Fixing adrenals seems harder than fixing thyroid!

[sallypg]

Anyone else have this experience? Only since my thyroid went on the blink do I now know that I have been suffering from adrenal fatigue for years. All this time I just thought it was a bad stress disorder. Question is, what is the fix? It seems to muddled and murky, no easy road on this one. Not helped by hideous insomnia

[HarryE]

Dr P recommends Nutri Adrenal, I think lots of people here have used it

[humanbean]

Symptoms of high cortisol and low cortisol are quite similar in many ways. It is a good idea to identify how your cortisol production is working throughout the day. The best way of doing this is with a saliva test, where you produce 4 saliva samples at set times during the day.

The treatment you need depends on whether your results are low, high or mixed and it is not recommended that you make assumptions. There could be a problem with DHEA as well (which is usually tested at the same time as the cortisol is tested.)

I took Nutri Adrenal Extra (briefly) on the assumption I had low cortisol. I was wrong, and I felt really awful on it - jittery, angry, aggressive and paranoid. I actually had high cortisol. I used Seriphos to help lower my cortisol.

Get a test done first, then post your results. It makes life so much easier.

[sallypg in reply to humanbean]

Human, those supplements you took, are they glandulars?

[humanbean in reply to sallypg]

You can find the ingredients of Nutri Adrenal Extra (often referred to as NAX) on this page :

nutricentre.com/p-21604-nut...

If I've understood it correctly, it contains glandular material from the adrenal cortex and pituitary of cows, as well as various vitamins and minerals. If you choose to take this, make sure you take into account the vitamin and mineral component, if you already take supplements. NAX is usually taken by people with low cortisol.

Seriphos - this is actually made of a substance called phosphorylated serine. It is intended to be taken by people with high cortisol. It isn't a glandular. I'm afraid the science of what it is and what it does is rather beyond me. I found this link :

interplexus.com/pdf/seripho...

Interplexus is the company that makes Seriphos.

If you have high cortisol then I would recommend reading these links :

moodcure.com/correcting_cor...

medicinegarden.com/2011/02/...

medicinegarden.com/2011/02/...

medicinegarden.com/2011/02/...

medicinegarden.com/2011/02/...

Hope this helps.

[sallypg in reply to humanbean]

Great thanks

[humanbean in reply to sallypg]

If low cortisol is your problem, there is another - cheaper and less powerful - alternative to NAX you might also want to know about made by the same company called just Nutri Adrenal (often just referred to as NA on forums). It only contains adrenal cortex - no pituitary and no minerals and vitamins :

nutricentre.com/p-21602-nut...

[Jow11 in reply to humanbean]

Hi humanbean, could you tell me if Seriphos helped you? How long did you take it for and how much? I'm asking as I have high night time cortisol and suffer from insomnia as a result. Many thanks.

[humanbean in reply to Jow11]

I was on Seriphos for 4 - 6 weeks - can't remember exactly. The manufacturer says that people shouldn't stay on it longer than three months in total and I wanted to leave some "spare" time for it. I started on 1 pill per day, but went up in dose quite quickly - every two or three days I think it was, I added another pill. I ended up taking 1 in the morning and 2 in the evening, and wasn't prepared to take more than that.

While I was on the Seriphos I felt awful - really awful. I was incredibly tired and headache-y on it. But I persisted for a few weeks. I didn't really appreciate that it had done anything until I stopped taking it, and that realisation that I had improved took a while.

Since I was on it my general jitteriness and anxiety has dropped a bit, and falling asleep is a bit easier than it used to be. My anxiety problems have been going up again recently though, and I intend to do another saliva test when I can afford it, then do another stint on the Seriphos, probably of another 4 - 6 weeks again. I still have roughly half of the capsules left and I want to see what happens if I use them up.

I have read of some people who stay on it for years, and some people who take vast quantities each night - 15 or 16 pills or more, and I find that astonishing!

I won't say that Seriphos was a life-saver or anything like that. But I don't regret taking it.

[Jow11 in reply to humanbean]

Thank you for your reply. It's really helpful.

[shaws Administrator]

Here is a link you may find helpful:-

stopthethyroidmadness.com/a...

[smith8577]

Read the book adrenal fatigue by dr. Wilson. Best book on how to recover. I agree salvia cortisol test is needed. You can order a kit from Mymedlab.com its $90. I have adrenal disease and its not easy. Reducing stress is main thing. Reducing toxic foods like sugar, caffeine, alcohol because they put stress on adrenals. Just to take a few. Good luck

[sallypg in reply to smith8577]

Smith, what kind of disease do you have? How long have you been battling?

[sallypg]

Do sleeping pills stress the adrenals? When bad insomnia ravages me I have to resort to drugs