Re: my adrenal saliva test results

[Guest guest]

What I should have added is that my main concern (aside from the 'normal'

adrenal and thyroid symptoms) is that I can't tolerate any thyroid meds very

well. My bloods tend to show a low t4 with my t3 much higher in the range, so I

seem to convert ok but then the t3 backs up until I feel toxic. Most stuff I've

read seems to talk about adrenal fatigue causing conversion problems and hence

t4 toxicity. COuld it (and indeed all the other issues such as low ferritin,

candida etc) cause t3 toxicity instead?

>

> Hi all

>

> I've just had my adrenal results back. Bearing in mind that last time I did

the test (over a year ago) my results were worse than these and that I've

experienced some very stressful situations since, without supporting my

adrenals, these results have surprised me!

>

> Sample 1 - 15.6 (12-22)

> Sample 2 - 4.7 L (5-9)

> Sample 3 - 4.1 (3-7)

> Sample 4 - 0.9 L (1-3)

>

> DHEA 0.34 L (0.4-1.47)

> 0.32 L (2-6)

>

> I'm currently taking 2 NAX as well as vit c, co q10 and variuos vitamins and

minerals to address known deficiencies. Are NAXs likely to be enough on these

results? I assume I should increase them in due course as my symptoms haven't

improved. Do I need DHEA or will that sort itself out? My DHEA was low last

time, but all my cortisol samples were just out of range then.

>

> Doing the self tests for aldesterone suggests to me I'm low in that but I

haven't been able to get anywhere getting that tested via the nhs. Do I need to

get it tested? I'm taking sea salt.

>

> I take zinc before bedtime (the max dose) as I am zinc deficient (shown by

blood tests as well as symptoms). Could that be lowering my cortisol?

>

> Thanks for any suggestions

>

> Susie

>

[Guest guest]

WHY THYROID HORMONE REPLACEMENT MAY NOT BE WORKING FOR YOU

There are MANY

reasons and many medical conditions associated with thyroid disease that stop

thyroid hormone from getting into the cells, where it does its work. I mention

these over and over and over again - ad nauseum - people must be bored with the

same old, same old but as each new member joins us, they need to know.

The

main condition responsible for stopping thyroid hormone from working, is, quite

simply, a patients thyroxine dose is too low because the doctor or consultant

refuses to increase it, because the serum thyroid function test results appear

OK. Sometimes, the thyroxine dose is too high, yet patients still don't feel

well. They continue to suffer. Some reasons for this:

They may be suffering

with low adrenal reserve. The production of T4, its conversion to T3, and the

receptor uptake requires a normal amount of adrenal hormones, notably, of

course, cortisone. (Excess cortisone can shut production down, however.) This

is what happens if the adrenals are not responding properly, and provision of

cortisone usually switches it on again. But sometimes it

doesn’t. If the illness has been going on for a long time, the

enzyme seems to fail. This conversion failure (inexplicably denied by

many endocrinologists) means the thyroxine builds up, unconverted. So it

doesn’t work, and T4 toxicosis results. This makes the patient feel quite

unwell, toxic, often with palpitations and chest pain. If provision of adrenal

support doesn’t remedy the situation, the final solution is the use of

the active thyroid hormone, already converted, T3 - either synthetic or

natural.

Then, we have

systemic candidiasis. This is where candida albicans, a yeast, which causes

skin infections almost anywhere in the body, invades the lining of the lower

part of the small intestine and the large intestine. Here, the candida

sets up residence in the warmth and the dark, and demands to be fed.

Loving sugars and starches, candida can make you suffer terrible sweet

cravings. Candida can produce toxins which can cause very many symptoms

of exhaustion, headache, general illness, and which interfere with the uptake

of thyroid and adrenal treatment. Sometimes the levels - which we usually

test for - can be very high, and make successful treatment difficult to achieve

until adequately treated.

Then there is

receptor resistance which could be a culprit. Being hypothyroid for some

considerable time may mean the biochemical mechanisms which permit the binding

of T3 to the receptors, is downgraded - so the T3 won’t go in. With

slow build up of T3, with full adrenal support and adequate vitamins and

minerals, the receptors do come on line again. But this can be quite a

slow process, and care has to be taken to build the dose up gradually.

And then there are

Food allergies. The most common food allergy is allergy to gluten, the protein

fraction of wheat. The antibody generated by the body, by a process of

molecular mimicry, cross reacts with the thyroperoxidase enzyme, (which makes

thyroxine) and shuts it down. So allergy to bread can make you

hypothyroid. There may be other food allergies with this kind of effect, but

information on these is scanty. Certainly allergic response to certain

foods can affect adrenal function and imperil thyroid production and uptake.

Then we have hormone

imbalances. The whole of the endocrine system is linked; each part of it needs

the other parts to be operating normally to work properly. An example of

this we have seen already, with cortisone. But another example is the

operation of sex hormones. The imbalance that occurs at the menopause

with progesterone running down, and a relative dominance of oestrogen is a

further case in point – oestrogen dominance downgrades production,

transportation and uptake of thyroid hormones. This is why hypothyroidism

may first appear at the menopause; the symptoms ascribed to this alone, which

is then treated – often with extra oestrogen, making the whole thing

worse. Deficiency in progesterone most especially needs to be dealt with,

since it reverses oestrogen dominance, improves many menopausal symptoms like sweats

and mood swings, and reverses osteoporosis. Happily natural progesterone

cream is easily obtained: when used it has the added benefit of helping to

stabilise adrenal function.

Then, we must never

forget the possibility of mercury poisoning (through amalgam fillings) - low

levels of ferritin, vitamin B12, vitamin D3, magnesium, folate, copper and zinc

- all of which, if low, stop the thyroid hormone from being utilised by the

cells - these have to be treated.

As Dr Peatfield says

" When you have been quite unwell for a long time, all these problems have

to be dealt with; and since each may affect the other, it all has to be done

rather carefully.

Contrary

to cherished beliefs by much of the medical establishment, the correction of a

thyroid deficiency state has a number of complexities and variables, which make

the treatment usually quite specific for each person. The balancing of

these variables is as much up to you as to me – which is why a check of

morning, day and evening temperatures and pulse rates, together with symptoms,

good and bad, can be so helpful.

Many

of you have been ill for a long time, either because you have not been

diagnosed, or the treatment leaves you still quite unwell. Those of you

who have relatively mild hypothyroidism, and have been diagnosed relatively

quickly, may well respond to synthetic thyroxine, the standard treatment.

I am therefore unlikely to see you; since if the thyroxine proves satisfactory

in use, it is merely a question of dosage.

For

many of you, the outstanding problem is not that the diagnosis has not been

made – although, extraordinarily, this is disgracefully common –

but that is has, and the thyroxine treatment doesn’t work. The dose

has been altered up and down, and clinical improvement is variable and doesn’t

last, in spite of blood tests, which say you are perfectly all right (and

therefore you are actually depressed and need this fine antidepressant).

The

above problems must be eliminated if thyroid hormone isn't working for you.

What I should have added is that my main concern (aside from the 'normal'

adrenal and thyroid symptoms) is that I can't tolerate any thyroid meds very

well. My bloods tend to show a low t4 with my t3 much higher in the range, so I

seem to convert ok but then the t3 backs up until I feel toxic. Most stuff I've

read seems to talk about adrenal fatigue causing conversion problems and hence

t4 toxicity. COuld it (and indeed all the other issues such as low ferritin,

candida etc) cause t3 toxicity instead?

[Guest guest]

Hi Susie,

NAX is adrenal support, so if you've been taking it it's obviously working as

you say the results are better than last year.

You're not terribly low, just a teeny bit, mid day and at night so it may be a

case of just keep taking the tablets.

I've been on NAX for almost 2 years and have noticed massive improvements.....

(though I took HC as well as I was awful to start with ).

Hopefully the sea salt is not refined salt (white).... if so, change to

himalayan salt or celtic salt (Mine is from ebay).

DHEA is a precursor to Estrogen and all the other sex hormones but is also an

antaf=gonist of cortisol... (According to wikipedia)... it's job is partly to

help protect against the effects of too much cortisol.... As you don't

have enough cortisol, I wouldn't have thought it was a good idea to suppliement

it......

.

>

> Hi all

>

> I've just had my adrenal results back. Bearing in mind that last time I did

the test (over a year ago) my results were worse than these and that I've

experienced some very stressful situations since, without supporting my

adrenals, these results have surprised me!

> Hi

[Guest guest]

Hi

Thanks very much for your reply, which is very reassuring

> NAX is adrenal support, so if you've been taking it it's obviously working as

you say the results are better than last year.

I have only been taking the NAXs for 2 weeks. I took them for a short while

after my last saliva test, but stopped them for NHS tests (synacthen etc) and

never restarted them.

>

> You're not terribly low, just a teeny bit, mid day and at night so it may be

a case of just keep taking the tablets.

How many do you think I should take? How often should I increase them and how do

I know when to stop increasing them? My main concern is my intolerance to

thyroid meds, but that could be caused by any number of factors (I also have

various nutritional deficiencies), so I can't really go by that in judging

whether I'm on enough.

>

> I've been on NAX for almost 2 years and have noticed massive

improvements..... (though I took HC as well as I was awful to start with ).

Fab It's really encouraging to hear a success story.

>

> Hopefully the sea salt is not refined salt (white).... if so, change to

himalayan salt or celtic salt (Mine is from ebay).

It's unrefined atlantic sea salt as sainsburys had run out of celtic salt. Do

you think that's ok?

>

> DHEA is a precursor to Estrogen and all the other sex hormones but is also an

antaf=gonist of cortisol... (According to wikipedia)... it's job is partly to

help protect against the effects of too much cortisol.... As you don't

have enough cortisol, I wouldn't have thought it was a good idea to suppliement

it......

Thanks, that's what I thought from what I've read too.>

Thanks again

Susie

[Guest guest]

Thanks Sheila. I did read that when you helpfully posted me the link to it

before - I think I was just a bit confused as to why I convert ok but don't seem

to get the t3 into my cells ok. I guess I should just be thankful part of the

process is working eh?

Thanks again

Susie

[Guest guest]

PS re the receptor resistance: is this passage suggesting treatment by t3 only?

How do I know when my receptors have come online again? How gradually should

meds be built up?

> Then there is receptor resistance which could be a culprit. Being

> hypothyroid for some considerable time may mean the biochemical mechanisms

> which permit the binding of T3 to the receptors, is downgraded - so the T3

> won't go in. With slow build up of T3, with full adrenal support and

> adequate vitamins and minerals, the receptors do come on line again. But

> this can be quite a slow process, and care has to be taken to build the dose

> up gradually.

Many thanks

Susie

[Guest guest]

any ideas anyone? Thanks x

>

> PS re the receptor resistance: is this passage suggesting treatment by t3

only? How do I know when my receptors have come online again? How gradually

should meds be built up?

>

> > Then there is receptor resistance which could be a culprit. Being

> > hypothyroid for some considerable time may mean the biochemical mechanisms

> > which permit the binding of T3 to the receptors, is downgraded - so the T3

> > won't go in. With slow build up of T3, with full adrenal support and

> > adequate vitamins and minerals, the receptors do come on line again. But

> > this can be quite a slow process, and care has to be taken to build the dose

> > up gradually.

>

> Many thanks

> Susie

>

[Guest guest]

any input would be gratefully recieved

>

>

> Hi

> Thanks very much for your reply, which is very reassuring

>

> > NAX is adrenal support, so if you've been taking it it's obviously working

as you say the results are better than last year.

>

> I have only been taking the NAXs for 2 weeks. I took them for a short while

after my last saliva test, but stopped them for NHS tests (synacthen etc) and

never restarted them.

> >

> > You're not terribly low, just a teeny bit, mid day and at night so it may

be a case of just keep taking the tablets.

>

> How many do you think I should take? How often should I increase them and how

do I know when to stop increasing them? My main concern is my intolerance to

thyroid meds, but that could be caused by any number of factors (I also have

various nutritional deficiencies), so I can't really go by that in judging

whether I'm on enough.

> >

> > I've been on NAX for almost 2 years and have noticed massive

improvements..... (though I took HC as well as I was awful to start with ).

>

> Fab It's really encouraging to hear a success story.

> >

> > Hopefully the sea salt is not refined salt (white).... if so, change to

himalayan salt or celtic salt (Mine is from ebay).

>

> It's unrefined atlantic sea salt as sainsburys had run out of celtic salt. Do

you think that's ok?

> >

> > DHEA is a precursor to Estrogen and all the other sex hormones but is also

an antaf=gonist of cortisol... (According to wikipedia)... it's job is partly

to help protect against the effects of too much cortisol.... As you don't

have enough cortisol, I wouldn't have thought it was a good idea to suppliement

it......

>

> Thanks, that's what I thought from what I've read too.>

>

> Thanks again

>

> Susie

>