Interesting adrenal situation

[Guest guest]

OK, this is weird.

Basic recap: I switched to T3 in september last year. Right on schedule RT3

cleared in early december and for a little while I felt great and my temps were

perfect on 44mcg T3 plus three quarter grain natural. Then I caught the flu and

everything fell to pieces - I wasn't horribly ill with the flu, but felt like

CRAP after. I felt worse than I had before starting the change to T3. My temps

were all over the place and any kind of stress or exercise totally knocked me

out and sent my temps dropping like a stone. Of course those are classic adrenal

symptoms but because my problem had always been HIGH cortisol I wasn't really on

the lookout for low.

After about 3 weeks or so my temps stabilised so I thought if the problem was

adrenal it must be getting better. But temps stayed just a bit low regardless of

raising T3. I decided the problem could be that the stress of getting the flu

had made the T4 in the natural, that I had been tolerating, turn to RT3 so I

dropped the natural about 6 weeks ago. My temps would consistently peak around

98.5 in the early afternoon and I didn't feel crap but I didn't feel right

either.

Then, a couple of times a couple of weeks apart, I seemed to go temporarily

hyper - temps and heart rate shot up and I felt edgy and nervous. Both times I

cut back on the T3 but then stabilised again after a few days with exactly the

same slightly low temps and feeling just the same - tired, unmotivated and dull

most of the time. I began to think that T3 must be pooling, maybe from low

cortisol, and that every now and then my adrenals were managing to pump out a

surge of adrenaline (or cortisol) enough to send the T3 into the cells before

relapsing back into their low state.

So on Val's advice I got an adrenal test, and the results were:

Morning 9.6 (12-22)

Noon 2.9 (5-9

Afternoon 1 (3-7)

Night 0.5 (1-3)

Pretty low, right? Lower than I expected (I thought based on symptoms just the

afternoon and evening ones would be low) and probably low enough to warrant HC.

HOWEVER, here comes the weird bit. I did the test last sunday and got the

results today. But, all this week I have been feeling 500% better! On monday my

temps were up, peaking at 98.8. Since Tuesday I've felt like I did between

clearing RT3 in december and catching the flu - completely transformed. I don't

want to speak too soon and jinx myself but it doesn't feel like those earlier

adrenaline surges (or whatever they were). And the other weird thing is that

this is on a dose of only 25mcg T3 (remember I was on 44 plus 0.75 natural when

I was doing well before).

So - can adrenal fatigue be transient, lasting 8-12 weeks after a virus, and

then suddenly recover? This seems the most likely explanation. Other factors

that might be in play are that I was alone in the house for the last couple of

weeks so took the chance to completely rest. I barely left the house and when I

was at home basically just read, ate and slept. Maybe that was what I needed?

The other thing is that starting at the beginning of the year I cut carbs way

back, not that I was eating a ton of carbs before but am now on about 60-75 a

day, and alongside this cut out grains.

Sorry this is long and I am posting it really because it seems an unusual

situation and so might be interesting or helpful.

But also a serious question, probably for Val - as long as I am feeling good and

my temps are right, is it safe to assume I don't need to take HC, despite those

test results?

Thanks, Lucy