I am now tolerating NDT much better by using adrenal cortex when I get overt symptoms of intolerance (extreme anxiety, skin crawling, severe agitation). For me, the worst time is 3 hours after my NDT dose (which I believe is the T3 rising in the blood).
In the last few days I have noticed that if I am weight training (I can only manage a very modest amount) at the time of the T3 rising in my blood I don’t get symptoms of intolerance, even if I don’t take adrenal cortex.
I wondered if anyone has any theories for this. I know that weight training increases mitochondria, but I think it likely also raises cortisol… all theories welcome. And thought I’d post as this could help someone else struggling with intolerance too.
thanks for your reply. Do you mean your ft4 and ft3 go up a lot from ndt or from weight training?
That’s very interesting. So about 2/3 hours after my NDT I get intense dread and skin crawling sensation and it lasts for about an hour (unless I take cortex or seemingly go to the gym). I’d assumed this meant it was peaking as I read a study online saying T3 peaks about that time and it perfectly matched up with palpitations and the sense of dread, but maybe it’s not peaking then? 🤔
yes I have low blood cortisol but not out of range. I think it’s from being so hypo when I tried to be t3 only combined with prolonged ketosis that was the worst thing I’ve ever done for my health 😐🔫
I do also have hashi’s, do you? So I take Adrenavive but it makes me pretty nauseaous and eating enough calories is soooooo important for thyroid, I hadn’t realised this until keto RUINED me 😬 oh bugger. Sorry to hear still in dumps. What is your treatment? I’m on NDT after keto made T4 stop working but I’ve had chronic depression ever since I was 13 so I don’t think T4 ever helped with that. Can I see your labs? X
I just saw your labs. I’m so sorry you’re still feeling so unwell, esp as your labs look good 😐. I wonder if you’d be better on synthetics? Also looks like your iron isn’t good, which I believe can impact metabolism of thyroid hormone. I need to look more at your profile so sorry if this has been mentioned before by you but have you worked on optimising nutrients?
well I’ve read from slow dragon it’s due to it being bound in blood and unbound in saliva. Usually high enough T3 can correct this - but I see you’ve already got your T3 optimal. I’ll link a thread that you might find useful about cortisol x
Hmph. I wonder about your cortisol. Have you done a saliva cortisol recently? X
oh gosh don’t worry about that at all, but feel free to message me if you’d prefer. I wonder if we can work out what’s happening with you.
from what you descrjbe it seems to me that you are very hypo still from the symptoms you describe. So either your main cofactors (Vit d, b12, folate, iron and cortisol) are terrible or Armour is the wrong NDT.
how weird! Did you have anything happen around that time?
are you getting the armour self-sourced? I wonder if you got a bad batch… but then your lab work is good. How are your antibodies? Are you menopause age?
oK, so you’re not so hypo you’ve lost your periods, some medication must be getting in. What are your symptoms at the moment?
Yes, makes total sense, I had/have all of those. Do you have air hunger? Fluid in legs was adrenal for me. I wonder if you’d be better on a course if hydrocortisone. Maybe your adrenals have gotten upset by the partying.
oh sorry I got confused. I thought the partying was before you recently stopped responding so well to treatment with ndt.
So my story is in my bio but it’s bloody long so the short version is - I was very psychiatrically ill from 13, diagnosed hashi’s at 21 (only because they wanted me on lithium they thought they’d check my thyroid and it was a horror show!) put on T4 (and lithium) which did nothing but give me acne. Then I started all manner of insane self-experimentation in alternative health world (entirely oblivious to the fact that T3 exists and I was so desperately low in it) and I did keto. 14 months into keto I hit a complete wall - fluid in legs, rapid weight gain, chronic bloating, visceral weight gain, dry skin, losing hair, fluid in legs, palpitations, fecal impaction, diagnosed with PoTs, constant tinnitus, severe eczema on face, air hunger, extreme fatigue, no period, chronic dissociation. It was very very bad. I’m now on NDT and have been learning every day about how keto destabilised my adrenals that were likely propping up my system in the face of poor conversion of T4. My symptoms are slowly improving but it’s taking time as I’m very sensitive to the dose increases as my adrenals are so screwed from it all 🫠
you really do sound hypo… have you ever tried hydrocortisone?
Physical activity uses up FT3, the active hormone, so it's not surprising that it helps with the 'overmedicated' feel. Have you tried splitting your NDT dose in half and taking it ,say, morning and evening? I think quite a few people do something similar.
Yes I thought that might be it. Feels a bit concerning that I’m finding the t3 to be overmedicating me, I’m on such a low dose. Yes I split my NDT across the day in 3 bits (1/2, 1/2, 1/4)
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