Adrenal Support

[Guest guest]

Thank you, Debbie. And also congrats on the all clear!

Irene

> Most definitely. Any thyroid problem, hypo, hyper or hashi's will

put

> stress on the adrenals. I am hashi's and would not be without it.

> Blessings,

> Debbie K.

>

> Re: Adrenal Support

>

>

> Is taking adrenal support o.k. for Hashi's? I think that may be

what

> is going on, not hypo as orignally suspected. I will find out more

> late next week.

[Guest guest]

Just wanted to add a not of warning about adrenal support and low

thyroid. If you are low thyroid (not on thryoid medication), adding

adrenal can drive what little thyroid hormone you have in the blood

into tissues and you can end up with side effects. I had a bad

reaction to taking adrenal when my thyroid levels were low back

before I was diagnosed. It basically depleted my thyroid hormone

from my blood and I ended up feeling really rotten and having a

major terrible headache that would not go away. For me it took about

a week of adrenal support before I crashed. It really depends on how

low thyroid you are. Adrenal and thyroid need to be in balance.

Researchers found that if they gave adrenal hormones to people who

were also undiagnosed hypothryoids, they developed symptoms of

Cushings.

Adrenal hormones are what allows thyroid to enter cells. They help

the body use thyroid. So, if you take them, when you have low

thyroid and a thyroid gland that can't keep up, things get out of

balance after a while. depending on how low thyroid you are.

Anyway, if you develop symptoms from the adrenal support after a

while, then you will know you are also low thyroid, no matter what

any tests show. A healthy person would not have a reaction.

Tish

[Guest guest]

I think it's a balance thing.... you start with the adrenals, on a low dose.. then add the thyroid, again, a low dose, and gradually increase the two.

Topper ()

On Thu, 12 Aug 2004 07:58:48 -0000 "blithezb00tik" writes:

OK now I'm confused. Previously, someone said that if you'rehypothyroid and untreated and you are also hypoadrenal, then treatingthe hypothyroid will cause heart palpitations and otherunpleasantness. So I figured that it was important to treat theadrenals first, and then start treating the thyroid.But if I've understood correctly, you're saying that treating theadrenals along with the thyroid can cause problems too...So what's the best route?blithe

[Guest guest]

I think it's a balance thing.... you start with the adrenals, on a low dose.. then add the thyroid, again, a low dose, and gradually increase the two.

Topper ()

On Thu, 12 Aug 2004 07:58:48 -0000 "blithezb00tik" writes:

OK now I'm confused. Previously, someone said that if you'rehypothyroid and untreated and you are also hypoadrenal, then treatingthe hypothyroid will cause heart palpitations and otherunpleasantness. So I figured that it was important to treat theadrenals first, and then start treating the thyroid.But if I've understood correctly, you're saying that treating theadrenals along with the thyroid can cause problems too...So what's the best route?blithe

[Guest guest]

I think it's a balance thing.... you start with the adrenals, on a low dose.. then add the thyroid, again, a low dose, and gradually increase the two.

Topper ()

On Thu, 12 Aug 2004 07:58:48 -0000 "blithezb00tik" writes:

OK now I'm confused. Previously, someone said that if you'rehypothyroid and untreated and you are also hypoadrenal, then treatingthe hypothyroid will cause heart palpitations and otherunpleasantness. So I figured that it was important to treat theadrenals first, and then start treating the thyroid.But if I've understood correctly, you're saying that treating theadrenals along with the thyroid can cause problems too...So what's the best route?blithe

[Guest guest]

I think you treat the adrenals for a couple of weeks first, then start the thyroid treatments. I ahd never heard what Tish worte, so, I am interested in what she says.

Debbie K.

-----Original Message-----From: blithezb00tik Sent: Thursday, August 12, 2004 2:59 AMTo: The_Thyroid_Support_Group Subject: Re: Adrenal SupportOK now I'm confused. Previously, someone said that if you'rehypothyroid and untreated and you are also hypoadrenal, then treatingthe hypothyroid will cause heart palpitations and otherunpleasantness. So I figured that it was important to treat theadrenals first, and then start treating the thyroid.But if I've understood correctly, you're saying that treating theadrenals along with the thyroid can cause problems too...So what's the best route?blithe> Just wanted to add a not of warning about adrenal support and low > thyroid. If you are low thyroid (not on thryoid medication), adding > adrenal can drive what little thyroid hormone you have in the blood > into tissues and you can end up with side effects. I had a bad > reaction to taking adrenal when my thyroid levels were low back > before I was diagnosed. It basically depleted my thyroid hormone > from my blood and I ended up feeling really rotten and having a > major terrible headache that would not go away. For me it took about > a week of adrenal support before I crashed. It really depends on how > low thyroid you are. Adrenal and thyroid need to be in balance. > Researchers found that if they gave adrenal hormones to people who > were also undiagnosed hypothryoids, they developed symptoms of > Cushings.> > Adrenal hormones are what allows thyroid to enter cells. They help > the body use thyroid. So, if you take them, when you have low > thyroid and a thyroid gland that can't keep up, things get out of > balance after a while. depending on how low thyroid you are.> > Anyway, if you develop symptoms from the adrenal support after a > while, then you will know you are also low thyroid, no matter what > any tests show. A healthy person would not have a reaction.> > Tish

[Guest guest]

I think you treat the adrenals for a couple of weeks first, then start the thyroid treatments. I ahd never heard what Tish worte, so, I am interested in what she says.

Debbie K.

-----Original Message-----From: blithezb00tik Sent: Thursday, August 12, 2004 2:59 AMTo: The_Thyroid_Support_Group Subject: Re: Adrenal SupportOK now I'm confused. Previously, someone said that if you'rehypothyroid and untreated and you are also hypoadrenal, then treatingthe hypothyroid will cause heart palpitations and otherunpleasantness. So I figured that it was important to treat theadrenals first, and then start treating the thyroid.But if I've understood correctly, you're saying that treating theadrenals along with the thyroid can cause problems too...So what's the best route?blithe> Just wanted to add a not of warning about adrenal support and low > thyroid. If you are low thyroid (not on thryoid medication), adding > adrenal can drive what little thyroid hormone you have in the blood > into tissues and you can end up with side effects. I had a bad > reaction to taking adrenal when my thyroid levels were low back > before I was diagnosed. It basically depleted my thyroid hormone > from my blood and I ended up feeling really rotten and having a > major terrible headache that would not go away. For me it took about > a week of adrenal support before I crashed. It really depends on how > low thyroid you are. Adrenal and thyroid need to be in balance. > Researchers found that if they gave adrenal hormones to people who > were also undiagnosed hypothryoids, they developed symptoms of > Cushings.> > Adrenal hormones are what allows thyroid to enter cells. They help > the body use thyroid. So, if you take them, when you have low > thyroid and a thyroid gland that can't keep up, things get out of > balance after a while. depending on how low thyroid you are.> > Anyway, if you develop symptoms from the adrenal support after a > while, then you will know you are also low thyroid, no matter what > any tests show. A healthy person would not have a reaction.> > Tish

[Guest guest]

I think you treat the adrenals for a couple of weeks first, then start the thyroid treatments. I ahd never heard what Tish worte, so, I am interested in what she says.

Debbie K.

-----Original Message-----From: blithezb00tik Sent: Thursday, August 12, 2004 2:59 AMTo: The_Thyroid_Support_Group Subject: Re: Adrenal SupportOK now I'm confused. Previously, someone said that if you'rehypothyroid and untreated and you are also hypoadrenal, then treatingthe hypothyroid will cause heart palpitations and otherunpleasantness. So I figured that it was important to treat theadrenals first, and then start treating the thyroid.But if I've understood correctly, you're saying that treating theadrenals along with the thyroid can cause problems too...So what's the best route?blithe> Just wanted to add a not of warning about adrenal support and low > thyroid. If you are low thyroid (not on thryoid medication), adding > adrenal can drive what little thyroid hormone you have in the blood > into tissues and you can end up with side effects. I had a bad > reaction to taking adrenal when my thyroid levels were low back > before I was diagnosed. It basically depleted my thyroid hormone > from my blood and I ended up feeling really rotten and having a > major terrible headache that would not go away. For me it took about > a week of adrenal support before I crashed. It really depends on how > low thyroid you are. Adrenal and thyroid need to be in balance. > Researchers found that if they gave adrenal hormones to people who > were also undiagnosed hypothryoids, they developed symptoms of > Cushings.> > Adrenal hormones are what allows thyroid to enter cells. They help > the body use thyroid. So, if you take them, when you have low > thyroid and a thyroid gland that can't keep up, things get out of > balance after a while. depending on how low thyroid you are.> > Anyway, if you develop symptoms from the adrenal support after a > while, then you will know you are also low thyroid, no matter what > any tests show. A healthy person would not have a reaction.> > Tish

[Guest guest]

I'm saying that for some people who have very low thyroid levels in

the blood, if you treat the adrenals and just stay on adrenal for a

week or more, you can have a bad reaction. Most people could

probably stay on adrenal alone for a week or maybe two without

problems. But, I had a problem from bing on only adrenal support

after a week. I had very low T4 levels at the time and didn't know

it. I was just searching for something to make me feel better

because they kept telling me my thyroid was normal based on the TSH

test. I felt great for one week and then I crashed.

Adrenal causes thyroid to be used up, so if you are really low

thyroid and take adrenal, for a while, it can cause your thyroid

levels to be really depleted to the point that you will get symptoms

of some kind. Probably most hypothyroid people have enough thyroid

in their blood to handle taking adrenal for a week or two without

adding any thyroid, but I didn't.

The thing that happens to people who are hypothyroid is that their

bodies adapt and make changes keep cortisol in the system. The

hypothyroidism itself keeps adrenal from being lost. In other words,

as thyroid drops, cortisol output from the adrenals drops, too, and

the body changes so that it hangs on to cortisol. The reaction in

the liver that breaks it down slows in hypothyroidism. The tissues

in the body become more insensitive to cortisol, also, and so don't

use as much. The minute you take a thyroid pill, everything changes.

Suddenly cortisol is removed by the liver at the normal rate and

tissues become more sensitive to it and it goes more easily into

cells. Since, you already were low adrenal and not making much and

your body was just trying to keep it there longer by being thrifty

with it, the thyroid medicine basically almost immediately totally

depletes your adrenals and your blood of cortisol. This is why the

terrible reaction to tiny amounts of thyroid.

This hanging onto adrenal is one reason you can be mildly

hypothyroid for many years and not suffer too much or have many

symptoms. Also, as thyroid output declines, the body increases the

conversion of the small amounts of T4 to T3 as an adaptive

mechanism. The thyroid also changes it's output to adapt. They found

that hypothyroid people can have almost no T4 in the blood but have

normal T3 levels. (This was me) When they looked at this, they

discovered that the thyroid hormone that was being put out by the

thyroid was almost all T3. Amazing! The thryoid was adjusting to

what was happening and was putting out almost all T3 and very little

T4 to get the body the most energy possible from declining output.

The body is amazingly adaptable. This makes one wonder if this is

why thyroid patients do so poorly on T4 replacement. What if they

were running on mostly or all T3 for many years before their

hypothyroidism was discovered? Perhaps the body becomes less good at

converting T4 the longer it is using only T3.

I got all this wonderful information from Werer & Ingbar's, " The

Thyroid. "

Anyway, it is improtant that you support the adrenals before

starting thyroid, but, you also don't want to be on adrenal support

alone for a long time if thyroid output is low. Every person is

different, depending on how low their thyroid levels as to how long

they can go with adrenal support only before getting symptoms. For

me it was a week.

Tish

[Guest guest]

When I decided to do Peatfield's adrenal protocol my Free T4 and T3 were over the top of the scale especially my T3, like 477 points. I did the protocol for 11 days instead of the recommended week because I was feeling so much better. After the ll days I started again on Armour at the 1 gr. level. I was on that for 11 days when I had another Free T4 and T3 blood work and to my great surprise my T4 had dropped from 2.4 to .78 and my T3 from 897 to 257. So it gets used up pretty fast. I would not suggest more than a week on Cortef or whatever you decide to use before you begin adding in your thyroid meds.

Deb

Re: Adrenal Support

I'm saying that for some people who have very low thyroid levels in the blood, if you treat the adrenals and just stay on adrenal for a week or more, you can have a bad reaction. Most people could probably stay on adrenal alone for a week or maybe two without problems. But, I had a problem from bing on only adrenal support after a week. I had very low T4 levels at the time and didn't know it. I was just searching for something to make me feel better because they kept telling me my thyroid was normal based on the TSH test. I felt great for one week and then I crashed.Adrenal causes thyroid to be used up, so if you are really low thyroid and take adrenal, for a while, it can cause your thyroid levels to be really depleted to the point that you will get symptoms of some kind. Probably most hypothyroid people have enough thyroid in their blood to handle taking adrenal for a week or two without adding any thyroid, but I didn't.The thing that happens to people who are hypothyroid is that their bodies adapt and make changes keep cortisol in the system. The hypothyroidism itself keeps adrenal from being lost. In other words, as thyroid drops, cortisol output from the adrenals drops, too, and the body changes so that it hangs on to cortisol. The reaction in the liver that breaks it down slows in hypothyroidism. The tissues in the body become more insensitive to cortisol, also, and so don't use as much. The minute you take a thyroid pill, everything changes. Suddenly cortisol is removed by the liver at the normal rate and tissues become more sensitive to it and it goes more easily into cells. Since, you already were low adrenal and not making much and your body was just trying to keep it there longer by being thrifty with it, the thyroid medicine basically almost immediately totally depletes your adrenals and your blood of cortisol. This is why the terrible reaction to tiny amounts of thyroid.This hanging onto adrenal is one reason you can be mildly hypothyroid for many years and not suffer too much or have many symptoms. Also, as thyroid output declines, the body increases the conversion of the small amounts of T4 to T3 as an adaptive mechanism. The thyroid also changes it's output to adapt. They found that hypothyroid people can have almost no T4 in the blood but have normal T3 levels. (This was me) When they looked at this, they discovered that the thyroid hormone that was being put out by the thyroid was almost all T3. Amazing! The thryoid was adjusting to what was happening and was putting out almost all T3 and very little T4 to get the body the most energy possible from declining output. The body is amazingly adaptable. This makes one wonder if this is why thyroid patients do so poorly on T4 replacement. What if they were running on mostly or all T3 for many years before their hypothyroidism was discovered? Perhaps the body becomes less good at converting T4 the longer it is using only T3.I got all this wonderful information from Werer & Ingbar's, "The Thyroid." Anyway, it is improtant that you support the adrenals before starting thyroid, but, you also don't want to be on adrenal support alone for a long time if thyroid output is low. Every person is different, depending on how low their thyroid levels as to how long they can go with adrenal support only before getting symptoms. For me it was a week.Tish

[Guest guest]

When I decided to do Peatfield's adrenal protocol my Free T4 and T3 were over the top of the scale especially my T3, like 477 points. I did the protocol for 11 days instead of the recommended week because I was feeling so much better. After the ll days I started again on Armour at the 1 gr. level. I was on that for 11 days when I had another Free T4 and T3 blood work and to my great surprise my T4 had dropped from 2.4 to .78 and my T3 from 897 to 257. So it gets used up pretty fast. I would not suggest more than a week on Cortef or whatever you decide to use before you begin adding in your thyroid meds.

Deb

Re: Adrenal Support

I'm saying that for some people who have very low thyroid levels in the blood, if you treat the adrenals and just stay on adrenal for a week or more, you can have a bad reaction. Most people could probably stay on adrenal alone for a week or maybe two without problems. But, I had a problem from bing on only adrenal support after a week. I had very low T4 levels at the time and didn't know it. I was just searching for something to make me feel better because they kept telling me my thyroid was normal based on the TSH test. I felt great for one week and then I crashed.Adrenal causes thyroid to be used up, so if you are really low thyroid and take adrenal, for a while, it can cause your thyroid levels to be really depleted to the point that you will get symptoms of some kind. Probably most hypothyroid people have enough thyroid in their blood to handle taking adrenal for a week or two without adding any thyroid, but I didn't.The thing that happens to people who are hypothyroid is that their bodies adapt and make changes keep cortisol in the system. The hypothyroidism itself keeps adrenal from being lost. In other words, as thyroid drops, cortisol output from the adrenals drops, too, and the body changes so that it hangs on to cortisol. The reaction in the liver that breaks it down slows in hypothyroidism. The tissues in the body become more insensitive to cortisol, also, and so don't use as much. The minute you take a thyroid pill, everything changes. Suddenly cortisol is removed by the liver at the normal rate and tissues become more sensitive to it and it goes more easily into cells. Since, you already were low adrenal and not making much and your body was just trying to keep it there longer by being thrifty with it, the thyroid medicine basically almost immediately totally depletes your adrenals and your blood of cortisol. This is why the terrible reaction to tiny amounts of thyroid.This hanging onto adrenal is one reason you can be mildly hypothyroid for many years and not suffer too much or have many symptoms. Also, as thyroid output declines, the body increases the conversion of the small amounts of T4 to T3 as an adaptive mechanism. The thyroid also changes it's output to adapt. They found that hypothyroid people can have almost no T4 in the blood but have normal T3 levels. (This was me) When they looked at this, they discovered that the thyroid hormone that was being put out by the thyroid was almost all T3. Amazing! The thryoid was adjusting to what was happening and was putting out almost all T3 and very little T4 to get the body the most energy possible from declining output. The body is amazingly adaptable. This makes one wonder if this is why thyroid patients do so poorly on T4 replacement. What if they were running on mostly or all T3 for many years before their hypothyroidism was discovered? Perhaps the body becomes less good at converting T4 the longer it is using only T3.I got all this wonderful information from Werer & Ingbar's, "The Thyroid." Anyway, it is improtant that you support the adrenals before starting thyroid, but, you also don't want to be on adrenal support alone for a long time if thyroid output is low. Every person is different, depending on how low their thyroid levels as to how long they can go with adrenal support only before getting symptoms. For me it was a week.Tish

[Guest guest]

When I decided to do Peatfield's adrenal protocol my Free T4 and T3 were over the top of the scale especially my T3, like 477 points. I did the protocol for 11 days instead of the recommended week because I was feeling so much better. After the ll days I started again on Armour at the 1 gr. level. I was on that for 11 days when I had another Free T4 and T3 blood work and to my great surprise my T4 had dropped from 2.4 to .78 and my T3 from 897 to 257. So it gets used up pretty fast. I would not suggest more than a week on Cortef or whatever you decide to use before you begin adding in your thyroid meds.

Deb

Re: Adrenal Support

I'm saying that for some people who have very low thyroid levels in the blood, if you treat the adrenals and just stay on adrenal for a week or more, you can have a bad reaction. Most people could probably stay on adrenal alone for a week or maybe two without problems. But, I had a problem from bing on only adrenal support after a week. I had very low T4 levels at the time and didn't know it. I was just searching for something to make me feel better because they kept telling me my thyroid was normal based on the TSH test. I felt great for one week and then I crashed.Adrenal causes thyroid to be used up, so if you are really low thyroid and take adrenal, for a while, it can cause your thyroid levels to be really depleted to the point that you will get symptoms of some kind. Probably most hypothyroid people have enough thyroid in their blood to handle taking adrenal for a week or two without adding any thyroid, but I didn't.The thing that happens to people who are hypothyroid is that their bodies adapt and make changes keep cortisol in the system. The hypothyroidism itself keeps adrenal from being lost. In other words, as thyroid drops, cortisol output from the adrenals drops, too, and the body changes so that it hangs on to cortisol. The reaction in the liver that breaks it down slows in hypothyroidism. The tissues in the body become more insensitive to cortisol, also, and so don't use as much. The minute you take a thyroid pill, everything changes. Suddenly cortisol is removed by the liver at the normal rate and tissues become more sensitive to it and it goes more easily into cells. Since, you already were low adrenal and not making much and your body was just trying to keep it there longer by being thrifty with it, the thyroid medicine basically almost immediately totally depletes your adrenals and your blood of cortisol. This is why the terrible reaction to tiny amounts of thyroid.This hanging onto adrenal is one reason you can be mildly hypothyroid for many years and not suffer too much or have many symptoms. Also, as thyroid output declines, the body increases the conversion of the small amounts of T4 to T3 as an adaptive mechanism. The thyroid also changes it's output to adapt. They found that hypothyroid people can have almost no T4 in the blood but have normal T3 levels. (This was me) When they looked at this, they discovered that the thyroid hormone that was being put out by the thyroid was almost all T3. Amazing! The thryoid was adjusting to what was happening and was putting out almost all T3 and very little T4 to get the body the most energy possible from declining output. The body is amazingly adaptable. This makes one wonder if this is why thyroid patients do so poorly on T4 replacement. What if they were running on mostly or all T3 for many years before their hypothyroidism was discovered? Perhaps the body becomes less good at converting T4 the longer it is using only T3.I got all this wonderful information from Werer & Ingbar's, "The Thyroid." Anyway, it is improtant that you support the adrenals before starting thyroid, but, you also don't want to be on adrenal support alone for a long time if thyroid output is low. Every person is different, depending on how low their thyroid levels as to how long they can go with adrenal support only before getting symptoms. For me it was a week.Tish

[Guest guest]

Oh boy! I've started taking Delta. I'm on my 5th day. I haven't noticed any changes, good or bad. I'm not on thyroid meds yet. I was figuring since my numbers weren't real low (FT3 and FT4-in range, but could be higher and TSH 2.214) that I would see if my problems were mostly adrenal. I'm wondering after reading your post if I'm going to have problems soon. I guess we'll see, huh?

Shelli

Re: Adrenal Support

I'm saying that for some people who have very low thyroid levels in the blood, if you treat the adrenals and just stay on adrenal for a week or more, you can have a bad reaction. Most people could probably stay on adrenal alone for a week or maybe two without problems. But, I had a problem from bing on only adrenal support after a week. I had very low T4 levels at the time and didn't know it. I was just searching for something to make me feel better because they kept telling me my thyroid was normal based on the TSH test. I felt great for one week and then I crashed.Adrenal causes thyroid to be used up, so if you are really low thyroid and take adrenal, for a while, it can cause your thyroid levels to be really depleted to the point that you will get symptoms of some kind. Probably most hypothyroid people have enough thyroid in their blood to handle taking adrenal for a week or two without adding any thyroid, but I didn't.The thing that happens to people who are hypothyroid is that their bodies adapt and make changes keep cortisol in the system. The hypothyroidism itself keeps adrenal from being lost. In other words, as thyroid drops, cortisol output from the adrenals drops, too, and the body changes so that it hangs on to cortisol. The reaction in the liver that breaks it down slows in hypothyroidism. The tissues in the body become more insensitive to cortisol, also, and so don't use as much. The minute you take a thyroid pill, everything changes. Suddenly cortisol is removed by the liver at the normal rate and tissues become more sensitive to it and it goes more easily into cells. Since, you already were low adrenal and not making much and your body was just trying to keep it there longer by being thrifty with it, the thyroid medicine basically almost immediately totally depletes your adrenals and your blood of cortisol. This is why the terrible reaction to tiny amounts of thyroid.This hanging onto adrenal is one reason you can be mildly hypothyroid for many years and not suffer too much or have many symptoms. Also, as thyroid output declines, the body increases the conversion of the small amounts of T4 to T3 as an adaptive mechanism. The thyroid also changes it's output to adapt. They found that hypothyroid people can have almost no T4 in the blood but have normal T3 levels. (This was me) When they looked at this, they discovered that the thyroid hormone that was being put out by the thyroid was almost all T3. Amazing! The thryoid was adjusting to what was happening and was putting out almost all T3 and very little T4 to get the body the most energy possible from declining output. The body is amazingly adaptable. This makes one wonder if this is why thyroid patients do so poorly on T4 replacement. What if they were running on mostly or all T3 for many years before their hypothyroidism was discovered? Perhaps the body becomes less good at converting T4 the longer it is using only T3.I got all this wonderful information from Werer & Ingbar's, "The Thyroid." Anyway, it is improtant that you support the adrenals before starting thyroid, but, you also don't want to be on adrenal support alone for a long time if thyroid output is low. Every person is different, depending on how low their thyroid levels as to how long they can go with adrenal support only before getting symptoms. For me it was a week.Tish

[Guest guest]

Oh boy! I've started taking Delta. I'm on my 5th day. I haven't noticed any changes, good or bad. I'm not on thyroid meds yet. I was figuring since my numbers weren't real low (FT3 and FT4-in range, but could be higher and TSH 2.214) that I would see if my problems were mostly adrenal. I'm wondering after reading your post if I'm going to have problems soon. I guess we'll see, huh?

Shelli

Re: Adrenal Support

I'm saying that for some people who have very low thyroid levels in the blood, if you treat the adrenals and just stay on adrenal for a week or more, you can have a bad reaction. Most people could probably stay on adrenal alone for a week or maybe two without problems. But, I had a problem from bing on only adrenal support after a week. I had very low T4 levels at the time and didn't know it. I was just searching for something to make me feel better because they kept telling me my thyroid was normal based on the TSH test. I felt great for one week and then I crashed.Adrenal causes thyroid to be used up, so if you are really low thyroid and take adrenal, for a while, it can cause your thyroid levels to be really depleted to the point that you will get symptoms of some kind. Probably most hypothyroid people have enough thyroid in their blood to handle taking adrenal for a week or two without adding any thyroid, but I didn't.The thing that happens to people who are hypothyroid is that their bodies adapt and make changes keep cortisol in the system. The hypothyroidism itself keeps adrenal from being lost. In other words, as thyroid drops, cortisol output from the adrenals drops, too, and the body changes so that it hangs on to cortisol. The reaction in the liver that breaks it down slows in hypothyroidism. The tissues in the body become more insensitive to cortisol, also, and so don't use as much. The minute you take a thyroid pill, everything changes. Suddenly cortisol is removed by the liver at the normal rate and tissues become more sensitive to it and it goes more easily into cells. Since, you already were low adrenal and not making much and your body was just trying to keep it there longer by being thrifty with it, the thyroid medicine basically almost immediately totally depletes your adrenals and your blood of cortisol. This is why the terrible reaction to tiny amounts of thyroid.This hanging onto adrenal is one reason you can be mildly hypothyroid for many years and not suffer too much or have many symptoms. Also, as thyroid output declines, the body increases the conversion of the small amounts of T4 to T3 as an adaptive mechanism. The thyroid also changes it's output to adapt. They found that hypothyroid people can have almost no T4 in the blood but have normal T3 levels. (This was me) When they looked at this, they discovered that the thyroid hormone that was being put out by the thyroid was almost all T3. Amazing! The thryoid was adjusting to what was happening and was putting out almost all T3 and very little T4 to get the body the most energy possible from declining output. The body is amazingly adaptable. This makes one wonder if this is why thyroid patients do so poorly on T4 replacement. What if they were running on mostly or all T3 for many years before their hypothyroidism was discovered? Perhaps the body becomes less good at converting T4 the longer it is using only T3.I got all this wonderful information from Werer & Ingbar's, "The Thyroid." Anyway, it is improtant that you support the adrenals before starting thyroid, but, you also don't want to be on adrenal support alone for a long time if thyroid output is low. Every person is different, depending on how low their thyroid levels as to how long they can go with adrenal support only before getting symptoms. For me it was a week.Tish

[Guest guest]

Oh boy! I've started taking Delta. I'm on my 5th day. I haven't noticed any changes, good or bad. I'm not on thyroid meds yet. I was figuring since my numbers weren't real low (FT3 and FT4-in range, but could be higher and TSH 2.214) that I would see if my problems were mostly adrenal. I'm wondering after reading your post if I'm going to have problems soon. I guess we'll see, huh?

Shelli

Re: Adrenal Support

I'm saying that for some people who have very low thyroid levels in the blood, if you treat the adrenals and just stay on adrenal for a week or more, you can have a bad reaction. Most people could probably stay on adrenal alone for a week or maybe two without problems. But, I had a problem from bing on only adrenal support after a week. I had very low T4 levels at the time and didn't know it. I was just searching for something to make me feel better because they kept telling me my thyroid was normal based on the TSH test. I felt great for one week and then I crashed.Adrenal causes thyroid to be used up, so if you are really low thyroid and take adrenal, for a while, it can cause your thyroid levels to be really depleted to the point that you will get symptoms of some kind. Probably most hypothyroid people have enough thyroid in their blood to handle taking adrenal for a week or two without adding any thyroid, but I didn't.The thing that happens to people who are hypothyroid is that their bodies adapt and make changes keep cortisol in the system. The hypothyroidism itself keeps adrenal from being lost. In other words, as thyroid drops, cortisol output from the adrenals drops, too, and the body changes so that it hangs on to cortisol. The reaction in the liver that breaks it down slows in hypothyroidism. The tissues in the body become more insensitive to cortisol, also, and so don't use as much. The minute you take a thyroid pill, everything changes. Suddenly cortisol is removed by the liver at the normal rate and tissues become more sensitive to it and it goes more easily into cells. Since, you already were low adrenal and not making much and your body was just trying to keep it there longer by being thrifty with it, the thyroid medicine basically almost immediately totally depletes your adrenals and your blood of cortisol. This is why the terrible reaction to tiny amounts of thyroid.This hanging onto adrenal is one reason you can be mildly hypothyroid for many years and not suffer too much or have many symptoms. Also, as thyroid output declines, the body increases the conversion of the small amounts of T4 to T3 as an adaptive mechanism. The thyroid also changes it's output to adapt. They found that hypothyroid people can have almost no T4 in the blood but have normal T3 levels. (This was me) When they looked at this, they discovered that the thyroid hormone that was being put out by the thyroid was almost all T3. Amazing! The thryoid was adjusting to what was happening and was putting out almost all T3 and very little T4 to get the body the most energy possible from declining output. The body is amazingly adaptable. This makes one wonder if this is why thyroid patients do so poorly on T4 replacement. What if they were running on mostly or all T3 for many years before their hypothyroidism was discovered? Perhaps the body becomes less good at converting T4 the longer it is using only T3.I got all this wonderful information from Werer & Ingbar's, "The Thyroid." Anyway, it is improtant that you support the adrenals before starting thyroid, but, you also don't want to be on adrenal support alone for a long time if thyroid output is low. Every person is different, depending on how low their thyroid levels as to how long they can go with adrenal support only before getting symptoms. For me it was a week.Tish

[Guest guest]

Yes, and that's a tricky thing because some would say No, don't take the cortisol because it's using up your hormone. Yes, it is, driving it into the cells, so we'll feel better, but when it comes back to "get" more thyroid hormone, and there's nothing there, then we're in trouble already, unless we're already bringing it up and replacing it. Both hormones need to be replaced at the same time, if there is a cortisol problem there, because each one of them feeds on the other one's activities in a vicious circle.

Re: Re: Adrenal Support

When I decided to do Peatfield's adrenal protocol my Free T4 and T3 were over the top of the scale especially my T3, like 477 points. I did the protocol for 11 days instead of the recommended week because I was feeling so much better. After the ll days I started again on Armour at the 1 gr. level. I was on that for 11 days when I had another Free T4 and T3 blood work and to my great surprise my T4 had dropped from 2.4 to .78 and my T3 from 897 to 257. So it gets used up pretty fast. I would not suggest more than a week on Cortef or whatever you decide to use before you begin adding in your thyroid meds.

Deb

[Guest guest]

Yes, and that's a tricky thing because some would say No, don't take the cortisol because it's using up your hormone. Yes, it is, driving it into the cells, so we'll feel better, but when it comes back to "get" more thyroid hormone, and there's nothing there, then we're in trouble already, unless we're already bringing it up and replacing it. Both hormones need to be replaced at the same time, if there is a cortisol problem there, because each one of them feeds on the other one's activities in a vicious circle.

Re: Re: Adrenal Support

When I decided to do Peatfield's adrenal protocol my Free T4 and T3 were over the top of the scale especially my T3, like 477 points. I did the protocol for 11 days instead of the recommended week because I was feeling so much better. After the ll days I started again on Armour at the 1 gr. level. I was on that for 11 days when I had another Free T4 and T3 blood work and to my great surprise my T4 had dropped from 2.4 to .78 and my T3 from 897 to 257. So it gets used up pretty fast. I would not suggest more than a week on Cortef or whatever you decide to use before you begin adding in your thyroid meds.

Deb

[Guest guest]

Yes, and that's a tricky thing because some would say No, don't take the cortisol because it's using up your hormone. Yes, it is, driving it into the cells, so we'll feel better, but when it comes back to "get" more thyroid hormone, and there's nothing there, then we're in trouble already, unless we're already bringing it up and replacing it. Both hormones need to be replaced at the same time, if there is a cortisol problem there, because each one of them feeds on the other one's activities in a vicious circle.

Re: Re: Adrenal Support

When I decided to do Peatfield's adrenal protocol my Free T4 and T3 were over the top of the scale especially my T3, like 477 points. I did the protocol for 11 days instead of the recommended week because I was feeling so much better. After the ll days I started again on Armour at the 1 gr. level. I was on that for 11 days when I had another Free T4 and T3 blood work and to my great surprise my T4 had dropped from 2.4 to .78 and my T3 from 897 to 257. So it gets used up pretty fast. I would not suggest more than a week on Cortef or whatever you decide to use before you begin adding in your thyroid meds.

Deb