Guest guest Posted August 2, 2004 Report Share Posted August 2, 2004 Hi, and welcome to the group.... It sounds like you are definately having some adrenal symptoms. Low thyroid function and cortisol deficiency have many overlapping symptoms, so it is sometimes difficult to say which is causing what. However, considering your reaction to a stressful a situation, I would suspect that you do not have enough " adrenal reserve " to handle the added need. You most likely produce enough cortisol to carry out your daily processes, but when the demand is great, it just isnt there. Some symtoms of cortisol deficency are..low metabolic rate, fatigue, pain and low blood pressure. Do you get dizzy when you stand up suddenly? In general you will feel like you have the flu all of time. Yuk! Sometimes you do not have enough reserve because there is problem with the adrenal gland itself, and sometimes its a problem with the stimulation from the pituitary gland, and can also be a direct result of low thyroid production. Because every cell in the body relies on thyroid hormone to function properly. There are tests that can be done to evaluate your adrenal health. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 2, 2004 Report Share Posted August 2, 2004 There is a link between hypothyroidism and amenorrhea, and a link between hypothyroidism and adrenal insufficiency or exhaustion. I can tell you what worked for me and what my problems were and give you some general information. Your body makes T3 from T4. This is the rationale behind prescribing T4 to people. Some people have a lot of trouble converting the T4 to T3, and these people do much better on a drug that has both T4 and T3 in it. There has been at least one study that shows most thyroid patients do better on some T3 added to the T4. Quite frankly, I always wondered if my T4 pills were a placebo, because they never seemed to have an effect. I started doing much better after I got on a natural thyroid product that has T4 and T3 (Armour is what I am on). You can tire the adrenals pretty easily with hypothyroidism. If you look at package inserts for the thyroid medicines, they say to check adrenal function before treating thyroid. No one does, and my experience is that you are looked at as if you are an escaped lunatic when you ask for adrenal testing. I ended up picking out a " top doc " from a website (which also has a lot of other good information and which I will provide below), who agreed to test adrenals. I came out at the bottom of all the ranges on adrenal hormones. My symptoms were: Darker, brassy-colored patches on first one arm, then the other (they looked as if I'd used spray-on sunscreen and missed a spot, then gone out in the sun); very dark circles under the eyes for that trendy undead look; NAUSEA--I would have terrible bouts of nausea every couple of weeks; fatigue; excessive reaction to stress. I have been taking Isocort and DHEA for this and the nausea is gone, the fatigue is better. I've only been on these for a couple of months. try http://thyroid.about.com for some information Katharine <katharine.courts@...> wrote: Hi, I've been reading posts for a while and trying to educate myself. Mine is a long and complex history. Have been really sick for about 15 years (am now 28). Had terrible candida problems in the gut which I can now manage but am still not cured, ie. on very strict diet. Have not had a period for ten years, and now have osteoporosis as I didn't go on HRT due to terrible gut problems, worsened by HRT. I am on Natural Progesterone, but think I need oestrogen to start to build my bones, despite it making my digestive problems worse. Was recently diagnosed with underactive thyroid. Tried to self treat with kelp for a while before reading this was a bad idea. I was very much sicker when I took kelp. (Terrible 'crashing', exhaustion, pain in the gut). I believe my problems may be adrenal related, or 's Syndrome? But I am only just learning about this area. In recent tests, my T4 was low, but within range. My T3 was well below range. My daily ave. temp is 97.5 and I feel the cold terribly, get terrible 'crashing' in blood sugar and energy levels, brain fog, terrible constipation, amenorrhea, digestive disturbance, depression. All the classic symptoms. But I get adrenaline rushes too - stress, even in moderate amounts, leaves me tripping, blood rushing, heart pumping, disturbed sleep and indigestion for hours following a short dose of stress. This is why I wonder if adrenals are a cause. Some of my questions: What is the link between adrenals and thyroid, and how do you know if your adrenals are playing a role in the hypothyroidism? What do you think about my symptoms, for those of you with (obviously) quite some knowledge on the whole subject? Is 's syndrome about treating the adrenals or thyroid too? Are there natural therapies to all these problems ie, adrenals and thyroid treatment, as I react terribly to many types of synthetic medication? Is there a direct link between my amenorrhoea and thyroid function? It would be wonderful to get periods back, as right now I believe I may have been through the menopause and may therefore be infertile. Finally, do I need just T3 or T4 too? I find it weird that my T4 levels are reasonable and my T3 is so low. Sorry for all these questions. I have been researching, learning, reading so much for the past ten years, it feels like my health is all that I am about some days and I get so sick and tired of being sick and tired. This is a new angle I'd really like to learn more about, esp if it's possible it may be the root of all this mess! Thanks for all your time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 2, 2004 Report Share Posted August 2, 2004 I think you must get thyroid medicine, like Armour, for starters. Look at http://www.drrind.com http://www.geocities.com/thyroide for UK board Gracia > Hi, I've been reading posts for a while and trying to educate myself. > Mine is a long and complex history. Have been really sick for about > 15 years (am now 28). Had terrible candida problems in the gut which > I can now manage but am still not cured, ie. on very strict diet. > Have not had a period for ten years, and now have osteoporosis as I > didn't go on HRT due to terrible gut problems, worsened by HRT. I am > on Natural Progesterone, but think I need oestrogen to start to build > my bones, despite it making my digestive problems worse. > > Was recently diagnosed with underactive thyroid. Tried to self treat > with kelp for a while before reading this was a bad idea. I was very > much sicker when I took kelp. (Terrible 'crashing', exhaustion, pain > in the gut). > I believe my problems may be adrenal related, or 's Syndrome? > But I am only just learning about this area. In recent tests, my T4 > was low, but within range. My T3 was well below range. My daily ave. > temp is 97.5 and I feel the cold terribly, get terrible 'crashing' in > blood sugar and energy levels, brain fog, terrible constipation, > amenorrhea, digestive disturbance, depression. All the classic > symptoms. But I get adrenaline rushes too - stress, even in moderate > amounts, leaves me tripping, blood rushing, heart pumping, disturbed > sleep and indigestion for hours following a short dose of stress. > This is why I wonder if adrenals are a cause. > Some of my questions: > What is the link between adrenals and thyroid, and how do you know if > your adrenals are playing a role in the hypothyroidism? > What do you think about my symptoms, for those of you with > (obviously) quite some knowledge on the whole subject? > Is 's syndrome about treating the adrenals or thyroid too? > Are there natural therapies to all these problems ie, adrenals and > thyroid treatment, as I react terribly to many types of synthetic > medication? > Is there a direct link between my amenorrhoea and thyroid function? > It would be wonderful to get periods back, as right now I believe I > may have been through the menopause and may therefore be infertile. > Finally, do I need just T3 or T4 too? I find it weird that my T4 > levels are reasonable and my T3 is so low. > > Sorry for all these questions. I have been researching, learning, > reading so much for the past ten years, it feels like my health is > all that I am about some days and I get so sick and tired of being > sick and tired. This is a new angle I'd really like to learn more > about, esp if it's possible it may be the root of all this mess! > Thanks for all your time. > > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 4, 2004 Report Share Posted August 4, 2004 > > I think you must get thyroid medicine, like Armour, for starters. Look at > http://www.drrind.com > http://www.geocities.com/thyroide for UK board > Gracia > Thankyou all for your help and advice, I will be discussing this with my doc asap! I've been looking back through my old files and notes. Three years ago I had various saliva tests done including measuring cortisol. It showed that my cortisol levels morning, noon, evening and night were within the normal range, but that my DHEAs were extremely high. Does this indicate that adrenals are problematic are aren't? I am somewhat confused! Still exploring the need to deal with adrenals in conjunction with my low T3 results. Also can anyone help me understand how my T4 is normal when my T3 is low? Is it because I can't convert properly and therefore need T3 and not T4? Thanks in advance! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 4, 2004 Report Share Posted August 4, 2004 All I can tell you is that my DHEA and cortisol were extremely high on saliva test. On 24 hr urine both were very low. Your high DHEA is compensating for low cortisol. Adrenal hormones help to get T3 into cells. Don't be confused by tests!!!! Go by symptoms, the old tried and true way. Do a trial of Armour thyroid. Gracia > > Thankyou all for your help and advice, I will be discussing this with > my doc asap! > I've been looking back through my old files and notes. Three years > ago I had various saliva tests done including measuring cortisol. It > showed that my cortisol levels morning, noon, evening and night were > within the normal range, but that my DHEAs were extremely high. Does > this indicate that adrenals are problematic are aren't? I am somewhat > confused! Still exploring the need to deal with adrenals in > conjunction with my low T3 results. > Also can anyone help me understand how my T4 is normal when my T3 is > low? Is it because I can't convert properly and therefore need T3 and > not T4? Thanks in advance! > > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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