Can Lyme affect Cortisol Levels? - Lyme Disease Message Board

KeyLyme · 01-01-2007, 09:00 AM

I know Lyme can cause hormonal changes..i.e. I have low thyroid, high testosterone, etc. I did have my cortisol levels checked a few months ago and they were high but the dr said they weren't high enough to do a 24 hour cortisol check. I wonder if this explains my inability to lose weight...other than the fact I'm pretty much inmobile b/c of joint pain.

About 2 years after I was bit by the tick, I went to an endocrinologist b/c I stopped having periods (I think this is a side effect of the Lyme but I didn't know I had it at the time). He wanted to check me for cushings syndrome b/c I have the body shape and the purple stretch marks that appeared over the course of a few months (I used to weigh 120...then w/in 6 months, I weighed 160).

My question is, is this the chicken or the egg?...Is it the Lyme's effecting my cortisol levels or are my cortisol levels all screwed up on their own? Anyone else have high cortisol levels and Lyme?

Thanks for the help!

Bill S · 01-01-2007, 10:00 AM

It sure can. I had my aldersterone levels checked by my LLMD, and I was running slightly higher than normal. He put me on a supplement called Phosphatidyl Serine by Douglas Laboraties to bring them down. I am to be re-tested in 2 weeks to see if it helped.

KeyLyme · 01-01-2007, 10:02 AM

Thanks for the input! Let me know in a couple weeks if the supplement helped you out. It's insane how many problems Lyme can cause.

ktp812 · 01-01-2007, 12:21 PM

I had my cortisol levels checked in October and my levels are almost non existant. I did the 24 hour test and also a urine test. My doctor said that he believes the Lyme caused my adrenals to basically shut down. I was extremely fatigued 24/7 in the beginning of my infection but then I was only having 2-3 hours a day where I could function because of the fatigue. He is going to work on the Lyme first and just barely support my adrenals because he doesn't want them to rely totally on the cortif.
My DHEA was extremely low also.

Kim