adrenals and pregnisalone

After over 2 years of various doses and types of thyroid medication with only transitory success I have decided to tackle my adrenals. I bought some pregnisilone while on holiday in Turkey for 75p a box of 20 5mg tablets and am not sure how to take it. I have started with 2.5mg daily which I am taking at night with all my other meds. I tried to increase to 5mg but felt very jittery. How long untill I start to feel better and how long untill I try to increase again. Do I take my thyrogold in the morning as usual at the same dose as before or do I start with a low dose of thyroid meds and work up with the steroid med. How do I know if its working.

[TraceyJC]

Check out the ecological doctor Sarah Myhill she reccomends you do tests to check your status every couple of months.

[hose1975]

Did you get your adrenal function tested prior to starting the pregnisalone? It's imperative that you do otherwise you run some fairly hefty risks. The reading I've done suggests that, as for hyper- and hypothyroidism, the crossover of symptoms for low and high cortisol are often very similar.

[Gismo333]

Firstly have you been checked for adrenal insufficiency? The best way is to get a saliva kit from Genova, it's the adrenal stress test. If you don't do this you have no idea if you need medication at all and where in the day your adrenals are low. Saliva is much better than blood and shows a clear indication of any drop.

I have always been advised to take thyroid medication first thing in the morning, on an empty stomach. Never take cortisol near thyroid medication as it will wipe it out. You mustn't take anything for 30 minutes food or drink.

I would also be careful of buying from a country like that, you have no idea what fillers they are putting in it.

Hydrocortisone is the natural cortisone and is the best one to start with. If your adrenals are low (ie if it says so on the test) at say noon then you could put a small amount in at say 11 am to lift the drop.

Only people with quite bad adrenals really need prednisolone but again, like thyroid medication it's trial and error but hydro is the best way to go first as it's natural for the body.

Hope this helps

[Hidden in reply to Gismo333]

I have just tried genova and need a practisioner to refer me. Do you know how I can get the saliva test done privatetley without a refferal from someone.

[Gismo333 in reply to Hidden]

mail me [e-mail] please

[greygoose in reply to Gismo333]

I quite agree with everything Gismo says. I'm a great fan of self-treating but only certain things Under certain circumstances. I would not mess around with this! Besides, you can't take it long-term, and adrenals can take years to heal. I really, really Don't think it's a good idea.

[Gismo333 in reply to greygoose]

Hi yes you are right but sometimes the adrenals don't heal. I have had so many operations I need it all the time now, my adrenals won't recover so I take 4 mg methylprednisolone under medical supervision. Sometimes when you give them a rest with medication they will recover, this is true but sometimes they don't.

This lady really needs the test and supervision to move forward.

[greygoose in reply to Gismo333]

Oh, absolutely. Self-medication with prednisolone is not the answer to her problems at all. And I know that sometimes they Don't ever recover - especially if they're not treated correctly.

Mandyjane, I think you're setting yourself up to fail.

[Gismo333]

I wouldn't say this lady is setting herself up to fail, that's a bit harsh, but she needs expert help and a doctor who understands hypoadrenalism.

There isn't that much help out there and there are many who try to help themselves, I'm not against that but good education is the key and without the knowledge then you are really stabbing in the dark.

This country believes that your adrenals are either fine or you have Addisons, this is so untrue. If the adrenals are not functioning properly then there may be a slight shortfall, it doesn't take much but it will affect the uptake for the thyroid, they both balance each other out so the balance is vitally important for good health.

[Hidden]

Prednisolone can deplete your Vitamin D levels (and Vitamin D is a very vital vitamin).

If you are concerned about your weight Prednisolone can slow weight loss down and if your Vitamin D levels deplete this will cause even more problems.

[sulamaye]

Stop taking the stuff so that when you get the saliva stress test done you get a clear reading. I found it made me feel very weird, if your test comes back with below range on all samples like mine did perhaps u shd go straight to hydrocortisone that way you are getting cortisol whereas u can't control what your body turns preg into.

[Patricia47]

Taking prednisalone is not good. It makes one jittery and you gane a lot of weight. Increases appetite. I have to take 6 a day for Asthma and I am hiper thyroid. Overactive. Why do you need to take???

[Hidden]

Dear Patricia,

I am taking it because I have tried every thing else to get well with my thyroid and have read by a DR I respect that for adrenal fatigue in very small doses it is good. I am watching my appetite and it seems normal for me. I think a lot of the problems with pregisilone happen when taken in large doses like you are. I am only taking 2.5mg a day and I think it is working to give me more energy. I am underactive as well not overactive like you. I thought it was an old fastioned thing to give high doses of pregnisilone for asthma. I didnt think they did that anymore. Is there no other way to threat you.

[Ill_us-Ions]

Best support for adrenals is Vit C. I would also go down the herbal route before chemicals.

[Hidden in reply to Ill_us-Ions]

Thankyou. I have been taking large doses of vit c for a couple of years and am now on ashwangana. I am consulting with Dr P and am about to get adrenal saliva test.

Thanks again for your imput.