Should I take adrenal support? - Hashimotos.

[HarrietJW]

After a couple of years of being on thyroid medication (T4 then NDT then T4+T3) and it seemingly doing nothing, I began to dig deeper. After reading ''Stop The Thyroid Madness'' I started looking into my adrenals as the book states that adrenal issues will stop thyroid meds getting to your cells. A cortisol saliva test revealed low adrenal function throughout the day and the book suggests that I should support with Adrenal Cortex. Does anyone have any experience with this approach?

(Cortisol results are below)

Waking - 7.77 (6-21)

Midday - 3.44 (1.5-7.6)

Afternoon - <1.5 (0-5.55)

Before Bed < 1.5 (0-2)

[SlowDragon Administrator]

Adrenals likely recovering from stopping replacement thyroid hormones

Suggest you retest again 6 months after getting thyroid and vitamin levels optimal

[HarrietJW in reply to SlowDragon]

I had similar results on thyroid meds...

[radd]

HarrietJW,

I can't take glandulars as they make my head swimy but many members have had success. The adrenal cortex doesn't contain adrenaline so thought better for those with low cortisol levels.

I have frequently seen Thorne Adrenal Cortex mentioned positively on the forum. Probably better to start low with say 1/4 - 1/2 a tablet to see if they suit before building the dose.

Glandulars will work more effectively if thyroid hormones, iron and nutrients are optimised.

[HarrietJW in reply to radd]

THANK YOU, that's really helpful. Do you know anything about lowering T3 before you take in to prevent hyper symptoms?

[radd in reply to HarrietJW]

HarrietJW,

I wouldn't reduce T3 levels unless they are high as having inadequate thyroid hormone will stress the adrenals further. You are wanting the adrenal support to work alongside your thyroid meds, not replace them.

What you might find though is as cortisol levels improve thyroid meds start working better and you may have to reduce your dose slightly.

[HarrietJW in reply to radd]

Thank you!

[Horsey07 in reply to radd]

STTM have advised me to take adaptogens in the morning and phosphatidyl serine at night for two weeks to see if it does the trick so I ordered Max Adaptogen Ayurvedic herbs by Max Botanics and some vegan phosphatidylserine capsules to see if they help at all. They’ve also advised to keep doing DATS for the two weeks as they’re an indication of your cortisol levels.

[radd in reply to Horsey07]

Horsey07,

Assume you have answered me by mistake so tagging HarrietJW

[Horsey07 in reply to radd]

So sorry radd, I have indeed; flipping brain fog!

[HarrietJW in reply to Horsey07]

Thanks! Do you have low cortisol or high?

[Horsey07 in reply to HarrietJW]

Mine's currently see sawing, mostly towards low, but high at midday. Waking = 7.42 (6.0-21)

Noon = 7.8 (1.5-7.6)

16:00 = 2.2 (0.5-5)

22:00 = <1.5 (0-2.0)

Apparently that’s fairly typical for stressed adrenals. I’ve started on the supplements this morning so I can let you know how I’m feeling in a couple of days on them if you like.

[HarrietJW in reply to Horsey07]

Thanks, that would be great! The book suggests that the herb route can be great for high or see-sawing, but less great for continuously low, hence me considering ACE. Something scares me about it though...

[Horsey07 in reply to HarrietJW]

What bothers me with taking glandular for cortisol issues (apart from being vegetarian so there’s an issue for me to start with) is that the animal is very likely to have had huge levels of adrenaline at the end of its life, possibly not a good thing? Other, more knowledgeable people here might well know better than me. My cortisol was actually lower than yours on waking and pretty similar for afternoon and evening, it’s just the noon one which is odd. I’ll keep you posted.

[HarrietJW in reply to Horsey07]

Thank you, please do!