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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 7 of 7. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by jerrympls on January 24, 2003, at 18:49:07
I saw my endocrinologist for my 24-hour cortisol urine test and hormone level blood test results - here are the results in a nut shell - even my dr. was surprised:
Cortisol - LOW
Testosterone - LOW
Thyriod - LOW
Hemoglobin - LOWSo, he ordered another round of ultra blood tests and I go in for an adrenal function test next week. He said: "We'll most likely never know if these low levels were the cause or result of my depression....we may put you on a trial of hormone replacement and cortisol and if it doesn't hurt and you feel better - then good."
So...hope survives for a little longer.....
Jerry
Posted by jrbecker on January 25, 2003, at 0:12:11
In reply to CORTISOL TESTS are in: Results - surprising......., posted by jerrympls on January 24, 2003, at 18:49:07
Jerry-
I'd be surprised to know what your testosterone and cortisol levels were. I suffer from atypical depression (associated with low cortisol levels) and am going in for a round of blood tests next week and I'd like to know what your levels were for a general comparison. Also, I'd be curious to see what cortisol replacement they put you on (e.g., prednisone, hydrocortisone) and what the dosing schedule is.
Let us know how it turns out. thanks.
Posted by noa on January 25, 2003, at 10:05:56
In reply to Re: CORTISOL TESTS are in: Results - surprising....... » jerrympls, posted by jrbecker on January 25, 2003, at 0:12:11
Your thyroid was low--you mean the actual thyroid hormone, not the TSH, right?
Is he going to prescribe thyroid hormone replacement? Hypothyroid can cause depression.
Posted by JohnX2 on January 26, 2003, at 0:59:22
In reply to CORTISOL TESTS are in: Results - surprising......., posted by jerrympls on January 24, 2003, at 18:49:07
Hi,I was wondering if you could supply a little background information on how you approached an endocrinologist to examine your psych conditions?
I would suspect that few endocrinoligists deal with psych conditions and would not be very approachable to collecting the kind of interesting data you are looking at.
Thanks
> I saw my endocrinologist for my 24-hour cortisol urine test and hormone level blood test results - here are the results in a nut shell - even my dr. was surprised:
>
> Cortisol - LOW
> Testosterone - LOW
> Thyriod - LOW
> Hemoglobin - LOW
>
> So, he ordered another round of ultra blood tests and I go in for an adrenal function test next week. He said: "We'll most likely never know if these low levels were the cause or result of my depression....we may put you on a trial of hormone replacement and cortisol and if it doesn't hurt and you feel better - then good."
>
> So...hope survives for a little longer.....
>
> Jerry
>
Posted by Joel Maxuel on January 26, 2003, at 15:58:44
In reply to CORTISOL TESTS are in: Results - surprising......., posted by jerrympls on January 24, 2003, at 18:49:07
> Cortisol - LOW
After reading Readers Digest (an article for the September 1977 edition), I learned that this is a good thing. Usually when someone is depressed, the body produces _massive_ amounts of cortisol. I was going to ask my pdoc about the results of this test if he ever done it (however my depression wasn't really ever a priority, the pchizophrenia was/is), but never got around to it. I didn't think they still did those tests.
> Testosterone - LOW
My pdoc was going to give me this test, never found out why he never. The results here would be interesting since I'm partially castrated (1/2)
> Thyriod - LOW
My pdoc doesn';t really tell me anything, so I'd usually have to ask for the results even if he went through the bother of getting these tests done. I'm going to another pdoc sometime in the near future.
> Hemoglobin - LOW
He did tell me that this was low. My sister there when he told me, so my sis put bok choy on the shopping list (better then iron supplements)
> So, he ordered another round of ultra blood tests and I go in for an adrenal function test next week. He said: "We'll most likely never know if these low levels were the cause or result of my depression....we may put you on a trial of hormone replacement and cortisol and if it doesn't hurt and you feel better - then good."
Does anybody know what excessive sleep points to? I slept from about 6:00pm yesterday, to 4:00 this afternoon. I am off effexor, I thought that's what was causing it. It seems to me that I have too much serotonin, and not enough norepinephrine. I asked my pdoc about MHPG levels, and he says its sometimes done, but rarely (i never got the test done.)
also, a bit of trivia: effexor prevents reuptakes of both serotonin and what? I read somewhere (likle on some cardex) that its noradrenaline, someplace else (might have been cps) that its norepinephrine. Anybody know this for sure?
--
Joel Maxuel
ShamelessPlug(http://www.maxuel.ca);
Posted by noa on January 27, 2003, at 4:25:17
In reply to Re: CORTISOL TESTS , new: excessive sleep » jerrympls, posted by Joel Maxuel on January 26, 2003, at 15:58:44
epinephrine and adrenaline are the same thing. I think one term is generally used in the US while the other is used in England.
Posted by jerrympls on January 29, 2003, at 20:01:00
In reply to Re: CORTISOL TESTS are in: Results - surprising....... » jerrympls, posted by JohnX2 on January 26, 2003, at 0:59:22
>
> Hi,
>
> I was wondering if you could supply a little background information on how you approached an endocrinologist to examine your psych conditions?
>
> I would suspect that few endocrinoligists deal with psych conditions and would not be very approachable to collecting the kind of interesting data you are looking at.
>
> Thanks
>Well, I told my regular pdoc about how methylprednisolone (s?) totally wiped out my depression (I was on it for asthma). He thought that my extreme (and positive) reaction to a corticosteroid could be a clue to my "treatment resistant" depression. So, he referred me to a collegue of his who is an endocrincologist and researcher at our med school. I don't know why more pdocs don't refer TR patients to endocrinologists because affter having my tests done - it uncovered a can of worms (low testosterone, low cortisol, low hemoglobin, low thyriod) none of which had been tested in the past - except for thyriod.
Good luck.
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