Question to you about hypothyroidism and wake up at 4am

did you ever woke up at 4 am with nervousness and panic attacks?

If yes, do you have simptom of hypothyroidism.

Do you have diabete also?

[Nanaedake]

Have you had thyroid blood tests and if so, could you post the results? If not and you have symptoms of hypothyroidism then ask your GP to test THS, FT3, FT4 and thyroid antibodies.

[Hidden in reply to Nanaedake]

Not yet

Im on t3 from about a week ago, it works good but i need more time to prove the effectiveness

I posted this question to see if someone with hypo, adrenal fatigue or insuline-resistence can link their illness with episodes of awakening at 4am with stress related symptom

[Nanaedake in reply to Hidden]

You should not take thyroid medication without evidencing the need with blood tests and getting a diagnosis for a thyroid condition. Please get the blood tests done otherwise you are using medication unwisely and risking your health.

If you do not have a thyroid condition then I suggest you seek advice from the diabetic forum since you mention diabetes.

[jezebel69]

This could be a cortisol problem. If it is frequent it might be a good idea to undertake a 24 hour saliva test. High cortisol at bed time can cause insomnia or interrupted sleep.

Alternatively low thyroid can also cause anxiety.

[Daffers123]

Yes I agree with Jez below that its likely cortisol related, as it happens to me too. I had the cortisol saliva test done and mine was right out of kilter. Phosphadatyl serine(PS) has helped a lot. My doctor said it also might be low blood sugar and to eat a snack (like bread and peanut butter , something with fat in it I think) before bed.

[Hidden in reply to Daffers123]

Yeah im already doing this, in fact when i eat something with sugar (or chocolate) im feeling better, i can sleep for a month without wake up at 4am. but in the moment i forgot to eat something with sugar (after dinner) thats where my panick attack turn back at 4am

[jezebel69 in reply to Daffers123]

Daffers was your cortisol just high at bed time and if so when did you take PS? Mine was high midday and night

[Daffers123 in reply to jezebel69]

yes mine was high at bedtime and too high on waking up and overall higher than required! I take PS and Holy Basil around 8pm. I think it is related to the thyroid hormones being out of balance and definitely stress and worry. What do you think/do about yours ?

I shall rerun adrenal tests in around 6 weeks to see if it's improved. Trouble is I can't stabilise my T4 etc due to Hashis. am OK for few dsys/week then all goes belly-up again 😈

best wishes

Andrea

[jezebel69 in reply to Daffers123]

Hi Andrea - yes mine is largely stress driven. I too have hashis and have been gluten free for about 2 months now to see if it reduces antibodies. I'm t4/t3 so feel I have more wriggle room for adjustment as the t3 effect is pretty quick. I have Holy Basil so will try it mid evening...thanks for the advice!

Jill

[Daffers123 in reply to jezebel69]

hi Jill

interested in what you say as I have not been able to tolerate T3 at all. this has been really disappointing as when I've tried it for first 2 or 3 days I've felt much better. then is seems to build up and tip me into hyper which is awful.

did you have any trouble?

I am also trialling CBE oil

[BadHare]

Prior to taking thyroid hormones, I was wide awake at 3am every morning.

I also had spontaneous attacks of fright, but these tended to be in the afternoon. I read low thyroid hormones can affect the adrenals glands, which have to work harder to compensate for lower THs.

[Hidden in reply to BadHare]

So, now you feel better?

Im taking 12,5mcg of t3 and it works good but tomorrow i will start with 25mcg

[BadHare]

Not with regard to sleep, as I suffer with joint pain which frequently wakes me up, though the 3-5am wide awake time has diminished, as has the 4pm temperature drop & energy crash. Being able to produce body heat, & eating normally is a huge improvement to my quality of life, as is tolerating a little sunshine.

I've been taking T3 only in summer, but found my skin needs some NDT in winter. I vary my T3 dose between 50mcg on hot days & 75mcg when it's cold or I'm more active, or the equivalent T3/NDT combination.

[Hidden in reply to BadHare]

I have attack of fright me too! Not only in the afternoon but all day long xd

When my energy crash i have also pain in the lower belly (i dont know if this is the correct word) and i need to take a meal with sugar to balance my insuline levels. A little further of these weeks i will do a blood test to see if the parameters are all in range

[BadHare in reply to Hidden]

Hopefully this will stop when your hormone levels improve.

It might be a good idea to post on one of the diabetes forums, just in case the symptoms are related. I don't have diabetes, so I don't know about this.

[startagaingirl]

That'll be the disruption to your adrenals and your thyroid from your 50 mg/day pregnenolone (steroid) topped up by your 12.5 mcg of t3, none of which has been dosed based on any form of test to see whether you actually need them.

You were also advised in a previous post that a starting dose for t3 - even with blood tests proving that it is actually required, which you don't have - is 6.25 mcg. 12.5 is too much and 25 is definitely too much, especially after only 1 week.

Self diagnosis can be a very, very dangerous thing, especially when you start using powerful hormones together. What appear to be problems with your blood sugar could actually be caused by the steroids. What appear to be thyroid problems could also be caused by the steroid. At this point you are in the realms of mutliplying side-effects with no sound basis for any of them. You are also at risk of causing yourself serious, long-lasting harm.

I know I have said this to you before, please have some form of blood test before you do anything else. I am sure there are private blood tests available in Italy if your doctor won't do them.

I am wary that you are actually using the goodwill and good faith of people in this group to enable and support you in a very dangerous cycle of use of very powerful medication.

Please stop and try to think rationally about this.

[Hidden in reply to startagaingirl]

Startagaingirl be calm,

From when i start using t3 im not using pregnenolone anymore, im doing one thing at time.

I know i might appear unprepared and hasty but my situation is very difficult and surreal and my doctor never helped me concretely so i need to try heal myself first

[startagaingirl in reply to Hidden]

But just taking powerful hormones without any sort of basis is absolutely not the way to do that. If you have read any other posts on this forum you will see that we always ask for test results and if people don't have them, we strongly recommend that they get them. There are many of us who self-treat based on bad experiences with doctors but we absolutely do not do it blind.

I know you are unprepared and hasty and I firmly believe that you are actually being extremely foolish and playing Russian roulette with your health.

[Hidden in reply to startagaingirl]

Ill do my best to restore my health

[Swanagegirl in reply to Hidden]

It sounds like it is adrenal issue.

Cortisol starts to rise fast at 4am. If however your body is unable to produce the required cortisol - what will happen instead is your blood sugar will crash.

So you could test your blood sugar hourly through a 24 hour period. Do this for at least three days - you will need a Diabetic tester & test strips ( available on Amazon). If you are low blood sugar ( anything below about 4.0) then you are correct in thinking you need something sugary to bring up blood sugar. HOWEVER this is not chocolate ( Chocolate is slow acting due to the fat ) What you need is Glucose tablets or orange juice or similar.

However!!!!! if this is an adrenal issue then blood sugar will struggle to rise as the " Hypoglycaemic event ( low blood sugar or hypo) " will NOT rise affectively due the hypo being caused by adrenal issue i.e. low cortisol not a diabetic low cortisol event - They are different.

If you do find you are hypo please treat ( small glass of juice ) then test every 15 mins & keep re treating till blood sugars rise. If they won't rise then definitely adrenal related.

Saliva cortisol testing is a poor way of testing cortisol levels - Blood testing is the correct way to do. It is now possible to get home testing kits for blood cortisol testing. medichecks.com/cortisol-tes... This test is a bit tricky - as you have to prick finger & drip blood into tiny test tube. But in my opinion better than doing at GP's because it is less stressful to do at home. If you do use this company please then post or email me results, as they are not very skilled at telling you whether the results are ok or not. This is not their fault - as most endocrinologists also can't read cortisol results correctly.

VERY Important if you are still producing cortisol - but less than you body truly requires then - if you are stressed at the time of testing you will be able to spike your own blood cortisol level upwards - this will then NOT give a true reflection of you NORMAL day to day levels.

[Hidden in reply to Swanagegirl]

Very useful informations, thank you!

[Swanagegirl in reply to Hidden]

You are welcome.

It is definitely worth trying to establish whether adrenal problem first before launching too much into thyroid medication.

Sadly doctors are pretty rubbish at diagnosing so you do need to do lots of detective work yourself.

[Swanagegirl in reply to Hidden]

As part of you detective work please draw up a family tree & mark on it ANY autoimmune conditions that you family on both sides have. Go up & down the generations. This will help in your diagnosis.

aarda.org/diseaselist/ Here is a list of over 100 autoimmune conditions to help you.

What brought you to the conclusion that you have adrenal fatigue ?

[Hidden in reply to Swanagegirl]

Thats what said my doc at first and what i think me too according to my simptom and what i read on the net

Im struggling everyday with anxiety, nausea, severe brain fog burned skin (especcialy on the face), pain near the belly and so on..

[Swanagegirl in reply to Hidden]

Burned skin ?

[Hidden in reply to Swanagegirl]

I also forgot to mention:

My father when he was young (20years old) had measles, he was near to death and after that ALWAYS had mental problem, do you think this could affected me?

[Swanagegirl in reply to Hidden]

No I doubt it.

What is important is to go through the autoimmune list ( the link I sent ) & see what conditions if any are in your family.

Coeliac Disease - could be something to check - this comes hand in had with Adrenal Issues.

Please explain the burned skin - I don't understand what you mean by that

[Hidden in reply to Swanagegirl]

According to m sympotom (nausea, gastro problems) my skin becomes very dry and reddish, especially in my face, sometimes is better and other not

[Swanagegirl in reply to Hidden]

So red & sore or tanned ?

[Hidden in reply to Swanagegirl]

I would say tanned

[Swanagegirl in reply to Hidden]

Do you crave salt or salty foods ? This includes hidden salt .

So Crisps, Pringles,salted popcorn,olives, pickles, salty cheese like Feta Cheese , Chilli powder ( contains salt)

[Hidden in reply to Swanagegirl]

Right now:no.

BUT some year ago i would say definitely yes, and thats what leads me to thinking i already had adrenal fatigue (at stage 3) but only in this moments im really aware of my problems.

Two years ago i had only depression simptom but i never give him importance

[Swanagegirl in reply to Hidden]

Have you taken Steroids for any reason ?

[Hidden in reply to Swanagegirl]

Two months ago from when i start having bad nausea and brain fog, i tried Pregnenolone 50mg x 7days but that you believe or not , it never worked, i also tried adrenal cortex excract, same conclusion.

So now are 2 weeks im trying t3 hormone and it works steady, everyday im a bit better

[Swanagegirl in reply to Hidden]

Hmmm thats good that something is working.

But I think you definitely need some cortisol tests - Blood tests not Saliva.

Would your doctor do a 9am Cortisol Blood test ?

Hydrocortisone is the correct drug for adrenal issues. But its important to get the tests first.

Most Doctors will not recognise Adrenal Fatigue as a ' Real Condition ' .

However there is a very serious condition called Addison's Disease - or adrenal insufficiency - This is the name of a condition which means your adrenal glands have failed completely.

But there is stage before that when cortisol production isn't working properly. Which some call adrenal fatigue.

YOU CAN DIE from this if not diagnosed.

I am concerned that you maybe developing Addison's Disease. Tanning is an important symptom.

I would like you to do a 9am cortisol blood test please .

[Hidden in reply to Swanagegirl]

I already see some pics on the net about addison disease but my skin fortunately is not like this..so dark!

Plus, i noticed improvements everyday so i dont think i have permament adrenal failure,

What get me angry is tgat my doctor said this is caused only by a stress related problem and i need to restore, but for what im doing i can cleary say without my exercise, without my diet, without my hormone replacement i have the impression i will never fix my health condition,

In the first blood test my doc not even prescribed to do thyroid hormone test

So now im searchin on the net (and with the useful info im reading on this thread) to do a cortisol sample but in italy there arent private clinics that take this

[Hidden in reply to Swanagegirl]

Some website suggest is better to try saliva test fractionated in three different moments of the day

[Swanagegirl in reply to Hidden]

Yep but not accurate .

Better to do Blood cortisol tests - that of course you can do at different times of the day.

BUT 9am cortisol blood test is your starting point. at that time it should be between 600 - 700. if it isn't around those numbers then you are potentially in trouble.

[Bertwills]

Hi I started to take T3 about 6 weeks ago after blood tests and having taken T4 for decades. I too wake regularly at 3 to 4 am. I recently started taking a 10mcg dose when I wake which has worked brilliantly. I fall into a v deep sleep.

This is using the method from the Recovery with T3 book. It goes into great detail about the circadian method of dosing. There's lots in there too about adrenal glands. I recommend it along with having blood tests to identify your particular problem. Medichecks on Thursday do special offers.