Adrenals and depression - for daydreamer

[Guest guest]

Thanks for the response and the encouragement. You are right about

the suicidal thoughts. I am 39, with three beautiful children, and

at the moment I am really thinking I would rather be dead, despite

them. I feel terrible every day, I don't sleep at night, and I just

seem to be getting worse and worse. And I have such a long haul

ahead of me before I get better. Fillings out, chelation etc etc

before I can see what's left of my endocrine system. I can get my

head around needing thyroid hormones for the rest of my life, but I

HATE taking steroids (I have tried to do everything naturally up till

now, but I guess I'm past that now)and I HATE the weight gain. I am

not the person I used to be or want to be, and it's hard to stay

positive on another night of 4 hours sleep. And the kids don't

understand what's going on, why mummy is having another bad day and

can't do anything with them, or gets panicky about eating something

before she crashes. Yesterday, there was nothing else keeping me here

apart from pure love for them.

I know adrenal insufficiency makes you particularly depressed, and I

comfort myself that it is that and the hypoT that makes me feel like

I don't want to be here anymore, but these are tough times. I so

hope it will get better soon.

I don't know what dose of Florinef I am taking - doesn't say on the

bottle as it was made up for me by the pharmacy. Probably the

standard dose. I wasn't told to work up on either Pred or Florinef -

just went straight in, although I was taking a lot of Isocort and

glandulars before just to function. Think I existed on adrenaline.

I am waiting for the effects of the pred, Armour, DHEA, and vit A to

kick in - I feel less shaky and a bit calmer, but weak, and the

noctural hypoglycaemia and insommnia is brutal. I also need to build

up the thyroid from the 1/2 grain I am taking at present. My endo

said I should be feeling better within 4-6 weeks of starting

everything. It is two weeks and I'm counting.

thanks for letting me share

Nicola

-- In

NaturalThyroidHormonesADRENALS , " daydreamer2578 "

wrote:

>

> Glad to hear you're on the Florinef, I was wondering about that.

How

> much are you taking? I also got the muscle twitches very badly that

> would keep me up all night. I'd get them all over my body to the

> point where I was wondering if I was having seizures. I started the

> HC and florinef at the same time and it helped, but I can't say

which

> one did the trick. I had to work up to a full 0.1mg of the Florinef

> but once I was there for about two weeks I started to gradually feel

> better. I also found that getting out of bed and doing some yoga and

> stretching helped to calm the muscles a bit -- but not really enough

> to get me back to sleep. I spent a lot of late nights on the main

NTH

> board during that time (thanks everyone, btw). Drinking salt water

> also helped tremendously and eating salty foods during the day. I

> think it was the racing mind that was the worst though, lying awake

> wondering WTF was going wrong with me. I feel ya. Hang in there,

I

> almost literally came back from the dead, so I'm sure you can get

> there too.

>

> Jen

>

> PS. I'm not sure about you, but there were also some pretty crazy

> suicidal thoughts running through my head during that time. I KNEW

it

> wasn't me or the " real me " thinking that, but they just wouldn't go

> away. I don't know what it is about the low adrenals, but it can do

> some f***ed up things to your head. If you're experiencing anything

> like that, please, please don't hesitate to reach out. We're here

for

> ya. And it will go away. promise

>

>

> >

> > And can I do it from one day to the next? I am also taking

Florinef -

> > does this add to the overall cortisol replacement?

> >

> > This adrenal twitching really spooks me - like a muscle twitch in

the

> > adrenal area, and it happens when I'm out of cortisol, and a lot

in

> > the middle of the night. Do you know anything about this? Is it

a

> > sign the adrenals are damaged? Is there anything I can do about

> > adrenaline surges in the night? When is this going to get

better?!

> > I am desperate.

> >

> > Nicola

> >

>

[Guest guest]

Hi! Nicola-

If you've been on 1/2 grain for 2 weeks it's time for an Armour dose raise. (I know you probably already knew that. )

Regarding the corticosteroids - you are going to *love* reading Jeffries, Safe Uses Of Cortisol!!! Or even reading Janie's summary of it will help you for the moment.

You put it so well: " nothing else keeping me here apart from pure love for them. " Ah, yes, sometimes even *on* Armour & H/C. Thank goodness we've got 'em! And this list. We really do " get it, " Nicola! It's not a mistake that you're here!

Oh! Sleep deprivation - I didn't sleep the first 3 years I was married - with nursing a baby and a husband with severe sleep apnea. Yeah! I know where you are!!! Are you seeing the comics that aren't there because you haven't actually dreamed in years? Hang on, Hon' it's gonna get better very soon.

I missed how old your children are?

Hugs!

....

Thanks for the response and the encouragement. You are right aboutthe suicidal thoughts. I am 39, with three beautiful children, and

at the moment I am really thinking I would rather be dead, despitethem. I feel terrible every day, I don't sleep at night, and I justseem to be getting worse and worse. And I have such a long haulahead of me before I get better. Fillings out, chelation etc etc

before I can see what's left of my endocrine system. I can get myhead around needing thyroid hormones for the rest of my life, but IHATE taking steroids (I have tried to do everything naturally up tillnow, but I guess I'm past that now) and I HATE the weight gain. I am

not the person I used to be or want to be, and it's hard to staypositive on another night of 4 hours sleep. And the kids don'tunderstand what's going on, why mummy is having another bad day and can't do anything with them, or gets panicky about eating something before she crashes. Yesterday, there was nothing else keeping me here apart from pure love for them.

I know adrenal insufficiency makes you particularly depressed, and Icomfort myself that it is that and the hypoT that makes me feel likeI don't want to be here anymore, but these are tough times. I so

hope it will get better soon.I don't know what dose of Florinef I am taking - doesn't say on thebottle as it was made up for me by the pharmacy. Probably thestandard dose. I wasn't told to work up on either Pred or Florinef -

just went straight in, although I was taking a lot of Isocort andglandulars before just to function. Think I existed on adrenaline.I am waiting for the effects of the pred, Armour, DHEA, and vit A tokick in - I feel less shaky and a bit calmer, but weak, and the

noctural hypoglycaemia and insommnia is brutal. I also need to buildup the thyroid from the 1/2 grain I am taking at present. My endosaid I should be feeling better within 4-6 weeks of startingeverything. It is two weeks and I'm counting.

thanks for letting me shareNicola

[Guest guest]

Nicola,

Share anytime. I'm so sorry to hear that you're feeling that way. It

really isn't you or your life, it's the hormones. I made a bargain

with myself during that time. All I could do was hobble feebly around

the house, I would get so dizzy everytime I stood up that I just

stayed on the couch most of the time, I just didn't see what the point

of going on anymore was. So I started crocheting (sp?) a new

queen-sized bedspread (crocheting is not something I normally do btw).

I figured that it would take me a few months to finish it and I told

myself that if I wasn't better by the time it was done that I would

stop taking all my meds and wait for the end -- and my wife would have

the bedspread to remember me by. Well, the bedspread is still only a

quarter done and hanging out in the guest bedroom waiting for me to

finish it.

I'm not a fan of taking steroids either and the weight gain is an

issue, but you gotta do what you gotta do, right? People with

addison's can take up to two florinef pills regularly and more in

times of crisis, so keep inching it up until you start feeling better.

I actually had to take some extra HC and florinef today b/c I found

out last night my grandmother has colon cancer (early stages so the

prognosis is good, but it's sill the Big C). I had nightmares all

night and was exhausted today, but I started feeling better w/in 1/2

hour of taking the pills. Do what you need to do to get your life

back, then you can start working on the weight when your body is

capable of withstanding some exercise.

I do wish the best for you and your children. You CAN get through this.

Jen

>

> Thanks for the response and the encouragement. You are right about

> the suicidal thoughts. I am 39, with three beautiful children, and

> at the moment I am really thinking I would rather be dead, despite

> them. I feel terrible every day, I don't sleep at night, and I just

> seem to be getting worse and worse. And I have such a long haul

> ahead of me before I get better.

[Guest guest]

Hi! Jen-

Glad you are working on strategies to stay glued to the planet. Very sorry for the stress over the news about your grandma - good prognosis is good news, tho'.

About the notion of steroids and weight gain, we are not taking pharmacological doses of cortisol which may have this effect. We are not talking about unnecessary supplementation. We are taking and talking about much needed physiological doses that are within the same range that our own adrenals would normally produce if they were healthy...

I urge you to check out Jeffries, Safe Uses Of Cortisol. Janie's summary is very helpful, btw!

....

I'm not a fan of taking steroids either and the weight gain is anissue, but you gotta do what you gotta do, right?

Jen

[Guest guest]

Thanks -- it is sad news about my Grandmother. We just had

a big surprise party for her 85th birthday in Feburary and we were all

saying how we hope to be doing so well at that age. She's sharp as a

tack and very active so I'm sure she'll pull through it ok, and

they're catching it very early -- she went in for the colonoscopy at

the first sign of symptoms. She meets with the surgeon on Thurs so

we'll know more then. The thing is she's a very proper southern lady

and I know the idea of " doing her business " in a bag after the surgery

is going to be mortifying to her .

I've read most of Jeffries papers but haven't invested in the book

yet. I've only rarely had to exceed the physiological doses. I lost

a bunch of weight rapidly while my adrenals were failing -- the weight

came off before I started feeling bad, then when I started the HC and

florinef It all piled back on again plus 10 or so pounds. I've lost

the extra weight so I'm back where I started, and am keeping a close

eye on it with being almost off of them now -- only taking things as

needed. I think I stayed on the HC longer than I needed to b/c I was

getting pretty puffy. The low aldosterone is more my problem anyways.

Thanks for the info,

Jen

>

> Hi! Jen-

>

> Glad you are working on strategies to stay glued to the planet. Very

sorry

> for the stress over the news about your grandma - good prognosis is good

> news, tho'.

>

> About the notion of steroids and weight gain, we are not taking

> pharmacological doses of cortisol which may have this effect. We are not

> talking about unnecessary supplementation.