*Author: Sam
I was wondering if anyone would know if problems w/your adrenals can happen after a stroke, and if Cushings or Addisons syndrome is the out-come?
My sweet Dad had a stroke last yr., & now his sodium is one point off, after testing twice, and his BUN count was a little off too. Anyway, the doc has mentioned something about “cortisol” & when I looked it up, it led me to these 2 syndromes……I know the adrenals are not well studied by doctors either, and isn’t it difficult to treat? I can’t remember, bt I know I’ve read something about how our adrenal glands are often over-looked by doctors. He is not one to believe in alt. meds, which isn’t good to me, bt that’s just him….
Any info. would be greatly appreciated!!!!
Thanks so much,
Sam

*Author: Polly
The adrenals are regulated by the signals coming from the pituitary in the brain. So, there is a chance that a stroke could have thrown off this regulation. However, I’ve not heard of this as being a common occurrence. Possibly just the stress of the whole situation has temporarily thrown things off.

What might help, is using a combination of nattokinase and acupuncture. The nattokinase will slowly dissolve a clot and possibly restore blood flow. This combination worked for a friend of mine. She had lost hearing in one ear due to a stroke. Two years after the stroke, she regained her hearing by using the nattokinase and acupuncture.

I wouldn’t use nattokinase with an anti-coagulant. However, you and your doctor could consider using nattokinase instead of an anti-coagulant. See this article:

http://www.newswithviews.com/Howenstine/james59.htm

If your father has been placed on coumadin / warfarin, this will interfere with vitamin K. From the above article, you will note that there are many benefits of vitamin K2. It would be a shame to put someone on coumadin now that there are known alternatives.

Taurine helps balance sodium and potassium in the heart. Taurine is generally very good for many things. One property of taurine is its ability to stabilize platelets, thus helping to prevent strokes. Taurine is also very good for the adrenals and kidneys. Taurine is very inexpensive, especially if you get it in just a powder form. However, if you decide to try taurine, start with just a tiny amount and let the body get used to it. Take it with food because it can increase stomach acid secretion.

*Author: Tom
Sam, you can test his Adrenal function by checking blood pressure, have him lie down for 5 or 10 minutes, check his pressure, then stand up and check again, if the systolic goes down this is an indication of weak Adrenals.
If his Sodium is oik, you might try DHEA and two formulas made by Enzymatic, Adrenergize glandular and Adrenergize herbal, also Gensing is good.
Eliminate Coffee and Tobacco.

Tom
One relatively easy test to do is called the orthostatic hypotension test. Lay down for approximately 5 minutes and then take your blood pressure Make note of the systolic pressure (the top number), then stand up and take your blood pressure again. If systolic pressure stayed the same or decreased you may not have optimal adrenal medulla function, or epinephrine secretion. When we stand, epinephrine is normally secreted to increase our blood pressure. If your blood pressure drops, it might mean that there is not enough epinephrine. (1)

(1) http://www.precisionnutrition.com/what-do-the-adrenal-glands-do

*Author: Polly
If the systolic blood pressure (upper number) is below 100, then this is a strong indication of weak adrenals. However, blood pressure isn’t a yes / no indicator of adrenal fatigue. The blood pressure can be normal and you may still have weak adrenals.

It is normal for the blood pressure to drop a little upon standing. If it drops quite a bit (10 or 20 points), this may be due to several different possibilities. It could be adrenals, or it could be something else, like plaque build up in the arteries. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orthostatic_hypotension

*Author: Tom
Of course there are other symptoms to go along with the blood pressure test. If you are tired all the time and I’m talking about flat out tired, exhausted and exersize makes you feel worse, hair falling out, low body temperature, you can pretty well assume that you have Thyroid and Adrenal problems.
Nomal blood pressure should rise 10-20 points when standing if the adrenals are healthy.
The test for atherosclerosis is to compare blood pressure from the arm to the ankle while lying down.

http://www.adrenalfatiguerecovery.com/adrenal-function-tests.html

*Author: SARAH
Hi, i have low blood pressure and at times have palpatations and dizzy drs have done tests but all were clear as usual, any ideas could it be my adrenals

*Author: Tom
Yes, it could very well be your Adrenals, doctors are very slow to pick up on this and if it’s borderline they never will. Try taking some “real salt” or sea salt and see if it helps, give it a couple of days. I mix a 1/4 teaspoon of real salt with some distilled water.