Re: One step forward, two steps - advice please on re- starting Erfa

[Guest guest]

Hi Stella

So i understand it, the problem is that you took erfa and felt better, then

increased slowly to 1 grain and felt unwell. This coincided at the same time as

you were doing a lot more exericse and your first holiday in years.

I wonder if it is your adrenals that are not strong enough at the moment? Could

you have done too much, too soon? Sometimes the tendency is to rush it when you

get the first glimpses of health - life! - again and you can over do it. how

long did you wait between increases?

are you on any adrenal support? Is it possible that your first adrenal result

was a one off error? I don't suppose you'll know unless you retest. Another

possiblity, i suppose, is did that big surge of cortisol left you without

enough cortisol later in the day?

Do your symptoms fit with low adrenals?

I like this product :

http://www.mandimart.co.uk/adrenal-cortex-50mg-by-thorne-research-60-capsules-71\

9-p.asp the NAX is good, too, but some poeple find the NAX too stimulating.

Cortex only products should be less stimulating.

>How long should I wait before starting Erfa again or do you think I need T3

instead. Any insights would be greatly appreciated as my confidence has taken a

real blow and I am beginning to feel I have reached the end of the road as far

as getting better is concerned.

I think it's a bit early to admit defeat or conclude Erfa won't help you and you

need t3 only - many people find they need to support their adrenals whilst

taking thyroid.

I would consider the adrenal angle and consider supporting them with adrenal

cortex or the nutri adrenal. If you are already supporting them, how are you

doing it?

Chris

>

> Apologies for posting this again (it is very long), but I was wondering if

anyone had any advice for me regarding starting on the Erfa again. I notice

that purely by coincidence there are 2 of us posting under the same heading -

hope this hasn't led to too much confusion. Many thanks.

[Guest guest]

>

> Hi Stella

>

> So i understand it, the problem is that you took erfa and felt better, then

increased slowly to 1 grain and felt unwell. This coincided at the same time as

you were doing a lot more exericse and your first holiday in years.

Hi Chris

I agree, I think I absolutely overdid it on the holiday. I got carried away

with the feeling of having energy for the first time in 5 years and went and

climbed a (very small) mountain in the ish Highlands with my husky! I'm

paying for it now, but boy was it worth it to feel that sense of achievement

again. Regarding the adrenals, I was on NAX for about 6 weeks building up to 4

a day, then I stopped. I have just started taking it again but only on 1 a day

as the bottle is almost empty. Thanks for the link -I will give those a go

next. The early morning adrenal reading is peculiar. I think I will have to

repeat the test to find out what is really going on. Re the Erfa, I started on

1/4 grain for a week, upped it to 1/2 after 3 weeks and then 1 grain after

another 3 weeks. Was only on the 1 grain for about a week before feeling

unwell.

Is it ok to take adrenal supplements at the same time as erfa or do you

recommend having a few weeks off whilst building up adrenals and other vits and

then re-starting?

Thanks for all your help.

[Guest guest]

oh how annoying, i wrote a reply to this and have lost it!

Ok well at least you know that something -erfa, and/or nax - made you feel well,

however briefly, this must give you hope.

i was wondering why you stopped taking the nax while you were taking /increasing

Erfa? I prefer the cortex supplements to NAX personally.

Did you ever have a 9am cortisol test? Just wondering how that compares to your

morning saliva result?

>Re the Erfa, I started on 1/4 grain for a week, upped it to 1/2 after 3 weeks

and then 1 grain after another 3 weeks. Was only on the 1 grain for about a

week before feeling unwell.

when you increased to 1 grain, was that because you were starting to feel worse

on 1/2? or were you increasing as per the protocol in the files (for

instance)?maybe it'd been better to wait a little longer and then go up to 3/4?

or, I'm just wondering whether - even though you took it slowly - whetehr it

wasn't slow enough for you, or whether you missed your sweet spot of say 3/4

grains. though i appreciate that is a very low dose, but maybe it's enough for

now? i have read though that if you've been unwell a long time, it can take

quite some time for the body to start to get well again and you have to take it

slowly. Have you got Dr Peatfield's book?

> Is it ok to take adrenal supplements at the same time as erfa or do you

recommend having a few weeks off whilst building up adrenals and other vits and

then re-starting?

well i'm not qualified so can't recommend anything. If it were me, i'd get some

adrenal support going that i felt comfortable with, and see how i felt and

perhaps after a few days or a week, reintroduce erfa slowly and in a small dose,

whilst recording everything - temps, how you feel, what youo've taken and so on.

please check the protocols in the files, and look at sites like stop the thyroid

madness http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/adrenal-info/

Chris

[Guest guest]

Stella, there are some messages that appear to be posted by you

'Stella' and then there are others that are posted by 'duchess' which I

believe is you also, and there have been responses from (see Message

#88957 and Message #88995 of 89006).I honestly thought I had

also responded to your message but can't find it on the forum. And then,

there is a different heading 'One Step Forward Two Steps Back' leaving the

'Erfa' off, - see there Bob's message Message #88804 of 89006 and then a

message from Tina Message #88867 of 89006.

Luv - Sheila

Apologies for posting this again (it is very long), but I

was wondering if anyone had any advice for me regarding starting on the Erfa

again. I notice that purely by coincidence there are 2 of us posting

under the same heading - hope this hasn't led to too much

confusion. Many thanks.

One Step Forward Two Steps Back

I started to feel ill about 5/6 years ago. Tired all the time but

problems sleeping at night, weak, aching muscles, joint pain, awful hair and

nails, huge weight gain (over 3 stone) despite healthy diet, exercise

intolerance, numbness in hands and feet, tingling in fingers, cold all the time

but conversely intolerant of heat, poor memory and confusion, heavy painful

periods (lasting 2-3 weeks) etc. At first I put it all down to

getting older (I am now 51) and the approach of menopause, but after doing a

lot of research I began to suspect a thyroid problem or anaemia.

After nearly blacking out one day and being unable to climb the stairs without

stopping to rest 3 times on the way, I went to see my G.P. in 2008.

After a brusque 10 minutes I received a prescription for anti -depressants, a

lecture on healthy eating ( " a lot of women are secret

chocoholics " !!!) plus the begrudging comment " I haven't seen you for

15 years so I suppose you must be feeling bad " . I was sent for

a TSH blood test which came back at 2.4. He refused to give me a

trial of Thyroxine because of the danger to the heart. Because I

wasn't happy with this he referred me to the hospital to see an endo (a

diabetic specialist I later found out) for further tests. Results

were:

[Guest guest]

>

> oh how annoying, i wrote a reply to this and have lost it!

>

> Ok well at least you know that something -erfa, and/or nax - made you feel

well, however briefly, this must give you hope.

Hi Chris

Feeling a bit more positive today thanks to all the helpful comments. I stopped

the NAX mainly because I wasn't really sure how long I was supposed to take it

for and I was coming to the end of the bottle. Also I was unsure if could be

taken together with Erfa. Apart from feeling a bit " whizzy " it didn't seem to

make much difference. The Erfa definitely made an almost instant impact. No, I

haven't had a 9am cortisol test. When I upped the Erfa I just followed the

protocol - I wasn't feeling worse on just 1/2 grain. Maybe it was too quick for

me. I have just repeated the adrenal questionnaire in the files and it looks

like this might still be a big issue. I am also doing temperatures 3 times a

day to see what that reveals. Yes I do have Dr Peatfield's book and Jaynie's so

will read them again and refresh my memory re adrenals. I will order some more

adrenal support tomorrow and then back to the drawing board!

Thanks for all your help- much appreciated.

Stella

[Guest guest]

>

> Stella, there are some messages that appear to be posted by you 'Stella'

> and then there are others that are posted by 'duchess' which I believe is

> you also, and there have been responses from (see Message #88957 and

> Message #88995 of 89006).I honestly thought I had also responded to your

> message but can't find it on the forum.

Hi Sheila

Yes, we are one and the same ! One message was sent from my computer and the

other from an ipad - maybe that's why the names came up differently. Thanks, I

have picked up those messages. They were very helpful. I didn't receive one

from you but I noticed the other day that somebody else was posting under the

same heading so maybe you replied to them. Feeling a bit better today, so I'm

ready to get back on that long old road to recovery:).

Thanks.

Stella