Wondering what to try next?

[Clairewalker751]

And would really appreciate your ideas I currently take 100mcg of levo and 1 cap of thyrogold which contains 50mcg of T4 and 12.5 of T3 apparently first thing in the morning and wait an hour before food and drink I'm gluten and diary free and was previously doing very well on this, my vitamin levels are all good however muscle aches, fatigue and weakness have come in again and my resting heart rate is between 59-61 BPM last blood results are on a previous post taken on 26th Feb T4 and T3 levels are the lowest they have ever been but blood draw was 24hours after last dose. I'm really unsure what to increase?? But am feeling slightly hypo again. Would.love to hear suggestions? Many thanks Claire x

[SeasideSusie Remembering]

Why not wait and see the results of your next blood test. You mentioned a week ago that you are planning one. Remember to follow the guidance already given - first appointment of the morning for blood draw (no later than 9am), fast overnight (water allowed), leave off Levo for 24 hours and Thyrogold for 12 hours.

When you see your new results it will give you an idea of where/how to tweak your meds.

Are you taking maintenance doses of your supplements to keep your good levels of vitamins and minerals?

[Clairewalker751 in reply to SeasideSusie]

Thanks seaside Susie, yes still taking supplements 3000iu of Vit D folate 6 days a week and B12 complex once a week never needed ferritin, also take Vit C and vitamin E, magnesium, selenium, ashwaghanda, zinc cod liver oil and a probiotic. And yes planning another blood test whilst following the previous advice so will post again with those results and see what next step might be?

[SeasideSusie Remembering in reply to Clairewalker751]

Yes, post new results

Are you taking Ashwagandha to lower cortisol?

[Clairewalker751 in reply to SeasideSusie]

I just read that it's helpful with hashimotos so I've always taken it?

[SeasideSusie Remembering in reply to Clairewalker751]

I don't know about it helping Hashi's. Ashwaghanda is an adaptogenic herb with a lot of uses, one of them being it lowers cortisol. I'm not saying you're wrong to take it, but because of it's ability to lower cortisol it might be an idea to do a 24 hour saliva cortisol test.

I was taking adaptogenic herbs (a 3 in 1 blend) to lower my top of range cortisol. Because I didn't continue with the practioner who recommended it, it never crossed my mind to retest my cortisol. 2 years later I have tested and found all my top of range cortisol levels are now almost in a flat line at the very bottom of the range. I am now taking a supplement to increase cortisol and will be keeping a close eye on my levels.

[Clairewalker751 in reply to SeasideSusie]

That's really interesting seaside Susie, I will stop taking it for now and look at getting my cortisol levels checked can you recommend a test?

[Clairewalker751 in reply to SeasideSusie]

Had a quick look on medichecks donyo suggest blood saliva or urine test?

[SeasideSusie Remembering in reply to Clairewalker751]

Saliva is supposed to be the best.

I wouldn't recommend Medichecks (or Blue Horizon) for an adrenal test, reason being they only test cortisol and for a full picture you need cortisol plus DHEA. Both Regenerus and Genova Diagnostics do the full test - 4 x saliva samples.

Regenerus email result direct to you thyroiduk.org/tuk/testing/r...

Genova Diagnostics email the result to Thyroid UK who acts as your "practioner" then TUK emails the results to you thyroiduk.org/tuk/testing/g...

I have used both, no difference in the tests, just a bit less hassle to use Regenerus as you get the results direct.

[Clairewalker751 in reply to SeasideSusie]

Thank you seaside Susie I will get my cortisol levels checked, I still have so much to learn!

[CornishChick in reply to SeasideSusie]

Hi do you mind saying what you take to increase cortisol please? I need to increase mine. I’ve read about liquorice and was going to give that a try unless you can recommend anything better?

Thank you.

[SeasideSusie Remembering in reply to CornishChick]

Adrenavive ll

[CornishChick in reply to SeasideSusie]

Thank you. Can you take that with levothyroxine please?

[SeasideSusie Remembering in reply to CornishChick]

Yes but not at the same time. As with all supplements, leave at least 2 hours between Levo and supplement.

[CornishChick in reply to SeasideSusie]

Do you have to wean gradually onto adrenavive ll?

Is it taken daily for life or with breaks please? I shall get some.

[SeasideSusie Remembering in reply to CornishChick]

I can't answer all your questions because I've only been taking it for 3 weeks.

I started with half a capsule, it's easy enough to open, take out half the powder and mix with a bit of orange juice, and close the capsule. I took half a capsule for 4 days then went onto 1 capsule taken normally.

I have no idea yet how long it will be needed for. I shall finish the bottle (90 capsules) then do another saliva adrenal test and see where my levels are then.

[CornishChick in reply to SeasideSusie]

Thank you very much.

[Angel_of_the_North in reply to SeasideSusie]

I found that Ashwaghanda raised my low cortisol a bit.

[SeasideSusie Remembering in reply to Angel_of_the_North]

I have seen conflicting information about Ashwagandha. I've read that it "normalises" cortisol but have mostly read that it lowers cortisol.

[Clairewalker751 in reply to SeasideSusie]

I've decided to stop taking it for now and I've ordered the saliva test do I need to stop any other supplements for the cortisol test?

[SeasideSusie Remembering in reply to Clairewalker751]

When I enquired with Regenerus if I needed to stop anything I was told no, the results would show what effect the supplements are having. This is how I know that the adaptogenic herbs I was taking had lowered my cortisol so much so I stopped them immediately and bought the Adrenavive.

There was a form in with my kit which asked you to list certain things you are taking, eg hormones, amino acids, etc, and how much. I listed progesterone cream and melatonin, can't remember anything else.

[Angel_of_the_North in reply to SeasideSusie]

Perhaps most people who take it have high cortisol, so that's better documented.

[SeasideSusie Remembering in reply to Angel_of_the_North]

Could be, it's a minefield out there! I haven't used Ashwagandha but have used other adaptogenic herbs which lowered my cortisol from top of range to bottom of range yet my understanding was that adaptogens were "balancing".

[Angel_of_the_North in reply to SeasideSusie]

Who knows. It just proves that we are complex organisms and one size doesn't fit all.

[shaws Administrator]

I shall give you three chapters from a book which was written by a doctor who was also an Adviser to Thyroiduk.org.uk. He would never prescribe levothyroxine only NDT and T3. It was him who also produced Thyrogold specifically so that no prescription was required.

web.archive.org/web/2010103...

nebula.wsimg.com/b822d36efe...

web.archive.org/web/2010112...

The above chapters are 2, 3 and 7. This is an excerpt from Chapter 3:

IN THE LAST CHAPTER

WE wrote that you must identify the symptoms you want to free yourself from—the symptoms you suspect your slow metabolism is causing. After identifying them, you must estimate their intensity at intervals. How often you estimate the intensity of your symptoms will depend on your intention. If you’ve never eaten a wholesome diet, taken nutritional supplements, or exercised to tolerance, you may want to first measure how much these practices alone reduce the severity of your symptoms. Monitoring the severity of your symptoms once or twice each week will be often enough. If taking thyroid hormone is part of your rehab, you should measure the severity of your symptoms at intervals long enough to tell you the benefits of a particular dose. If you use desiccated thyroid or a synthetic T4/T3 product, monitoring every two weeks will be often enough. Two week intervals are enough because improvements in your symptoms after an increase of your dose can take up

to two weeks.

[Clairewalker751 in reply to shaws]

Thank you shaws I will try and digest all of that x