Pregnenolone, Anyone taking it for Adrenal Fatigue instead of Cortisol?

Just trying to decide whether to take pregnenolone or cortisol. I want my thyroid meds to work better, I have low cortisol.

Can anyone advise me?

Thank you!

[Heloise]

I haven't tried cortisol yet. I used a pregnenolone cream last year but can't say it made a difference. I now have sublingual tablets and hopefully I'll notice something.

[Hidden in reply to Heloise]

Hi Heloise, thanks for replying. I've just ordered some, so we shall see. I looked on Dr Myhill's website where she discusses it, so I thought it worth a try. I hope it relieves the exhaustion and make my thyroid meds work. I'm taking over 100mcg of T3 and not feeling a thing.

[Heloise in reply to Hidden]

Oh my, that's amazing. I only take 30 mcg. No wonder you have run out almost. I just copied the address for our cynomel. I'm thinking of going back to NDT. I've been trying T3 for a year, lab tests are tricky so I really don't know my levels. I'm wondering if a little bit of T4 might be necessary. If we run out of T3, we can be in trouble rather quickly right? Do you sleep well or have apnea?

[Hidden in reply to Heloise]

Mine arrived this morning, 50 mg so I may just take half a capsule.

I have to say thus far Heloise T3 hasn't cracked for me. I have going back on NDT at the back of my mind. So far I've gained a lot of weight on T3 and I wasn't expecting that.

I haven't slept well in over 20 years, I had some trauma and I just got out of the habit of sleeping. I can only sleep 3 hours before waking. Often I go to bed later than 2 am. I'd love to get more sleep I know it's contributing to me feeling lousy!

[Heloise in reply to Hidden]

I do relate, Hel. I'm going to do a sleep test and I hope it will tell how much sleep I am getting. I was up at 4:45 the other morning....so 3 or 4 hours sleep. Sometimes I get 6 or 7. It's not good.

I can't increase my T3 but you obviously can. Well, what is happening to it? It can't turn into reverse T3, can it? I guess cortisol shuts it down.

I took Dr. Teitlebaum's From Fatigue to Fantastic which has a lot of the components to help adrenals.

I don't need to work so I really don't have a test of my energy. I've gone out of the house in the morning, driving fifty miles, shopping, lunch and driving back at five and am not completely exhausted so I guess that is something. If I had to be on my feet all that time though, could never do it, muscles shut down.

Have you seen Dr. Wilson's recipe for adrenal problems? adrenalfatigue.org/program-...

[Hidden in reply to Heloise]

Hi Heloise, of course peeing all the time doesn't help. I can get a bit more sleep if I use gabapentin, it shuts your racing thoughts down, and I have to go to the loo less. Before I got any treatment for interstitial cystitis I was taking a pillow to the loo with me. Getting up most of the night isn't restful, plus body pain it's hopeless trying to sleep. I go through spells of sleeping on the sofa with really bad late night films on, for some reason I can sleep more then!

I don't have your kind of energy, a few months back I could hardly walk from my parked car into a store 50 yds away before looking for somewhere to sit. Since I've been taking iron I have to say that has improved a lot. My painful feet and calves contribute a lot to me not being able to walk far. I Just can't get rid of the painful feet. They're swollen and I have burning stabbing nerve pain, since 2007. I had a scan and it isn't plantar faciitis.

The only energy I get is late at night

I've read a lot of stuff on adrenal problems but have never had the confidence to take HC on my own. I take vit c, b5 etc etc which is supposed to help them, even licorice root and ginseng and my latest adrenal stress test was even worse!

I have no idea where all this T3 is going, still have the dry skin, low temps etc etc. No combination of any thyroid meds has shifted the symptoms. The nearest thing I got to feeling some improvement was on 200 levo and 3 grains of Armour, that was under Dr Skinner and he always said I had a way to go. That caused problems as I was always being told to cut down. So I weaned myself of levo and decided to go it alone.

Thanks for the link, I'll take a look!

[Heloise in reply to Hidden]

Nerve pain. I went through several phases of that terrible burning from my hips to my knees every night for months on end. I wonder if it stops only because the nerve fibers are shot and lose their sensitivity. I don't have a lot of strength in my legs now. I could not raise myself off the floor using just my legs. I would be happy to lose ten pounds which might help. So you have the same problem but with different set of nerves. I was prescribed Gabapentin when the nerves around my teeth started acting up. I didn't want to stay on it even though it worked and decided to try the supplement, Gaba. I didn't know if they were on the same order but Gaba is based more on valium as you will see on Dr. Wilson's list.

Do you think you might have been loaded up with reverse T3 from the time you were on 200 levo. Ever had it tested...but it has to be tested along with free T3 to see the actual ratio. I would love to see that. stopthethyroidmadness.com/r...

[greygoose in reply to Heloise]

Héloïse, if you run out of T3 I wouldn't say you were in trouble 'rather quickly', no. I'm on T3 only and stopped mine for 6 months. My TSH went up to 35, and I put on a bit of weight, but I was ok apart from that. Not something I would recommend to anyone, but don't panic if you do go without for a while. I think you'll survive for a short while.

[Heloise in reply to greygoose]

Okay, grey. I think I still produce some thyroid hormone from somewhere but I still hope there isn't going to be a shortage of T3.

Helcaster is taking 100 mcgs. of T3 so I wonder if that makes it more crucial in her case.

[greygoose in reply to Heloise]

I was taking 225.

[Hidden in reply to greygoose]

I'm up to 125 T3 now grey, I think I could double that lol!! Hoping more cortisol with make my receptors open up and welcome T3!

Someone on here ages ago said you're wasting your time taking thyroid meds if your adrenals aren't sorted. I think he/she was right!

[Heloise in reply to greygoose]

I just reread your last post. I'd survive a short while???? lol How many days is that?

All right 225 T3. Is that like 5 grains of NDT? I think Dr. Lowe took 5 grains. If excess T4 turns into reverse T3, what happens to excess T3? All of it just pools in the bloodstream?

[greygoose in reply to Heloise]

I told you, I lived without any hormone - except the tiny bit of T4 my poor old gland was making - for about 6 months. I don't know how many days. But pressumably if your T3 was delayed or something, after a few days you go onto something else to tide you over, wouldn't you? But if there were a catastrophy stopping all deliveries, and you were on T4 only, or NDT, I don't suppose you'd be that much better off.

I don't think you can make comparisons like so many grains of NDT is equal to so much T3 because NDT contains T4, and if you can't convert T4 at all - or just a little bit - there's no comparison.

Dr Lowe was on T3 only, I think you'll find. Some say he took 150, but I heard somewhere that it was more like 200. But I couldn't swear to it.

Excess T3 can pool or can be excreted.

[Heloise in reply to greygoose]

I'm checking Dr. Lowes website but found this from a woman taking 125 mcg. cytomel. He doesn't mention yet how much he is taking. He said people with thyroid resistance need T3. I wonder if that was his problem.

Dr. Lowe: The short time that T3 is in the circulating blood isn’t the limit of its beneficial effects on the body. When T3 binds to T3-receptors on genes, the binding regulates the transcription of mRNAs, and the mRNAs are later translated into proteins. The transcription and translation initiated by the binding of T3 to T3-receptors occur in waves, and these waves far outlast the T3 that started them at the chromosomes. Moreover, the newly synthesized proteins themselves far outlast the transcription and translation. As a result, a single dose of T3 will be long gone from the patient's system before he or she experiences most of the benefits of that dose—a molecular and metabolic yield that may smoothly spread out over one to three days. The "rocky road" ( August 7, 2001

Question: During nine months of being very sick, I went through several doctors. Then I read your contribution about T3 in Mary Shomon's book, Living Well With Hypothyroidism. Soon after, I found a doctor who agreed to try your treatment. It worked. We started off with 25 mcg of Cytomel and worked our way up until I felt normal. The effective dosage was 125 mcg. I now take 125mcg of T3 in a time-released capsule (75 mcg in the morning and 75 mcg at night). I have been feeling great! However, my doctor is now afraid that we're masking another problem, and he's dropping my dose way down. I wanted your advice since it was truly you who was able to end my being sick. Obviously, I don't want to mask another problem, but I don’t want to go back to the way I was before. I couldn't do anything from work to working out. Please let me know your thoughts on this matter. I greatly appreciate your help.

Dr. Lowe: Congratulations on recovering with the use of T3. I hope your doctor will continue to cooperate and treat you with the dosage of T3 that has proven effective for you. Your having done so leaves me without an idea what your doctor is referring to as another problem masked by the T3.

[Hidden in reply to Heloise]

I read somewhere Heloise, that Dr Lowe took 150 MCG of T3 and was well for 25 years.

[Heloise in reply to Hidden]

I wish he were still here. He made so many comments against T4 I'm surprised any drug company decided to market it. He seems to feel T3 should have been the real market.

Maybe I should collect the reasons he felt T4 was wrong so we can show them to any GP who insists on it. I don't know if it would help but it might be satisfying to do it.

[Hidden in reply to Heloise]

Yes Heloise such a compassionate doctor, of course he knew what this illness feels like.

I've taken in information to my GP and posted stuff I've come across, but they are just so rigid. The only comforting thing is you seem to know more than them!

[Clutter in reply to Heloise]

Heloise, thyroidless thyCa patients in the UK (no thyrogen shots) have to be off T4 4 weeks and T3 2 weeks prior to RAI to let their TSH rise >30. I stopped T4 for 10 weeks but still felt terrible so I came off T3 for 4 weeks too. I felt marvellous for 2 weeks but very bleurgh after that. Did the trick though and cleared the build up of T4, enabling me to tolerate T4+T3. TSH went to 107 and was suppressed again within 4 weeks but it took 6 months for skin and hair to stop shedding and nails to recover.

[Heloise in reply to Clutter]

That was not a very rosy picture, Clutter. Ugh. I guess you have to prepare your thyroid for uptake of the radioactive iodine. Did you possibly recover well after all that?

I certainly don't want to undergo any of that. I'll stock up on something.

[Clutter in reply to Heloise]

Heloise, it wasn't fun, but the point of posting was to show that even without a thyroid one can manage (I wouldn't call it living) without meds for a few weeks. Of course, it takes some months of undoing the hypo symptoms afterwards but yes, I've recovered. I may be over whatever it was caused me to have adverse reactions on T4 only but I'm not willing to put it to the test so like to have a reasonably large stash of T3 by me to ride out any shortages.

[sirmot]

Hi Helcaster, I have been using pregnenolone cream which has helped with my cortisol levels (increased a bit). I can't say I feel any different but my cortisol levels are looking better. My blood tests showed that I had a very low level of pregnenolone before I started, now it's in the low normal range.. It was prescribed by a private doctor.

Heloise, I have been trying to switch from pregnenolone cream to sublingual tablets, but the source I found on the internet said that it could not ship to the UK. Can you PM me to let me know where you get yours from? thanks a lot.

[Hidden in reply to sirmot]

Hi sirmot, I had pregnenolone arrive in 2 days, I'll pm you. Interesting that your cortisol raised slightly.

[sirmot in reply to Hidden]

Hi Helcaster, thank you very much for your PM. I tried the tablets previously but they raised my liver enzymes, which is why I switched to cream and now trying to get sublingual ones that by-pass the liver. I would suggest you have your liver enzymes checked (AST and ALT) after a few months of using it. I do hope it works for you without this added complication.

[Hidden in reply to sirmot]

Hi sirmot, thanks for the warning. I take cimetidine for my bladder and I've been told that this affects liver enzymes as well as lowering stomach acid. Maybe I should discuss this with my GP?

I was looking for sublingual but the only ones I saw were cherry flavoured, which I know from experience give me terrible burning in my bladder. I bought Solgar sublingual methylcobalamin which are cherry flavoured and I ended up giving them to my daughter. If you come across any flavour free sublingual would you please let me know?

Thanks !

[sirmot in reply to Hidden]

Hi Helcaster, Douglas Laboratories do them but they don't ship to the UK because of UK regulations. Depending on where you are based, you may be able to get them. Here is the link:

iherb.com/Douglas-Laborator...

[Hidden in reply to sirmot]

Hi sirmot, I'm in the UK I wonder if Amazon UK do this range? I'll have a look.

Thanks for the link!

[HEA72]

I found taking Thorne's adrenal cortex balanced my hypoadrenia, I was low in cortisol and DHEA. I just took the course of a bottle and that was sufficient. I really noticed the improvement. Nutri-Meds also do it. Get the 'cortex' rather than a whole adrenal glandular extract, because you probably don't want the adrenal medulla included in the supplement.

amazon.co.uk/Adrenal-Cortex...

[Hidden in reply to HEA72]

Hi HEA72, I really hadn't noticed the adrenal cortex, it does sound like it did a good job for you! I'm very low in cortisol and DHEA. Was yours really bad? Genova said I was at the exhaustion stage, my morning cortisol is only 2, total was 17 for the day, because for some reason my nighttime cortisol had raised slightly from the previous test 12 months before.

We did order pregnenolone and it just arrived, so going to give that a go. If I get nowhere with that I will certainly look at your suggestion!

Thank you!

[HEA72 in reply to Hidden]

Yes my adrenals were exahausted too. My doctor told me that they'd correct themselves once I started my NDT, they didn't. so I reverted to taking the cortex myself and this definitely helped. I could feel the difference so didn't feel the need to get my adrenals re-tested. Good luck with the pregnenolone.

[Hidden in reply to HEA72]

Hi HEA72, I've been on thyroid meds for over 3 years now, and my adrenals have gotten worse!

It must be such a great feeling to know you feel a lot better, did you have to reduce thyroid meds?

I know what I'm like, I would have to get retested! I've previously had adrenal stress profiles a year apart.

[HEA72 in reply to Hidden]

Hi, no I didn't reduce the thyroid med (NDT) as a result of taking the adrenal cortex because I was only just starting taking the NDT, so on a low dose as it was. When I started my NDT I had some rocky moments where I had to adjust my dose because my adrenals were so knackered! Some people's thyroids don't function properly as a result of their adrenals working, some the other way around where their adrenals aren't functioning properly because of their thyriod. It depends which gland is the master gland within those people. I think that's why many doctors have different approaches to treating both glands. I know some just treat both from the offset just to get all bases covered. It may be with you that your adrenals are the master gland, I don't know, I'm not a doctor but if they've not improved since taking your thyroid med, maybe this is an indicator. Either way, you may benefit from supporting your adrenals taking some adrenal cortex. There's lots of advice on doing this. 'Stop The Thyroid Madness' was a website that helped give me lots of advice on the topic. Good luck, it's a journey, I know!

[Hidden in reply to HEA72]

That's an interesting point you've made HEA72, maybe it's more adrenal than thyroid at this point. I know from some blood test results that it's obvious T3 is just pooling. I've never had symptoms of over medication, quite the opposite. But yes I can remember a few bumpy days on NDT when trying to raise. After 2 weeks these horrible symptoms seem to subside.

On all the patient leaflets it says to treat adrenals first, I have pointed this out so many times to my GP, waste of time. Doctors do seem so ignorant to do with the endocrine system. I'm sure there's a lot to learn, but I remember the one endo I saw saying being cold, tired and exhausted isn't your thyroid!! Then he wrote to tell me I have very high antibodies, but it didn't matter! That's another thing I can't explain, how my antibodies have increased despite thyroid meds and selenium.

I've looked at Stop the Thyroid Madness stuff on adrenals, maybe I need to revisit it.

2 years ago my then GP listened to my heart, she said I had a murmur, could this be the abnormal beat sound in adrenal insufficiency I wonder?

Thanks for your help!

[greygoose]

Hi Helcaster, been reading through all this...

I know wht you mean about being on a high dose of T3 and not feeling any better. I got up to 225 and still didn't feel well. Then I found out all my vits and mins were too low and supplemented B12, B complex, magnesium, vit D, ubiquinol, and zinc. Zinc was the one that allowed me to come off the daily 2 to 4 Ibuprofen that I'd been on for about 10 years. But I know the others are necessary because I miss them if I run out. My dose is now at 75 T3 and I'm losing weight and feeling better. My hair still wasn't growing - in fact it all fell out! - so I've added in some iron. Hopefully it will regrow now.

You do know that having to get up frequently during the night is a sign of low cortisol, don't you. At one point, I was peeing every half hour on the hour, and wasn't getting any sleep! That was a sign that I needed to get back on my HC. But I'm only taking 25 now.

I've never tried pregnenolone, so can't help you on that one. I did take DHEA at one point but it just gave me spots!

Are you taking B12 + B complex for your nerve pain?

[Hidden]

Hi Grey, peeing all the time is part of interstitial cystitis symptoms, urgency, fequency, pain. It's an inflammatory disease of the bladder. The bladder wall cracks and bleeds all the time and you end up with a scarred stiff bladder that holds less pee, because it can't stretch. I had my bladder stretched under anaesthetic in 2006, it has helped. Trouble is the pain increases as the bladder fills up.

I've been injecting 2,000 MCG methylcobalamin since December 2013, I also take b complex and extra b5, vit c, folate, iron, magnesium, zinc, iron, vit D3, and selenium.

I took DHEA briefly, but it gave me the runs! I find the methylcobalamin gives me acne, I even get it on my ear lobes!!

[Xanthe]

Hi Helcaster,

I have adrenal exhaustion too - and it's getting better - slowly. I use Regenerative Nutrition's Adrenal Max Support which is bioidentical hydrocortisone. It's best to start off low and give it at least a week to see how you feel before upping the dose. You shouldn't exceed 20mg per day on a regular basis because that's getting close to the body's natural production levels and it might cause the adrenals to switch off, at least partly. The other option is to take something like Dr Wilson's Adrenal Rebuilder - a glandular extract which helps the gland repair itself. This contains cortical extracts only so you don't get the over-stimulation that comes with products containing adrenaline. I take both these, and under Dr P's recommendation I also use progesterone cream.

You have to be patient and it's best to go gently in changing the dose - whether up or down. I made the mistake of stopping my adrenal support completely when I felt better but this left me unprotected when a bad virus on top of massive stress hit me - and I had a relapse.

As I understand it, you need your adrenals to be 100% to have full thyroid hormone uptake, so as your adrenals get better you may need to reduce your T4/T3 levels accordingly. Best check on this with others here.

I see Dr M for my ME and she recently recommended that I use pregnenolone instead of HC, the glandulars and progesterone cream. I'm happy enough with the idea, because pregnenolone is the "mother hormone" upstream in the body from those others. But I'm not sure how to make the transition from my multi-product approach to pregnenolone alone without over/under dosing, so I've parked m pregnenolone tablets for now.

Dr James Wilson's book "Adrenal Fatigue - the 21st century stress syndrome" has lots of practical advice.

Good Luck!

Xanthe

[Hidden in reply to Xanthe]

Hi Xanthe, thanks so much for your helpful reply!

I think if you find something that works well it's best not to change it, it can take months to get back where you were.

I live quite near to Dr M, I hear she's taking patients again. The idea for taking pregnenolone came from her web site, although a thyroid friend I have a lot of contact with said her doctor had suggested it.

I think I've accepted it's going to take months to see any improvement, if I could get more sleep I know that would help everything. My insomnia has been really bad for 20 years.

I'm sorry you had a relapse, but it must be hard to know when you can truly come off adrenal support. I think I would definitely have another adrenal stress profile done to see if I was on the right track.

Really hope you keep improving!

[LaraStone in reply to Xanthe]

Hi Xanthe,

I noticed that you were taking the supplement Adrenal Max Support Plus. I have severe adrenal fatigue and are looking for an ideal supplement to help get me back on the road to recovery. Did it work well for you, if so how well and how long does it take to work?

Hope you to hear from you soon.

Thanks

Lara

[Xanthe in reply to LaraStone]

Hi Lara,

Apologies for the late reply - I have had problems trying to get onto the TUK site for over a week!

I tried pregnenolone, but only for a short time as my adrenals were close to normal by then. In fact I can't recall why I tried atheism ptegnenolone - it may have been to increase my DHEA levels.

My adrenals have taken about 3 years to sort out - previously the circadian profile was horizontal and my cortisol output was about half normal. I used adrenal rebuilder and bioidentical hydrocortisone - the latter in physiological doses - not exceeding 20 mg per day. I also changed my diet to reduce sugar and refine carbs which put a strain on the adrenals. I take high dose vitamin C in water throughout the day and pantothenic acid (vit B5 I think) both of which are important for the adrenals. I also changed my lifestyle to incorporate more relaxation. Try reading Dr Wilson' s book on adrenal fatigue - lots of really helpful practical tips.

It might be worth checking your thyroid out - if that's below par it will affect the adrenals too, I believe, but you could get more views on that by posting here.

I hope that this helps. My adrenals were at rock bottom, but close to normal now. So it can be done, but you have to be patient.

Good luck.

Xanthe.

[Waldo18 in reply to Xanthe]

Hi Xanthe,

I've just come across this post - I realise it is quite old, but it has been a very useful thread for me. I have low salivary cortisol on testing, and I'm seeking a form of cortisol. I'm thinking of using the Regenerative Nutrition Adrenal Max support as part of this protocol, and I was just wondering how you found it? I've heard from other users that the vitamin C caused them gut issues, as they ended up taking relatively high vitamin C when using the full 20mg per day. I was wondering if this is a common side effect or not?

I was also wondering if you had any trouble while tapering off of it? Did it take long?

Thanks for any info or feedback - I really appreciate it.

Dee

[Xanthe in reply to Waldo18]

Hi Dee,

The adrenal max support definitely helped me get my adrenals back to normal but I’m sorry but I can’t remember any of the details now. I would have tapered off the dose, based on symptoms reducing and also occasional testing. I don’t recall how long I was tapering. Vitamin C in high doses can cause some stomach discomfort - I believe that’s usual. Some doctors recommend taking it to bowel tolerance ( when you’ll get the runs). I did this for some time. Whether it helped I can’t say and having looked at the scientific literature since then I can’t find any peer reviewed scientific evidence for such large doses. If I feel a cold coming on I take a couple of grams in water. Magnesium Ascorbate is gentler on the tum than Ascorbic acid. I hope this helps.

Xanthe

[Waldo18 in reply to Xanthe]

Thanks very much for such a speedy response Xanthe-I appreciate it.

Sorry I should have clarified that the person I spoke to before about the adrenal Max strength found that the vitamin c which is contained in this to be tough on her stomach. Since it is a combined product, I was wondering if you found the same (as opposed to taking separate vitamin c/ascorbic acid). But perhaps regenerative nutrition have only recently added the vitamin c to the adrenal Max and maybe it was not an ingredient in it when you were using it. Thanks again for your feedback-it’s very helpful👍

[Xanthe in reply to Waldo18]

No, I had no trouble at all with the Adrenal Max Strength

[Waldo18 in reply to Xanthe]

Thanks for sharing this Xanthe, I appreciate in.

Did you have any trouble when tapering/weaning off of the Adrenal Max Strength?

Did it take long to come off of?

Thanks again for sharing your experience, it is invaluable.

Dee

[Xanthe in reply to Waldo18]

Hi Dee,

It was so long ago that I really can’t remember! Sorry! Maybe someone else currently using Adrenal Max Strength can advise?

Xanthe

[Xanthe in reply to LaraStone]

Hi Lara,

Sorry, foggy brain - I thought your question was about pregnenolone!!

As I tried a many things at the same time it is difficult to be sure which helped most. My gut feeling is that it was a combination of the adrenal rebuilder and the adrenal max support that helped. The first provides the building blocks for repair and the second allows the adrenals a bit of breathing space during recovery..but I also think that it is important to provide the nutrients that the adrenals need, so don't forget the vit C and pantothenic acid.

Xanthe

[LaraStone in reply to Xanthe]

Thanks Xanthe. I will try a similar approach. It must be wonderful to have your life back again. I know that adrenal fatigue gives you plenty of time to reflect about what you appreciate in life, what you will do with your life in the future. Mine is wanting to travel the world. I sure look forward to it.

Thanks again and all the best with your new lease on life.

[LaraStone in reply to Xanthe]

Hi Xanthe,

I just have two more questions. Did you have candida with your adrenal fatigue? If so, how did you treat it. Also, how soon should the Adrenal Max Support Plus start to work? Just want to know as I have been unable to work for the last 8 months. My cortisol was half low as well. And my progesterone was very low and oestrogen very high - oestrogen dominance is what they call it. Thanks for your help. Much appreciated. I have been searching for ages for the right formula or approach.

Thanks.

Lara

[Xanthe in reply to LaraStone]

Hi Lara,

No, I didn't have Candida, so, sorry can't comment on that one.

I can't remember when I felt the max support kicking in, it was all very gradual. I'm not a medic but I really feel it's like a jigsaw - you have a lot of pieces to sort out. Have you had your DHEA levels measured? As I understand it, the balance between DHEA and cortisol is very important. I supplemented with DHEA as well as the cortisol and also used progesterone cream and the adrenal rebuilder capsules.

As I remember, the DHEA was slow to increase in my case. Progesterone is converted to cortisol (and other things) in the adrenals, so if your progesterone is still low you probably need to deal with that too. My iron levels were also low: dealing with that did make a noticeable difference. I also supplement with Magnesium, zinc and selenium.

I switched all these separate hormones for pregnenolone - a suggestion from Dr M but it turns out that my adrenals were nearly back to normal by then, so I can't say how useful preg might be. It ought to be... because it's upstream from both progesterone and cortisol, so, in principle, the body can "choose" to make from it those hormones it's short of.

Besides all the dietary and lifestyle changes I made, I also switched all toiletries to those free of chemicals known to disrupt oestrogen levels (parabens ...and other things!) and avoid using plastic containers for cooking.

Have you got any test results? It could be worth posting them so others can comment. Also, check out Dr Myhill's website - lots of useful information there.

Xanthe

[LaraStone in reply to Xanthe]

Great, thanks for the information. Lara.

[puncturedbicycle]

Do you mean pregnenolone? I used to take pregnenolone and dhea for adrenal fatigue but it did nothing for me. Hard to say if this is because any subtle effects were eclipsed by the effect of the thyroid meds being wrong or what.

I often wonder what is the wisdom of going through all the testing for adrenal fatigue when it is so hard to treat. I still have symptoms now.

[Hidden in reply to puncturedbicycle]

Did I spell it wrong again? I'm having a lot of trouble with that word Punctured bicycle!!! I've taken 4 capsules in total now, and I get so tired. One thing I have noticed is I'm not in a state of anxiety so much. I think if it's going to work it's going to take many months to. I'm going to do another adrenal stress profile to see for sure if there are any changes. I was hoping I might get a bit more oestrogen via it too!

I know what you're saying it's around £80 a time for the test and no one medical takes any notice.

I have had some really good ideas in the replies though!

I took DHEA and it made my diarrhoea much worse. Just can't win.

I'm really scared of weight gain with HC, but I'm sure I'll end up on it. I got the idea for pregnenolone from Dr Myhill's web site.

[puncturedbicycle in reply to Hidden]

Well I had a doctor who diagnosed me with adrenal fatigue and attempted to treat it and it still made no difference, so even if they listen it may all amount to nothing!

I also tried testosterone and progesterone cream for oestrogen-dominance and that didn't help me either. You have to have all the patience in the world to deal with this stuff.

Like you I am wary of hc.

[Hidden in reply to puncturedbicycle]

There just isn't the expertise is there puncturedbicyle. I used progesterone cream a few years back and it turned out to be just a nice moisturiser. Women were saying they lost weight and slept better, but I didn't feel a thing.

So testosterone cream did nothing for you either? Yet some women in the media have said it's made them youthful and they have a great libido I must say I was tempted to get some!

Yes it's a long slog I'm sure to feel any improvement.

[puncturedbicycle in reply to Hidden]

I think my doctor had the knowledge, just that adrenal stuff is apparently so hard to treat, and probably any benefits I got from any of it were eclipsed by how awful I felt on levo.

Deffo no benefits from testosterone, but maybe if you're already well (eg well enough to be working in media ) it makes a difference.

[Hidden in reply to puncturedbicycle]

You made me chuckle puncturedbicyle!

I've fed through so much info to my Gp but can't get beyond the fact it isn't something main stream doctors recognise. Even though I have symptoms she can see (put down to aging) it's just hitting a brick wall. There's a great patient leaflet on Adrenal Insufficiency produced by the Society for Endocrinology that spells it all out, I've copied this to my Gp. I can tick all the things within this leaflet, but it's hopeless.

[puncturedbicycle in reply to Hidden]

Wow, I must google that leaflet (if only to read myself). I had a very good doctor who did treat adrenal issues but still to no avail.

'We're doomed!' (I'm having that kind of day.)

[Hidden in reply to puncturedbicycle]

The leaflet is approved by the Royal College of Physicians, it's really easy to find via Google. It says about steroid injections being a cause, tick that, and about underarm hair loss tick that too, pubic hair loss tick that. Infact the pubic hair loss started 10 years ago, and although I was in my 40's then, my gynaecology put it down to aging!

Definitely copy it for your doctor!! The title is "What do I need to know about Adrenal Insufficiency? "

I've been up all night so feel like crap, ditto one of those days I was even putting dirty dishes into the dishwasher before I'd taken the clean stuff out!

Hopefully tomorrow will be better!

Hugs.