Has anybody here taken an ACTH stimulation test where they inject you with a synthetic version of ACTH called Cosyntropin?
I improved so much from it that I felt completely normal again but unfortunately crashed about a week after.
This sounds similar to the people who improved off of corticosteroid injections as I believe the Cosyntropin works in a similar way.
I would really appreciate any commentary on this post.
Thanks
I’ve taken the ACTH blood test
25 pg/mL was my level not sure if that’s good or bad the doctor never got back to me though.
Your not the first person to say they felt better taking a corticosteroid, there’s a few other people here who had similar effects from what I’ve read.
I’ve never heard of this test though very interesting.
I never got the test, but even a fully healthy human will feel better than normal on Corticosteroids in the short term.
In the long term it’s detrimental though, so I wouldn’t read to much into it. It’s not viable to treat anyone long term with Corticosteroids.
I felt alive again for the first time in years. My libido came back, felt emotions again, all the classical PFS symptoms went away. I’m certain it wasn’t a normal temporary boost that comes with corticosteroids as the half life doesn’t last more than a couple of hours. It lasted for about 8 days before I crashed. I felt the crash from one second to next I snapped and was a different person.
Many people have suggested PFS is a dysregulation into a overactive immune system, aka an autoimmune disease.
In the Baylor study, both “regulation of cellular response to stress” and “signaling by interleukins” are in the most overexpressed gene clusters.
So it’s not a far fetched theory the immunosuppressive effect gave you a positive boost, more than a healthy person would.
But I still don’t think it would be possible to use Corticosteroids long term sadly.
I was on corticosteroids during some months after the crash due to an autoinmjne disease and i think it was the thing that helped me the most.
The autoimmune disease is likely an infection. I tested high in ana titers too.
Im positive for m pneumoniae, IgG, IgM and IgA. I think this is my likely cause of PSSD. The immune system overreacts to bacterial infection
When you use corticosteroids you surpress the immune response and get cured temporarily. It’s the same reason why mifepristone works in rebound…
You should get full infection panels (best to use arminlabs or redlabs), also great plains organic acids, great plains microbiology, great plains mycotoxin test.
I could be bacterial/fungal.
Regular doctors will test for infections and even when there are clear signs of active infection they will tell you they are in past and no problem anymore. It’s best to get PCR / IgA tests, a cd57 test, it depends on the pathogen however you need to rule out if they are active or not. I’m not expert in this either.
The next best thing to do is to check metabolites of bacteria/fungi in urine. Unfortunately these tests are expensive. I’m in process of doing these tests now, i will share my results.
Im pretty sure mycoplasma is an issue in me, I just don’t know if there’s additional immunosurpression by mold from fungj. I’m testing for mycotoxins. I ruled out other stuff like heavy metals too.
Ssri’s likely change some parameters of the immune response (serotonin regulates it), along with raising cortisol some pathogens can reactivate and go chronic
It could also be about retinoid metabolism since that interferes with immunity too
I don’t know much about fin but it seems it can work like a corticosteroid too
This also explains one pill cases, and why this occurs more frequently in ssri withdrawal (in which cortisol rises most)
Unfortunately my doctor keeps telling me that these symptoms are depression and that I should see a psychiatrist. Do you know what kind of Doctor I should see for these tests?
Thanks
No doctors do them. Maybe some functional medicine specialist, but in the end you have to pay them yourself.
Can you please elaborate on the one pill cases and the ssri withdrawal
I think this pertains to me