Thyroid Uk provides members with well considered and knowledgable guidance and support. I have depended on it many times and feel very much part of the community here.
I feel our integrity and intelligence is in question when the phrase 'adrenal fatigue' continues to be used in relation to thyroid conditions.
Low thyroid levels will have an impact on cortisol levels. FACT.
This we know. ADRENAL INSUFFICIENCY is a very real condition.
This is one very important reason to raise thyroxine levels slowly. As we increase thyroxine, our cortisol levels will increase too. It has to be done slowly.
I am a prime example ( secondary hypothyroid ) of someone who started off with very low cortisol levels and who now has very healthy cortisol levels. I fact the only way I can maintain my cortisol levels is by maintaining my thyroxine levels.
Please let's deal in FACTS.
Adrenal insufficiency is very real. Adrenal fatigue is not and has no place here.
And while we're at it... can we ban the use of NDT / NATURAL when talking about desiccated thyroid please?
In my opinion, the 'natural' word also puts our integrity and intelligence into question. I have seen the 'raised eyebrow' and 'sigh' reaction from conventional medics when it's uttered. They think we're talking about 'alternative' or 'herbal' or even (as one so called endo called it) 'voodoo' medicine.
Desiccated thyroid does originate in the thyroid glands of pigs, but by the time it's been through all that processing and reaches us in standardised pill form, surely it's not at all natural.
Don't get me wrong, for many people it works so much better than synthetic thyroid hormones do (I take it myself). There is without doubt something special about desiccated thyroid. But I don't believe it's simply the 'naturalness' that makes it work. If it was, why would some people find certain brands work for them when other brands don't.
It also opens up the possibility of confusion with the so-called dietary supplements which might have no detectable thyroid hormone in them despite having origins in one or other animal thyroid. There have been several papers which have reported thyroid hormone being inconsistently present in such products - we never know whether there is variation within products or just between the various products out there.
Last year when my endo asked me why I would want to take pig powder I said "because it's natural "( which is what I understood was so) ........He put his head in his hands on the table in front of him......... At the time I was investigating all alternatives to see what I thought was best for me.We can only act upon what we read in an attempt to try to help ourselves ........let's at least get the facts right.
He never told me why he reacted that way,but then told me he could monitor me on Armour thyroid though he couldn't prescribe it.
What a dream it would be if a few grams of efficient thyroid medication from any source or label solved everything for all of us.............
"Because desiccated thyroid works well for some people, indeed, sometimes better than levothyroxine (even with liothyronine)."
Few people would choose the natural product willow extract rather than aspirin. The active consituent is only slightly different but that includes being less toxic in the non-natural product!
I hear what you say....but why put Natural on the front of NDT if it isn't ?
I am too ignorant to comment on your second paragraph other than to say that my cure all used to be Disprin which did away with inflammation as well as pain,until I was warned that it can cause internal bleeding,so that was a turn off too.
The medical establishment has never (to my knowledge) stuck Natural on the front. I really, really don't know who did that, where, or why. I suspect someone trying to make a buck rather than anything else. That is so often the explanation.
[If anyone can let us know when Desiccated Thyroid, Desiccated Thyroid Extract, Thyroid USP, or even Thyroid BP, got translated into Natural Desiccated Thyroid, then please let us all know.]
Disprin is just a pay-extra-for-the-name non-generic soluble aspirin. Yes, aspirin can cause stomach bleeding. But not as readily as willow extract (from what I have read). Remember that ibuprofen can also cause stomach problems - even when applied as a topical cream.
Hmmm... Old habits die hard. I think you'll have a difficult job to get the majority of people to stop talking about 'adrenal fatigue' - although, of course, what they actually mean is 'adrenal insufficiency'. I don't think many people actually believe that the adrenals are tired.
Same goes for NDT. It's an automatic reflex to type NDT when one is talking about Armour, Erfa et al. Although, I agree, it's not as 'natural' as all that. But, I promise I will make the effort to drop the T. There! That's my New Year's resolution! lol
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Low Cortisol - help please.
Cellular T3 & cortisol 
Medichecks shows abnormalities - what do I do now?
CLINICAL TRIAL FOR SALIVA CORTISOL TEST FOR EARLY DETECTION OF ADRENAL INSUFFICIENCY at University of Sheffield Teaching Hospitals
