Estrogen puts pressure on the pituitary-adrenal axis

General Discussion
#1

I am a believer in adrenal fatigue being a strong element of PFS, whether it be a root issue or not. Certainly some of the saliva tests for cortisol and dhea have suggested many on this forum have varying stages of adrenal fatigue. I’ve been searching for correlations between T, DHT and blowing out the adrenals - but haven’t found anything substantial.

Unexpectedly I found a correlation between high estrogen and adrenal fatigue. I was listening to a podcast with Ray Peat (raypeat.com/ - who is a respected biochemist). At about 29:40 minutes he suggests that high estrogen directly destroys the adrenals.

blogtalkradio.com/eastwesthealing/2011/08/25/ray-peat-serotonin-and-endotoxin

It seems the best citations for this assertion can be found in Dr. Peat’s below article

raypeat.com/articles/articles/estrogen-age-stress.shtml

I found the following citation the most interesting, given many have complained of increasing sensitivity to stress.

“Short-term estradiol treatment enhances pituitary-adrenal axis and sympathetic responses to psychosocial stress in healthy young men.”

Given that we know some PFS suffers have high estrogen from the blood work and reports of gynecomastia, it seems like this may support adrenal fatigue as a root issue.

#2

pretty interesting. i’ve also noticed that anything decreases estrogen in my body to have a negative affect on me. i found out that estrogen increases nitric oxide production… so i thought it could be a possibility that the high estrogen is being made for that reason. although this is pretty similar to what i was thinking, just a different mechanism taking place that estrogen has a positive affect on.

what i’m confused on is if this high estrogen is being made for a reason to counteract another balance in the body, or if there is an error with the T being properly synthesized. i’m leaning more towards the T not being properly synthesized into what it should be based on the original functions of finasteride. but i mean, with my limited knowledge at this point, i really dont know.

#3

Great post , I suspect you’re right. I was under a lot of stress around the time I stopped fin, and took drugs and alcohol which would have disjointed my system further. Excess masturbation, stress in my homelife, heck I even got jumped by a junkie or alcoholic right in the middle of a crowded street for no reason and then had to stand around waiting for the inept police to take all the details down. Lots of excess estrogen sides appeared around this time too like moodiness, fog even tearfulness. Felt like I was turning into a woman.

My cortisol levels (albeit serum) were below range too when I first got them checked. I read today about a woman with Addisonians who was told if she watched a game of soccer the stress could kill her. Fin really altered my stress tolerance levels a lot.

#4

Thanks for the post. Very interesting.

I have low cortisol thought the day. I have tested high for estrogen once. But compared to free t my estrogen is high. My only recovery was with arimidex. If i can get back to that point I will be happy.