CHRONICALLY OVERACTIVATED STRESS-CORTISOL STATE
A LOW CORTISOL RESPONSE TO STRESS MAY BE PRODUCED - And continuing stressors may increase the release of certain cytokines that cause M.E. symptoms
Today, while clearing out my drafts folder, I found this post. It never made it into my main blog, probably because it did not fit in with some posts in May on the Sudan.
Glad I found it because I had been thinking of asking my GP if there is anything that can be done to test me for Cortisol problems, and ask him if there a remedy. Also, I want to ask Lupus and Lyme disease and find out if I have ever been tested. The week I became ill I do recall a huge bite on the bone of my ankle - it was very itchy and came up as a big round lump - it was such a bigh welt I thought I had been bitten by something out of the ordinary. But it may be just a coincidence. In those first few months I had a lump on the knuckle of my finger that was very itchy - I asked a chemist about it and she thought I had been bitten. It tooks months for it to slowly go down and disappear. Another pearly lump appeared on the back of my thigh - like a little pearl - I asked my doctor at the time about it, she couldn't work out what it was and didn't make much of it, so I just ignored it. That lump is still there and alternates between growing larger and then smaller, its like a sort of wart but soft skin, a fleshy colour - not rough or dark. It's probably nothing and I don't think about it because I don't often see it.
This illness is not a matter of sheet exhaustion and tiredness. If that was the only problem, one could drag oneself through it with matchsticks to hold open the eyelids. I don't understand why there are such deathly feeling aches, pains, earaches - you name it - moving around my body.
Surely there must be some sort of explanation. Something definitely flares up and moves from throat to jaw and gums and ears right down through the legs and into the joints. Like when you have a bad bout of flu, and someone asks "how do you feel and where does it hurt?" How do you answer? You feel miserably ill all over and ache from head to foot, inside and out, in the throat, gums, head, hair, eyes, muscles, joints -- cold, weak, low spirited and out of sorts. Not just tired.
Here is the post:
Every M.E. patient I've ever spoken to (probably 50 over the phone over the past five years) complains of stress intolerance and an intolerance to alcohol. Seems to me there is something awry that affects the central nervous system and spine - and in turn the muscles and brain.
In the early days of my illness, my theory was (and still is) that there is a problem with Cortisol. Cortisol is a hormone that is produced by the hypothalamus in the brain to help us to handle stress.
Every M.E. patient that I know has a problem with temperature control, concentration and stress. My understanding of the hypothalamus in the brain is that it handles those three functions.
When I get stressed (even feeling extra happy or enthusiastic about something can do it) it affects my whole body like it's been attacked with poison. Alcohol has the same effect.
Here is a copy of the Tip of the Day for May 10, 2004 courtesy of ImmuneSupport.com. It pertains to Fibromyalgia (FMS) and I am posting it here because it neatly describes what I am trying to say about M.E. Trouble is, no advice is given on what to do, or point in the direction of any treatments. Here is the tip:
FMS may begin with a chronically overactivated stress-cortisol state. Over time, as the system gradually "tires," a low cortisol response to stress may be produced. In turn, continuing stressors may increase the release of certain cytokines (chemical messengers between cells) that cause pain, fatigue, cognitive impairment, and other problems, while inhibiting the cytokines that promote positive functions such as sleep and tissue repair.
(Source: Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Fibromyalgia, and Other Invisible Illnesses - The Comprehensive Guide, by Katrina Berne, Ph.D. Published by Hunter House books and available at www.hunterhouse.com.)
Note to self: Find out How to inhibit the cytokines to promote positive functions such as sleep and tissue repair.
Today, while clearing out my drafts folder, I found this post. It never made it into my main blog, probably because it did not fit in with some posts in May on the Sudan.
Glad I found it because I had been thinking of asking my GP if there is anything that can be done to test me for Cortisol problems, and ask him if there a remedy. Also, I want to ask Lupus and Lyme disease and find out if I have ever been tested. The week I became ill I do recall a huge bite on the bone of my ankle - it was very itchy and came up as a big round lump - it was such a bigh welt I thought I had been bitten by something out of the ordinary. But it may be just a coincidence. In those first few months I had a lump on the knuckle of my finger that was very itchy - I asked a chemist about it and she thought I had been bitten. It tooks months for it to slowly go down and disappear. Another pearly lump appeared on the back of my thigh - like a little pearl - I asked my doctor at the time about it, she couldn't work out what it was and didn't make much of it, so I just ignored it. That lump is still there and alternates between growing larger and then smaller, its like a sort of wart but soft skin, a fleshy colour - not rough or dark. It's probably nothing and I don't think about it because I don't often see it.
This illness is not a matter of sheet exhaustion and tiredness. If that was the only problem, one could drag oneself through it with matchsticks to hold open the eyelids. I don't understand why there are such deathly feeling aches, pains, earaches - you name it - moving around my body.
Surely there must be some sort of explanation. Something definitely flares up and moves from throat to jaw and gums and ears right down through the legs and into the joints. Like when you have a bad bout of flu, and someone asks "how do you feel and where does it hurt?" How do you answer? You feel miserably ill all over and ache from head to foot, inside and out, in the throat, gums, head, hair, eyes, muscles, joints -- cold, weak, low spirited and out of sorts. Not just tired.
Here is the post:
Every M.E. patient I've ever spoken to (probably 50 over the phone over the past five years) complains of stress intolerance and an intolerance to alcohol. Seems to me there is something awry that affects the central nervous system and spine - and in turn the muscles and brain.
In the early days of my illness, my theory was (and still is) that there is a problem with Cortisol. Cortisol is a hormone that is produced by the hypothalamus in the brain to help us to handle stress.
Every M.E. patient that I know has a problem with temperature control, concentration and stress. My understanding of the hypothalamus in the brain is that it handles those three functions.
When I get stressed (even feeling extra happy or enthusiastic about something can do it) it affects my whole body like it's been attacked with poison. Alcohol has the same effect.
Here is a copy of the Tip of the Day for May 10, 2004 courtesy of ImmuneSupport.com. It pertains to Fibromyalgia (FMS) and I am posting it here because it neatly describes what I am trying to say about M.E. Trouble is, no advice is given on what to do, or point in the direction of any treatments. Here is the tip:
FMS may begin with a chronically overactivated stress-cortisol state. Over time, as the system gradually "tires," a low cortisol response to stress may be produced. In turn, continuing stressors may increase the release of certain cytokines (chemical messengers between cells) that cause pain, fatigue, cognitive impairment, and other problems, while inhibiting the cytokines that promote positive functions such as sleep and tissue repair.
(Source: Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Fibromyalgia, and Other Invisible Illnesses - The Comprehensive Guide, by Katrina Berne, Ph.D. Published by Hunter House books and available at www.hunterhouse.com.)
Note to self: Find out How to inhibit the cytokines to promote positive functions such as sleep and tissue repair.
posted by Ingrid J. Jones at Saturday, October 23, 2004
2 Comments:
Hi there!
I've just read the following blog exerpt from 23rd Oct 2004 -
_______
When I get stressed (even feeling extra happy or enthusiastic about something can do it) it affects my whole body like it's been attacked with poison. Alcohol has the same effect.
______
I have been feeling like that for the past few months and I would love to know how long it normally takes to have normal responses to stress again including the things that make me happy!
Gillian W. (UK)
Some interesting information on Cortisol, muscle inflammation, and the mind/body (non) split, on the BBC's Health Check, 29.11.08
Post a Comment
<< Home