Low dose hydrocortisone to better tolerate thyroid?

[Connor888]

I heard 40mg hydrocortisone is enough to shut down the adrenals, dosed throughout the day; and 5-10mg is very low risk if taken at times where the adrenals are the busiest. Like upon rising, and 11-12o'clock for example. I know this carries more risk than glandulars, but I thought the discussion might be interesting, for people (if any) who have had success with it, since it is probably more powerful than glandulars/supplements.

despite high blood levels of thyroid in the past, none of my symptoms improved on 5 grains. tsh is still 4.19, low basal temps, cold feet etc. So I'm just experimenting with Adrenavive right now (adrenal glandular), and I am already noticing a little increase in energy levels and I seem to not be crashing in the afternoon anymore, where my temps usually plummit half a degree and I need to sleep
. Would appreciate your thoughts,Thx! :)

 

[JudiBlueHen]

Good observation. I have taken low dose T4 for years and do not find it helpful. While it reduces TSH, it doesn't help much with any actual symptoms. I once tried an adrenal supplement and found it to be much more helpful with mood and energy. That was a long time ago, perhaps I'll try it again.

 

[Normal Human]

I heard 40mg hydrocortisone is enough to shut down the adrenals, dosed throughout the day; and 5-10mg is very low risk if taken at times where the adrenals are the busiest. Like upon rising, and 11-12o'clock for example. I know this carries more risk than glandulars, but I thought the discussion might be interesting, for people (if any) who have had success with it, since it is probably more powerful than glanduars/supplements.

despite high blood levels of thyroid in the past, none of my symptoms improved on 5 grains. tsh is still 4.19, low basal temps, cold feet etc. So I'm just experimenting with Adrenavive right now (adrenal glandular), and I am already noticing a little increase in energy levels and I seem to not be crashing in the afternoon anymore, where my temps usually plummit half a degree and I need to sleep
. Would appreciate your thoughts,Thx :)

Well I don't know if you've come across this website, but what you're experimenting with is a pretty big component of their ideas. I've never seen this personally, but please keep us posted on how you do.

How Stressed Adrenals Can Wreak Havoc - Stop The Thyroid Madness

Learn how adrenals can become problematic with high or low cortisol when one is undiagnosed hypothyroid or poorly treated on Synthroid or Levothyroxine.

stopthethyroidmadness.com

 

[Connor888]

Good observation. I have taken low dose T4 for years and do not find it helpful. While it reduces TSH, it doesn't help much with any actual symptoms. I once tried an adrenal supplement and found it to be much more helpful with mood and energy. That was a long time ago, perhaps I'll try it again.

It could be worth a try Judi ! I am on 1/3 of the dose I am prepared to work up to on the adrenal glandulars, and I can definitely feel it. It's just subtle. Which could be because I take CORTEX only, which doesn't contain the adrenaline like the whole adrenal does.

I also hear some people have success with T3 only if T4 didn't work (providing you're not deficient in something!) @JudiBlueHen

Good observation. I have taken low dose T4 for years and do not find it helpful. While it reduces TSH, it doesn't help much with any actual symptoms. I once tried an adrenal supplement and found it to be much more helpful with mood and energy. That was a long time ago, perhaps I'll try it again.

 

[Connor888]

Well I don't know if you've come across this website, but what you're experimenting with is a pretty big component of their ideas. I've never seen this personally, but please keep us posted on how you do.

How Stressed Adrenals Can Wreak Havoc - Stop The Thyroid Madness

Learn how adrenals can become problematic with high or low cortisol when one is undiagnosed hypothyroid or poorly treated on Synthroid or Levothyroxine.

stopthethyroidmadness.com

I will for sure. Thanks!

 

[Layne]

. Would appreciate your thoughts,Thx! :)

I've successfully used low-dose hydrocortisone of 20 mg/day for about 20+ years, and have never had any bad effects from it that I know of, only positive effects. Regarding thyroid function, I recently learned that a good number of people have corrected their thyroid problems using castor oil "wraps". You can purchase them on Amazon, where you put a tablespoon of castor oil on a pack, and wrap it around the neck overnight. Some of the thinking behind it is that the neck has a large lymph drainage system, and castor oil has a unique ability to assist in lymphatic drainage. This apparently leads to a better functioning of the body wherever you put castor oil, whether on the neck, liver, sore muscles, etc.

 

[Connor888]

I've successfully used low-dose hydrocortisone of 20 mg/day for about 20+ years, and have never had any bad effects from it that I know of, only positive effects. Regarding thyroid function, I recently learned that a good number of people have corrected their thyroid problems using castor oil "wraps". You can purchase them on Amazon, where you put a tablespoon of castor oil on a pack, and wrap it around the neck overnight. Some of the thinking behind it is that the neck has a large lymph drainage system, and castor oil has a unique ability to assist in lymphatic drainage. This apparently leads to a better functioning of the body wherever you put castor oil, whether on the neck, liver, sore muscles, etc.

Thank you @Layne The castor oil wrap is a really neat idea. I will absolutely have to try that at some point when I can. I hope it works!
If it is ok for me to ask; did you have any diagnosed adrenal issues before the hydrocortisone? I am just trying to ascertain it's full safety profile prior to dosing; but I am aware that Doc's only recognize either Addisons, or Cushings. So I'm also going to keep that in mind either way when I see a Doc nxt wk. Do you also dose it 1-2x a day, or more, usually? :) Cheers

 

[Layne]

did you have any diagnosed adrenal issues before the hydrocortisone?

Hi @Connor888,

I tried doing a saliva cortisol test, but the cotton balls included in the kit were almost assuredly not organic, and I ended up getting a terrific headache while soaking the cotton balls in my mouth. Not only would such a reaction be toxic, but seemingly render the whole test meaningless, since the body's reaction to a toxic exposure would likely stimulate and alter the entire HPA axis and adrenal response.

So I feel back to what William Jeffries wrote in his classic book "Safe Uses of Cortisol". He devoted his entire career to studying low-dose hydrocortison therapy, and wrote what many consider to be the authoritative book on the topic. He says virtually all cortisol tests are unreliable, since cortisol levels fluctuate throghout the day, and can fluctuate wildly depending on what kinds of experiences we're having during the day.

He finally determined that the only way to get an accurate "take" on whether or not a person needs supplemental hydrocortisone, is to try it. Start out at 20 mg./day, and if after a couple weeks you don't notice anything, then go up to 30 mg./day for a couple weeks. If you still don't notice anything, then it's likely that you don't need it. Then take a couple more weeks to wean off of it completely. In my case, when I took just a single 5 mg. dose for the first time, my energy level skyrocketed (almost as if I'd drunk quite a bit of coffee).

This indicated to me I needed supplemental hydrocortisone badly. I played with dosages for a while, and eventually reached an optimal maintenance amount of 20 mg./day, more when I'm under extra physical or mental challenges. Recently I started taking methylene blue, which has given me extra energy. MB does so many things for the body, but is well known to optimize mitochondrial function. Some people think that "adrenal insufficiency" is often a mitochondrial problem, not a problem with the adrenal glands, or HPA per se.

I can't say for sure, but after supplementing with Cortef for over 20 years now, and trying at various times to see if I can wean off of it, I'm curious whether MB will finally allow me do that. There are other supplements that support mitochondria as well, including Acetyl Carnatine and alpha lipoic acid (L-form).

That's about it off the top of my head. I hope some of this helps.

 

[Connor888]

Hi @Connor888,

I tried doing a saliva cortisol test, but the cotton balls included in the kit were almost assuredly not organic, and I ended up getting a terrific headache while soaking the cotton balls in my mouth. Not only would such a reaction be toxic, but seemingly render the whole test meaningless, since the body's reaction to a toxic exposure would likely stimulate and alter the entire HPA axis and adrenal response.

So I feel back to what William Jeffries wrote in his classic book "Safe Uses of Cortisol". He devoted his entire career to studying low-dose hydrocortison therapy, and wrote what many consider to be the authoritative book on the topic. He says virtually all cortisol tests are unreliable, since cortisol levels fluctuate throghout the day, and can fluctuate wildly depending on what kinds of experiences we're having during the day.

He finally determined that the only way to get an accurate "take" on whether or not a person needs supplemental hydrocortisone, is to try it. Start out at 20 mg./day, and if after a couple weeks you don't notice anything, then go up to 30 mg./day for a couple weeks. If you still don't notice anything, then it's likely that you don't need it. Then take a couple more weeks to wean off of it completely. In my case, when I took just a single 5 mg. dose for the first time, my energy level skyrocketed (almost as if I'd drunk quite a bit of coffee).

This indicated to me I needed supplemental hydrocortisone badly. I played with dosages for a while, and eventually reached an optimal maintenance amount of 20 mg./day, more when I'm under extra physical or mental challenges. Recently I started taking methylene blue, which has given me extra energy. MB does so many things for the body, but is well known to optimize mitochondrial function. Some people think that "adrenal insufficiency" is often a mitochondrial problem, not a problem with the adrenal glands, or HPA per se.

I can't say for sure, but after supplementing with Cortef for over 20 years now, and trying at various times to see if I can wean off of it, I'm curious whether MB will finally allow me do that. There are other supplements that support mitochondria as well, including Acetyl Carnatine and alpha lipoic acid (L-form).

That's about it off the top of my head. I hope some of this helps.

Yeah, it's great to hear your experiences with it. And good to know it is likely safe if dosed "physiologically" - which I plan to. I was thinking of starting at 2.5 mg, and then slowly working my way up as Dr. Peatfield suggested in his book. I am looking forward to trying it. Thank you for sharing.
I feel similarly around the efficacy of these tests. They never accurately reflected my feeling and symptoms, despite being clearly unwell at times; which is a shame given how expensive they are