I have a question about this product, as I know many here use it and seem happy with it.
Has anyone here gone from prescription HC or prednisolone to NAX, and found the latter to be equally effective?
I am asking as I seem to need something for my adrenals. I have been taking adrenal cortex since weaning off Medrol in February, but I have to say I find this ACE product pretty weak...some days, when I feel really tired and stressed out, I take 4 mg of Medrol, and the difference is amazing...so I am either going back on it, or finding a suitable replacement.
The reason I decided to wean off Medrol after four years on it was because I realise it will suppress my own adrenal function rather than assisting it. So, for every year I stay on it, the less likely it seems I will ever be able to wean off it.
That is why I'd be particularly interested in finding out if anyone here has successfully gone from prescription adrenal support to NAX?
I can't remember if we have discussed this previous and can't be bothered to reread all your posts so apologise if this is duplicated info.
As HC makes your brain withhold the signal (ACTH) to the adrenal glands to excrete cortisol and reduces//shuts down adrenal gland activity, you know it is important to wean off slowly.
Dr Wilsons states if adrenal glands do not respond sufficiently when HC is slowly reduced, then ACE may be supplemented to restore and rejuvenate (page 218 of Adrenal Fatigue: The 21st Century Stress Syndrome). AS HC is reduced ACE is increased together with large doses of Vitamin C and is emphatic that regime is carried out under supervision..
Dr P states adrenal suppression must only be for a short temporary periods. As you have medicated Medrol for some years, it may be a safe assumption to suggest your adrenals may take longer to start producing and perhaps only with support. Dr P advocates Nutri Adrenal (Extra) and states this glandular concentrate may be used as an ongoing support.
If you haven't supplement the whole adrenal gland be aware it contains adrenaline that isn't suited to all. I haven't medicated HC but I think greygoose has so you may get more info from her.
It's only now that I am beginning to understand the treatment protocol followed by the Hertoghe doctors in Belgium...or rather understand its consequences. If they diagnose you with adrenal fatigue, they put you on either HC or Medrol (Medrol if you tend to retain fluid). You are then supposed to stay on it indefinitely. At first, I did not question it, as Medrol definitely made me feel better. But I have begun to wonder where to draw the line between adrenal fatigue and adrenal insufficiency...as it seems only the latter would require life-long treatment...? Or can you cross a line from which there is no return, i.e. you can no longer recover from adrenal fatigue, as it has more or less turned into some "adrenal insufficiency light..."...and is this condition caused by the suppressive long-term effect of HC/Medrol...that is how I interpret what you say, and that makes a lot of sense...too bad I did not bother to find out before starting Medrol...!
I wish I had tried NAX first, before going on Medrol...but I will give it a try now, instead of going back on Medrol...something I will only do if I feel I have no other choice. One problem is I find most ACE products pretty weak, but maybe I could take twice as much as recommended...
It seems Dr. Wilson's approach is better than the once advocated by Dr. Hertoghe...
I don't know anything about Medrol. But, with HC, if you hope to come off it one day, then you should never take it after 1 pm. Just take it in the morning to give the adrenals a helping hand at their busiest time. Is that not what your doctors told you? My Hertoghe doctor told me that.
Surely adrenal fatigue is when the cortisol is just low in range, adrenal insufficiency is when it is below range - roughly speaking, of course. I think you can even come back from insufficiency if you dose the HC correctly. It's Addisson's that is for life. And that is when the adrenals cannot make more cortisol, not when they're just a bit slow.
No, in fact, I was never put on HC, but was prescribed Medrol right away, and you are only supposed to take it once a day (in the morning), as it will last 24 hours in the body...Medrol is said to cause less fluid retention than HC, and I have this tendency to swell like a balloon, which is why I have always been grateful I was not put on HC...even though some claim that is mostly a problem with therapeutic (supra-physiological) doses...but I like the idea of only taking meds once day, instead of multi-dosing...
I don't know if you already know but NAX only contains 200mg of adrenal concentrate whereas Nutri Meds Adrenal Cortex contains 250mg so the NAX would in effect be weaker. You can take up to 500mg of Nutri Meds in the morning and another 250mg at lunchtime. However, I have read of others who take a lot more.
If I were you I would try and stick with it and as radd says, plenty of Vitamin C to go with it along with all the B Vits as well.
Your adrenals have been dormant for some time so, to my mind, it's going to take a little longer than a few months for them, if they can, kick in. But I would give it a good shot before I hand in the towel, so to speak.
There is a guide online which tells you how to take adrenal cortex.
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