Getting sick and hydrocortisone

punxweb

Member
I started using HC about 2 months ago for my adrenal fatigue. I am typically a person that might get sick once a year. In the past two months, I have become sick twice. I know they say it lowers your immune system, but to what extent? I have also read that while you are sick and taking HC, you should increase your dose of HC. Do any of you that are on HC do this and if so, how much do you increase your dose?
 
I helped do this FAQ's about AF read this and make sure your on enough HC the starting dose is 20 mgs / day doing 5 mgs every 4 hrs. And I was sick every dam winter with bronckits and sinenes infections until I went on HC Cortef now I don't get sick. If you coming down with the flu you can stop it taking 20 mgs 4 x's a day in about 2 days the flu is gone then you go back down your normal dose slow over the next few days read about this in these links. Dr.'s are not started people on HC the right way you need to start low and work up to your dose starting at 2.5 mgs.
Here is a cut and paste on how to start from this link.
Invalid Link Removed
This link is to a FAQ's I helped with.
Invalid Link Removed

=====================================
Day 1-3: 2.5 mg first thing in the AM (2.5 mg total)
Day 4-6: 2.5 mg first thing, 2.5 mg in four hours (5 mg total)
Day 7-9: 2.5 mg first thing; 2.5 mg in four hours; 2.5 mg in four hours (7 1/2 mg total)
Day 10-12: 5 mg first thing; 2.5 mg in four hours; 2.5 mg in four hours (10 mg total)
Day 13-16: 5 mg first thing; 5 mg in four hours; 2.5 mg in four hours; 2.5 mg bedtime (15 mg total)
Day 17-20: 10 mg first thing; 5 mg in four hours; 2.5 mg in four hours; Bedtime 2.5 mg (20 mg total)
-----------------------------------------------------------------

The following is from the founder of the use of HC the best parts of his book "Safe Uses of Cortisol"
Invalid Link Removed
punxweb said:
I started using HC about 2 months ago for my adrenal fatigue. I am typically a person that might get sick once a year. In the past two months, I have become sick twice. I know they say it lowers your immune system, but to what extent? I have also read that while you are sick and taking HC, you should increase your dose of HC. Do any of you that are on HC do this and if so, how much do you increase your dose?
Click to expand...
 
Unless you are on a huge amount that's very unlikely.

I used get sick 4-5 times per year but no more since being on HC.
 
pmgamer18 said:
If you coming down with the flu you can stop it taking 20 mgs 4 x's a day in about 2 days the flu is gone then you go back down your normal dose slow over the next few days read about this in these links.
Click to expand...



This is strange, since hydrocortisone is an immunosuppressant/modulator. Taking high doses is known to lower the immune system response.
 
You don't take that much for AF the most one needs on avg. is 20 mgs / day I do 30 mgs / day you can go upto 40 and now shut down your immune systerm.
Gutterpump said:
This is strange, since hydrocortisone is an immunosuppressant/modulator. Taking high doses is known to lower the immune system response.
Click to expand...
 
Right, but you mentioned using 20mg 4x a day when you have the flu or sick.. That's a lot of HC, wouldn't that suppress the immune system?
 
This is from the link above Safe Uses of Cortisol it's at the very end of the link.
=====================================
VIRAL INFECTIONS

36) Patients with acute influenza were treated in the same manner in which patients with chronic adrenal insufficiency were treated when they developed acute infections. Cortisol, 20 mg. by mouth four times daily before meals and at bedtime, was started. Patients were instructed to continue this dosage until they felt well, then decrease to 10 mg. four times daily for two days, then 5 mgs.four times daily for two days, then stopped. Clinical responses were striking. Within 24 hours, all patients felt much better, and within 48 hours symptoms such as fever, malaise, and generalized aching had completely subsided, and they felt quite well. The initial dosage of cortisol was decreased after 48 hours and discontinued after six days of therapy. No relapse or complications occurred. 136

37) For many years, it has been recognized that the clinical symptoms of acute malaise, anorexia, fever, weakness, exhaustion, and generalized aching that occur with any acute severe infection, but especially with influenza, are similar to the symptoms of acute adrenal insufficiency. 138 The possibility that a relative deficiency of adrenal response might be present in the incipient phase of any infectious disease should therefore be further investigated. 139

38) We now know that influenza viruses attack the human body by decreasing the production of adrenocorticotropic hormones (ACTH), thereby decreasing the production of cortisol, the only hormone that is absolutely essential for life, so treatment with physiologic dosages of cortisol is a safe and beneficial therapy for patients with influenza, regardless of its type. 143
 
Maybe this is true mainly for influenza?
I have read that cortisol can help the immune system via it's effects on Copper. But I also read that it suppresses it:
=============================

Copper

It is probable that increasing copper availability for immune purposes is the reason many copper enzymes are stimulated to an extent which is often 50% of their total potential by cortisol.[24] This includes lysyl oxidase, an enzyme which is used to cross link collagen and elastin.[25] Particularly valuable for immunity is the stimulation of superoxide dismutase by cortisol[26] since this copper enzyme is almost certainly used by the body to permit superoxide to poison bacteria. Cortisol causes an inverse four- or fivefold decrease of metallothionein, a copper storage protein, in mice[27] (however rodents do not synthesize cortisol themselves). This may be to furnish more copper for ceruloplasmin synthesis or release of free copper. Cortisol has an opposite effect on alpha aminoisobuteric acid than on the other amino acids.[28] If alpha aminoisobuteric acid is used to transport copper through the cell wall, this anomaly would possibly be explained.

Immune system

Cortisol can weaken the activity of the immune system. Cortisol prevents proliferation of T-cells by rendering the interleukin-2 producer T-cells unresponsive to interleukin-1 (IL-1), and unable to produce the T-cell growth factor.[29] Cortisol also has a negative feedback effect on interleukin-1[30]. IL-1 must be especially useful in combating some diseases; however, endotoxin bacteria have gained an advantage by forcing the hypothalamus to increase cortisol levels via forcing secretion of CRH hormone, thusly antagonizing IL-1 in this case. The suppressor cells are not affected by GRMF,[31] so that the effective set point for the immune cells may be even higher than the set point for physiological processes. It reflects leukocyte redistribution to lymph nodes, bone marrow, and skin. Acute administration of corticosterone (the endogenous Type I and Type II receptor agonist), or RU28362 (a specific Type II receptor agonist), to adrenalectomized animals induced changes in leukocyte distribution. Natural killer cells are not affected by cortisol.[32]
 
Well sure but we are talking about treament for low Cortisol did you know the body can make over 400 mgs of Cortisol all at once under stress. We are taking about a support dose of HC for AF.
 
Thanks for all the info pmgamer and gutter. Currently I am taking 15mg/day. I think I am going to bump that up a bit while being sick. Pmgamer, bumping up to 20mg 4x per day seems like alot. Would you slowly increase it?
 
No 20 mgs is a starting dose of HC for AF in post #2 are 3 links read them. I hear this all the time guys have AF see a Dr. willing to treat them but is not up on this. You need to be on enough HC to support your Adrenals so they are not working so hard and can heal. After about 6 months you can try to come off the HC slow 2.5 mgs every 5 days until your off it and then do a 4x's in a day Saliva test to see how your rhythm looks. But also you need to fix the stress in your life that put you in AF. Even over doing it in the gym and diet can stress them. It takes a lot of HC to shut down your brain from sending ACTH to your Adrenals.

And in some people taking HC it gets killed in the stomach and you need even more.

People that are very low in the morning take 10 mgs to get them going Cortisol is the highest in the morning anyway. So they do 10,5,5,and some add an extra 5 you need to go by how you feel. In some people the HC gets used up very fast and they don't last 4 hrs when this happens you need to switch to Medrol.
Invalid Link Removed
 
I would personally recommend people look into Florinef useage alongside hydrocortisone, since Florinef will extend the active half-life of cortisol as well. This would be the intermediary step before ever contemplating Medrol.

From what I have read, and from speaking to others, Medrol can far more easily shutdown the adrenals since it is active for so long in the system, even if on a replacement (low) dose. I would personally only look into Medrol if I knew I would be on HC for life.
 
punxweb said:
Pmgamer, bumping up to 20mg 4x per day seems like alot. Would you slowly increase it?
Click to expand...


pmgamer18 said:
No 20 mgs is a starting dose of HC for AF
Click to expand...

I think you are misunderstanding his question, which could be dangerous.

He is asking if taking 20mg, 4 times per day (which equals 80mg of HC) is not too high? It's kind of dangerous to give that advice to people...
This is NOT the starting dose for AF.

20mg SPLIT UP over 4 doses per day is the starting dose.

He is asking about dosing when sick (80mg per day when sick, split over 4 doses)... he wants to know if you should taper up to this high amount when he is sick or has the flu..
 
Yes your right I read his post wrong 20 mgs total a day or 5 mgs 4x's a day is a starting dose. If your coming down with the flue on HC Dr. Jeffieries says bump it up to 20 mgs 4x's a day to stop the flu he says this works in about 2 days then he says to come back down slow to your reg. dose.

As for Medrol I can't say I am on HC for life and do fine on 30 mgs /day with .1 mgs of florinef. But up until then I ended up in the ER over doing working out side in the heat and needed a big shot of HC to keep me a live. This happened to me two times each time my Dr. upped my dose of HC now I don't have this problem.
Gutterpump said:
I think you are misunderstanding his question, which could be dangerous.

He is asking if taking 20mg, 4 times per day (which equals 80mg of HC) is not too high? It's kind of dangerous to give that advice to people...
This is NOT the starting dose for AF.

20mg SPLIT UP over 4 doses per day is the starting dose.

He is asking about dosing when sick (80mg per day when sick, split over 4 doses)... he wants to know if you should taper up to this high amount when he is sick or has the flu..
Click to expand...
 
I've read that licorice root extract works the same. I can't remember the brand I was recommended to get though. I think it was an italian one, that sold it as a paste.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top