Re: Are my adrenals that bad?

[Guest guest]

It sounds like you might have secondary adrenal fatigue (pituitary) so the

added tests the endo will do is a good idea.

Don't worry. A lot of us are much worse off in our labs, lol. Your sex

hormones will likely come up when you get on an adrenal treatment plan. Your

labs are low but not " scary " . And no reason to be afraid of Cortef. Let us

know when you get the results from your endo.

Cheri

-----Original Message-----

I am overwhelmed. I am scared of Cortef. I am only 30 years old, but

feel like I am twice that.

Just how badly am I messed up?

.

[Guest guest]

Wow, a lot of you have worse labs! I didn't think that was possible.

My dad questions whether or not I have adrenal fatigue at all. He

doesn't think that saliva testing is valid, b/c he thinks if you drink

a lot of water during the day, it will dilute your saliva, showing low

levels at night, which mine were. He says since I am in the low normal

range in the morning I'm fine.

My new doc, however, seemed very concerned and said that my adrenals

are in bad shape. I'm not expecting much compassion from the endo, but

we'll see what he says.

I may be wrong, but I don't think my problem is hypopit. My TSH was

high when I was diagnosed with hypoT, and it responds to thyroid meds

as you'd expect. It was nearly suppressed last year when I was on a

larger dose of meds, and has come back up when my last doc made me cut

back. Also, my FSH and LH always look like I should be ovulating and

have regular periods, but I don't.

[Guest guest]

Thank you for your response. I'm confused as to how bad my adrenals

are, though, b/c my thyroid labs don't seem to indicate any of

the " pooling " of T3/T4 that so many with AF seem to have.

[Guest guest]

That is because your thyroid is also VERY low.

--

Artistic Grooming- Hurricane WV

http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/

http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/NaturalThyroidHormonesADRENALS/

http://www.seewell4less.com/Valspage.htm Medical Alert Bracelets

[Guest guest]

That is because your thyroid is also VERY low.

--

Artistic Grooming- Hurricane WV

http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/

http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/NaturalThyroidHormonesADRENALS/

http://www.seewell4less.com/Valspage.htm Medical Alert Bracelets

[Guest guest]

That is because your thyroid is also VERY low.

--

Artistic Grooming- Hurricane WV

http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/

http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/NaturalThyroidHormonesADRENALS/

http://www.seewell4less.com/Valspage.htm Medical Alert Bracelets

[Guest guest]

The reason I thought you might by hypopit is because all your sex hormones

were off. That is more common in secondary versus primary. That is why, I

suspect, you are being referred to an endo to determine if in fact it is

your pituitary or your adrenals. In either case, the treatment will be the

same...cortisol replacement.

I am stage 7 with DHEA that isn't even on the range. The range starts at 1

and I am below that. Even with HC replacement I haven't gotten my levels up

beyond stage 5 lol. So, yes, your labs aren't all that shocking.

Cheri

-----Original Message-----

My new doc, however, seemed very concerned and said that my adrenals

are in bad shape. I'm not expecting much compassion from the endo, but

we'll see what he says.

I may be wrong, but I don't think my problem is hypopit. My TSH was

high when I was diagnosed with hypoT, and it responds to thyroid meds

as you'd expect. It was nearly suppressed last year when I was on a

larger dose of meds, and has come back up when my last doc made me cut

back. Also, my FSH and LH always look like I should be ovulating and

have regular periods, but I don't.

.

[Guest guest]

I am not sure I understand your question? Pooling of T3? Are you talking

about RT3 issues where T4 creates reverse T3 buildup in the blood and T3 not

getting into the cells? Yes, a lot of people with adrenal fatigue have that

issue but others don't. Your cortisol and DHEA are the main indicators. ZRT

doesn't graph like diagnos tech does.

Have you done any temperature graphing?

Cheri

-----Original Message-----

Thank you for your response. I'm confused as to how bad my adrenals

are, though, b/c my thyroid labs don't seem to indicate any of

the " pooling " of T3/T4 that so many with AF seem to have.

.

[Guest guest]

I am not sure I understand your question? Pooling of T3? Are you talking

about RT3 issues where T4 creates reverse T3 buildup in the blood and T3 not

getting into the cells? Yes, a lot of people with adrenal fatigue have that

issue but others don't. Your cortisol and DHEA are the main indicators. ZRT

doesn't graph like diagnos tech does.

Have you done any temperature graphing?

Cheri

-----Original Message-----

Thank you for your response. I'm confused as to how bad my adrenals

are, though, b/c my thyroid labs don't seem to indicate any of

the " pooling " of T3/T4 that so many with AF seem to have.

.

[Guest guest]

I am not sure I understand your question? Pooling of T3? Are you talking

about RT3 issues where T4 creates reverse T3 buildup in the blood and T3 not

getting into the cells? Yes, a lot of people with adrenal fatigue have that

issue but others don't. Your cortisol and DHEA are the main indicators. ZRT

doesn't graph like diagnos tech does.

Have you done any temperature graphing?

Cheri

-----Original Message-----

Thank you for your response. I'm confused as to how bad my adrenals

are, though, b/c my thyroid labs don't seem to indicate any of

the " pooling " of T3/T4 that so many with AF seem to have.

.

[Guest guest]

Cheri, I guess I always thought my adrenals were fine b/c I never had

the high/above range FT3 values that others have. They were told they

had pooling, the thyroid building up in their blood, and since my FT3

has never been above midrange, I thought this meant my issues weren't

adrenal.

I tried my own conversions of my saliva tests to the units diagnose

tech uses, averaged my noon and 4 pm values, against my DHEAS, which

appears to put me in stage 5 AF. I don't know if I did this correctly,

though.

I have done several weeks of temperature graphing per Dr. Rind's

method, but not in the last few weeks, as I was finding it to be just

one more stressor. Strangely, my daily avgs were quite stable, within

0.2 degrees, although my temps were all over the place during the day.

I'd range from as low as 93 degrees to 99 degrees!

I plan to resume this again once on HC.

[Guest guest]

Stage 7!! Oh my. How did you even function? I am having a hard

enough time as it is, and I think I'm a stage 5.

Yes, the low sex, thyroid, and adrenal hormones is what made my new doc

wonder if there was something centrally going on causing them all to be

low. He wants to wait and see what the endo says, do some more

research, and consult with his colleagues. He seems very open-minded

and progressive, which I respect, but waiting for additional tests when

I could be taking HC now, is really hard.

[Guest guest]

Well, crap, and to think there was a part of me that hoped once on HC,

I might not even need thyroid meds? I guess you answered that for me:)

[Guest guest]

Well, thyroid is not how you diagnose adrenal disease. It only can be an

indicator that your creating more stress on adrenals and it is not getting

the thyroid to the cells but cortisol levels and DHEA is the main way you

check how adrenals are functioning in saliva tests.

I have never had high T3. My T3 in fact is way too low. I also have problems

with thyroid getting into the cells because of mercury poisoning and AF, but

since I also have low T4 I don't have the things you talk about as far as

pooling right now. I am hypo and need thyroid meds in addition to fixing my

adrenals but am focused on fixing my adrenals first since your thyroid needs

the adrenals to be working properly to get the thyroid into the cells and

not crash the adrenals further.

You have BOTH adrenal and thyroid issues based on your labs. You are hypo

and have adrenal fatigue from your labs. The only unknown is whether your

adrenal insufficiency is primary (adrenal caused like mine) or secondary

(pituitary caused).

If you search in this yahoo group, you will find tons more of information on

this discussion that we have had between members that may help you

understand it better.

Yes, I think you are at about stage 5 or beginning of 6.

Cheri

-----Original Message-----

Cheri, I guess I always thought my adrenals were fine b/c I never had

the high/above range FT3 values that others have. They were told they

had pooling, the thyroid building up in their blood, and since my FT3

has never been above midrange, I thought this meant my issues weren't

adrenal.

I tried my own conversions of my saliva tests to the units diagnose

tech uses, averaged my noon and 4 pm values, against my DHEAS, which

appears to put me in stage 5 AF. I don't know if I did this correctly,

though.

I have done several weeks of temperature graphing per Dr. Rind's

method, but not in the last few weeks, as I was finding it to be just

one more stressor. Strangely, my daily avgs were quite stable, within

0.2 degrees, although my temps were all over the place during the day.

I'd range from as low as 93 degrees to 99 degrees!

I plan to resume this again once on HC.

.

[Guest guest]

I was going to say, it sounds to me like you have a good doc willing to take

it seriously which most of us do not.

Well, I wasn't functioning much and had periods I was bed ridden and nearly

died twice on top of many crises. I still am not functioning anywhere near

normal. Had it been caught a decade or more ago, I likely could have

prevented deteriorating to this state. So, be thankful you have a doctor

that uses saliva labs and takes them seriously. That is more than most of us

have had, lol.

Cheri

-----Original Message-----

Stage 7!! Oh my. How did you even function? I am having a hard

enough time as it is, and I think I'm a stage 5.

Yes, the low sex, thyroid, and adrenal hormones is what made my new doc

wonder if there was something centrally going on causing them all to be

low. He wants to wait and see what the endo says, do some more

research, and consult with his colleagues. He seems very open-minded

and progressive, which I respect, but waiting for additional tests when

I could be taking HC now, is really hard.