posted
I am really having a hard time finding any info on this.
I am new to the whole addison's ordeal. I am also on birth contorl pills but tend to PMS anyway.
What I am wondering is-does anyone here with adrenal issues notice that their emotions basically go insane the week before their periods? I have never had it this bad before and I'm still not that great, but all last week was a terror of anxiety, depression, and hot flashes.
I am going to have the rest of my hormone levels checked out of curiosity.
Posts: 594 | From NJ/NY | Registered: Jun 2006
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posted
I have been diagnosed with Lyme. I am not aware of having adrenal issues, which doesn't rule out the possibility that I could have.
My emotions do go nuts the few days before my period, my physical Lyme symptoms flare at the same time, and since my tick bite, this happens to me every 2 weeks instead of every 4. PMS is worse than I ever got it before.
I get anxious, depressed, lonely, angry, weepy for no reason, I snap at people, and I binge on carbs. It's like I'm all 7 of the 7 dwarves, haha.
Once in a while I also have nightmares.
Then I start my cycle and magically feel better. Or at least less grumpy and weepy and emotional, in spite of the cramps and headache.
Then I have a few days of lessened pain and fatigue, if I'm lucky, before it all comes around again.
I have felt physically worse but emotionally better since I started doxy 2 months ago, until the last 3 days when I'm feeling better overall, but still having my cycle every 2 weeks, ugh.
-------------------- Don't forget to laugh! And when you're going through hell, keep going!
Bitten 5/25/2009 in Perry County, Indiana. Diagnosed by LLMD 12/2/2009. Posts: 756 | From Inside the tunnel | Registered: Jan 2010
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MariaA
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 9128
posted
well, I THINK (and might be wrong) that there's some evidence that high progesterone acts as an immune suppressant or otherwise affects something in the immune system. So my guess is that the emotional/anxiety stuff is a symptom of your illness and is related to lowered immunity.
Maybe binging on carbs at that time also does something bad for your immune system too?
-------------------- Symptom Free!!! Thank you all!!!!
posted
I'm sure bingeing on carbs does all kinds of bad things for me, alas. The rest of the time I manage to stick to a fairly low carb diet.
Sugar is evil. And addictive.
To clarify, I list the bingeing as a symptom because the urge to do it is most often triggered by the emotional/hormonal mess that is already going on at that time, though other things can also trigger it.
It goes away when I either give in to it, or time passes and the other emotional symptoms are gone, and presumably hormones/chemistry is back closer to normal.
I have never binged first, and gotten emotional afterwards.
-------------------- Don't forget to laugh! And when you're going through hell, keep going!
Bitten 5/25/2009 in Perry County, Indiana. Diagnosed by LLMD 12/2/2009. Posts: 756 | From Inside the tunnel | Registered: Jan 2010
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I have Addison's too. The adrenals are responsible for a large portion of our sex hormones. You should have your progesterone, testosterone, and estrogen checked. Along with those, have your FSH and LH checked.
Don't let your docs tell you that testosterone isn't a factor for women! I know many female Addisonians whose lives improved drastically after this hormone was replaced as well...
Along with Hydrocortisone and Fludrocortisone, you should be taking DHEA. Have your DHEA-S levels been checked? These will be very low or undetectable with Addison's, since it's made in the adrenals.
DHEA converts to estrogen and testosterone. So you could either start supplementing DHEA (after getting it checked) and see if your sex hormones come up - and your PMS symptoms improve...
Or you could just replace everything that's low after testing.
My DHEA-S was nonexistant when tested. I began supplementing with 12.5mgs of DHEA per day, then upped the dose to 25mgs/day. My testosterone and progesterone are still below range and estrogen is barely in range, so I will start replacing everything next month.
Have you had your thyroid checked (Free T3/T4)? This can add to PMS problems...
I would be willing to bet that this is a combination of DHEA/progesterone/testosterone deficiency as a result of the Addison's...
Hope that helps a little. Hang in there!! You just recently started on HC therapy, right? Sometimes it can take a while for things to balance out...
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