I'm needing a cheat, here. OH and i are going through a very rough time at the moment - he has to have an operation in the New Year that will knock him sideways for weeks, and damage him in order to save his life. I can't sleep too well, want to cry most of the time, am anxious all of the time and have to fight to stop my thoughts turning too dark.
I've been doing really well on the regime of wheat and gluten elimination (getting there - almost total), LDN and B12 injections alternate days. My symptoms of nevre damage is very much on the retreat and I have more energy now than I've had for months - good news. But I'm struggling with this, as anyone would, but the adrenal stuff is now imperative to be addressed.
I just don't have the head-space to read it all and to create a plan of action - I just don't know where to start. I had a synacthen test years ago which was useless, so no point in going to the NHS, and the Blue horizon spit test was a bit out - but that was years ago.
Can I just supplement for now without having to pay for tests? Money is tight and I am having to be as economical as i can, especially with all the supplements as well as the prospect of no income whilst my lovely OH is out of action. Is it the Nutri Adrenal or Extra that i need? I'm a bit lost at the mo.
I'm thinking of starting to practice again and try to resume being productive after being a dead-weight for 10 years, but this has rather knocked me sideways and that will have to be on hold - it will be all I can do to look after him whilst he fights his way back to full health.
Thanks in advance.
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Schenks
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There is a test you can do at home, just a quick one which can be useful. Take your BP sitting down, then stand up and immediately take your BP again. If it drops instead of going up, it is a sign that your adrenals are not 100%. It was what Dr Peatfield did for me, and it did indeed drop, so I was started on ONE Nutri Adrenal (NA) with breakfast for 2 weeks, then 2 for 2 weeks, and it really helped me. Over a few months I finished up on 3 with breakfast and two with an early lunch (before 1pm) I now do not take any but as I have been under a lot of stress recently I am planning to start again tomorrow morning with one at breakfast. This gradual increase is important, and it would also be advisable to continue for up to six months or even more after the stressful event, even a year is not too long, it takes us AGES to recover from such stresses.
Make sure that you do not get the Nutri Adrenal Extra (NAX) which seem to disagree with quite a few people, though some do swear by it.
Really important to take time out for relaxing activities such as warm lavender baths, yoga/meditation, mindfulness colouring books, walking in nature etc. Many people say journaling is very helpful to get all your thoughts and feelings out; you can bin it or shred it afterwards, but the important thing is to let it out, like a valve on a pressure cooker. Also socialising with friends and having a laugh can be a good distraction from stressful events. Best wishes to you and your OH x
Dear Schenks I can't help with your Adrenal problems, but I just want you to know I am thinking of you . I wish I was close enough to give you a cuddle xxx
Schenks I found Thorne Cortex to be better for me than Nutri-Adrenal (could not take NAX as much to strong, think it was the B vits in it). Also a lot of sleep helped get me through. After an op in February this year I could not stay awake, but my husband made me stay in bed until after lunchtime and this made such a difference. I noticed this difference very quickly about three months after the op. Wish you and your OH well again.
Thank you for your reply, jbee, I'll look into Thorne's since I'm on B12 plus B vitamin supplements already. Can you please let me know where you source your Thorne's from?
And you're right about resting. My husband nags me to get more rest - you've promoted me to listen!
I get mine from Amazon Schenks , and do try and get more sleep. If you can't sleep maybe do some more of your lovely painting. Another thing that seemed to help all my levels a bit was to have a month of Ferrous Fumarate prescribed by GP. My Ferretin is now 81 so hope I can maintain it at this level.
If you feel weepy with the B12, it could be you methionine cycle is spinning faster than your folate cycle. Try taking some 5-MTHF in addition to the B complex. TMG (trimethylglycine) may help, too.
I get B12 IV and IM injections for my CFS, and am fine most of the time, but when I start to feel weepy, on edge, or depressed, it's time to pull out the folate...
Look into mindfulness, too. Very good for coping with life's difficulties.
Thanks, Learner - but I haven't a clue what you are talking about and it looks rather important to remain ignorant of. Could you explain what you mean and what the methionine cycle and TMG are, and what you mean by pulling the folate?
And how come you get IV and IM B12 - where do you live? It sounds rather too advanced for my GPs ever to get their heads around!
You eat folate, and it goes through some conversions, then feeds into the methionine cycle which is where most of your B12 gets used in an essential process called methylation. There's a big circle where SAM gets converted to homocysteine. If that doesn't work, there's a shortcut across the big circle which uses TMG, or trimethylglycine, also called betaine.
Because methylation is so ubiquitous, if it doesn't work properly, you can have all kinds of symptoms, neurological, cancer, chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, thyroid issues, digestive diseases, etc.
It's taken me years of solving family health problems to know what I know, but you have to start somewhere, and worth the effort in the long run.
Here are some resources to Google:
YouTube Methylation made Easy - Part 2 of 4
Folate Linus Pauling Oregon State University
Methylation methionine Alt Med Review AL Miller Thorne
The doctors I see are experts at this. I have chronic fatigue syndrome, due to genetic defects which block methylation and am needing vast amounts of B12, so I'm getting it orally and injected. My cancer treatment set it off, but my cancer likely developed due to undermethylating over a long period of time before I knew about my tendency to be short of folate and B12. Many people on this board think pernicious anemia is behind B12 deficiency, but there's a lot more to it.
Thanks for the time you've taken and the information you've given. It's going to take me some time to get my head round all of this, but you've set the starting blocks up and I'll be off looking at this hopefully soon. Really appreciated, thanks again. And best wishes accepted and reciprocated.
I have Adrenal Fatigue (4 excessive highs) through saliva test and am treating before they sink low and the real trouble starts. Please do NOT take ANY Adaptogens/supports UNTIL you know for sure. You'll almost certainly end up worse. Sorry I know this isn't what you need to hear but unfortunately there is no quick fix. Wishing you both well
You test at 4 points in day and all mine were way way over range which meant if I didn't quickly treat I risked them turning into low lows where you're pretty much bed bound
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