Re: symptoms: low adrenal or low thyroid?

[Guest guest]

Thanks, Val. Still kicking myself for getting cavalier with the HC-

paying for it now. I'll up the HC. What amount would you recommend

if I did 22.5 today? I never did the cortisol testing (ugh, again),

so I always wonder how will I know if I am getting too much

cortisol? What should I be looking out for?

Also: about a year ago when exhaustion and brain fog set in (but no

thyroid diagnosis), I went to a military doc, explained my concerns.

Told him I was having trouble keeping a train of thought, finishing

sentences, staying focused. He asked a bunch of questions and

diagnosed me as " attention deficit disorder, previously

undiagnosed. " Put me on 15 mg. adderall xr. He said that if it

helped, then it proved I had a.d.d. I was shocked, but tried the

adderall for a few weeks, and found that it helped the brain fog a

little and also gave me more energy. Finally decided it was a band-

aid for me, that there was something else wrong with me, and stopped

taking it. In retrospect, however, I am wondering if the adderall

helped trash my adrenals? I mean, it's a stimulant, right? So was

it just making my tired adrenals work even harder towards burn out?

Nothing to change it now, just curious about your opinion on this.

Thanks so much for your help!

>

> >>Any ideas from anybody if these symptoms sound more adrenal or

more

> thyroid? Should I up the HC or the Armour, or should I just wait

> this out? It's feeling pretty unbearable.<<

>

> They are adrenal. What haooened was the couple days you felt OK on

15MG you were running on the cortisol reserves you had built up from

being on a steady dose of HC for a while. Now those reserves are gone

again. Like starting from scratch., I would lower thyroid and raise

HC even further for a couple weeks then taper it down agian IF the

symotoms go away. Sometimes they take a while to build somew reserves

again.

>

[Guest guest]

You know, I trucked along on 200+ cytomel a day and only 20 mg HC for

a couple of weeks before I crashed from AI, so I am guessing my

adrenals are not totally shot. Just severely stressed right now.

My question is whether someone like me, now on 45 mg HC daily, even

building reserves on a dose this high? Or are they resting by virtue

of not being used as I'm taking all my cortsiol orallly. I'm hoping

they're resting and will be able to go back to work once I am able to

start slowly weaning off HC.

>

What haooened was the couple days you felt OK on 15MG you were

running on the cortisol reserves you had built up from being on a

steady dose of HC for a while. Now those reserves are gone again. Like

starting from scratch., I would lower thyroid and raise HC even

further for a couple weeks then taper it down agian IF the symotoms go

away. Sometimes they take a while to build somew reserves again.

>

> --

> Artistic Grooming- Hurricane WV

>

> http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/

> http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/NaturalThyroidHormonesADRENALS/

>

[Guest guest]

>>What amount would you recommend

if I did 22.5 today? I never did the cortisol testing (ugh, again),

so I always wonder how will I know if I am getting too much

cortisol? What should I be looking out for? <<

I would go to 25MG and graph your temps! USE that tempo graph to tell what is

going on with your adrenals.

--

Artistic Grooming- Hurricane WV

http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/

http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/NaturalThyroidHormonesADRENALS/

[Guest guest]

>>My question is whether someone like me, now on 45 mg HC daily, even

building reserves on a dose this high? Or are they resting by virtue

of not being used as I'm taking all my cortsiol orallly. I'm hoping

they're resting and will be able to go back to work once I am able to

start slowly weaning off HC.<<

The problem is while you should be able to build some reserves this way, your

adrenals will slowly atrophy as thye are not being used. Thus it may be better

to have a longer less comfy recovery period that does not allow your adrenals to

atrpphy but causes some lows as they are forced to produce SOMETHING every day.

I do not think it builds reserves any faster to take enough HC to suppress

adrenal function.

--

Artistic Grooming- Hurricane WV

http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/

http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/NaturalThyroidHormonesADRENALS/

[Guest guest]

I do have some uncomfortable low cortisol symptoms (mostly at night)

on even 45 mg HC. Does that mean my adrenals are being forced to do

something or are they NOT doing anything, hence I have the low

cortisol symptoms?

Do I need to take less than 40 mg to force them to do SOMETHING and

just tough out the low cortisol symptoms? I don't want them to

atrophy.

Egads, this low cortisol stuff can be confusing!

>Thus it may be better to have a longer less comfy recovery period

that does not allow your adrenals to atrpphy but causes some lows as

they are forced to produce SOMETHING every day. >

> --

> Artistic Grooming- Hurricane WV

>

> http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/

> http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/NaturalThyroidHormonesADRENALS/

>

[Guest guest]

>>I do have some uncomfortable low cortisol symptoms (mostly at night)

on even 45 mg HC. Does that mean my adrenals are being forced to do

something or are they NOT doing anything, hence I have the low

cortisol symptoms?

Do I need to take less than 40 mg to force them to do SOMETHING and

just tough out the low cortisol symptoms? I don't want them to

atrophy.<<

If you take too much cortisol early in the day you are forcing your adrenals to

shut down by shutting off your ACTH THAT in itself WILL cause you to run low on

cortiosl later in the day. How are you dosing?

--

Artistic Grooming- Hurricane WV

http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/

http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/NaturalThyroidHormonesADRENALS/

[Guest guest]

I was dosing 12.5, 12.5, 10, 7.5, 2.5, but that wasn't enough and I

had symptoms all day long.

Thank you for all your help, Val.

Yesterday I dosed 15, 15, 10, 7.5 2.5 and felt good during the day

until around the 4th dose, I had some minor shakes, but nothing bad

and it went away. But then I ended up with fairly bad symptoms again

right at bedtime, so it's been really hard to sleep lately.

My last dose is about 2-3 hours before bed as I'm taking it every 3

hours. I'm not sure how to break it up so I can have a bedtime dose,

too, and still have enough throughout the day without going over 45

mg. The symptoms were bad enough last night I ended up taking 2.5 at

bedtime, which brought me to 47.5.

I also just wonder if I just need to stress dose a few days, too,

because I am in the process of SLOWLY increasing t3 as the t4 from

Armour wears out of my system.

>

> >>I do have some uncomfortable low cortisol symptoms (mostly at

night)

> on even 45 mg HC. Does that mean my adrenals are being forced to do

> something or are they NOT doing anything, hence I have the low

> cortisol symptoms?

>

> Do I need to take less than 40 mg to force them to do SOMETHING and

> just tough out the low cortisol symptoms? I don't want them to

> atrophy.<<

>

> If you take too much cortisol early in the day you are forcing your

adrenals to shut down by shutting off your ACTH THAT in itself WILL

cause you to run low on cortiosl later in the day. How are you dosing?

>

> --

> Artistic Grooming- Hurricane WV

>

> http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/

> http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/NaturalThyroidHormonesADRENALS/

>

[Guest guest]

15, 15, 10, 7.5 2.5

OK those two 15MG doses are guaranteeing you will run low in cortisol later in

the day. You need to be sure oyu PONLY take enough in the AM to take away

symptoms. I would try 12.5 10 7.5 5 and another 5MG at bedtime. This is 40MG

but in a MUCH better rythym. Too high doses early in the day ensure you WILL

need higher doses at evening and night and also insure your adrenals are being

totlly shut down which oyu do not want.

--

Artistic Grooming- Hurricane WV

http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/

http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/NaturalThyroidHormonesADRENALS/

[Guest guest]

Thank you, Val. What would we do without you??!!

>

> 15, 15, 10, 7.5 2.5

>

> OK those two 15MG doses are guaranteeing you will run low in

cortisol later in the day. You need to be sure oyu PONLY take enough

in the AM to take away symptoms. I would try 12.5 10 7.5 5 and

another 5MG at bedtime. This is 40MG but in a MUCH better rythym.

Too high doses early in the day ensure you WILL need higher doses at

evening and night and also insure your adrenals are being totlly shut

down which oyu do not want.

>

> --

> Artistic Grooming- Hurricane WV

>

> http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/

> http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/NaturalThyroidHormonesADRENALS/

>

[Guest guest]

Val, thanks so much! I tried the dosing schedule you gave me before and

worked like a charm and I was able to stick to 40 mg HC instead of 45!

I had no AI symptoms all day and no dreaded heart pounding at night,

either!

I am still waking up every 3 hours feeling anxious (I think it is

adrenaline surges) and then can't get back to sleep, but it is MUCH

better than past several days, so I'm hoping it will just continue to

get better at night so I can sleep.

Do you know why I would still be getting these adrenaline surges at

night? Is my cortisol still too low at night and the ACTH then causes

an adrenaline dump because my body can't make enough cortisol? (I'm

sorry--I don't quite understand how the adrenaline/cortisol conection,

just that your body tries to live off adrenaline if your cortisol is

low.)

Thank you and sorry to be writing on the holiday weekend.

Kathleen

OK those two 15MG doses are guaranteeing you will run low in cortisol

later in the day. You need to be sure oyu PONLY take enough in the AM

to take away symptoms. I would try 12.5 10 7.5 5 and another 5MG at

bedtime. This is 40MG but in a MUCH better rythym. Too high doses early

in the day ensure you WILL need higher doses at evening and night and

also insure your adrenals are being totlly shut down which oyu do not

want.

>

[Guest guest]

Val, thanks so much! I tried the dosing schedule you gave me before and

worked like a charm and I was able to stick to 40 mg HC instead of 45!

I had no AI symptoms all day and no dreaded heart pounding at night,

either!

I am still waking up every 3 hours feeling anxious (I think it is

adrenaline surges) and then can't get back to sleep, but it is MUCH

better than past several days, so I'm hoping it will just continue to

get better at night so I can sleep.

Do you know why I would still be getting these adrenaline surges at

night? Is my cortisol still too low at night and the ACTH then causes

an adrenaline dump because my body can't make enough cortisol? (I'm

sorry--I don't quite understand how the adrenaline/cortisol conection,

just that your body tries to live off adrenaline if your cortisol is

low.)

Thank you and sorry to be writing on the holiday weekend.

Kathleen

OK those two 15MG doses are guaranteeing you will run low in cortisol

later in the day. You need to be sure oyu PONLY take enough in the AM

to take away symptoms. I would try 12.5 10 7.5 5 and another 5MG at

bedtime. This is 40MG but in a MUCH better rythym. Too high doses early

in the day ensure you WILL need higher doses at evening and night and

also insure your adrenals are being totlly shut down which oyu do not

want.

>