Help

[kim_storer]

I have recently become very very ill. I have all the symptoms of adrenal gland problems and thyroid disease. Does anyone know of anything I could try in the way of natural remedies. My own doctor keeps telling me that I need a psychiatrist like I'm crazy or something. It's very scary for me. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[radd]

Kim,

Welcome to our forum and sorry to hear you are not feeling well.

As low thyroid hormone effects every cell in our body, a variety of symptoms including those of neuropsychiatric can be experienced, and we often present that way because we feel so ill.

Has your doctor performed a thyroid function blood test ? Post any results complete with ranges (numbers in brackets) for members to comment. Also ask for Vit B12, Vit D, folate and ferritin to be tested as deficiencies are common in people with low thyroid hormone and needed for good thyroid function.

If your doctor is uncooperative, you can use private labs as members are often forced to -link below.

Natural remedies won't replace missing hormones.

.

Private labs testing

thyroiduk.org.uk/tuk/testin...

.

Getting a diagnosis

thyroiduk.org.uk/tuk/diagno...

[Ag27]

Kim, what are your symptoms? Have you looked up symptoms for Lyme and coinfections - Babesia, bartonella, ehrlichia and mycoplasma? Lyme can mimic many things.

[janeb15 in reply to Ag27]

I agree. We followed the thyroid/adrenal route with my daughter for many years because they were the only clues we had, but this was a false trail. She did indeed have severe thyroid issues but these were merely a symptom of a much bigger problem. We finally discovered from a doctor in the USA that she does have a complex chronic mix of infections including Lyme disease and coinfectoins as well as mycotoxin illness and chronic HHV6. As far as I know there is only one clinic in the UK that will test for these. They are not experienced at treating them but they might get you closer to an accurate diagnosis. Don't just assume that it's thyroid/adrenal problem. As Ag27 says, Lyme can mimic many conditions. PM me for more details and links if you wish. Jane x

[mistydog]

Change your doctor!

[satu55555]

General doctors don't know much about these issues and according to their education, these issues are not illnesses they recognize. I've had the same issue for months now. Visited a many different doctors and spent time in the hospital, but they don't believe in anything that blood tests don't show and they don't show even nearly everything. Multiple doctors have hinted that I'd need psychological help as well, but I know I don't because I've studied cognitive behavioural psychology myself. There are some adrenal fatigue groups on Facebook that I've found helpful and this is also a good place to find help. Search for those groups on Facebook with words like "adrenal" or "adrenal fatigue". Functional doctors and nutritionists may be helpful. Mine went from high cortisol to low cortisol within a week so my condition worsened very quickly too. Thyroid issues can be also secondary to adrenal issues i.e. adrenal issues cause thyroid issues. They can also be caused by other things.

[MichelleBerko]

Also worth checking your sex hormones. There's a good FB group called FTPO Sex Hormones (there's thyroid and adrenal FTPO groups too) that will give great advice.

The best thing I did was get testosterone gel - helps with feeling such an air head! Another patient said progesterone cream helped calm her down.

[sulamaye]

You need to change your doctor, they are the ones who need to see a psychiatrist!

Before you go down the lymes route have you actually been tested for thyroid? If so what were the results? Have you paid for your own saliva stress test for cortisol? You need these two tests first. Lymes is very expensive and difficult to get tested thoroughly so start with getting a full thyroid panel and saliva done privately and then post your results.

[HLAB35]

Hello, Dr Myhill has properly analysed adrenal fatigue and her website is an incredibly helpful resource. Just leave no stone unturned.

I used to suffer a lot from hypoglycemia and would regularly burn out and get panic attacks. Regulating blood sugar levels is really important. In terms of nutrition there are books on functional approaches to hypothyroidism which lay out diet plans. Also there are books on broths (which contain all the amino acids) that can really help with the body's recovery during fatigue - body builders have known for some time how to optimise their strength using an amino-acid rich diet. Non-flushing Niacinamide has a very positive effect on mood (it also helps with acne) - just make sure to take it in the morning! It optimizes absorption of chromium which also stabilizes mood. There is a problem with taking chromium supplements alongside levothyroxine, so it may be better to look at dietary sources first.

naturalendocrinesolutions.c...

Please, though, don't abandon the conventional medicine route, even if you ask to see a different doctor, because at the end of the day, you'd be safer with a diagnosis!

[Hidden]

You are legally intitled to a copy of your blood results although some Gp practices make a small charge please post with any blood results. Also it may be worth looking up Dr Chandrys B12 website as low B12 can cause a lot of overlapping symptoms with thyroid and adrenal. Also post your most frequent symptoms. We will be able to help you a lot more with this info.

[Daisy77 in reply to Hidden]

This was very true in my case. I tested positive for parietal stomach cells and large red blood cells, but because my b12 was "in range" I was not treated for pernicious anaemia until things got so bad. My doctor gave me a b12 shot last week anyway, and the difference has been remarkable. I am now actually sleeping at night! For a long time i thought it was thyroid/adrenal issues only.

[Beverley3]

Hi, read Dr Durant Peatfield.

[Llepke]

That's how my thyroid/adrenal problem was found. My anxiety was so severe my psychiatrist took it upon himself to have thyroid blood work done. I'm in the states, Chicago. Levothyroxine made it worse. Being poverty-stricken, I can't afford the cortisol test, the county health department does not provide that to me, I am on Medicare/Medicaid, so I ordered Thiroyd 100 tablets $15.00 from Bangkok Thailand. Started out very slowly and I'm up to one tablet in the morning and one in the afternoon after over a month now feeling better, more calm.

[Eddie83]

That's what happened to me. When I got really sick, I was sent to a series of shrinks who fed me BigPharma drugs. Which does nothing for autoimmune thyroiditis.

You need to have the advocates thyroid panel: TSH,FT3,FT4,rT3,TPOAb,TGAb. You need to have a 5-sample cortisol saliva test, or at least a 24-hour urine cortisol. You need to be checked for critical nutritional deficiencies like ferritin, B12, D3, etc.

Once you are seriously ill, "natural remedies" aren't going to be powerful enough to pull you out of it. They cannot correct a thyroid being eaten up by autoimmunity.

[Hidden]

You could try Thyro-Vital which supports the thyroid. It contains Tirosine a thyroid pre--hormone,. Some people swear by it. There is also LDN (Low dose Naltrexone). Natural remedies by themselves are not usually enough if you have an underactive thyroid.