Quote:
Undertreated severe, chronic, and intractable pain depletes many hormones.5-8 With good pain control, some low serum hormone concentrations may return to normal.9 Some adrenal stress hormones, such as cortisol and adrenalin, may elevate in uncontrolled pain as evidenced by tachycardia and hypertension. Prolonged hypercortisolemia produced in severe, intractable pain may produce manifestations of Cushing’s disease including osteoporosis, dental erosion, obesity, fatigue, and muscle wasting. Adrenal insufficiency, with symptoms of Addison’s disease including cachexia, hypotension, electrolyte depletion and muscle wasting, may occur as the adrenal gland exhausts. While severe, chronic pain produces some hormone deficiencies, opioid administration may also suppress pituitary excretion and worsen some hormone deficiencies, particularly testosterone and possibly thyroid.10,11 Hormone treatments are basically given to replace those that are depleted or suppressed by severe, chronic, or intractable pain and/or the underlying disease.
http://www.practicalpainmanagement.c...tractable-pain
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That last sentence sums it up, IMO. I got tested, found out which ones are low, (pregnenolone, cortisol, and testosterone, in my case) and I'm supplementing those in a way as close to the body's natural way as I could find - pregnenolone and B5 - which the body converts to all the other adrenal hormones.
The improvements in the way I feel have, IMO, proven worthwhile. My pain levels are down, emotions under better control, more energy, and just overall feeling "better" than before.
Follow-up testing has been pushed back until after the first of the year; depending on the results, I'll continue what I'm doing, reduce dosage to a much lower maintenance level, and/or address any still-depressed levels more directly. We're trying to take a conservative logical, tailored approach.
Doc