Exhausted after any effort: is it thyroid (I've got Hashi's) or adrenals?

[carorueil]

I've got Hashis and cortisol deficiency. I've been on quite a lot for the adrenals and had gone up to 90mg on ERFA only for my doctor to reduce me back down to 45mg... then back up to 75mg..... Just back from visiting osteo, just the physical effort of driving there (ok busier than my normal/suburban trips), has wiped me out..... is that due to not enough ERFA? My 'gut' feeling is that I'm taking enough for the adrenals... I just feel drained after the effort....Anyone else who has experienced this? Thanks

[PinkNinja]

How did you feel on the 90mg of Erfa? If you felt better on that, it might be that you are now under replaced. If your doctor insists that 90mg is too much, ask if they can test T3 to be sure. As you are taking something containing T3, the TSH test is pretty much useless in many cases.

It could well be a combination of thyroid and adrenals, but if you are not on enough Erfa that will not be helping your adrenals. You may want to look into taking your Erfa by following Paul Robinson's circadian T3 method. This seems to help a lot of people. It has to do with making sure your body is getting most of it's T3 prior to when it wants to produce the most cortisol. T3 is needed to manufacture cortisol, as far as I understand it. It may be something worth looking into. People using this method apparently often need less medication than those not following it. If you wanted to know more about it you could always post a question about it. Several other members are using it. I'm not so I don't really know enough about it.

I hope that helps a little

Carolyn x

[carorueil in reply to PinkNinja]

Thanks Carolyn - well I felt better on 90mg of ERFA than on the 45/75! At the time (October) the doctor found that my body temperature was too hot.... hands very hot etc...(I didn't mind!)..... I've decided to increase to 90mg ERFA today (splitting it in two) as the effort of driving to the osteo wiped me out...given how much stuff I'm taking for the adrenals - I also think the thryoid are under medicated..... I agree about the TSH being useless but in purely numeric forms if confirmed what I felt... My T3 free and T4 free (on 45mg) were : 3.14;(norms here 2.1-4.2), .0.98 (norms 0.7-1.8). on 90mg I was at 2.80 (T3 free) and 0.88 (T4 free)... Since October I've also been taking pregnolone as well as all the other stuff for adrenals so I really feel like they are getting the help they need but the thyroid less so. I'll have a look at Pauls T3 method.... I'm getting fed up as this has been going on for a year.... thanks for your help x Caroline

[PinkNinja in reply to carorueil]

I think you are probably doing the right thing increasing the Erfa. The high temperature could have been caused by a number of things and your bloods at the time certainly don't imply you were over-replaced. You may find that you need a dose somewhere in between, especially as you are now treating your adrenals. Play it by ear and see what happens

[carorueil in reply to PinkNinja]

Thanks Carolyn, well I've been on 75mg the last 2 weeks and have felt terrible - so will try the 90 which I'm splitting in two and see how that goes.. I've been treating my adrenals since last year - all was well until a holiday last Chirstmas and then a relapse.... haven't managed to get things stabilised since... though I think the growth hormone I was given DEFINITELY made things worse... unfortunately only remembered Dr P's info AFTER the event on that one!! kind regards C