Hi there.

Yes, I think that adrenals play a major role in my RSD, specifically in that much of my pain and cramping is "diurnal" which is to say that it fluctuates regularly with the time of day, peaking in the early arternoon, which is when - in my lay understanding - the body's production of various adrenal products, including cortisol ["the major adrenal glucocorticoid, stimulates conversion of proteins to carbohydrates, raises blood sugar levels and promotes glycogen storage in the liver"] is at it's peak.

In fact, it's precisely because of this fluctuation that asthma sufferers have their greatest relief. A natural shot of adrenalin if you will. For me, I think that nature's little adrenalin shot just promotes vasal constriction, which is the bane of all persons with RSD.

Anybody with me on this one?

Mike

Hi,
I feel I have total adrenal exhaustion. Hugs, Roz

Mike,
I'm definitely with you. However, I would note that, as an asthma sufferer as well as an RSDer, adrenaline isn't always a blessing with asthma, since tension and stress from too much adrenaline over time can aggravate asthma symptoms.

On the plus side, I've discovered that deep tissue massage (if you can stand it) is a great source of relief. You don't have to have the masseuse touch your affected limb(s), but the toxin release and decrease in muscle tension from such massage is wonderfully helpful. If you can't handle massage at all, cranio-sacral therapy can also provide relief. As a note, however - most insurance companies won't cover such treatments (if they cover anything for you), and they can get expensive. If there is a massage school near you, you can often get these treatments very cheaply. The downside here is that if the student does not understand much about your condition, you'll have to be careful to explain exactly what they can and can't do.

Hey. I am experiencing bad adrenaline too. I did some research on it.

I found out that having movement of the nerves in the sympathetic nervous system causes an sudden adrenaline rush. Since RSD deals with constant movement, there is a high adrenaline level all the time. That means that the slightest thing can cause high adrenaline rushes. I thought I was just going crazy because I overreacted way too much to something that was no big deal last night. We had to pull over on the side of the road to get something out of the trunk and I started asking my dad panic questions like "Has the car broken down? Isn't it illegal to pull over like this? Are we gonna get arrested?" To make things even worse for me, a police car pulled up behind us to make sure that we were okay and to make sure that we weren't broken down. It took me like 20 minutes to calm down. It helps now to know that I'm not the only one and that it is caused from the RSD.