Re: Cold/flu, could it actually be hypo/adrenal?

[Guest guest]

On Mon, 13 Feb 2012 18:21:37 -0000, you wrote:

>none of those viral signs.

>I used to get episodes like this years ago, and had time of work every so

often, a week at a time, for 'recurrent viral labyrinthitis'. But then a new

doctor said he didn't think it was viral, and that it was probably caused by

stress. I thought he was right, at the time. But I didn't know anything about

hypothyroidism or adrenal insufficiency, then.

>

>Does it ring any bells with anyone?

I used to think it was a 24 hour flu, come home early feeling sick,

back to bed for 3 or 4 hours and then feeling a lot better

I now know it's an adrenal crash, take your temperature when it

heppens, my bet is it will go LOW

Nick

[Guest guest]

Hi Helen, Yes that's exactly what i used to get. It went on for about 3 years -

every 8 weeks I would regularly become ill - stay in bed for 4/5 days and then

carry on. It was adrenal problems (i.e. stress) and I wish now that I'd done

something about it sooner as it's got pretty bad.

Alison

[Guest guest]

I actually don't think it is a bit of a long shot. This is

something I have wondered about for years. About 15 years ago, during the month

of July when it was very hot, I suddenly developed all the symptoms of quite

serious 'flu. My temperature was sky high, I was drenched in sweat and then

freezing cold, I had very bad headaches and could hardly move. I had no idea

what was happening, but was far too ill to go out to see the doctor and

called the doctor in as an emergency. I was crying and couldn't stop, because I

really believed that whatever was happening to me was going to end in my death.

Doctor came, noted high temperature and other symptoms and gave

me the usual prescription for 'flu, but I cannot remember now exactly what it

was. This lasted for a good couple of weeks, before I started to get better,

but I never really got over the fact that I had suffered such a bad case of

'flu in the middle of a very hot summer, with no 'flu around.

I have heard since that such an episode can be the bullet in the

gun that sets off hypothyroidism, but have never really looked into this - but

I did mention it once to Dr Peatfield and he told me that it was very likely to

have been the cause.

I do have Hashimoto's disease.

Luv - Sheila

This is a bit of a long shot (or feels like it)

but I wonder if anyone has had an experience where you feel like you're coming

down with something (suddenly don't feel well, weak and giddy, barely

functioning, off food, have to go to bed) - but later conclude that it maybe

wasn't a viral attack at all? If it's a cold/flu, it normally sets in properly

after a couple of days with cough/heavy cataargh/ headaches/fever etc. What if

it just carries on the same for a week without any cold symptoms developing?

[Guest guest]

Thanks chaps. Alison's sounds the most similar experience to mine, in that it's

a recurrent thing, though with bigger gaps in my case. I'd almost forgotten

about it - it used to happen periodically when I was working in an office job

(that I left in 2006) - like coming down with something fluey but with no

symptoms in particular other than feeling incredibly weak and giddy, requiring a

few days or best part of a week in bed. Doctors told me it was 'probably

something viral, nothing we can do', maybe 'viral labyrinthitis', until one doc

said it was more likely stress, and I agreed with him. But he didn't say

anything about adrenal insufficiency, of course...

It became less frequent after I left that (hated) job and the (hateful)

commuting! But I now realise it still happens once in a while and I always go

through the same process: I think I've come down with something, but after about

the 3rd day, wonder where is the cough/cataarh/fever?

A friend of mine who has auto-immune problems including coeliac disease,

connective tissue disorder and arthritis has just told me that she gets this

quite regularly.

I know the doctor is going to sigh when she sees me, but i think I'm going to

ask her to take into account all the various issues I'm having (the low thyroid,

for which she has just prescribed thyroxine; wheat intolerance; this weird

recurrent collapse; low cortisol, low iron) and make some investigations. For

example, although I tested negative for coeliac disease in blood tests, 10 years

ago, I'd like to know if I have the genes for it. It might help to put together

a picture of auto-immune problems if there are any. The same friend also tells

me that the auto-immune aspect of thyroid disease is very easily missed in

tests.

I avoid wheat completely and gluten as absolutely as I can, by the way. I don't

know what prompts these collapses, it could be stress? Cold? Who knows?

Sheila, do you think it actually was a flu that you had that time? I did have a

very nasty flu in the mid-90s; it took me months to recover, and about 4 years

to stop having recurrent periods of weakness and night sweats. I've always

wondered if that had some permanent after effects.

[Guest guest]

Hi there ,

You are spot on and a sore throat is adrenals too.

This is what happens when you are running on ‘adrenaline’ instead

of thyroid and the cascade of adrenal hormones – these are also the

symptoms of the Lupus I was diagnosed with – but guess what after being

on thyroid hormone and sorting out my adrenals I am in remission –

surprise surprise !!!

I have found this which might explain it – I don’t

want to recommend the rest of the article …………..just

this bit is relevant in the time I have before I go off to work - no time

to find my other research.

I also found the best thing to do when you have this ‘cold

and flu’ effect is to walk off the adrenaline that is in the system

without anywhere else to go - and squeeze some lemon juice in a glass of water

and kick start the adrenals to work again in the normal way. If you are almost

bedridden with it and unable to - do this then when you feel better –

walk to keep the hormones out of the circulatory system and use up the residue

to normalise the system.

You will still have low adrenals and you will need to

keep an eye on this constantly – remembering that even food can cause an

adrenal issue.

http://selfadjustingtechnique.com/

The fight or flight response is an

instinctual and physical reaction to a threat. This was very important in

ancient times since attacks from wild animals or other humans could be sudden

and deadly. The reaction causes a lot of very powerful chemicals to be released

into the body causing intense changes to the physiology and chemistry. At one

time it was essential for the body’s survival.

The

threat doesn’t have to be real as the response is emotional, and emotions don’t need a reason.

In other words, you don’t have to have an animal jumping out at you, your

boss yelling at you or a near miss on the freeway will do it. How we respond to

any situation is strictly individual and has to do with many factors that I

won’t go into here.

The

problem is that we don’t have a way to release from the chemicals that

are released into the body. Ancient people used to run away from the animal or

fight it off which would burn off the chemicals that are the fight or flight

response.

Today we

just don’t have that luxury — we have to sit in the car feeling our

heart pound, or take it when some authority figure is doing their thing. And,

that’s not all, processed foods

cause the same chemicals reactions. There’s a little

more to it than the above, but the result is that the body gets stuck in the fight or flight response.

Hope this

helps

Best

wishes

Mandy

[Guest guest]

At least from this I can see that I am not alone. My first job working with

chickens which exhaused me, but feeling so ill I had to revive myself from the

chicken hose pipe. I ached and felt like I had flu, but in turn felt that this

job had caused it, and have questioned if it was chicken flu. I recovered after

two weeks to work in an office, but always got colds until I was offerd the flu

jab.

The first one however made me feel ill enough to go and lay down for a few

hours. Could it have been due to Hypothyroidism, and my eyes were black at that

time.

I would however say that the worst job I had was a part time job School

Cleaning, as I struggled with it for 3 years, with my health suffering badly,

and it had to go.

I have also very often ended up in bed at the time of a period with a nasty

headache unable to drink as it made the headache worse and cause me to be sick,

and then the headache would subside a bit. This was diagnosed as migraine (was

the Doctor kidding), and was that too due to Hypothyroidism.

Could it also be due to the fact that Hypothyroidism lowers our immune system so

that we easily fall down on our knees (knackered).

Does anyone notice that the change in weather can affect them and pull them

down.

Some of us also feel the urge in the spring to do spring cleaning, so engage in

going round the whole house, and then end up ill in bed as a result, so does the

comming of Spring affect Hypothyroidism, and is it possible that we cannot adapt

well to sudden climate change.

Sheila you describe the same symptoms I had when I had the water imbalance, and

I too felt like I had, had it. I also had two Grandchildren on the way which

made me feel that I would not see them. I was so weak by the time I was sent to

hospital that I could not walk or even wash myself.

I was also seen by an ENDO and his remark was that I was menopausal, and my

remark back was that I have been menopausal for many years (what a load of

rubbish from an ENDO).

The problem was that Tamoxifen to treat cancer in turn had caused a very large

polyp to fill the whole of the womb.

My answer to this is " Don't believe what a Doctor tells you "

I do think that another illness even a simple virus can worsen the effects of

Hypothyroidism, and this is why thyroid patients suffer more from a simple

illness than somebody who does not suffer from Hypothyroidism.I would also

include the effects of surgery.

Kathleen

>

> I actually don't think it is a bit of a long shot. This is something I have

> wondered about for years. About 15 years ago, during the month of July when

> it was very hot, I suddenly developed all the symptoms of quite serious

> 'flu. My temperature was sky high, I was drenched in sweat and then freezing

> cold, I had very bad headaches and could hardly move. I had no idea what was

> happening, but was far too ill to go out to see the doctor and called

> the doctor in as an emergency. I was crying and couldn't stop, because I

> really believed that whatever was happening to me was going to end in my

> death.

> Luv - Sheila

>

>