I was diagnosed with adrenal fatigue four years ago, after a Hertoghe doctor decided my cortisol levels in blood and 24 h urine were low/suboptimal. I was put on Medrol, as I tended to retain fluid (most likely because I had been on thyroxine only for about 15 years at the time...).
Since then, I have been on 4 mg of Medrol daily (going up to 6 mg at times, doing really great, but the effects always weaned off, which is why I went back to 4 mg and ended up staying there). Every time I go to see my doctor, I ask if we could not try HC instead, but I always get the same answer: "Since you are doing so fine on Medrol, it would be a shame to take you off it".
Today, have been on NDT for four years, although I am still trying to decide what works best for me. Erfa has been giving me terrible itching for some time now, and I have been considering giving Armour another try. Unfortunately, Armour and Erfa are the only drugs readily available where I live. I have not wanted to believe the rumours about Erfa's alleged reformulation, but I have to admit the latests batches have not agreed with me at all...
I think that I need a supplement to support my adrenals, but I have no idea where to go from here. Granted, there are hundreds of good websites out there, and dozens of doctors treating adrenal fatigue, but the problem is that their advice is so contradictory...one says: "take this", while another one says:" you must avoid this" (and they are talking about the same substance). To give you one concrete example, I have read very conflicting advice on the use of rhodiola in adrenal fatigue...
I want to wean off Medrol asap, but I'd also like to find some natural long-term support for my adrenals. I honestly don't think I can just go off all support, prescription or not.
Since I suffer from high blood pressure (170/120, now successfully treated with drugs and kept at 110/70), I am not sure I should take licorice root, which many say is the key to successful treatment of adrenal fatigue...?!
There are so many brands out there...Gaia, Iagen, Nutrimeds, NOW, Biotics, Newton Everett...just to name a few.
I understand Isocort was really good, but was taken off the market a few years ago...?
Some specialists say you should only use cortex, others say you should use whole adrenal. After a while, it all ends up being pretty confusing...!
Has anyone found a really good, reliable, OTC adrenal support to help your adrenals get going after they have been on prescription drugs for quite some time?
I think the answer to that is what we usually say : we're all different! And what suits one person, doesn't suit another. You really have to try things to know if they work for you. Even if they're recommended or prescribed by a doctor, it doesn't mean they're going to suit you. And just because one person recommends something that works for them, doesn't mean it will work for you. Personally, I do badly on all OTC type adrenal 'supports'. And my opinion is that that is because by 'support', they really mean 'stimulate', which my adrenals Don't appreciate. But I had to try them to find out. Sorry.
Hi Cat, hydrocortisone would probably help a lot of people but doctors often stand in the way. I'm sure your blood pressure may also be involved. Are you in the UK? I thought nutriadrenal was used but I'm in the U.S. and am not sure what it contains. You really should know whether you need, as Grey Goose points out, a stimulant or a SUPPORT to REST your adrenals. If they are worn out, you don't want to add stress by taking licorice root or Ginseng. But they are wonderful if you aren't in awful shape. I have mentioned this to a couple of people and said to read the reviews as to whether they may relate. I decided to try it as I can't get a script for hydrocortisone either. So far, so good. I notice a little sleepiness so it IS doing something. Click on the reviews after you see the product label.
I am not sure Medrol has been that great. My high blood pressure has been successfully treated with medication; not sure, though, if HC would raise it or not.
I am not in the UK, I'm in Belgium. However, I have a trusted source for HC, no prescription required. I could order it easily, give it a try, monitor my BP at home, and see how I feel.
Of course, since I feel terrible every time I go below 4 mg Medrol daily (I have tried to wean off it, unsuccessfully, twice in the past year), I guess it is not useless, although I cannot say I have ever felt the way some people describe going on HC; that is, like a light switch going on inside them.
What I have been told is that I suffer from adrenal fatigue, after years of being hypothyroid (Hashimoto's). First, I was undiagnosed for years; then, on thyroxine only for another ten years, before being switched to NDT.
The doctor I have been seeing since 2011 keeps prescribing Medrol, so it does not seem to be considered short-time treatment to get your own adrenals going...it has never been suggested I cut back or try to wean off it.
I think one problem with Medrol is that it is not as fast-acting as HC seems to be, but rather slow-acting...making it even more difficult to tell how it affects you.
I don't know anyone who has switched from Medrol to HC. Dr. Hertoghe writes in his book The hormone solution that some need to switch from HC to Medrol in case of a cold, for instance, as synthetic drugs are longer-acting, and I imagine it would be fairly easy to go from HC to Medrol in case HC does not prove effective enough for you, but I am not at all sure about the other way around...also not sure how effective HC would be now, after several years on Medrol...?
Many doctors working with HC and other drugs for adrenal fatigue seem to believe that Medrol is what should be tried as a last resort, when other drugs fail. In my case, it was the other way around.
For information, my labs when I first went to see my current doctor:
cortisol in 24 h urine 30.5 ug/24 h (ref 10-100, should be >50 according to doctor)
cortisol in blood (at 8 am) 6.0 ug/dL (ref 7-25)
free cortisol in blood (at 8 am) 2.2 ng/mL ref 10-20 (should be at least 20 according to doctor)
The problem is that my doctor drew blood in her own office, at around 2 pm, and the lab reference ranges apply to cortisol at 8 am, so I guess my own cortisol levels (total and free cortisol) were higher at 8 am that day, even though I am sure they were not optimal. But it does make comparison a bit trickier, doesn't it?
At the same time, my doctor said there would be no use measuring cortisol levels while on Medrol, so I have not had cortisol levels measured since...
Well, I'm not very impressed with your doctor's understanding of cortisol testing! lol If it's called an 8 o'clock test, it's for a reason. And there's not knowing if it would have been lower or higher.
If you have a source of HC, why not try it? Start low - half a tablet first thing in the morning - and see how it goes. If it doesn't agree with you, you can always come off it - slowly.
Thanks, Grey Goose! When you say "half a tablet", do you mean half a 10 or 20 mg tablet? I read somewhere you should not take more than 10 mg of HC at a time.
Goodness! I've never read that. When my doctor first put me on HC, it was 40 first thing, and 20 at lunchtime. And he said I could go higher if I felt extra stressed.
I meant a 20 mg tablet, I didn't even know they did 10s. He said the important thing was not to take it after 1.0 pm. So it would have been a bit difficult to take 60 mg if I couldn't take more than 10 at a time. Do you remember where you read it? Perhaps it dépends on circumstances.
Stop the thyroid madness pp 99-100 in revised edition:
"By trial and error, wise doctors and adrenal patients discovered that going NO HIGHER (italics in original) than 10 mg in the morning dose is important, since higher doses can shut down the ACTH too much. ACTH is the hormone secreted from the pituitary gland meant to regulate adrenal production. If a dose is at 10 mg, and patients note they sem to run out of cortisol before the next dose, they will bring the next dose up to a 3 hour spam, or add an interim small dose in between".
Ah, yes, but then STTP advises taking HC throughout the day to mimic adrenal production. In that case, I can see the point. But my doctor said that was the wrong way to do it, and by doing it that way, you shut down the adrenals. Who's right? Who's wrong? I prefer to not take the risk and trust my doctor on that one.
OK, just to understand this: your doctor told you to take the whole dose in the morning, or split it into two doses, no more? Sounds easier to me, granted. Medrol is taken once a day, and I have to admit I prefer that to taking HC throughout the day...
That's right. He put me on 40 first thing, and 20 midday. Nothing after 1.0 pm. He said it wasn't necessary to imitate the adrenal output throughout the day, because that would shut the adrenals down. You only need to give them a little support first thing, their busiest time, and let them get on with it by themselves the rest of the day. That kept them working but gave them a bit of a rest so they could recover.
Of course, that's just for adrenal fatigue. If you have Addison's you need to dose throughout the day. Different animal altogether.
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