This is probably one for someine who has been down this path and I've been speaking to 2 other ladies who are at the same stage as me. Trying to work out the best supplementation for our failing adrenals. Im at stage 3 maladaptation and Im noticing it. The weight is piling on and my belly is huge. Very stressed, not coping with noise or any change in plans. Not sleeping at all (i really cant cope with this) Im pushed to my limit now. So Im thinking of getting the book as an ebook and following his guidelines. Any opinions or maybe other recommendations?
Thanks guys
very poorly
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BexyLS
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Hi Bexy - if you don't mind I've responded here as I'd love to see the responses you get too. I'm in exactly the same position as you and don't really know what to do next (I was one of the people who responded on your other thread, if you recall). So I hope someone with more experience of this can advise us here.
Thanks for that, Bexy - I'll take a look and probably join too. Not really done any more research yet - still waiting for the results to turn up to decide what to do next. Are you feeling any better?
I am. I'm getting more sleep which is helping and just telling myself to RELAX and that things can be done quickly and efficiently without feeling stressed at the same time! But today was the first day feeling like that!
I took Thorne's Adrenal Cortex, which helped re-balance my adrenals because I had hypo-adrenalism. My adrenals always struggled until I got the right support for my thyroid (my out of balance thyroid was causing an imbalance in my adrenals). Though some people find the adrenals are the main cause of their thyroid issue. So when their adrenals are in balance, the thyroid gets back into balance easier. I think this is down to different body types - to which gland is the primary gland knocking the other gland out. As you're feeling so unwell, I recommend seeing an experienced practitioner of adrenals issues, who can guide you through some treatment rather than self-treat, so you can get the right support and correct supplementation.
Thanks HEA72 for the article. I'm in the west of Ireland and finding a practitioner here is hard. Is there anyone you would recommend?I could fly to London but it will be a while til I could do that.
I can tell you what I take and how each thing came about.
I started by ordering the saliva cortisol test. I'm guessing you've already taken the test, but for anyone else reading this thread, PLEASE order the test before starting treatment. The symptoms of low cortisol and high cortisol can be similar, but treatment is very different.
I tested mid, low, low, low. I flatlined during the day.
Dr P started me on Nutri Adrenal Extra (which I had to build up slowly as I found them hard to tolerate) x4, 3g Vit C, CoEnzyme Q (which I no longer take). This was April last year.
In June I reread the report that came with my saliva test, which I'd ordered through Dr M's website. She suggested using 10 - 20mg hydrocortisone as cream. I tried it and the effect was dramatic and immediate. Dr P said it was ok to continue at that level. I made the mistake of starting too low and got the classic adrenaline rushes. I built up to 20mg a day using cream, and recently have reduced via 17.5mg to 15mg. I take a 5mg tablet on rising and split 10mg cream into 2 applications.
In April this year I started seeing another doctor who added in Nutri's AdrenoMax.
I also take 50mcg thyroxine, 2 x Nutri Thyroid, 3 x ThyroComplex (magic for me), Vit D and alpha lipoic acid.
Hello, I can share my experience too rather than offer advice, but perhaps this could help too. I am significantly hypothyroid with adrenal issues (like the post above says the two are so interlinked they seem to fall into either a downward or recovery spiral together). Amongst other things what seemed to help with adrenals most was ashwaghanda, going gluten free and sleep. I was taking ashwaghanda powder daily, sometimes with astragalus but that was for additional auto-immune stuff. Entirely cutting out gluten and sugar took a few months to feel better but significantly improved all my symptoms. Getting to bed and sleeping before 10pm every night was key. I still have problems sleeping if I stay up too late.
Someone said that adrenal problems don't happen to lazy people... And that's a clue to the cause and the cure.
Additionally I take nature-throid NDT and felt both my thyroid and adrenals improving after switching from levothyroxine. I take high doses of vitC, selenium and vit E together, magnesium zinc and copper.
Changing lifestyle definitely helped the most. I know it is so difficult to maintain calm when feeling so ill is so stressful but this becomes such a vicious cycle. Once I'd settled into my routine with mess and supplements I really tried to listen to my symptoms as indicators of what my body needed. So if I had really low energy and tired I would sleep as much as I could. When I couldn't tolerate noise I made sure to get as much quiet time as I could and then worked through all e small tension points that we're causing me to go into almost a stressed out collapse ( little things like getting the kids dressed) and fixed up ways that made everything go as smoothly as possible.
Now I am much better, I'm still balancing my thyroid but I rarely feel the adrenal symptoms. As soon as I do I withdraw from everything and do as little as possible (not always easy with two small people!) and that seems to stave off major crashes.
Hi Kat, your reply is so helpful, I can relate to you loads. Did you have low immunity? Mine's been terribly low for many years now and although I'm on the road to recovery my immune system is still struggling. Any advice from your wealth of experience? Helen
Hi Helen, I have had really low immunity for the last three years but as I have TPO antibodies I have had to be very careful about supplementing as some things that support the immune system could cause it to do more damage to my thyroid! I take high dose Vit E together with selenium which are meant to be synergistic and the Vit E supports balancing the immune system. Also high doses of vit C. I take 2000 mcg daily (in two doses) and increase that to 3000 mcg if I feel the start of a cold or bug.
It's important to balance out when taking things as vit C can inhibit selenium absorption. I take the vit C after breakfast and in the afternoon and take vitE and selenium just before I go to bed.
This autumn I have felt better and stronger than I have in a long time. Last year I was ill with recurrent colds, flu and throat infections from October to April.
Do you also have thyroid problems? I was taking levothyroxine which seemed to aggravate my adrenals as I had so many symptoms, low cortisol and daily kidney pain. Switching to NDT has changed all of that and I think, for me, has been the pivotal point for starting to make a recovery
Thank you for your time in replying to me and giving me your helpful feedback. Yes I have hypothyroidism and on NDT. I've noticed an improvement but I'm still not where I should be. But I have hypoxia too and low in vit D, so supplementing for those also. It's still work in progress.
It is so tricky to get everything in balance. Like a series of cogs, if one thing is out everything else goes. I feel like I have really had to investigate all my different symptoms and feel fairly confident now in treating myself with herbs, supplements and meds. Good luck!
I have adrenal problems linked to b12 deficiency. My cortisol is low (but still in range) at 195nmol at 9am in the morning (bottom lab range is 185nmol). The drs just won't treat me despite feeling really ill. I had an SST test but my own ACTH level wasn't taken before they injected the artificial ACTH. The test showed that my body reacted well to the artificial ACTH and my levels rose to 545 and 616 (30 mins then the hour). My drs won't treat me with hydrocortisone to help my morning adrenals.
I wake up tired, I struggle on and at lunch time, after I've eaten, I just want and need to sleep. Sometimes I just can't keep my eyes open no matter how hard I try. At 2.30 is my biggest problem and the time I need the sleep but this is also set off time for kid pick up. I'm then driving 20mins to get to school (along 2 main A roads) before I reach the school. I'm like a zombie and just want to sleep. Again at 5pm I need to sleep and I can't stay up past 9pm most nights as I'll just fall asleep in front of the tv. Some nights I am in bed at 8.30pm and there's times I've fallen asleep listening to my 7 year old read her book to me at .7pm.
Since taking dglr x 3 tablets, I am more able to cope although I'm still very tired.
I think my adrenals crashed back in 2012! My mum died in the April, I started drinking a bit too much to blot it out then I ran a half marathon in her memory at 2 stone over the weight I'd have normally ran it. I also killed my feet that day and suffer with my plantar in both feet.
I have been told that I do have secondary adrenal insufficiency by the 1 dr that asked for my cortisol levels to be checked because of the link between b12 deficiencies and low cortisol but as the medical drs see him as a quack I have no chance if getting a dx or the treatment I need.
Hi UKangell, Sorry to hear about your Mum. Just before I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism my Nan and 2 friends died, I was also in a job I hated. These things come hand in hand don't they? Can I ask what dglr is? I have never heard of it before! Did you do an adrenal stress test? Or was it bloods with normal docs? I know it's not worth me asking my doc for any of that. Every article says change of diet and lifestyle. How do we change our lifestyle!!! anyway hope things are getting better for you xx
Dglr is deglycyrrhizinated licorice root extract. I had bloods draw before 9am. Then an SST back in march at 9am. To detect secondary adrenal problems you need a low dose SST but drs won't do these. They just jump straight into high artificial ACTH which does not work in SAI cases only addisons shows up.
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