Has anyone had adrenal gland function checked as a cause of their anxiety?

[mapmaker]

I've been experiencing some unusual symptoms since my anxiety started along with normal ones. For the unusual ones, I find that I feel better in the evening than I do in the mornings or early afternoon. And that my heartrate has been lower in the evening than in the mornings afternoon. That is definitely a sign of some kind of hormone activity. Now is it normal in anxiety for someones pulse to drop into the mid 60s when their normal pulse before anxiety was 80? I tried a day free of medication yesterday. *I switched from one medication to another when I saw my Psychiatric Nurse practitioner yesterday. I noticed when I lied down last night to relax before going to bed, my heartrate was 65 or so... free of medication. After I took Xanax *the new medication* my heartrate was over 80 and I couldn't relax to sleep. it was like the medication sped up my metabolism. Yet I was more anxious before the medication....and less anxious after I took it. Is this a normal reaction?
I checked several websites out there on adrenal gland fatigue and read the symptoms and they say that tired adrenal glands can lead to anxiety, panic attacks, heat intolerance, hypothyroidism, adrenaline surges, hypoglycemia symptoms, light headedness on rising, increased IBS symptoms (like difficulty digesting protein one of my current problems),
Insomnia (A huge problem of mine the last 2 months), increased feelings of fearfulness, and brain fog. There are more symptoms listed..but this gets the general idea across.

Here's a couple websites with information about adrenal fatigue syndrome.

http://74.125.155.132/search?q=cache:CTWIZIb5kbsJ:www.hotzehwc.com/attachments/wysiwyg/2/AdrenalFatigueandCortisol101.pdf+adrenal+fatigue+/hypothyroidism+and+anxiety&cd=6&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us

http://www.drlam.com/articles/adrenal_fatigue_related_conditions.asp

So has anyone ever had their adrenal hormone levels checked before to check for adrenal fatigue syndrome?

This has been on my mind for some time and after my last conversation with my psychologist..he thinks there is something physical going on inside me that hasn't been discovered yet. These articles seem to provide some answers to some unanswered questions I have as to what has been going on inside me. What do you all think ?

[angiebaby]

That was a really interesting article.
More for me to think about now lol.
xx

[millmoll]

Hi
Like you, I have been interested in the possibility of some of my symptoms could have been due to arenal fatigue - however my GP was very dismissive.
Found some info from a UK GP - Dr Peatfield who virtually confirmed my suspicions in a telephone consultation - ectopic heart beats(bigeminy), low bp,low blood sugars, hormone irregularities, 'brain fog' and of course anxiety.
Suggested saliva tests to measure cortisol levels which came back abnormally low , confirming marked adrenal stress!!
I am due to see him for a proper appointment next month!
It was really great to think that after trying for 3 years to convince someone there was a physical reason for some of my symptoms - it was all in black and white!!
I have also read a few of Dr Lam's articles and feel really frustrated that this is not recognised more by the health profession.

Millmoll

[peter34uk]

well, what about if you produce too much adrenaline?

I constantly feel adrenaline (butterflies) in my stomach and chest. And if I get hyper or stressed, the feeling of adrenaline increases 10 fold!...which leads to increased heart rate & anxiety attacks!

[mapmaker]

It sounds like your adrenal glands are in overdrive.. something is stressing them out. Try doing some websurfing on the issue and see what you can find out? Thats how I found out about Dr. Lam's website and adrenal fatigue.

[amethystdream]

I have been tested for adrenal insufficiency using the Short Synacthen test, which tells you if you are not making enough cortisol. When we have anxiety we can be making plenty cortisol, but we make too much adrenaline. In 'normal' people, the corstisol cuts in when a stressful situation arises and calms them down. it's the long term stress buster.
The only answer I know of for us is to keep working on ways to lower our anxiety response, I recommend learning meditation, practised regularly it really can help. Medication often only helps temporarily..:shrug: