On being afraid of Cortef wasRe: Help! Can ANYBODY answer this?

[Guest guest]

> IF one can NOT rely on adrenal tests to be acurate due to mercury

toxicity,

> (as per Cutler, PhD) HOW DOES ONE KNOW IF THEY REALLY NEED

IT BASED

> ON SYMPTOMS. I think I REALLY, REALLY need it, but I am scared of

it, and

> it does affect me. My guess is that my adrenals are severely

stressed. One

> of the reasons I say this, is how easy it is to get my heart to

pound: phone

> rings...bidding on eBay....exerting myself even a pinch.

I think you can use adrenal test even if you are mercury toxic.

Cutler isn't the only expert on mercury, or adrenals. Read other

people's stuff, and don't get boxed in by one person's opinion.

I am mercury toxic, and had an adrenal saliva test done three times

in four years. Each time the same pattern came back, and when I

finally started on Cortef I had great improvement. Read

's book on Adrenal Fatigue, the 21st Century Syndrome. It has

loads of info on adrenal fatigue. Some people consider him to be an

expert.

I just wanted to give my opinion about Cortef. I think each of us

individually has to try to unravel our thyroid problems, which

understood is no easy task. If you have tried Armour for many

months, and are not getting to a point of better health, I think it

is time to investigate other things that might help. For some, that

might be adrenal glandulars or Cortef. For me, so many of my

problems have diminished since being on Cortef. I am at a stable

dose of 12 1/2 mgs per day divided, and occasionally take a teeny

bit more if very sleep deprived, or stressed by chemicals. It

allows me to function better, and has diminished my muscle and joint

pain and carpal tunnel so significantly that my sleep is vastly

improved.

I look at the Cortef as a way to get better. I don't look at it as

a forever thing. My husband has been on large doses of Prednisone

(up to 75mgs. a day) for several months to a year twice. He got off

the Prednisone, and I will get off the Cortef when the time is right.

If a person has low thyroid as part of the complex of problems that

goes along with mercury poisoning or other poisoning, the problems

become very complex because the hormonal systems are affected, as

are the liver and nervous system. I think it is important to try to

have faith in what you are trying to do, to not try too many things

at once, to stick with one type of medication long enough to see if

it is working for you, and to try other things when you reach a

wall. It is probably a good idea to have your liver function tested

also, as this can greatly influence how you handle toxicities in

your body, and how symptomatic you might be.

I have found that the longer I have been on Armour, the more

familiar I have become with what effects it has on me, and this

helps me greatly to decide what I need to do next, or if I need an

increase.

Also, when combining Cortef and Armour, the two medications sort of

weave together, but of course that doesn't happen right away or

necessarily easily. When I first started on Cortef, it gave me low

adrenal symptoms just like when I was on too little Armour it gave

me low thyroid symptoms. I stuck with it, because I knew for me the

Armour was not " doing it " , and after a couple weeks I felt much

better and got to the dose my DR. said was good for me, and have

pretty much stayed at it.

R.