I understand that being hypo can put strain on adrenal output, but is it the same in reverse? Ie. would adrenals which are under unrelenting stress for a number of years undermine thyroid output due to an HPA feedback malfunction? I have low ft4/3 and tsh so I’m not classic hypo. I’ve been diagnosed as having CFS (amongst many other things) and I always feel bad when supplementing thyroid hormone, but good when supplementing hydrocortisone.
Anyone with advice on this would be appreciated.
Yes….highly likely
Many thyroid patients have had significant stress in their lives
If you Google stress and thyroid…..100’s of links
Have you read “Tears behind closed doors” by Diana Holmes
thyroiduk.org/product/tears...
Thank you SlowDragon. No, I haven’t read that, but I’ll have a look. What I meant was, as I’m not technically ‘hypo’ ie I’m not out of range or high tsh, could it be that thyroid hormone isn’t what I need, and that replacing other pituitary hormones might bring low free t levels up or does it not work like that?
That's a really interesting question.
I read once that sometimes aiming to 'balance' one hormone like progesterone say, with supplemental hormone therapy is all some women need to rebalance thyroid levels in mildly hypothyroid women. I also think I have read that from an expensive london female hormone clinic. I couldn't afford to investigate whether it was true!
When you have exhausted the possibilities of thyroid medicine and still feel off, then it becomes necessary to see whether supplementing with cortisol or HRT/bio-identical hormone therapy can help.
I hadn't actually considered if merely supplementing with cortisol might bring the HPA axis back into some sort of balance. It would be nice to think it could work though! Are you on hydrocortisone long term?
Thank you Alanna012 - yes, that’s exactly what I mean. Interesting that you mention progesterone as, during my fertile years and as part of hrt it made me feel awful, but now I find small amounts of topical prog (20mg) very useful. I really think I have exhausted thyroid meds, I’m sitting here with my heart thumping away and only using 25 levo, it’s not palps, it’s like I’m in overdrive, but also tired as my sleep is patchy.
I’ve been experimenting with HC at 5mg and 10mg for about a month and seem to do well with it at a low dose.
I understand that being hypo can put strain on adrenal output, but is it the same in reverse?
Yes. You might find this helpful :
paulrobinsonthyroid.com/hig...
thank you humanbean, I’ve had a quick glance but need to go out, so I’ll catch up later. I also found this recently, don’t know if this medic is recognised or a ‘quack’ but it made a lot of sense.
hormonerestoration.com/Cort...
I don't think Dr Lindner is a quack.
His "About Us" is interesting to see what he believes in and aims to achieve with his patients:
hormonerestoration.com/abou...
I suspect that a lot of doctors might think he was a quack because he optimises nutrient and hormone levels rather than just drugging people with pharmaceutical drugs.
Hi , CFS is mainly due to high rt3 , low to normal t3 with normal tsh . In CFS actually there is an overdrive of cortisol known as adrenal fatigue , when u take hydrocortisone ur inner steroid immediately decreases making it stimulant for the receptors , In CFS high rt3 is also due to high spikes of ur inner hormone Dexamethasone works better on alternate day with a dose of 1 mg.
HtH
Omze - this is really interesting. Would you explain why you prefer dexamethasone over hydrocortisone. Thank you.
I’m really interested in this. How do you know you need hydrocortisone?
How do you know you have high rT3?
Is there evidence that this is linked to CFS?
My GP wants to diagnose me with CFS. But I told her that makes me feel like she is giving up on me.
I’ve always suspected 23 yrs of PTSD has caused adrenal fatigue then this led to thyroid problems.
When I started thyroxine 18months ago my TSH wasn’t really very high but FT4 slightly underrange . Now I scared to stop thyroxine (125mcg) but don’t feel much better than I did before. Should I have helped my adrenals first?
Also the PaulRobinson stuff in the link is fascinating to read, but confusing for me. I wonder if he sees people privately?
Hi SarahJane - the best way to measure your cortisol is with a 4 point saliva test. I got mine from regenerus as their test also tests DHEA. It’s important to have both checked as the level of DHEA can be an indicator of various things. Regenerus then send you your results in a chart format which shows your cortisol rhythm throughout the day. There also a home test for rt3, just Google it.
Might be worth searching for Dr Myhill online, she has a lot of info on CFS, as does Dr Lam and the link I posted above is from a doc with some interesting views.
I’m on my 2nd trial of levo and I stopped today, it just makes me feel worse, whereas hydrocortisone doesn’t, so my search to establish what’s wrong continues, but I think my problem has caused a secondary thyroid issue, rather than thyroid being the primary issue. It’s taken a long time to work this out,
Might be a good idea for you to test your adrenal output before stopping/reducing levo.
thank you. I’m wondering the same about thyroid be a consequence of adrenal fatigue. I just have to be in a financial position to do the saliva test.
Hi Jamima,
I was wondering how you were getting on with trying to take levo again.
I couldn't tolerate the 25mcg that I was prescribed; I felt very unwell and also had chest discomfort that was very scary. So I literally broke the 25mcg into five tiny pieces and started very slowly.
Not sure what'll happen when I try to increase again after my blood tests in January but I'll deal with that then.
Good that you are trying to work through and find something that works for you and trying to feel better than you do now.
Did your saliva test show low cortisol? Mine was ok but low in range in the afternoon but with high in range dhea.
Take care.
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