Some thoughts on Adrenal Fatigue, Low Thyroid and T administration.

[pcgizzmo]

I've been wondering about people that can't tolerate T administration. In particular those that are said to have Adrenal fatigue or Low Thyroid.

I wonder about Adrenal fatigue but will talk about thyroid also. Please feel free to tell me I'm wrong etc.. because these are just my thought and I'm not saying I'm right or wrong just concerned and curious.

It bothers me to see quite a few people jump on the band wagon of adrenal supplementation in particular with hydro cortisone. Now, don't get me wrong. I'm perfectly sure that there are those w/adrenal fatigue but what I'm not sure about is if it's just a symptom of something else and if it should be treated totally different then the way it's currently being treated. Especially in way some are self treating because of what they are reading on the boards.

The something else I'm talking about is just a down regulation of thyroid and over working of the adrenals because of Low T. Now, I know this has been talked about before and it's nothing new but what if instead of putting someone on supplemental cortisol and thyroid you were to slowly introduce the T back over time instead of all at once?

The reason this group of people have problems with T is that there thyroid and adrenals are sub par. Possibly this might have been caused from Low T to begin with.

So, why not add T back slowly over time just as it probably went down and allow the body to readjust slowly? I'm not talking years but may over a few months. The patient is already low so if we approximate a dosage that matches or comes close to their current levels then titrate up I wonder if they might not need thyroid or adrenal support? You give things time to adjust to the new T levels slowly.

Think about it. You give someone with low adrenal and low thyroid hormone a full replacement dose of T and wham! Of course they might have problems. But, what if you allowed time with starting out low and gradually going up on the dose until you get them to normal levels?

This is done all the time with other types of drugs to allow the body to adjust.

I hate to see someone go on adrenal support even up to the point of possibly have an adrenal crisis because they have been on cortisol for an extended period of time. Not to mention the toll it can take on your body if not managed correctly. It's not something I think I would want to self dose yet alot of people do.

Thoughts? I'm full of sh$# or maybe?

[wondering]

I was on Testosterone for over a year and my Adrenals were so bad that I took 1/2 grain of Armour for 2 days and ended up in hospital. T will not necessarily solve all your problems. HC saved me. Noone will convince me otherwise.

[JanSz]

Originally Posted by wondering

I was on Testosterone for over a year and my Adrenals were so bad that I took 1/2 grain of Armour for 2 days and ended up in hospital. T will not necessarily solve all your problems. HC saved me. Noone will convince me otherwise.

Yes, newer take thyroid hormones
untill
you have good adrenal support.

But I am surprised that that was a news to you or your doctor.
................

[pcgizzmo]

Originally Posted by wondering

I was on Testosterone for over a year and my Adrenals were so bad that I took 1/2 grain of Armour for 2 days and ended up in hospital. T will not necessarily solve all your problems. HC saved me. Noone will convince me otherwise.

What I'm advocating is slowly going up on T allowing adrenals to recover slowly along with T just as adrenals slowly degraded along with T. Instead of slamming 100mg of T at poor adrenals why not slowly start out and adjust as things recover that way possibly adrenal support with cortef or the like is totally not needed.

Again, this is just a thought and I don't have anything to say one way or another this would work but I don't see why it might not. Just trying to get a discussion going.

The problem I see is some people are going on long term hydrocortizone therapy with no real plan on when there coming off of it or what their doing to the adrenals long term. If you suppress them long enough you could very possibly have a hard time coming off of the stuff. There a a lot of self treaters or those that will go to the Dr. get a plan and never follow up and just source the product over the internet themselves. Adrenals are nothing you want to mess with if you can keep from it with out a very well trained Dr.

There could be an argument for the same w/thyroid meds but other than a thyroid storm I don't think you have the possibility of immediate death going cold turkey on thyroid meds due due to it being stored as you do stopping adrenal meds.

Again, I could be wrong.

[pcgizzmo]

Originally Posted by wondering

I was on Testosterone for over a year and my Adrenals were so bad that I took 1/2 grain of Armour for 2 days and ended up in hospital. T will not necessarily solve all your problems. HC saved me. Noone will convince me otherwise.

So, I don't know your story but you did full dose T replacement for a year before having adrenals or thyroid checked out?

I'm guessing you were having trouble with the T? What kind of trouble? So, then you went and had adrenals and thyroid checked and were prescribed meds for thyroid and this is when you ran into trouble or before the thyroid meds?

Thanks..