Re: Janet and others: concerning adrenals and thyroid

[Guest guest]

Thanks, Janie! That was so kind of you to say!

Am truly confused about my adrenals, to be honest with you. For me, I've never

felt I

was deficient. If anything, I'm excess as I tend to lean more toward the

Cushing's

symptoms vs. the 's symptoms, without being true Cushing's. My problem

seems to be more in the timing of the cortisol release and in the problem of

overly

exaggerated stress responses, especially inflammation and irritation of the

mucous

membranes of various body parts. For instance, this weekend. I ate popcorn on

Friday night and felt like I had a piece of a kernal skin under my gum by a

tooth.

Don't know if I got it out or not. Saturday morning, I woke up with a severely

swollen

gum, jaw and throat. Hard to swallow it was all so sore. It also affected my

ear on

that side and the sinuses on that side were draining excessively. It was all

just so

quick and severe and in my opinion, exaggerated.

But even working one day affects me -- at a job that is so non-stressful really!

This

past Monday, I woke up feeling so great. I had increased to 2 grains the Monday

before. Felt not great during the first week. But Monday...... It was like a

light switch

had been turned on. Truly amazing! So I was up and out doing things like I was

normal. Don't feel I overdid anything by any means as I continue to pace

myself, take

care that I rest appropriately and all that jazz. But Wed evening was a little

different. Then worked Thursday. Still paced myself cautiously. Friday was a

little

worse and then this tooth thing happened on Saturday and since then, I'm just

whipped. Still feel I have the " Armour edge " but I just don't think I should be

reacting

to things this intensely.

Another weird thing is that I cried A LOT this past weekend. Just feeling so

disappointed and hopeless again after a really great start to the week. Would

just

start to cry and the tears would just roll. But it actually helped reduce some

of the

red irritations I always get on my thighs (I have course hair there.) It also

reduced the

3 or so cystic acne points I had developed on my chin area since starting

Armour.

This just lead me to believe most of this stuff is adrenal related and by

crying, I

affected my cortisol or whatever adrenal hormone is causing these things. Yet I

still

had that " cortisol rush " late in the day along with a return of the pounding

heart

issue. (Before Armour, when I'd cry, my face and eyes would REALLY swell up,

almost

to the point where I couldn't get my eyes open! I would joke to my sister that

I must

be allergic to my tears.) All so weird and I just don't get it.

Any ideas?

So, I'm hoping this new doc will help put some pieces together with me. Would

love

to get the saliva test for diurnal levels! I can imagine what my midnight one

would be

and a 2-4am would be REALLY interesting! Would a trial run of hydrocortisone

hurt

me? Just enough to help this adrenal thing get back on track? Or perhaps

something

else? Or would the hydrocortisone just make me more " cushing's-like? " My not

working is reaching a real critical point financially and where before, I didn't

have to

worry about it so much..... now it's becoming an issue very quickly. Does

anyone

have any suggestions, insight, ideas? Would greatly appreciate any and all!

Thanks!!

Janet

> Janet, your response to was wonderful, insightful, and

> encouraging!! I hope everyone got to read it.

>

> I do want to comment on the adrenal statements. Yes, it is so true

> that there is a close relationship between the thyroid and adrenals.

> And there are definitely folks who will need adrenal support before

> they can tolerate Armour, or, like you who may need it just to

> tolerate the increases better.

>

> But I also want to add the following: one of my most debilitating

> symptoms while on T4-only meds was adrenals. My adrenals went

> totally and completely haywire anytime I tried to do anything

> physical all those years on T4-meds----pounding heartrate, excessive

> sweating, anxiety, hot, and fatigue so profound that I thought I

> would die.

>

> And because of the above, one might think that I of ALL folks would

> NEED adrenal support. YET, I have never needed it since I started

> Armour. In fact, when I got on Armour, I didn't even know about the

> connection between adrenals and thyroid. Simply providing the right

> kind of thyroid support (ARMOUR) did the trick to my touchy and

> debilitating adrenal response.

>

> It's funny how many variations there are!!

>

> Janie aka ThyroDiva

>

> > I've been on Armour now for 56 days and am currently at 2grains.

> I don't think I'm at

> > my optimal dose yet but have been having trouble tolerating dose

> increases and am

> > having pretty poor responses to almost ANY kind of stress. Am

> seeing a new doc in

> > town here on Thursday to address the adrenal issue -- which has

> never been taken

> > seriously by any doc I've ever seen. Most don't even recognize

> the close relation

> > between the thyroid and the adrenals and that a failure of one

> usually leads to an

> > abnormal reaction of some kind by the other.

[Guest guest]

Hi Janet. Two observations. First, you just simply may not be on

enough Armour, which can cause the adrenals to be spastic. I do

remember you saying that you are sensitive to every increase....what

happens with each increase?? Was there a reaction when you recently

went up to 2 grains?? And could you go up to 2 1/2 grains soon, and

hold that for at least 4 weeks?

Also, you mention hydrocortisone as a trial run....have you read

about Isocort or the other adrenal support Enzymatic Therapy in the

ADRENALS file? There are folks here who are on one or the other and

they feel very successful....

What about your female hormones?? Are these balanced?

How's your Ferritin?

Janie

> Am truly confused about my adrenals, to be honest with you. For

me, I've never felt I

> was deficient. If anything, I'm excess as I tend to lean more

toward the Cushing's

> symptoms vs. the 's symptoms, without being true

Cushing's. My problem

> seems to be more in the timing of the cortisol release and in the

problem of overly

> exaggerated stress responses, especially inflammation and

irritation of the mucous

> membranes of various body parts.

[Guest guest]

Adrenal supplementation is a crazy subject for me. There are folks

here who feel a great difference being on it! They definitely needed

it. Some folks can't even STAY on Armour without it.

As for me, I knew nothing about adrenal support when I switched to

Armour, and I always did and have done fine with Armour. In fact,

Armour stopped the DEBILITATING adrenal reactions I used to get on

T4-only meds.

My issues have been more a problem with low Ferritin and female

hormonal issues.

Last year, because of my bad fatigue with every cycle, I tried

adrenal support, Isocort. Since adrenals are connected to even

female hormones, I thought it would be worth a try. Nothing. I

simply detected no benefit.

BUT, I do supplement with DHEA. I started on only 5 mgs over a year

ago via a gel (with a gel, which administers it sublingually through

the skin, it's more powerful). But now my DHEA has dropped due to

stress, and I've added 25 mgs via a tablet, and eventually through

the same gel when I run out of tabs.

Pregnenolone is good, too, but I can't subjectively tell anything

with it either. The latter doesn't mean it isn't effective, though.

I also supplement with testosterone via a gel, which had a NOTABLE

difference in libido AND late afternoon energy.

My Ferritin is my only noticeable continuing problem. I just may

have to supplement with iron for years to come!!

Janie

> I'm thinking the same thing about myself. My doctor ran a

>cortisol test, but it was only a random urine so I have no idea if

>ranges listed as they are for a 24 hour. Anyway, I've been reading

>and DHEA and Pregnenolone is supposed to help with high cortisol

>levels. I'm thinking of ordering some from Swanson. Hopefully

>someone here can tell me if they have tried it and if it has helped.

[Guest guest]

Where do you get the testerone gel? Is it prescription?

Thanks

Debbie K

-----Original Message-----

From: loboshe

I also supplement with testosterone via a gel, which had a NOTABLE

difference in libido AND late afternoon energy.

My Ferritin is my only noticeable continuing problem. I just may

have to supplement with iron for years to come!!