adrenal fatigue Archives - Page 3 of 13 - Stop The Thyroid Madness Skip to content

Tag: adrenal fatigue

What do these people have in common: Adams, Bouc, Dach, Edwards, Heyman, Heiser, Luber, Lynch, Phan, Roberts, Saleeby, Stone, Trumbower and Yang?

1-Screen Shot 2014-08-13 at 5.22.27 PMWhat do these people have in common: Adams, Bouc, Dach, Edwards, Heyman, Heiser, Luber, Lynch, Phan, Roberts, Saleeby, Stone, Trumbower and Yang? 

Answer:  Brilliance in thought, courage in action, intelligent reasoning, and a willingness to learn from their patients as medical practitioners.

And that is all exactly why each of them was chosen to contribute as an author to a new Stop the Thyroid Madness book, titled

Stop the Thyroid Madness II: How thyroid experts are challenging ineffective treatments and improving the lives of patients

Each of them are medical practitioners who strive to….

  • create a patient-centered practice and personalized method of treatment based on the symphony between the thyroid and all other bodily systems
  • understand that treatment of thyroid disease is more than the use of a single synthetic medication and a pituitary hormone lab result.
  • have the courage to question the basic assumptions held by the traditional medical community as to what constitutes good thyroid treatment
  • listen and learn from their patients.

Why else did I choose these particular practitioners for the book?

First and foremost, it was based on patient reports. The majority of these professionals were reported by thyroid patients to be the better cream of the crop in the medical field.

Could I have chosen others?

Yes. There are others of whom patients have reported they like! But serendipity led me to each one of these masterful professionals and it has all played out like a well-tuned chorus.

How is this book different than the revised STTM book?

The revised STTM will forever stand out as a compilation of highly important and life-changing experiences and wisdom of thyroid patients worldwide.

The new STTM II book brings the minds and brilliance of medical professionals into the mix, not only giving you more details that only a trained professional can give, but the book can also be seen as a practitioner-to-practitioner book, as well. THIS is a book that will end the refrain among certain doctors “Who is Janie Bowthorpe and where is her medical degree?” (i.e. as if only someone with a medical degree can know something important medically!).

THIS is the book that you can give your doctor since it’s written by his very colleagues!

THIS is the book that will play a dynamic role in changing the worldwide medical mindset about the proper treatment of thyroid disease.

What did they write about?

CHAPTER 1 The Integrative and Functional Medicine Approach to Thyroid Diseases by James Yang, MD, MPH and Andrew Heyman, MD, MHSA

CHAPTER 2 Stress, Adrenals, Your Thyroid, and You by Laura R Stone MD, Andrew Heyman, MD MHSA and Carla Heiser MS RD LD

CHAPTER 3 Thyroid Replacement Therapy: Natural Desiccated Thyroid (NDT) by Yusuf (JP) Saleeby, MD

CHAPTER 4 The Unreliable TSH Lab Test by Jeffrey Dach MD

CHAPTER 5 When Normal Ain’t Normal by Geoffrey T. Bouc MD

CHAPTER 6 Nutrition and Hypothyroidism by William D. Trumbower, MD

CHAPTER 7 Hashimoto’s Autoimmune Thyroid Disease by Jeffrey Dach MD

CHAPTER 8 Why Are Doctors Like That? by Nguyen D. Phan MD

CHAPTER 9 Gluten Intolerance and Thyroid Disease by Paula Luber, MD

CHAPTER 10 Thyroid Toxicity by Philip L. Roberts, MD

CHAPTER 11 Moving Forward with Reverse T3: the Causes and Health Implications by Paige Adams, FNP, B-C

CHAPTER 12 Methylation, MTHFR and Thyroid Dysfunction by Benjamin Lynch, ND

CHAPTER 13 Hypocortisolism: An Evidence-Based Review by Lena Edwards, MD, FAARM, FICT; Andrew H. Heyman, MD MHSA; Sahar Swidan, PharmD

Who wrote the Foreword?

Dr. David Brownstein, MD.

Where can I order the book?

Currently, only at the publishing company website. It will eventually catch up to Amazon, but that can take time.  You can order one or multiple copies of the new STTM II book here: http://laughinggrapepublishing.com/stop-thyroid-madness-ii-book/

Or you can order a set(s) of both the revised STTM book and the STTM II book here:  http://laughinggrapepublishing.com/stop-thyroid-madness-books-revised-and-ii/  ALSO NOTE that by snail mail, you can order an amount of each book. There’s an Order Form to print out on the above page.

Want to read more about each author?

Go to the following page and click on their photo: //www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/stop-thyroid-madness-ii

 

9 replies

How Dawn healed her adrenals–an inspiring story everyone must read!

Screen Shot 2014-05-13 at 2.56.53 PMWhen I first had my thyroid removed in 2012 due to autoimmune destruction from Hashimoto’s disease since age 10 and Graves disease for 6 years, I did not know what to expect. And like most other post-thyroidectomy patients, I was reassured by my surgeon that all it would take is for me to take “a little pill every day and things will be much better” (i.e. my surgeon referring to the Synthroid she prescribed for my post-op thyroid replacement)

What ensued after that was a nightmare that has lasted the past two years!

I went into heart failure multiple times from the inadequate replacement with Synthroid (T4 only medication). I was MISERABLE! Dizzy, heart racing out of the blue, internal shaking as well as nausea, severe fatigue and extreme irritability! I became a monster that even my own family did not recognize!!

STTM was discovered

Fast forward 9 months, and a good friend of mine came across the Stop the Thyroid Madness website and sent it my way. I ordered the book after looking through the website and realized I knew NOTHING about thyroid disease and proper treatment for hypothyroidism, and apparently neither did my Doctor!!

I made the switch to a working Natural Desiccated Thyroid like Armour e in March 2013, and things DID improve some. But the fatigue, shakes, dizziness and irritability continued! I flew off the handle at my husband, my parents, even my dogs (poor babies did not deserve it, but I was just out of control emotionally!) I thought I must be going crazy and feared I had developed a psychiatric disorder. In fact, my Endocrinologist suggested I see a psychiatrist to “work out my frustration and anger!”

It was my adrenals!

I started reading Chapter 6 in the revised STTM book– All about ADRENALS!! I thought I was reading my life story all over again! I had 90% of the symptoms listed on the “symptoms of low cortisol” page on the STTM site. I tried Janie’s at home testing and failed them all miserably! I ordered a 24 hour adrenal saliva cortisol test, and there is where I found my answer! See the results below:

Screen Shot 2014-05-13 at 2.18.45 PM

Turns out I wasn’t crazy! My adrenals were not putting out adequate cortisol to handle the increased stress of low thyroid levels and all my other life issues! I was LOW, LOW, LOW, slightly HIGH.

“How do I fix it?” 

I considered using T3CM, but knowing that I was low Morning, Noon AND Evening meant that was not likely to help per other patient’s experiences.

So someone suggested I try Thorne ACE (Adrenal Cortex Extract) to replace my low cortisol at those three times of day! I got it all ordered, read through the chapters in the STTM book. I added in high doses of Vitamin C (3,000mg per day) and high doses of magnesium (800-1,200mg per day) and started supplementing with Celtic Sea Salt and the Adrenal Cocktail (salt in water, plus minerals). I started feeling better pretty quickly with the sea salt and nutritional support added.

It took me several weeks of trial and error to get my symptoms under control and get the dose of ACE correct. I had to learn to take DATs (Daily Average Temperatures) to gauge whether or not the dose was the right one. I tracked symptoms, doses and temps daily. I adjusted up every few days until my temps stabilized and my symptoms became more minimal. I was still without a good doctor at this point, so I was self-treating using the knowledge I got in the support groups and in the Stop the Thyroid Madness book.

A job change was necessary

I realized that I could not continue under the extreme stress of working the 12 hour nightshift in a busy hospital. I was burning the candle at both ends, and everything I read about adrenals said reducing stress and sleeping on a set schedule was a MUST. So, I spoke with my spouse, and we decided I would quit my job and look for something less physically and emotionally demanding, and something with day-time hours exclusively. I was off work for 3 months while searching for a new position, and though money was tight and things were stressful, changing to sleeping at night once again made a HUGE difference (I put myself on a strict 10 pm-7 am sleep schedule.) I cut caffeine, sugar and alcohol out completely — the caffeine was very tough to give up, but I did it! Being out of the high-stress work environment was extremely helpful in healing adrenals!

A saliva retest

I was feeling better little by little, but the fatigue remained, especially in the afternoons. I would just crash around 2 pm and couldn’t do much of anything until late in the evening! I would get periodic adrenaline reactions (especially late in the afternoons.) I would sweat profusely, get shaky inside, feeling like my heart would pound out of my chest! I finally got in to see my “good thyroid doctor” in November 2013. He immediately said he wanted to take me off ACE for two weeks and retest my adrenals to see if I had made progress. Here is what they showed: (the retest is the one that says “current” taken in November 2013:

Screen Shot 2014-05-13 at 2.27.11 PM

As you can see, my Morning was showing improvement, but the noon and evening levels slid to a lower level than when I started ACE.

I spoke with my good thyroid doctor, and he suggested we lower ACE in the morning, add more at the noon/evening doses and slide the times a bit earlier than what I had been taking. Things continued to improve, and I got my afternoons back! By then I was back working full time up to 50 hours per week. The new job was emotionally stressful, but not physically so. I continued to get adrenaline reactions in the late afternoon, but they became less and less as time went on. I started feeling completely recovered by Feb 2014. I still had low thyroid levels due to hormone resistance, but adrenals symptoms had completely resolved. I weaned off ACE and did just fine. I kept up with the nutritional support of high dose Vitamin C and Magnesium and did the adrenal cocktail and celtic sea salt if I needed it, but it was rare for me to need those at this point.

Victory!

We waited three months of me being off of ACE and retested to see where I stand! Here are the new, post-treatment levels. Taken end of April, 2014:

Screen Shot 2014-05-13 at 2.30.55 PM

As you can see, my levels are now VERY close to optimal! I did notice that my nighttime level has gone up some, so my doctor had put me on Zinc to help reduce that, and Melatonin as needed (though I don’t really take it more than once per month.)

I discovered recently that I have Lyme disease and chronic infections which is the cause of my inflammation and continued low thyroid levels, despite taking Nature-Throid and Cytomel T3 at high doses. We hope that treatment for Lyme will finally help get inflammation down and improve my thyroid levels to liveable again!

I cannot be more thankful to Stop the Thyroid Madness for helping me get my life back! There IS life after Adrenal Fatigue!! I would say healing my adrenals has been the single most important thing I have done to feel better and function better on a daily basis. My family and my dogs no longer fear me and I have my laidback personality back once again, and my house is now at PEACE!! Don’t give up hope!! STTM will help you get better if you follow it!

20140513_150840

*******************

* Are you signed up to receive notifications of these blog posts by email? Scroll down to the bottom right on the STTM home page to sign up: https://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/

* Are your Ducks in a Row??https://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/ducks-in-a-row

* Janie Bowthorpe has the first of a series of eBooks out, and the first one is on EBV:https://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/sttm-ebooks/

82 replies

“A Little” natural desiccated thyroid if you’re “a Little” Hypothyroid? Don’t Make the Same Mistake We Did!

photo Moriah with butterfliesThe following Guest Blog Post is written by Jill, who has a B.S. in Combined Sciences and is the mother six, including 22-month-old Moriah, a thyroid and adrenal patient who has Down syndrome.

**********

I had gone to several doctors to investigate thyroid treatment for our infant daughter Moriah, who was born with Down syndrome (Ds). From my research, I knew thyroid issues to be quite common in those with Ds, but also frequently overlooked since many of the characteristics associated with Ds are the same as those seen in congenital hypothyroidism.

Also, because many doctors do not order all the appropriate labwork but rely too heavily on the TSH, many of these children remain untreated.

I was determined not to fail my girl on thyroid, so imagine my joy to finally find a doctor willing to prescribe NDT. I happily filled our prescription for 15 mg/day of natural desiccated thyroid and scheduled a follow-up appointment for 6 weeks. What I did not know at the time is that one cannot remain on a low dose of natural desiccated thyroid. (Patient Mistake #1)

The solution to being “a little” hypothyroid is not to take “a little” NDT. As I learned from a new friend and confirmed on the STTM website, that will cause you to become even more hypothyroid than you were to begin with due to the suppression of the feedback loop.

And that is exactly what happened to Moriah.

My friend clued me in, and I felt sick to my stomach, realizing this doctor must not be aware of that since she had not mentioned anything about ever raising Moriah’s dose. Long story short, even with labwork showing a big drop in the free T3, along with multiple new-onset hypothyroid symptoms, the doctor wanted to keep Moriah on just 15 mg/day. Why? Because, she stated “The TSH is by far the most important of the thyroid levels, and her TSH is really good!”

Ugh!

Sadly, the mistaken notion about how to dose NDT is all too common, even among caring, integrative doctors such as the one I had. I read many stories of doctors prescribing “low dose” NDT or adding “just a little” to be “on the safe side” and treat “borderline” hypothyroidism. But this is not how it works with NDT! This “treatment” only makes things worse! There is even pediatric dosing information on the NDT websites, but it is meaningless to a doctor who doses according to the TSH.

What a tragedy that these caring doctors are actually making their young patients even sicker!

Thankfully, we are now working with a new doctor who understands the necessity of evaluating symptoms and all the labwork and understands that, like adults, children cannot be left on “low dose” NDT. I wish there were more doctors like her.

The STTM website has been a Godsend, and I refer everyone to it, especially to check out “Mistakes Patients Make“” so they do not make the same one I did.

********

– See why going by the TSH is the WORST way to diagnose or treat hypothyroidism, here.

– For adults, here’s what we have learned about using Natural Desiccated Thyroid.

– Having what seem like bad reactions to NDT? Learn why. It’s not about NDT, but what it’s revealing!

– Have you Liked the STTM Facebook page?? Come on over for daily inspiration and information based on shared patient experiences!

22 replies

Three Sleeping Issues you might encounter as a Hypothyroid Patient

Snoopy

(This page has been updated for the present day and time! Enjoy!)

Have trouble sleeping? Here are three scenarios you might identify with, the causes, and the solutions.

1) INSOMNIA or WAKING UP FREQUENTLY SOON AFTER YOU FALL ASLEEP

This is an extremely common problem faced by thyroid patients, and the most common reason is going to bed with high levels of cortisol–the opposite of what healthy adrenals should be doing. With normal adrenal function, your bedtime cortisol levels should be low, or at the bottom of the range of a saliva cortisol test.  Symptoms include laying awake for a long time before falling asleep for the night…or if you can fall asleep well, you tend to wake up often within the next hour or two.

Why the high cortisol?

It’s usually a left-over remnant of when you used to have high cortisol all day long, but which has since fallen to low levels of cortisol except for bedtime, or afternoon and bedtime.

And all the above can happen to certain individuals due to a continued hypothyroid state (such as being treated with the inadequate T4-only medications like Synthroid, Eltroxin, Oroxine, and/or Levothyroxine, etc) or due to undiagnosed hypothyroidism (thanks to the use of the TSH lab test).

Another cause is low bedtime cortisol (i.e below the range), which has caused issues with falling or staying asleep at bedtime. Low cortisol seems to cause high adrenaline, and the latter results in a fitful sleep pattern during the night. The solution? First do a 24-hour adrenal saliva test to prove if it’s high or low cortisol, say informed thyroid patients. Guessing can get you into trouble. (And blood cortisol is not the answer, since it’s measuring both bound and unbound cortisol.) Then compare the results to what we’ve learned they mean.

For high bedtime cortisol, patients have had success with cortisol-lowering herbs like Holy Basil, zinc or others, taken a good hour or two before they want to fall asleep. Each dose is given three nights to see if it’s enough to improve sleep. If not it’s raised…and again if needed. Then they wean off after several weeks of better sleep.

For low cortisol (below the range), patients often have to use a small dose of HC or Adrenal Cortex. Even supplementing with sea salt has been reported to help with sleep. Additionally, if bedtime cortisol is below the range, there’s a good chance your cortisol is low most of the day, which saliva testing will reveal. Chapter 6 in the revised STTM book has excellent and important information on the proper use of HC, which would also apply to adrenal cortex.

2) WAKING UP ANYWHERE AROUND 3 – 4 AM

Waking up a good three to four hours before you would normally start your morning is a strong sign of low cortisol, which in turn causes hypoglycemia (low blood sugar). And the latter can push your adrenaline up, causing you to wake up hours before you are supposed to. You might also feel shaky or hungry.

The solution? Besides taking cortisol at bedtime, if needed, patients have reported doing far better with sleep by eating a complex carbohydrate at bedtime (for example, whole wheat cracker with cheese or peanut butter…or if you need to avoid gluten, berries and cream cheese). The same strategy is used if waking up around 3 am or so, which will help raise your blood sugar levels and you might fall back asleep better.

3) WAKING UP FREQUENTLY WITH NO SET PATTERN

Time to check your sex hormones, which can get messed up with hypothyroidism, or made worse because of adrenal sluggishness or cortisol use.

Low estrogen can cause hot flashes, waking you up. A study titled Sex Hormones, Sleep and Core Body Temperature in Post Menopausal Women reveals that low estradiol (E2) and higher luteinizing hormone (LH) levels are strongly related to lessening the quality of your sleep.

Low progesterone is also known to cause insomnia and even anxiety, and may cause sleep apnea (or make you snore, ladies. Gulp). Entry into menopause has caused this, report many women.

Especially in men, low testosterone can negatively affect the quality of your sleep, i.e. you won’t stay in your deep sleep cycle long enough for recuperation of your body and mind.

SLEEPING TIDBITS:

  • Low levels of the neurotransmitter serotonin, which can cause depression, is also implicated with insomnia.
  • High cortisol can also be caused by Lyme or reactivated Epstein Barr Virus–the latter of which at least 95% of adult have dormant in their bodies, but which can reactivate due to stress or illness. .

*******************

  • Speak or read Spanish better than English?? The revised Stop the Thyroid Madness book is now in Spanish! And shipping is relatively cheaper for two or three books. laughinggrapepublishing.com Give one to a friend or family member!
  • Need a good doctor to work with your own knowledge? Learn how to find one here. And remember: make it clear you expect to be a “team”.
  • Here’s an important summary of what patients have learned in getting well again.
  • Join the STTM Facebook page for daily tips, information and inspiration!
158 replies

More Spring 2013 Thyroid Tidbits!

Yellow FlowersOn the heals of the bat-guano Thyroid Tidbits just a few days ago, here are more for your reading pleasure and enlightenment:

Well, well, well…Endocrinology underscores what we already know!

In a March 2013 article titled “Subclinical hypothyroidism predicts cardiovascular mortality in NHANES”, it states “Subclinical hypothyroidism is a strong independent predictor of cardiovascular mortality in a healthy population at baseline, a national study indicated.”

A good realization about hypothyroid and heart health, but we have to wonder if they really understand what “subclinical hypothyroidism” is, because we, as informed thyroid patients, know it’s NOT waiting until the pituitary hormone TSH rises to 3 or 5 or above, since MANY of us are hypo years before the TSH rises high enough to reveal it…and some report NEVER having a raised TSH even though their symptoms scream hypothyroid for years!

And do they yet understand that thyroxine is NOT going to make that much of a difference in our heart health…as exactly happened to my Synthroid-treated mother?? *See*//www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/healthy-heart-with-t3/

B12 Dots may be a better treatment for some!

Thyroid patient Marilyn emailed me the following interesting information:

I had a B12 level of 189 five years ago. In the beginning, I tried the mega-doses of B12, but they did nothing for me, and I had to take the monthly shots. My thyroid specialist recommended B12 Dots (found in health food stores or organic sections of stores). Put under your tongue, they are absorbed into the blood stream directly. One a day and I am back to normal. No more shots and no more big pills to take. I use the 500 mcg dot, but I know they also make a 5000 mcg dot.

And by the way, an important discovery patients made years ago: mid-range B12 is not adequate. They needed to get to the upper quarter of the range to fully rid themselves of B12-related symptoms.

Costco has it ALL WRONG!

From thyroid patient Florence who emailed me:

I received The Costco Connection magazine in the mail for April 2013. There is an article on underactive Thyroid that refers to the TSH as the “gold standard” and states if someone continues to have symptoms on T4 medication when the TSH is within the desired range then the amount of medication isn’t the problem. Please contact The Costco Connection magazine and let them know why the information the author received from an Endocrinologist at the Diabetes Center at Mercy Medical Center (Baltimore) is incorrect. 1-800-955-2292

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: the world-is-flat syndrome

Have you ever been told you have CFS, ME (Myalgic Encephalopathy), or CFIDS? Because It’s past time to lay this out on the table, because Chronic Fatigue Syndrome just may be one more bungling diagnosis by our medical community for more than twenty years! So it’s time to have an open mind, carefully considering history and facts.

Yes, there are always exceptions to everything, but overall, there are strong clues as to what most cases of CFS spring from—a hypothyroid state. //www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/chronic-fatigue-syndrome

2013 study: direct evidence about the efficacy of Vitamin D!

This newest study, just reported in Science News, is said to provide direct evidence that optimizing your vitamin D levels plays a large role in improving your immune system, besides lowering your risk for a host of diseases! That is good news for thyroid patients, especially Hashimotos patients, who are always working to optimize their poor levels due to low stomach acid.

It states that the “vitamin D status of healthy adults significantly impacts genes involved with a number of biologic pathways associated with cancer, cardiovascular disease (CVD), infectious diseases and autoimmune diseases.”

Why you need to go to bed when your body says NOW!

Dr. Lam has always stated that we need to go to bed by 10 pm. Why? He explains that “This is because our adrenal glands kick in for a “second wind” to keep us going from 11 pm to 1 am. This puts tremendous stress on the adrenals.”

And we now have proof by patient reported experiences as to how important going to bed at the right time is! One gal with adrenal fatigue and low cortisol, and who was working with the T3CM, stated she went on vacation with her family. The vacation was to an area that had no TV, and definitely no stress. And the family just went to bed by 10 pm-ish…and they all slept well. Lo and behold, she stated she did SO much better with the T3CM, getting far better results.

The message was clear: going to bed at a reasonable time can do wonders for your adrenals.

16 replies