Suthrngal Posted January 16, 2014 Report Share Posted January 16, 2014 Last year is when my PoTS came on full time. I had episodes prior but since taking one dose of Cortef I have been battling dehydration, high heart rate and low Bp. Any idea what the Cortef could have done? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Katybug Posted January 16, 2014 Report Share Posted January 16, 2014 Cortisone is a steroid that is involved in your sympathetic nervous system...your fight or flight response. One of the things that happens when our body has a fight/flight response is it dumps cortisol (natural cortisone) into our system which causes increased heart rate to oxygenate our muscles. This in turn affects the blood pressure and many other bodily functions. Hope that helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suthrngal Posted January 16, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 16, 2014 Thanks. So we, as Pots people, as a rule don't take cortisone? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Katybug Posted January 16, 2014 Report Share Posted January 16, 2014 That's a medical decision that needs to be made between you and your doctor. There are situations where taking the cortisone could far outway the risks of not taking it. It needs to be discussed on a case by case basis to see what's right for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sue1234 Posted January 16, 2014 Report Share Posted January 16, 2014 Can I ask why you're taking Cortef? Did you have testing for adrenal insufficiency? I can understand the hyped up symptoms,but I can't understand the low b/p due to taking it. When did you get these symptoms in relation to when you took the one dose? Immediately or a week later? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suthrngal Posted January 16, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 16, 2014 Suspected low cortisol from a natural MD. Saliva adrenal test. Regular mainstream md say I did not have low cortisol based on blood tests. I took one dose and immediately almost passed out. High heart rate pounding! Went to ER and try said I was dehydrated. Treated with two bags of saline and felt wetter until a week later when I was dehydrated again! Where is my salt that retains my fluids going????? I only test barely low on sodium and low normal when I take tabs! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sue1234 Posted January 17, 2014 Report Share Posted January 17, 2014 You sound somewhat like me. In the past, a few different natural MDs have said I need Cortef due to saliva results. Yet, my blood testing say my cortisol is normal(actually in the last few years, my blood testing shows cortisol in the high-normal range). Before POTS, when my first natural MD had me begin Cortef at 5 mg., I felt wonderful! After a few months, I weaned down slowly, because I wasn't positive I needed to stay on it "forever" and was a little concerned with it possibly permanently shutting down my adrenals.Anyway, I have been wondering if a little Cortef would be good for me to try again. Hearing your reaction makes me a little hesitant. My thinking is our systems with POTS are so sensitive to everything, so maybe the steroid hit your system harder than normal. Maybe try taking a smaller dose...like around 2.5 mg.? I am supposed to begin Florinef, so I'm hoping that small steroid effect it will have might help me(above and beyond it's mineralcorticoid effect).Is it possible some of us, even though we show normal cortisol in lab testing, can not use it correctly? Sure need a good biochemist to talk this over with! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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