Watch Dr. Friedman's webinar on “How can Blue Zones and Maimonides’
principles be applied to lead a healthy life for patients with endocrine problems?

Watch Dr. Friedman: CBS Early Show | National Geographic Special on Obesity and Cushing's
Iron Deficiency and Fatigue | PCOS | Weight Loss Drugs | GH Stim Testing
APPOINTMENTS CAN BE MADE HERE

HealthFlex
×
  • Meet Dr. Friedman
  • Blog
    • Adrenals
      • Your Adrenal Hormones
      • Fludrocortisone Replacement and Adrenal Insufficiency
      • Stress and the Adrenal Glands
    • Anti-Thyroglobulin Antibodies and Hashimoto’s
    • Berberine versus metformin for prediabetes and mild diabetes
    • Cushings
      • Does Having a High Morning Cortisol Mean I Have Cushing’s Disease?
      • Cushings Testing | Am I High
      • Ketoconazole: Therapy for Cushing’s syndrome
      • 🌙 Night-Time Salivary Cortisol Testing for Diagnosing Cushing’s Disease
      • Patient Guide: 24-Hour Urine Cortisol Collection for Cushing’s Syndrome Diagnosis
    • Dr. Friedman’s Guide to New And Old Weight Loss Drugs
    • Glucocorticoids and Sleep:  Dr. Friedman’s NIH Research
    • Oxytocin for patients with pituitary dysfunction?
    • 7 Overlooked Endocrine Causes of Fatigue
    • Supplements to Lower TPO Antibodies
    • The Ins and Outs of Glucocorticoid Replacement
    • Thyroid
      • 7 Common Myths about Thyroid Disease
      • 7 Reasons To Take Desiccated Thyroid
      • Can I Take My Desiccated Thyroid or T3 Once a Day
      • Graves’ Disease vs Hyperthyroidism
      • Hashimoto’s Versus Hypothyroidism 
      • Hypothyroidism Overview, Diagnosis and Individualized Treatment
      • I Have Been Diagnosed with Thyroid Cancer, Do I need My Thyroid Removed?
      • Iron Deficiency Fatigue and Thyroid Disease
      • Optimizing Thyroid Hormone Replacement
      • Should I take T3 only for my hypothyroidism?
      • T4/T3 Combination
      • TPO ANTIBODY: THE MOST IMPORTANT TEST FOR MILD HYPOTHYROIDISM
      • Using rT3 to Assess Hypothyroidism
      • Vitamin D Deficiency and Thyroid Disease
    • Womens Health
      • Hair Loss in Women
      • Women’s Health
  • Endocrine Conditions
    • Dr. Friedman’s Weight Loss Guide
    • Hyperthyroidism Treatment
    • Cushing’s Syndrome
    • Hashimoto’s and Hypothyroidism
    • Menopause and Peri-menopause
    • PCOS
    • Weight Loss
    • Iron Deficiency and Fatigue
  • Telehealth
  • Hormone Testing
    • Cushings Testing
    • Hypopituitarism and Growth Hormone Deficiency
    • Growth Hormone
    • Symptoms of Hormone Problems
  • Appointments

Your Adrenal Hormones

Your Adrenal Hormones
August 19, 2014

Understanding the Adrenal Glands and Hormones

The adrenals, small glands located above each kidney, produce a number of important hormones. The adrenals’ inner medulla produces epinephrine and norepinephrine (adrenaline). Tumors of the adrenal medulla which produce excess epinephrine and norepinephrine are called pheochromocytomas. Deficiencies of the adrenal medulla that reduce the levels of these hormones do not give rise to clinical problems.

Adrenals also contain an outer cortex, which produces hormones such as cortisol, aldosterone, testosterone, DHEA, DHEAS, androstenedione and estrogens. Cortisol and aldosterone are two of the most important hormones the body makes. Excesses or deficiencies of these hormones result in important clinical problems.

Cortisol: The Stress Hormone

Cortisol, a glucocorticoid, is the stress hormone and is involved in weight control, infection fighting, quality of skin and bones, and heart function. Its levels are the highest in the morning, and are increased by stress and severe illness. Too much cortisol from any cause leads to Cushing’s syndrome; the symptoms and signs of which include weight gain, stretch marks, bruising, extra hair growth, irregular periods in women, loss of muscle, trouble sleeping and emotional problems, such as depression. Too little cortisol is part of the syndrome called Addison’s disease, often marked by low energy, joint and abdominal pain, weight loss, diarrhea, fever, and electrolyte disturbances. If the adrenals are making too little cortisol, the pituitary compensates and makes more of the hormone, ACTH. If the pituitary is not working, both ACTH and cortisol levels may be low.

Aldosterone: The Salt-Retaining Hormone

Aldosterone is the salt-retaining hormone and is a mineralocorticoid. Excess of aldosterone leads to high blood pressure and low potassium. Deficiencies of aldosterone are much less appreciated than deficiencies of cortisol, and lead to low blood pressure and high pulse, especially on standing, the desire to eat salt (salt-craving), dizziness or lightheadedness on standing, and palpitations. Severe cases may lead to high potassium and low sodium in blood tests. When the adrenal is not making aldosterone, renin, a kidney hormone, increases. Excesses of cortisol and aldosterone may occur independently, that is a patient may have only excess aldosterone, only excess cortisol, or excesses of both. Similarly, deficiencies of cortisol and aldosterone deficiencies may be independent.

Symptoms of Fatigue and Low Aldosterone

Many patients coming to see Dr. Friedman lately with symptom of fatigue and often symptoms of salt-craving, “cognitive fuzziness”, dizziness or lightheadedness on standing, or palpitations have low blood levels of aldosterone. He explains the connection between low aldosterone levels and fatigue as follows: with low aldosterone, the kidney loses salt, leading to low blood volume. This coupled with the idea that the leg veins don’t constrict properly, leads to lower blood volume to the brain and fatigue and other symptoms. These patients often have a drop in their blood pressure and an increase in their pulse when standing. They may also have decreased blood flow to the brain when measured by SPECT scan. Aldosterone deficiency may be made worse if patients restrict their salt intake.

Patterns in Renin-Aldosterone Axis Abnormalities

Soon-to-be-published research by Dr. Friedman shows a few patterns of abnormalities in the renin-aldosterone axis. A little more than half the patients with fatigue had low blood levels of both renin and aldosterone. This is called hyporeninemic hypoaldosteronism and is probably due to dysfunction of what is called the autonomic nervous system, which sends messages from the brain to the kidneys. Other aspects of the autonomic nervous system have been found to be deficient in chronic fatigue syndrome.

Low Aldosterone and High Renin

About one-third of the patients were found to have low aldosterone and high renin. This indicates a deficiency in the aldosterone production in the adrenals themselves, with a compensatory rise in the renin coming from the kidney. The aldosterone defect can either be an isolated problem, or part of Addison’s disease (often early Addison’s disease), in which both cortisol and aldosterone production are diminished. The remaining patients (about one-sixth) had both high renin and high aldosterone. This is likely to be a compensatory rise in both of these hormones as a reaction to a low blood volume, most likely due to an inability of the kidney to retain salt.

Treatment Options

Dr. Friedman recommends treating patients with an individualized combination of increased salt consumption, a synthetic form of aldosterone called Florinef (fludrocortisone), or Midodrine (proamantine), a drug used to raise blood pressure. Salt is the most benign of the treatments. Salt tablets can be purchased in a drug store or a patient can add an extra teaspoon of salt to their food per day. Florinef comes in 0.1 mg pills and Dr. Friedman usually starts with 1/2 pill in the morning for a week or two and then goes up to 1 pill in the morning if no side effects occur. The main side effects are headache and swelling in legs (edema). Midodrine comes in 5 mg pills and Dr. Friedman usually starts with 5 mg pills in the morning and noon. He may go up to 2 pills three times a day and sometimes needs to use both Florinef and Midodrine, as well as extra salt.

Side Effects of Midorine

The side effects of Midodrine include high blood pressure, itching, goosebumps, numbness and the feeling of writing on your skin or scalp. Many of these side effects go away with use and both drugs are unlikely to cause long term damage. Most patients taking Florinef and Midodrine, as well as extra salt report an improvement in their symptoms of palpitations and dizziness/lightheadedness on standing, while many report an improvement in fatigue and cognitive dysfunction. Licorice, available as a tea from Alvita, may help with mild cases.

Current Research and Future Directions

Dr. Friedman is doing further research on the renin-aldosterone axis and chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) in a study generously funded by the CFIDS (Chronic Fatigue and Immune Dysfunction Syndrome) Association of America. He is also studying the effect of Viagra on symptoms of CFS, with the idea that Viagra may improve blood flow to the brain. For more information on these studies, please email Dr. Friedman at mail@goodhormonehealth.com; or to set up an appointment with Dr. Friedman, please email Kimberly at appointments@goodhormonehealth.com.

Add Comment Cancel


Follow Us On Youtube

Dr Friedman Subscribe Youtube Button
  • TikTok
  • Instagram
  • Facebook
  • Mail

Quick Links

  • LATEST POSTS
  • ADRENAL CRISIS LETTER
  • CONTACT
  • CURRICULUM VITAE
  • STAFF
  • HEALTH LINKS
  • TESTIMONIALS
  • WEBINARS
SCHEDULE APPOINTMENT

Patient & Visitor Guide

Plan your visit to our Clinic

More

Recent Articles

  • Patient Guide: 24-Hour Urine Cortisol Collection for Cushing’s Syndrome Diagnosis
  • 🌙 Night-Time Salivary Cortisol Testing for Diagnosing Cushing’s Disease
  • Dr. Friedman’s Weight Loss Guide
  • T4/T3 Combination
  • Supplements to Lower TPO Antibodies
Woman Looking at Newsletter - Sign up for GoodHormoneHealth Newsletter Graphic

Archives

Presentation Library

  • Had Your Surgery Now What?
  • Determining the Type of Cushings
  • Diagnosing Cushing’s Disease
  • When Cushing’s Persists
  • What is Pseudo-Cushing’s
  • Cushing’s Disease Is Not Necessarily a Progressive & Fatal Disease
  • Using Blood Sugar Levels To Determine When To Test Cortisol Level
  • Cushing’s Post-Op Information
  • Adrenal Crisis
  • What To Do When Cushing’s Symptoms Return
  • Familial Cushings: Could Be Genetic
  • Cushing’s Help Blog Talk Radio Pt 1
  • Cushing’s Help Blog Talk Radio Pt 2
  • Extreme Makeover: Weight Loss Edition
  • Dr. Friedman Cushing’s Disease Chat
  • Chagas’ Disease and A Suprasellar Mass
  • Cerebral Aneurysms Impinging On The Pituitary
  • Adults Need Growth Hormone Too!
  • Is Taking Growth Hormone Enough?
  • Things Your Doctor Never Told You About Pituitary Hormone Replacement
  • How Pituitary Hormones Affect Weight And Sleep
  • Everything You Wanted To Know About Pituitary Hormone Replacement
  • Adrenal Insuffucuency How To Diagnose, Treat and Manage
  • Live To Be 100

Refer Us

Had a good experience with Dr. Friedman?  Tell others about it by submitting a review on Google and Yelp.

To help us make the Good Hormone Health website a positive place for everyone, we've been using the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1. These guidelines explain how to make web content more accessible for people with disabilities, and user friendly for everyone.

How are we doing?

We've worked hard on the Good Hormone Health website and believe we've achieved our goal of Level A accessibility. We monitor the website regularly to maintain this, but if you do find any problems, please get in touch via email at mail@goodhormonehealth.com

Contact:

(310) 335-0327

mail@goodhormonehealth.com

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • TikTok

Quick Links

  • LATEST POSTS
  • ADRENAL CRISIS LETTER
  • CONTACT
  • CURRICULUM VITAE
  • STAFF
  • HEALTH LINKS
  • TESTIMONIALS
  • WEBINARS

Latest News

  • Patient Guide: 24-Hour Urine Cortisol Collection for Cushing’s Syndrome Diagnosis

    A 24-hour urine collection (also known as a urinary free...

  • 🌙 Night-Time Salivary Cortisol Testing for Diagnosing Cushing’s Disease

    Night-time salivary cortisol testing is an essential, non-invasive tool that...

  • Dr. Friedman’s Weight Loss Guide

    Dr. Friedman's main approach to weight loss is to rule...

Goodhormonehealth ©2024 all rights reserved.