Need Help - NDT Making Me Worse (Very Confused)

[marsaday]

@marsaday 4th day on 100 T4 (50 dinner, 50 bed) and low T3 (~3 mcg) at a different time each day (today late afternoon). Awoke to temperature 0.4 degrees lower (96.8) than average and lower pulse (58). Do not feel too well but maybe not worse than I have been.

why are you tracking temp so much. It is useful to know your general wake temp and then a temp in the afternoon and maybe evening but only do it 2 x a week. I don’t track temps at all anymore.

it more about how you feel.

one indicator I would monitor more is blood pressure at bedtime. If I am on to much my systolic pressure always goes higher. It’s a useful indicator.

I would stick with the lower thyroid dose and see how you get on. Bloods would be helpful in a few weeks time. How does the tsh respond to less hormone?

if you don’t feel worse then that has to be a positive. If this continues and you feel the same crappy health then surely it’s better to feel crap taking less hormone.

If I can help you, you need to help me. You ask a lot of questions and give a lot of info. I cannot absorb it all and answer everything.

so make the posts short with a few specific questions. I tend to read this on an iPhone just before I go to bed. I’m in England.

You said you tried progestE. What dose? Any tiredness from it?

adrenal stuff is ok but use smaller doses.

Licorice root or liquid might be useful to retain the cortisol in the system longer. I do wonder if this would help Paul Robinson. He has hashis as well. And yes the cortisol is depleted by t4. Possibly in the conversion process. I remember reading his blog post about it but can’t remember the full details.

 

[Peater Pan]

why are you tracking temp so much. It is useful to know your general wake temp and then a temp in the afternoon and maybe evening but only do it 2 x a week. I don’t track temps at all anymore.

it more about how you feel.

one indicator I would monitor more is blood pressure at bedtime. If I am on to much my systolic pressure always goes higher. It’s a useful indicator.

I would stick with the lower thyroid dose and see how you get on. Bloods would be helpful in a few weeks time. How does the tsh respond to less hormone?

if you don’t feel worse then that has to be a positive. If this continues and you feel the same crappy health then surely it’s better to feel crap taking less hormone.

If I can help you, you need to help me. You ask a lot of questions and give a lot of info. I cannot absorb it all and answer everything.

so make the posts short with a few specific questions. I tend to read this on an iPhone just before I go to bed. I’m in England.

You said you tried progestE. What dose? Any tiredness from it?

adrenal stuff is ok but use smaller doses.

Licorice root or liquid might be useful to retain the cortisol in the system longer. I do wonder if this would help Paul Robinson. He has hashis as well. And yes the cortisol is depleted by t4. Possibly in the conversion process. I remember reading his blog post about it but can’t remember the full details.

Cheers, @marsaday. I'll bullet specific questions at bottom to make it easier. Spent four years in the UK. LOVED it. I track temps and pulse because they are good diagnostics for thyroid and metabolism but I have to admit, I've felt like ***t at 98.6 too (probably fake bumps from too much T3). Also because of all the med changes, etc. I should do BP more. Thanks for the tip! Based on next couple days, I may increase T4 to 112.5 from 100 by alternating 100, 125. I've tried Pregnenolone but not Progesterone. Gained belly fat and gyno from Pregnenolone. I've grabbed Blanchard's book on Kindle! I'll get labs after the covidapocalypse dies down. I think a viral infection is involved. Pleurisy is 12/2019 after months of coughing. Walking pneumonia/URI. Cough has still not completely resolved but is improving. I've tried Monolaurin, up to 3T/day.

1. Do you take your entire T4 dose at once, at bedtime?
2. How do you approach your T4 does changes?
3. Aside from tweaking dose as discussed, do you think I should add/do anything else ATM, e.g., magnesium, Progesterone/DHEA, cortisol support like cortex, vital adapt (has licorice) prior to lab confirmation(s)?
   1. I'm almost certain, I'm low on test and cortisol despite high blood lipids. My doc mentioned Thorne's cortex. They're 50 mg and I could break 'em down. I'm seriously in an exhaustion situation where I barely have enough energy to function and can't deal with much of anything. I'm focused on diet (nutrient dense and enough protein/carbs) and looking into light therapy (incandescents, 'rubylux,' LEDs).

Thanks!

 

[marsaday]

What are your testosterone labs ???? These must be important because you have an estrogen issue going on. If you use pregnenalone and you end up with boobs and belly fat you are doing one thing = converting to estogen. So this indicates you have an underlying issue here.

Pregnenalone will do the same for me and i occasionally try it, but will only use 12.5mcg and generally it doesnt work very well. It is a case of re visiting it occasionally, thats all.

Progesterone can be very different to PREG so you must look at using it. I remember i told another hashis guy to use it on a thyroid forum i helped on and he refused for a year. Eventually he tried it and it really helped him. It wasnt a long term fix, but it definitely was a positive addition.

1) bedtime only in one dose. No need to split. Tap into the circadian rhythm because we make thyroid at night in the first chunk of sleep. This then has a knock on effect to cortisol production in the second half of the night. By taking thyroid at bed (when TSH peaks) we are mimicking this action.

This is why low thyroid patients often have low cortisol numbers. Thyroid is low so cortisol production is low as well. Think of it as a factory. A truck drops off the thyroid delivery around 4/4am and the guys get it out and match it with an equalish cortisol batch. The two can then together for the next day. Very simple, but you get the idea. We do make hormones in the day as well, but the sleep production of these hormones is key to good health. This is why we need good sleep. Beauty sleep = good hormone production.

2) T4 changes and any other change must be one thing at a time. So on a monday say you raise T4 to 112.5, but then on friday you push up the T3 to 10mcg. How can you really tell what is doing what. You must wait if doing a T4 change for about 2 weeks. It can be longer. I have just worked out 150 T4 is to much for me. I raised about 10 weeks ago and it has taken over 7 weeks to show up some negative signs. I wasnt sure what the cause was at first, but i tried lowering to 125 and after 2 days felt much better. It is not easy navigating everything and i am now taking testosterone as well, so this complicates things.

3) Basic vitamins are ok to add in but it is hard to say if they do anything. I notice vitamin D has a bigger effect, but not sure if magnesium or a multi vitamin do a lot for me. I am not to keen on the cortisol /adrenal powders and tablets. They are strong and i am not sure if they produce more negatives than positives. The best way to test them is to get stable first on what ever routine and once ok for a bit try something like this. Does it improve or make things worse.

Progesterone is the one hormone i would recommend above all others, so yes try this. But again try stay stable on your thyroid doses before trying Prog.

It is a long waiting game, but hopefully you have 30 yrs of life ahead of you so there is still plenty to aim for.

Keep a diary of how you feel and what changes you have made. It is important to lok back on when you raised or dropped T4 for example. You jusy dont remember everything you have changed.

4) Just seen your last comment, and yes you need testosterone checking. At 51 you will be low. It is common for all men from mid 40's to benefit from testosterone replacement. Read the Ageless Man by a french hormone doc. Really good read and will open your eyes to better health. It's on kindle.

 

[Peater Pan]

What are your testosterone labs ???? These must be important because you have an estrogen issue going on. If you use pregnenalone and you end up with boobs and belly fat you are doing one thing = converting to estogen. So this indicates you have an underlying issue here.

Pregnenalone will do the same for me and i occasionally try it, but will only use 12.5mcg and generally it doesnt work very well. It is a case of re visiting it occasionally, thats all.

Progesterone can be very different to PREG so you must look at using it. I remember i told another hashis guy to use it on a thyroid forum i helped on and he refused for a year. Eventually he tried it and it really helped him. It wasnt a long term fix, but it definitely was a positive addition.

1) bedtime only in one dose. No need to split. Tap into the circadian rhythm because we make thyroid at night in the first chunk of sleep. This then has a knock on effect to cortisol production in the second half of the night. By taking thyroid at bed (when TSH peaks) we are mimicking this action.

This is why low thyroid patients often have low cortisol numbers. Thyroid is low so cortisol production is low as well. Think of it as a factory. A truck drops off the thyroid delivery around 4/4am and the guys get it out and match it with an equalish cortisol batch. The two can then together for the next day. Very simple, but you get the idea. We do make hormones in the day as well, but the sleep production of these hormones is key to good health. This is why we need good sleep. Beauty sleep = good hormone production.

2) T4 changes and any other change must be one thing at a time. So on a monday say you raise T4 to 112.5, but then on friday you push up the T3 to 10mcg. How can you really tell what is doing what. You must wait if doing a T4 change for about 2 weeks. It can be longer. I have just worked out 150 T4 is to much for me. I raised about 10 weeks ago and it has taken over 7 weeks to show up some negative signs. I wasnt sure what the cause was at first, but i tried lowering to 125 and after 2 days felt much better. It is not easy navigating everything and i am now taking testosterone as well, so this complicates things.

3) Basic vitamins are ok to add in but it is hard to say if they do anything. I notice vitamin D has a bigger effect, but not sure if magnesium or a multi vitamin do a lot for me. I am not to keen on the cortisol /adrenal powders and tablets. They are strong and i am not sure if they produce more negatives than positives. The best way to test them is to get stable first on what ever routine and once ok for a bit try something like this. Does it improve or make things worse.

Progesterone is the one hormone i would recommend above all others, so yes try this. But again try stay stable on your thyroid doses before trying Prog.

It is a long waiting game, but hopefully you have 30 yrs of life ahead of you so there is still plenty to aim for.

Keep a diary of how you feel and what changes you have made. It is important to lok back on when you raised or dropped T4 for example. You jusy dont remember everything you have changed.

4) Just seen your last comment, and yes you need testosterone checking. At 51 you will be low. It is common for all men from mid 40's to benefit from testosterone replacement. Read the Ageless Man by a french hormone doc. Really good read and will open your eyes to better health. It's on kindle.

Thank you! Temp was a point lower this AM (96.7). I'm sure my T's low but my stoopid doc didn't test it w/the last annual (always did in the past). It was good in 2018 (~700) before the WP crap. I had been doing some bodyweight stuff for 6 months prior to that test, but now am too tired. now. I'd guess it's 200-300 now. I'll hold on the adrenal stuff (licorice, cortex, etc.) and work w/thyroid for a bit. I take ~6K D/daily and a little K to balance that and eat liver and oysters weekly. I will switch to taking my entire T4 dose (100, 125, 100…) at bedtime. Haven't really noticed difference taking small dose of T3 at different times of the day, but my sense is that before rising or on rising is better. Today is evening dose.

1. With or without food?
2. Take progesterone orally? Progest E vs. IdeaLab's? What about CortiNon (progesterone + DHEA)?
3. What labs to get? Testo, TSH, antibodies, FREE or TOTAL T3/T4 or BOTH? Others?

 

[marsaday]

1) Take the T4 at bedtime. So i go to sleep at 11pm and just take the T4 when i get into bed and read for 15 mins. Then lights out. If i have a snack then it is no big issue. Usually i dont eat before bed.

2) progesterone oil is rubbed on the skin in small drops about the size of a pin which has those round heads on the top of them. ProgestE drop = 3mg progesterone. So try once per day, maybe go up to 2 drops. A man should really stay below 3 drops per day.

Im not sure about the other stuff. Ideal labs stuff never did a thing for me.

3) labs to get = testosterone, estrogen, LH, FSH, Free T3 and FT4. Total T4 can be useful. Thyroid antibodies can be useful to show the strength of the illness. Cholesterol is a key indicator for thyroid performance. If thyroid is low it will not shunt the cholesterol to do its work and so we get high cholesterol. Vit D and B12 are good to rule out these issues.

 

[Peater Pan]

1) Take the T4 at bedtime. So i go to sleep at 11pm and just take the T4 when i get into bed and read for 15 mins. Then lights out. If i have a snack then it is no big issue. Usually i dont eat before bed.

2) progesterone oil is rubbed on the skin in small drops about the size of a pin which has those round heads on the top of them. ProgestE drop = 3mg progesterone. So try once per day, maybe go up to 2 drops. A man should really stay below 3 drops per day.

Im not sure about the other stuff. Ideal labs stuff never did a thing for me.

3) labs to get = testosterone, estrogen, LH, FSH, Free T3 and FT4. Total T4 can be useful. Thyroid antibodies can be useful to show the strength of the illness. Cholesterol is a key indicator for thyroid performance. If thyroid is low it will not shunt the cholesterol to do its work and so we get high cholesterol. Vit D and B12 are good to rule out these issues.

Had 25 w/dinner and 75 at bed last night, but couldn't get down for two hours until getting up and making oats. Could have been another factor (Vit. K?w/aspirin PM) as I'd been taking 50. Temps moved up a little this AM though :) Yeah my cholesterol has been high last few years but moved well an in the right right direction when I exercised.
NOTE: standardized Red Yeast Rice crushed my cholesterol and completely spiked my TSH (1.5->10) in only 10 days. BAD experience.
I'll make sure I get all those labs covered. Thank you!

1. You've never taken ProgestE orally?
2. What IdeaLabs products have you tried?

 

[marsaday]

Ok so you had some effect possibly from changing the T4 time. I would just stick to bedtime dosing. It helps a lot of people sleep better. A minority find sleep harder.

You have hashis so your TSH will be volatile. Was it the rice or just the hashis affecting the TSH ?

Not done progeste orally. It works fine on my forearm.

Ideal labs = androsterone and pansterone.

 

[TAG145]

Well, vertigo is about the once symptom I haven't had! 80% of hypo patients have Hashi's. Only a TPOab and TGab result can confirm that. Armour has probably gone to ***t like all the other NDTs. I've ordered some bovine powder NDT from LGS. I've sworn off US made NDT. Grossman Cynoplus & Cynomel made in Mexico are not available in the US by Rx but you can still get them if you try. Do you take all your NDT in one dose? Anything over a 'grain' (60-65 mg) is maybe too much at once. I generally have taken NDT with food, unless small doses (1/4-1/3) dissolved in mouth. What are your D, B12 and Testosterone levels? Do you get sunlight or at least red light? I'm looking at Paul Robison's books and Dr. Blanchard's as well on @marsaday 's advice. I think my cortisol is low too.

I have to dig up my labs but my testosterone, B12 and D were low but not severe. I also had the antibody tests which came back normal but I don’t have the numbers readily available. I was supplementing testosterone but had horribly oily hair and skin & acne so I’m off it until I can slowly try again. I just bought a red light set up and am eager to start. I get good sunlight though right now as I’m home from work recovering and spend a lot of time outside with my dogs. I do think splitting up the dosage will be beneficial if I do end up going over 60 mg that I’m in right now. I am seeing a slight and steady increase in temps and pulse. I was at 98.0, 72 bpm yesterday which is awesome! I haven’t been over 97.3 in years!! I tried to reduce my dose years ago and felt like a truck ran me over but now it is feeling good. I was low carb and near zero refined sugar for so many years that I think I was really screwing my self up. Now that I am not doing that maybe my thyroid has more support to work correctly!!

 

[Peater Pan]

Ok so you had some effect possibly from changing the T4 time. I would just stick to bedtime dosing. It helps a lot of people sleep better. A minority find sleep harder.

You have hashis so your TSH will be volatile. Was it the rice or just the hashis affecting the TSH ?

Not done progeste orally. It works fine on my forearm.

Ideal labs = androsterone and pansterone.

Went back to 50 dinner, 50 bedtime yesterday and slept okay but temp/pulse plummeted this AM (96.4/57). I'm tracking them more closely due to the dose changes and to make sure I don't unexpectedly find myself in a worse place. Keeping a log of everything. Did tiny bit of T3 (1-2) before waking and another small dose (2-3) after getting up/food.

From Blanchard (emphasis mine):

"Very important is that the T4 needs to be taken 3 to 5 hours before bedtime. If taken at bedtime, it appears to have very little benefit for sleep quality."

Also, FYI, Blanchard speaks of slow release T3. I find his book interesting, if not badly written and somewhat dogmatic but I cannot fault him for that.

Is was definitely the Red Yeast Rice. How? I don't know. Either interfering w/thyroid or due to the huge affect on lipids or both? Scary.

I'll look more into Progesterone. Have some LGS NDT arriving today. Thank you!

 

[Peater Pan]

I have to dig up my labs but my testosterone, B12 and D were low but not severe. I also had the antibody tests which came back normal but I don’t have the numbers readily available. I was supplementing testosterone but had horribly oily hair and skin & acne so I’m off it until I can slowly try again. I just bought a red light set up and am eager to start. I get good sunlight though right now as I’m home from work recovering and spend a lot of time outside with my dogs. I do think splitting up the dosage will be beneficial if I do end up going over 60 mg that I’m in right now. I am seeing a slight and steady increase in temps and pulse. I was at 98.0, 72 bpm yesterday which is awesome! I haven’t been over 97.3 in years!! I tried to reduce my dose years ago and felt like a truck ran me over but now it is feeling good. I was low carb and near zero refined sugar for so many years that I think I was really screwing my self up. Now that I am not doing that maybe my thyroid has more support to work correctly!!

I'm looking into red light too. Be sure you check (dangerous) EMF output. Nothing better than full sun exposure. I was getting 15-30 min in the summer and felt better. 98.0 waking? That's good. Barnes' target was 97.8-98.2 waking and up to 98.6 or higher by mid morning/day-ish. I'm gonna try Progeste-E, I think.

 

[Peater Pan]

"My general impression is that the T3 hormone is about twice as potent when applied to the skin as it is when taken orally."

Blanchard, Kenneth. Functional Approach to Hypothyroidism.

 

[Vileplume]

Have you tried a different ratio of T3/T4? Like TyroMix? My body responded to that much better than the NDT.

Hello! I know that you also used some adaptogenic herbs to help restore your adrenals. Do you think that after the NDT, it was necessary to take a break and restore adrenal health, before trying tyromix? Or do you think switching immediately from NDT to tyromix would have helped? I also struggle a lot with NDT, and I suspect the adrenals have something to do with it. Thanks.

 

[Nicole W.]

Hello! I know that you also used some adaptogenic herbs to help restore your adrenals. Do you think that after the NDT, it was necessary to take a break and restore adrenal health, before trying tyromix? Or do you think switching immediately from NDT to tyromix would have helped? I also struggle a lot with NDT, and I suspect the adrenals have something to do with it. Thanks.

Well, yes, the herbs did help, especially after my unfortunate experience with NDT. My cortisol became too low on that after several months. I believe that NDT was just not the right ratio of hormones for my physiology.
Going off of NDT and using only the Adrenal Adapt product for a few months really helped normalize my cortisol levels. I did not take the thyroid and the tincture together at that time. I never felt completely well again though, until I introduced TyroMix. I need a little thyroid to feel good. I mainly support my adrenals now with Nettle tea or infusion. I have it most days.
Occasionally, I’ll rotate the adaptogenic herbs or take the Adrenal Adapt.
Mostly, I take a small amount of TyroMix in the morning and take progesterone in the second half of my cycle. All these things are pro thyroid and pro adrenal. The last thing I would say is that gluten can really interfere with thyroid in the body. I adore bread and still eat it, but I can speak from personal experience that there is a difference in effect when consuming gluten containing foods along with using thyroid. So if you’re consuming gluten on a consistent basis it might be worthwhile to try eliminating it to see if you feel better. It might be the bread/pasta/cookies etc...and not the NDT.

 

[Nicole W.]

Hello! I know that you also used some adaptogenic herbs to help restore your adrenals. Do you think that after the NDT, it was necessary to take a break and restore adrenal health, before trying tyromix? Or do you think switching immediately from NDT to tyromix would have helped? I also struggle a lot with NDT, and I suspect the adrenals have something to do with it. Thanks.

Sorry, I didn’t directly answer your question. I think taking a break from thyroid was good. I wasn’t sure if any thyroid was going to work for me at that point anyway, so I addressed the suppressed cortisol and then, when I was feeling better (but not perfect), I decided to give thyroid another go. Sometimes you can’t heal everything at once, nor should you try. Supporting the body, and checking in periodically, to see where you’re at health wise is a good approach. You can add or take away incrementally without risking too much. It’s hard, but try to not be in a hurry. Trying to feel better can be a long zigzagging path down a steep ravine. It’s better to go slow.

 

[Vileplume]

Sorry, I didn’t directly answer your question. I think taking a break from thyroid was good. I wasn’t sure if any thyroid was going to work for me at that point anyway, so I addressed the suppressed cortisol and then, when I was feeling better (but not perfect), I decided to give thyroid another go. Sometimes you can’t heal everything at once, nor should you try. Supporting the body, and checking in periodically, to see where you’re at health wise is a good approach. You can add or take away incrementally without risking too much. It’s hard, but try to not be in a hurry. Trying to feel better can be a long zigzagging path down a steep ravine. It’s better to go slow.

Thank you for such informative replies. When some things don’t work, I often sense myself slipping into helplessness and losing faith in my ability to heal. Both times I’ve tried it, NDT works for about two days before it starts wearing my body down rapidly, leaving me feeling dazed and empty-headed. I suspect low cortisol but I’m not sure that’s what it is. Did you test cortisol to find out yours was low?

I think a break like you describe would be helpful. I also ordered an adrenal herb supplement (vital adapt because they didn’t have adrenal adapt on Amazon) and adrenal cortex. We will see how those go. Thanks again.

 

[Nicole W.]

Thank you for such informative replies. When some things don’t work, I often sense myself slipping into helplessness and losing faith in my ability to heal. Both times I’ve tried it, NDT works for about two days before it starts wearing my body down rapidly, leaving me feeling dazed and empty-headed. I suspect low cortisol but I’m not sure that’s what it is. Did you test cortisol to find out yours was low?

I think a break like you describe would be helpful. I also ordered an adrenal herb supplement (vital adapt because they didn’t have adrenal adapt on Amazon) and adrenal cortex. We will see how those go. Thanks again.

Yes, sorry. It is Vital Adapt. I misspoke. I would give it a month of use and then assess. I did get my cortisol tested with a DUTCH test. It confirmed what my Naturopath suspected: that the NDT had driven down my cortisol levels. I bounced back pretty quickly after that.

Well placed herbs can really help. I don’t advocate using them all the time, but they can definitely pull you out of acute situations that are CFS- like. Because my husband and I are under so much stress, we have found ourselves really really depleted more than a couple times. My husband uses the stronger version of Vital Adapt, called Power Adapt, that has ginseng in it. It was too strong for me. Vital Adapt is gentler. Also, titrate up slowly so that you can adjust.

Be careful of the adrenal cortex. I’ve heard it can be very strong. Even when my husband’s cortisol levels were completely flat, our Naturopath did not prescribe cortex. See if the Vital Adapt improves things on its own and add in cortex later if you still feel it’s necessary.

I know this time you’re in is very scary and discouraging. But hang in there! You’ll figure it out, like we all eventually do. It’s just trial and error really. Don’t be afraid to enlist other people’s help and advice, even if it doesn’t align with Peat. What matters is you get well, no matter how you accomplish it.?

 

[Vileplume]

Yes, sorry. It is Vital Adapt. I misspoke. I would give it a month of use and then assess. I did get my cortisol tested with a DUTCH test. It confirmed what my Naturopath suspected: that the NDT had driven down my cortisol levels. I bounced back pretty quickly after that.

Well placed herbs can really help. I don’t advocate using them all the time, but they can definitely pull you out of acute situations that are CFS- like. Because my husband and I are under so much stress, we have found ourselves really really depleted more than a couple times. My husband uses the stronger version of Vital Adapt, called Power Adapt, that has ginseng in it. It was too strong for me. Vital Adapt is gentler. Also, titrate up slowly so that you can adjust.

Be careful of the adrenal cortex. I’ve heard it can be very strong. Even when my husband’s cortisol levels were completely flat, our Naturopath did not prescribe cortex. See if the Vital Adapt improves things on its own and add in cortex later if you still feel it’s necessary.

I know this time you’re in is very scary and discouraging. But hang in there! You’ll figure it out, like we all eventually do. It’s just trial and error really. Don’t be afraid to enlist other people’s help and advice, even if it doesn’t align with Peat. What matters is you get well, no matter how you accomplish it.?

Thank you! This forum has been incredibly helpful. Even though most of my experiments so far have failed, I do know there is a way to heal and I will find it.

Did your husband heal his adrenals/cortisol the same way you did, with power adapt (and presumably rest)?

 

[Nicole W.]

Thank you! This forum has been incredibly helpful. Even though most of my experiments so far have failed, I do know there is a way to heal and I will find it.

Did your husband heal his adrenals/cortisol the same way you did, with power adapt (and presumably rest)?

No rest for him unfortunately, he had to keep working. It was very hard, he often fell asleep at work, which is not really optimal. He just couldn’t keep his eyes open he was so exhausted. He is prone to very low cortisol for some reason. The two times he has tested with DUTCH, the results and the symptoms were similar. Flat cortisol levels and total exhaustion. We tried a few other things like dietary modifications, herbal thyroid support, and thyroid hormone but it made him feel worse. So he went back on the Power Adapt and it got him back on his feet again. He’s feeling good now, but I’ve reminded him he can’t just keep on doing this. It’s not supposed to be a crutch. He’s used for about 90 days twice in the last 5 years because he gets incredibly run down due to overwork and a stressful family situation. It would be best if he could dial back the stress but he’s just not in that position right now to do it, unfortunately.

 

[HeartGold]

I just finished an experimental course of NDT that lasted 4 months. By the end of this period I felt terrible, so fatigued I could barely function. I thought I had developed CFS.

My naturopath suggested testing adrenals with a DUTCH panel test. Interestingly, the results indicated that elevated thyroid levels caused my body to metabolize cortisol at a faster rate which did not leave enough for my body to use. Once I stopped the NDT and started supporting my adrenals I felt immensely better. If your adrenals aren't working optimally you'll have trouble finding success with NDT in my opinion.

Hi Nicole W.

How are you and what did you do for supporting your Adrenals?

 

[Nicole W.]

Hi Nicole W.

How are you and what did you do for supporting your Adrenals?

Due to some very stressful periods in my life, I’ve been diagnosed with adrenal fatigue” a couple of times. This was the term used by my Naturopath. I prefer the old fashioned expression “exhaustion” because I’m not 100% adrenal fatigue is really a thing. If you your thyroid isn’t working optimally or there is some sort of metabolic inhibitor happening you will feel terrible regardless of what you call it. Initially, my doctor put me on a product called Vital Adapt by Natura Health Products. It’s an herbal tonic and it gently gets your system going in the right direction in terms of energy production. I know people tend not to like herbs here, but they absolutely can have magical effects if you use the right herb or herbal formula for the right condition.

I’ve used this product a couple of times along with Nettle tea and the results were very positive. However, as the years went by I developed a lot of hypo symptoms. We set aside the adrenal support and tried NDT. At that point the ratio of T3/T4 wasn’t quite right and for what ever reason it tanked my cortisol. That was when I really felt awful. I later switched to Tyromix, and I am doing much better. I haven’t had adrenal fatigue or exhaustion in a very long time. Reflecting on my experience, I now think that if your thyroid isn’t working optimally, and you’re not yet aware enough to pursue treatment, then any number of conditions can pop up…all of them with fatigue as the main feature. Anyway, the Vital Adapt is worth a try if you are exhausted. it has ashwaganda in it so supports the thyroid as well as the adrenals. There‘s a more intense version of this product by the same company called Power Adapt. it more stimulating herbs in it but I couldn’t tolerate it. It was a bit too much for my constitution.