to specialist trying to get help. I then saw an integrative internist that identified that I was hypothyroid and had a TPO of about 1000 (so I had Hashimotoā€™s). When we began to treat with thyroid hormone, I did much better for about 5 years, but they my symptoms returned when my internist put me on low-dose Naltrexone (to try to eliminate the Hashimotoā€™s). Mold and other toxins suppress thyroid function so some of the zaps/jolts can be caused by insufficient thyroid hormone production, but according to Dr. Shoemaker, adrenaline surges can also be caused by an accumulation of toxins as they throw off the bodyā€™s normal processes. The Shoemaker protocol revolves around taking cholestyramine and other binders to remove toxins to get the body working again. Check out surviving mold dot com to learn about this and then either find a recommended practitioner on Dr. Shoemakerā€™s site or ask around to see if any practitioners in your area follow the protocol but just maybe are not Dr. Shoemaker-endorsed. By the way, Dave Asprey, the founder of Bulletproof, had Hashimotoā€™s and other scary symptoms similar to ours due to toxic mold exposure and he, too, used the Shoemaker protocol to cure himself. He's got lots of information about this on his website, bulletproof dot com as well as interviews with Dr. Shoemaker and other healthcare practitioners that understand how to actually cure it. I hope this helps!

Jump to this post

Hello. I just joined this discussion. May I ask you ....did you experience the jolts only when sleeping or did you also experience them while awake? I have very similar symptoms, but they happen only at night/while sleeping.

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dm12956 | @dm12956 | May 24, 2019

Hello. I just joined this discussion. I hope by now you have found some relief. I have similar symptoms, but they happen only at night/while sleeping. Are yours only when asleep or also while awake? I went to Mayo and had a sleep study, and the neurologist there thought I might have seizures because my adrenaline jolts are pretty much at the same time each night (i.e., the first occurs after 4-6 hours of sleep, and the next one occurs approximately 90 minutes later). I tried epilepsy medication and it was ineffective, so I am back at square one. I wish you well.

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tinabelle | @tinabelle | May 26, 2019

Have you considered copper toxicity? This turned out to be be my issue - it caused very intense adrenal surges at night.

REPLY
libjen | @libjen | Jun 16, 2019
In reply to @libjen "@sierrawoods Not sure if you were able to get the help you needed in 2018, but..." + (show)
@libjen

@sierrawoods Not sure if you were able to get the help you needed in 2018, but I have had similar issues this past year. I have hypothyroidism, endometriosis, and. Psoriatic Arthritis. I am on Celebrex for the arthritis, both synthetic and natural estrogen and progesterone (because I am in surgical menopause due to the endometriosis), and I take Synthroid as well.

I discovered if I take my Synthroid at night, it makes a huge difference to the adrenaline hot flashes! I also use a small dose of progesterone cream rubbed into the inside of my wrists before bed, which also makes a big difference with my sleep. I was on 100 mcg of Synthroid when my symptoms started, and then I upped that to 112 mcg, and Adrenaline filled hot flashes mostly disappeared for 3 months. I started having hot flashes combined with adrenaline rushes again this past December, so I have recently increased my dose to 125 mcg, and the symptoms have disappeared again.

My TSH was a 2 when having issues, and was around .5 or lower when symptoms disappeared. My doctor was hesitant to increase my Synthroid each time, but I insisted that I canā€™t live with night upon night of broken sleep, and a little more Synthroid seemed like a simple fix for a complex problem!

Just wanted to share, in case you are still suffering, and still monitoring this thread! Good luck! Keep advocating for yourself!! And thanks for your original post. My doctor told me if had never heard of these symptoms before, so itā€™s good to know Iā€™m not the only one in the world dealing with this!

Take care šŸ™‚

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Just an update: I have started taking a small dose of Cytomel (half of a 5mcg tab) and reduced my Synthroid to 100mcg, and this has stopped the adrenaline rushes at 3am...for now. Going to continue to monitor things, hopefully with a new family doc and I have an appt to see an Endocrinologist in October (a six month wait here in Canada).

REPLY
1 reply
Kanaaz Pereira, Connect Moderator | @kanaazpereira | Jun 16, 2019
In reply to @peacock23 "Have you found relief?" + (show)
@peacock23

Have you found relief?

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Welcome, @peacock23 ā€“ are you able to share some more information about yourself? Look forward to getting to know you.

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Ethan McConkey, Moderator | @ethanmcconkey | Jul 9, 2019

Hi everyone, I wanted to check in and see how you all are doing.

@carm and @cleacock have you found a solution to your symptoms? Either the cause or a way to successfully treat your symptoms?

@bumble81 and @betsy101 how are your adrenaline spikes?

Has anyone else found solutions or treatment options for your mystery diagnosis?

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