Medical ways to reduce cortisol?

[Nas]

Hey all,
I was just wondering if there were good medical ways to inhibit production and synthesis of cortisol in the body. This is mainly for POISers who have high cortisol. The theory goes that the chronic inflammation caused by the auto-immune reaction cause chronic elevation in cortisol, this is shown to cause long term neurotoxicity and many other brain damaging effects, according to this paper: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4561403/
I am not sure, however, about the almost instant brain fog we see in POIS, can cortisol do that? We can also see other effects of chronic stress, when people get POIS in stressful situations, or chronic acne which I suffer from.

One medication that I can have access to is Ketoconazole. This medication inhibits 17α-hydroxylase and 17,20-lyase which prevents the synthesis and degradation of steroids. This also involved testosterone, which makes me think that perhaps this is not a good for POIS, since reduction in testosterone levels can lead to health issues and reduced libido. Not mentioning how some POISers say that TRT has helped their POIS. So if anyone has an idea about a better drug that is fairly available, please mention it.

One other point I'd like to make, is that if dexamethasone helps my POIS situation then wouldn't that mean cortisol is not my problem? Or is there a more complicated truth to that?

[b_jim]

I have [probably] high cortisol. I suffer from stress and anxiety.
But dexamethasone is a nuclear bomb (used in chemotherapy , 10x or 100x stronger than cortisol). I doubt a doctor will take the risk to use such a med for Pois.

I prefer to controle cortisol with traditional strategies :
-magnesium
- omega-3
- vitamin C

One solution is to use dark therapy. Close all light after sunset, especially blue light.
It might help to rebalance the cortisol cycle and cortisol/melatonine levels.

[Nas]

One thing I noticed that is very similar in my case to cushing's disease ( high cortisol disease ). I have a round face, a stretch mark and a bloated belly. I don't have a lump on my back and my skin is ok. I have noticed that POISers on FB almost all have a round face.

[Muon]

Stress as a trigger of autoimmune disease

[FernandoPOIS]

NAS

Did you read my report on POIS here in the Forum? I had several impressions about physical characteristics. The round face is not hormonal, it is not related to cortisol. Several participants of the Facebook group have round face because they have little bone structure and little muscle mass. This seems to be a feature that almost all present.
So my way to fight POIS is:
- Correct chronic inflammatory processes
- Postural treatment
- Muscle Strength

Thus we can improve the function of the vagus nerve. A vagus nerve that is functioning well does not respond abnormally to the stimuli.

Realize: Who has POIS, has excess release of histamine and prostaglandins that are inflammatory mediators.
What part of the nervous system controls these reactions? Answer: Vagus Nerve

[romies]

I have found good success in reducing cortisol levels in the evening by taking PS-100 (you can find it on amazon). Only the sunflower softgel version works for me.

But it makes me sleep like a baby, even when I eat a very light dinner.

I had sleep issues with high night-time cortisol for a while and PS-100 really helped (half life: 4-6 hrs, takes 1-1.5 hr to kick in).

Even low blood sugar around 2-3am no longer trigger cortisol spike in me any more.

[Nas]

I have found good success in reducing cortisol levels in the evening by taking PS-100 (you can find it on amazon). Only the sunflower softgel version works for me.

But it makes me sleep like a baby, even when I eat a very light dinner.

I had sleep issues with high night-time cortisol for a while and PS-100 really helped (half life: 4-6 hrs, takes 1-1.5 hr to kick in).

Even low blood sugar around 2-3am no longer trigger cortisol spike in me any more.

How would you say reducing cortisol benefited you romies?

[Vandemolen]

I have found good success in reducing cortisol levels in the evening by taking PS-100 (you can find it on amazon). Only the sunflower softgel version works for me.

But it makes me sleep like a baby, even when I eat a very light dinner.

I had sleep issues with high night-time cortisol for a while and PS-100 really helped (half life: 4-6 hrs, takes 1-1.5 hr to kick in).

Even low blood sugar around 2-3am no longer trigger cortisol spike in me any more.

I also want to reduce my cortisol level. Also because of sleep.

Which one do you use:

https://www.amazon.com/EzyAbsorb-PhosphatidylSerine-Nootropic-capsules-Sunflower/dp/B01LZED2AS

Or

https://www.amazon.com/Jarrow-Formulas-Ps-100-Support-Softgels/dp/B0013OXA90

[Vandemolen]

I think in my case the cortisol is high because histamine is also high. When histamine is high the body produces more cortisol as a reaction. I read that in a Dutch article. I ordered the regular PS-100. The sunflower version can not be shiped to The Netherlands. I hope the PS-100 will reduce my cortisol. And of course my histamine has to drop. I already use anti histamine medicines, with no succes. And I am taking vitamins to restore my DAO (vitamin C and sink. I want to buy copper). I hope the immunologist, who I am seeing the first time, will give me Nalcrom to reduce histamine after eating. Or maybe he has another solution.

[Vandemolen]

Is it possible that using a lot of antibiotics can cause problems with the adrenal glands? My immunologist was curious why I have low testosterone. Because I have high cortisol maybe the adrenal glands are in overdrive and not able to produce enough testosterone? I read that high cortisol can cause hot flashes.

The PS-100 did not do much.

[demografx]

...I have low testosterone...

I don’t remember exactly, did you once say TRT is not a good option for you because of infertility risk? Or was it something else?

[Vandemolen]

Yes infertility risk, my age and no guarantee that it will work for me. There is no way back. I can not try it for 1 week and if it does not work I can stop with TRT because my body can not make testosterone anymore when you start with TRT.

[demografx]

Yes infertility risk...

Thank you. People must be aware of risks before embarking on a testosterone treatment for POIS!

[b_jim]

Is it possible that using a lot of antibiotics can cause problems with the adrenal glands? My immunologist was curious why I have low testosterone. Because I have high cortisol maybe the adrenal glands are in overdrive and not able to produce enough testosterone? I read that high cortisol can cause hot flashes.

The PS-100 did not do much.

Cortisol is ennemy of Testosterone. Read all musculation forums

One other way to reduce cortisol easily is deep breathing exercice. Only 5 minutes reduce cortisol for the following hours.

[Vandemolen]

Yes, I did this breathing excersises before sleep. My sleep therapist told me to do this before going to sleep. First it helped me to fall asleep. But now it does not help and I stay awake in bed for hours. Now I want to do this deep breathing a few times a day. I am also going to see an emdr therapist. When I almost fall in sleep I wake up scared, ready to fight. Maybe because of a car accident 3 years ago.

[BoneBroth]

The cortisol issue is very tricky. Cortisol is needed to combat the POIS induced inflammation, but healthy adrenals never secrete too hight cortisol by itself. Hight cortisol without protective hormones can cause symptoms that many people are having here (me included). However, cortisol is not really the bad guy - without it the POIS situation might be even worse, the inflammation could last longer. So whats the problem? I can think of three:

1. Due to frequent POIS/cortisol secretion cortisol receptors are over stimulated (cortisol don't work! inflammation lasts longer, more free cortisol are beeing produced).
2. Too low cortisol production due to worn out adrenals could make inflammation last longer.
3. Because of the "Prenelone steal" (google it) not enought other balancing hormones are produced. According to Nanna1's "Egyptian engineer - Published Case Study (2016)" the cortisol was hight 11,2 (reference values 2-15) and DHEA was low 86 (reference 80-560). Testosterone was low as well 4,11 (reference 2,4-8,3). According to Dr Thierry Hertoghe when the adrenals secrete cortisol they are also secreting DHEA and other balancing hormones in equal amounts to balance cortisols negative effects. Due to frequent POIS periods prednelone is beeing "stealed" to make cortisol instead of making DHEA, testosterone and other protecting hormones. Cortisol wreak havoc by itself! And that can explain why some people get better by eating eggs - the raw materials (cholesterol) for making prednelone. And when people got better from meditation, it might be because meditation heals the adrenals so they can secrete DHEA and protective hormones again. The cortisol levels remains the same, it has to to combat the inflammation.

[Investigator]

What do you think of the statement below, would you describe it as making sense based on your understanding? Do you think it's accurate?

"After ejaculation, cortisol in normal people goes up, while for us POISers, it goes DOWN."

Please let me know, I really want to understand if this is true or not in order to evaluate if a hypothesis I have now is plausible.

Cortisol changes dynamically throughout the day. I've measured mine in the morning once and it was within normal range; the question is how it changes with ejaculation. I read here posts by people who want to reduce their cortisol - but couldn't it be that the problem is that for us it actually goes down with ejaculation rather than up?

[BoneBroth]

Perhaps some more clues here: https://trmorrisnd.com/2017/03/15/adrenal-fatigue/
I strongly believe that we should look mor einto the interaction between cortisol and other hormones like aldosterone, testosterone and prolactin (prolactin is excreted in higher levels upon orgasm).

[romies]

Is it possible that using a lot of antibiotics can cause problems with the adrenal glands? My immunologist was curious why I have low testosterone. Because I have high cortisol maybe the adrenal glands are in overdrive and not able to produce enough testosterone? I read that high cortisol can cause hot flashes.

The PS-100 did not do much.

I've tried various forms of PS-100 in the past years. Only the sunflower softgel version has the effect of reducing cortisol (it makes me sleep through the night like a teenager)

[romies]

For me, the effect of a single-dose PS100 lasts about 5-6 hrs.

And you want cortisol level to be high in the morning.

so I only take it before sleep as needed.