Steroid for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome? March 21, 2008 -- Boosting levels of the stress hormone cortisol with low doses of hydrocortisone could help patients with chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia feel better, a California doctor says.

Kent Holtorf, MD, says the simple treatment carries significantly less risk and greater potential for benefit than widely accepted treatments for the two conditions. But chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) and fibromyalgia experts who spoke to WebMD were not so sure.

Holtorf believes the majority of CFS and fibromyalgia patients have low levels of the steroid hormone cortisol due to dysfunction in a brain system that regulates response to stress, known as the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis.

The problem is that very sophisticated testing is needed to identify this dysfunction.

As a result, while a number of studies have shown lower-than-normal cortisol levels to be common in CFS and fibromyalgia patients, many others have failed to show the association.

"The overwhelming majority of these patients have [cortisol] dysfunction, whether testing shows this or not," he tells WebMD. His review of the research is published in the latest issue of the Journal of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.

CFS, Depression & Other Causes of Fatigue