Fludrocortisone and Adrenal Suppression

[Blog Reader]

Has anyone else been told that you have adrenal suppression due to fludrocortisone use, or have you ever experienced something that seems similar? If so, how did you explain it to doctors other than the one who noticed it? It's hard to find a doctor or other practitioner who believes that even regular time in morning sunlight or daily use of soluble fiber can cause fatigue, flushing, light sensitivity, and more in my case. (It didn't use to be this bad, but things got out of hand and the hormonal balance has never been restored, somehow.)

I'm unsure whether the problem started with fludrocortisone use, tbh--I was put on the medicine years ago due to inability to retain water (my worst time was actually months into using it; I was drinking a bottle of water each hour all day and every two hours all night). When the water retention stabilized and I tried to get off the medicine years later (slowly, over a number of months), I ended up sick for most of a year (low-cortisol-type symptoms). That was 2017, and my hormones have been problematic ever since, although not as bad as that year.

If you've experienced this or understand it, do you know where I could find reputable information on how to handle it (information written by an MD, for example, that other MDs would appreciate and that I could give to my doctors) or at least medical-journal articles to help me be believed? The one doctor who recognized it retired without writing it down, thinking it would be obvious to others. I'm really concerned about anything from catching COVID (even a cold is hard to get through with this) to having surgery (or even minor procedures) until I can find a way to help my doctors understand this condition so that we can manage it better; it's hard to heal from pretty much anything without some really heavy sick days right now.

Thanks!

 

[Not dead yet!]

My non-medically trained knowledge of cortisol type meds is that they fit the lock of every hormone, so it makes them all go "on" at once. Which feels good until your body gets tired of it and you develop diabetes from the constant sugar high and rising A1c.

If you were already having issues with water when you started taking it, then the thing to do would be to ask a chiropractor or IV specialist (this would be out of pocket, and somewhat risky) to test your blood for electrolytes missing. In particular ask about chloride, since this would be severely low if you had run out of potassium and were diabetic at the same time. Nowadays they want to pretend people don't have diabetes until their A1c is very high. As a patient I'm familiar with that effect. It would be optimal to go to a private health clinic that gives IV vitamins or a chiropractor that works with a nurse practitioner who can do that in their office and does blood tests for vitamins, electrolytes, and such as part of their service.

But the cheaper way is to take baking soda, half a teaspoon, daily in water for a few days and see if it helps. It won't fix the chloride issue. Or potassium. If you can't deal with soluble fiber, I'm guessing that's raw. Then what about cooked?

The internet is now full of excellent Borscht recipes and if you add Wakame seaweed to it, even small amounts, you'll replenish a lot of minerals that form the basis of the electrolyte system. And is one of the few that naturally includes potassium and chloride rich veggies. Well except beans but I think that may bother your gut.

Borscht is a soup made of cabbage, potatoes and beets with other vegetables, and I'm suggesting you add about two tablespoons of dry wakame too. Try not to salt it too much. It can be vegan if you wish or include meat or dairy if you wish. If you can't stand that idea, then there's little to no soluble fiber in green salads and lots of electrolytes. It's winter though, so I offered the warming soup idea first.

I have electrolyte problems and I love it. It really helps.

I also use Nunn tablets, the sports kind in my water once a day, and I take Tums, not so much for indigestion but because carbonates really help keep my electrolytes and water balance steady.

When I get migraines my water balance gets weird. Or if I've been glutened. I have Celiac.

TLDR: I think you ought to consider going at this from the water balance direction and try to balance your electrolytes. Best to do it by consulting someone who will test them for you, but you can do a more general method by using nutritious soups.

Let us know how it turns out! And welcome!

 

[Blog Reader]

My non-medically trained knowledge of cortisol type meds is that they fit the lock of every hormone, so it makes them all go "on" at once. Which feels good until your body gets tired of it and you develop diabetes from the constant sugar high and rising A1c.

If you were already having issues with water when you started taking it, then the thing to do would be to ask a chiropractor or IV specialist (this would be out of pocket, and somewhat risky) to test your blood for electrolytes missing. In particular ask about chloride, since this would be severely low if you had run out of potassium and were diabetic at the same time. Nowadays they want to pretend people don't have diabetes until their A1c is very high. As a patient I'm familiar with that effect. It would be optimal to go to a private health clinic that gives IV vitamins or a chiropractor that works with a nurse practitioner who can do that in their office and does blood tests for vitamins, electrolytes, and such as part of their service.

But the cheaper way is to take baking soda, half a teaspoon, daily in water for a few days and see if it helps. It won't fix the chloride issue. Or potassium. If you can't deal with soluble fiber, I'm guessing that's raw. Then what about cooked?

The internet is now full of excellent Borscht recipes and if you add Wakame seaweed to it, even small amounts, you'll replenish a lot of minerals that form the basis of the electrolyte system. And is one of the few that naturally includes potassium and chloride rich veggies. Well except beans but I think that may bother your gut.

Borscht is a soup made of cabbage, potatoes and beets with other vegetables, and I'm suggesting you add about two tablespoons of dry wakame too. Try not to salt it too much. It can be vegan if you wish or include meat or dairy if you wish. If you can't stand that idea, then there's little to no soluble fiber in green salads and lots of electrolytes. It's winter though, so I offered the warming soup idea first.

I have electrolyte problems and I love it. It really helps.

I also use Nunn tablets, the sports kind in my water once a day, and I take Tums, not so much for indigestion but because carbonates really help keep my electrolytes and water balance steady.

When I get migraines my water balance gets weird. Or if I've been glutened. I have Celiac.

TLDR: I think you ought to consider going at this from the water balance direction and try to balance your electrolytes. Best to do it by consulting someone who will test them for you, but you can do a more general method by using nutritious soups.

Let us know how it turns out! And welcome!

Thank you! My chloride numbers tend to be fine; the electrolyte that has been known to go low is my potassium. The second-hardest electrolyte to keep up is calcium, although it's not shown up as low, that I recall. I also sometimes have trouble with muscle cramps or twitching and so supplement potassium, calcium, and magnesium (in addition to using extra salt--sodium and chloride--due to my POTS). Like you, I take TUMS as a way of helping with my electrolytes--they don't really seem to help with my GERD, but sometimes they do help when I have ringing in my ears and can't sleep. (Which sounds weird; I don't know exactly why they work, but they do.)

The problem with soluble fiber is not so much GI issues as it is hormonal. I can eat it maybe once a week and be fine, but eating it daily somehow throws my hormones off. (Long story with my hormones. Somehow, some of them just don't seem to be produced right, and I'm not sure why not. One will go low, or its opposite will, and it seems hard to get medical workers to believe that the balance is quite as sensitive as it is. I suspect several of them just aren't being produced in normal quantities or aren't reacting to something right.)

Great ideas for getting electrolytes in! Thanks! It's helpful for me to have more ways to do that, as they're hard for me to keep up.

 

[CantosMaria]

fludrocortisone is used usally to treat ( replace hormones) adrenal insuficency?