I’ve recently started taking Adrenavive to begin addressing issues with low cortisol. Have been taking it for about a month but have begun to experience what I recognise as symptoms of an autoimmune attack on my thyroid (dull ache in the front of my neck, lump in throat and hoarseness, beginning to show signs of over replacement etc).
Remember reading on here recently about nucleotides being added to Adrenavive and Metavive and how they can be liked to increased immune response. Since these particular symptoms have increased during the time I’ve been taking Adrenavive and I’ve not started any other new supplements, I think this might be the cause.
So I’m now looking to try an alternative adrenal supplement, preferably cortex only, but I just don’t know where to start!
Can anyone recommend an alternative? Would be interested to hear any experiences with different brands.
Thanks!
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hjh88
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Which Adrenavive are you on? I tried Adrenavive III (the strongest OLD version) and it was too much for me. I developed hyper symptoms.In the past, I´ve taken Thorne Adrenal cortex which I found very good (each capsule contains 50 mg of adrenal cortex as opposed to 300 mg in Adrenavive III). The reason I switched was because a doctor told me I had adrenal fatigue and needed to be on prednisone, but I preferred to try adrenal cortex first and thought Adrenavive III would be the most cost-effective option...but, like I said, it was too strong for me. A 24 h saliva test taken after a couple of months on it showed elevated cortisol levels through the day and especially at night which would explain my problems falling and staying asleep. I also ended up on blood pressure medication and was told I had borderline diabetes 2. I have since weaned off adrenal support and am seeing much improvement.
I now take ashwagandha daily. It´s an adaptogen said to support healthy adrenal function. It seems to work well, without the side effects of adrenal cortex. It´s also known to lower blood sugar levels which was much needed in my case.
You may not need to be on adrenal cortex for long. Make sure you are still cortisol deficient. In my own experience, taking adrenal cortex (or glandulars) can overstimulate your own adrenal glands at first, but eventually they can shut down. That´s another reason I decided to wean off it.
I should add that the saliva cortisol test (from Regenerus) also showed low DHEA levels, and in the accompanying lab report it was suggested that high cortisol levels had caused this.
Sounds like you’ve been on quite an adventure with your cortisol levels. Glad you’re starting to see some improvement!
My feeling was start small and see what I could tolerate so started with Adrenavive I, taking 1 early morning and perhaps a second with lunch if I feel the need. My cortisol is quite low in the mornings, rising a little through the day and DHEA in range but on the lower side. Planning to retest after 2-3 months to see what the impact has been but 1 month in I’m wondering if the nucleotides aren’t for me, and the possibility of not needing the full gland.
Thanks for the tip re: Thorne, I’ll give that a look for sure. Like their b complex so that’s a good start!
I’d been avoiding ashwagandha as I thought it lowered cortisol - something I could do to avoid at the moment! But should it ever rise again I’ll have a look into it.
Adrenavive l is the whole adrenal gland - cortex and medulla.
Adrenavive ll and lll are both cortex only.
I started off some time ago with Adrenavive and if I remember correctly it was the cortex only version. I can't say it did much for me. Then it became temporarily unavailable and when it came back into stock the price had risen considerably so I changed to another brand and used the whole gland supplement and I seem to have done better with that.
I was using Nutricology Adrenal Glandular and when that became difficult to get I switched to Allergy Research Adrenal Glandular. They are actually the same product produced by the same company, Nutricology is available for the public to buy, Allergy Research is a practioner brand.
You are right about ashwagandha, it is said to be "balancing" whereas it can in fact lower cortisol.
Excellent, I’ll have a look into Nutricology/Allergy Research. On a brief look can see a couple of places to get Nutricology so hopefully reasonably available.
I had considered Adrenavive II and III as a cortex only option but given the possible issue with nucleotides I’m thinking I might steer clear for now. And while I’m swapping brands, thought it might be worth trying cortex only as I’d heard that whole gland can also boost adrenaline which I’m not sure I want to do! 😂
And thanks for confirming about ashwagandha! Will continue to avoid.
Yes, I find even OTC products tricky to use as they can definitely influence your hormones. Adrenavive III was probably too strong for me since I felt much better once off it.
There are some links in there discussing nucleotides and immunity.
A quick google around nucleotides and autoimmunity brings up a lot of papers but my knowledge doesn’t stretch far enough to be able to interpret them correctly.
Willing to believe the link, however, given that so far it seems to fit my personal experience. Imagine, like with so much around thyroid and supplementation, that it’s incredibly personal though. Had I not experienced any ill effects I would have carried on with Adrenavive regardless.
Thanks. It would be interesting to see who is actually affected and who has had no change to their symptoms. Wish we could run a poll. Other than Metavive iii, I have no other choice. I don’t feel well on Levothyroxine.
Okay having had a quick skim through some of these papers that you can easily find on the internet, they are talking about Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms or SNPs. A SNP is a variation of a gene. So those people who have slightly different genes like MTHFR for example.
I don’t see a reference to nucleotides causing autoimmunity. Unless somebody else can weigh in here. I’m thinking of helvella for example? Sorry dropped you in it 😁
My interpretation of what I’d seen (limited though it is, plus my layman’s knowledge) was that nucleotides don’t necessarily cause autoimmunity but can provide a bump to the immune system - so if you’re already autoimmune they might step things up a notch.
Whether that’s truly the case or not, I don’t know. What I do know is that for some reason Adrenavive doesn’t agree with me and a nucleotide free alternative is possibly a good next port of call.
Like helvella says, lack of explanation from the company leaves a big gap!
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Thinking of trying metavive and adrenavive
Anyone taking Adrenavive who can explain this result?
Adrenavive II 
Anyone taking Adrenavive II for low cortisol?
Adrenavive ll v Pregnenolone or both for adrenal insufficiency
