Cortef (hyrdocortisone) vs Medrol (methylprednisolone)

[Skeptic]

Please lay out the pros and cons of each medication. Which one do you think is better?

 

[Scottyo]

HC is better for most. Medrol is good for those who just metabolize HC too fast and need it slow and steady. But HC is better because it pulses like your natural cortisol prodcution/release, also it is a more potent mineral-corticosteroid and therefore is better for those of us with low blood pressure.

however, if you have high BP, medrol can be a good alternative. Most docs will stick with HC. I know few who use medrol. Others prefer to even just use 5mg of prednisone...but I think thats the worst (although cheapest) option.

 

[hardasnails1973]

HC is better for most. Medrol is good for those who just metabolize HC too fast and need it slow and steady. But HC is better because it pulses like your natural cortisol prodcution/release, also it is a more potent mineral-corticosteroid and therefore is better for those of us with low blood pressure.

however, if you have high BP, medrol can be a good alternative. Most docs will stick with HC. I know few who use medrol. Others prefer to even just use 5mg of prednisone...but I think thats the worst (although cheapest) option.

Well according to my urine test I am pissing out cortisol like its going out of style and I was on 20 mgs a day for the test.
Strange I be pissing out cortisol and t3, but not testosterone? Could the bad estrogen as indicated on my urine test be clogging up the thyroid and adrenal receptors ? and taking 50 mgs of dhea shows up perfect in the blood but for some reason undectable in the urine? Could another possiblity for peeing out thyroid/ cortisol could be lack of ferritin levels not being able to push it into the cell?

 

[Scottyo]

my guess: your pissing out t3 because you don't have enough cortisol....so its just pooling in the blood and getting excreted rather than used by the cells. This initiates a vicious cycle, because then with inadequate t3, your overworking your adrenals even more. On top of that, your an 'excreter' like me, and your body just loves converting cortisol to cortisone....probably because like me you had high levels of cortisol for a long while before getting further along in the adrenal fatigue.

I think your overthinking things along the ferritin and estrogen level lines. I think the most important is to back off any stressful activity, perhaps raise the HC levels to truly rest your body...get the thyroid up to par and make sure your iodine levels are fully repleted. Then you can let the real 'stressors' back in and see how you handle them.

same thing goes for dhea....you have an issue of in the blood/in the cells (and urine) problem...which i think is because of the lack of proper cortisol.

by the way...very informative test you gave us on the estroessence.

 

[Skeptic]

HC is better for most. Medrol is good for those who just metabolize HC too fast and need it slow and steady. But HC is better because it pulses like your natural cortisol prodcution/release, also it is a more potent mineral-corticosteroid and therefore is better for those of us with low blood pressure.

however, if you have high BP, medrol can be a good alternative. Most docs will stick with HC. I know few who use medrol. Others prefer to even just use 5mg of prednisone...but I think thats the worst (although cheapest) option.

Dr. Mariano put me on 4 mg of Medrol, but I started taking hydrocortisone instead because I already had several boxes of it at home.

Now as I am running low on hydrocortisone, I'm trying to decide if I should use my Medrol prescription or if should simply buy more hydrocortisone (from an overseas source that requires no prescription).

I have adrenal fatigue, but my BP tends to run on the higher end. I'm not sure how fast my body is metabolizing HC.

 

[Scottyo]

well...if your having no problems with the HC, that is 'generally' recommended. And if your BP is not too high, I would stick with that. But Dr. M knows what he's doing so keep that in mind too. Might want to discuss it with him next time you meet. I just wish my doc woudl put me on some medrol...id like to be on a mix of the two.