Adrenal Fatigue

[socknitster]

Hey, that sounds like it would taste better too! The sea salt I had been using was grey-ish and tasted awesome. I'm going to look for this stuff and maybe order it online. According to Mercola, Asians consume 12,000 micrograms or about 12 mg of iodine a day because of their consumption of sea veggies. Very interesting! I might order iodoral because the thyroid energy is definitly making a difference for me! My tongue has even shrunk a bit! It was so swollen before you could see the indentation of every tooth. Now it is only faintly scalloped. Awesome!

The doctors office made a mistake when they scheduled my appointment. They told me it was today, when actually it is a week from today. Wasted my time and my babysitters time and I'm hugely disappointed. I know I didn't make the mistake because this is too important to me. Also, this has happened to me before so I am ULTRA careful when making appointments!

[timbalionguy]

Its funny, after that ACTH test. The first day I was extremely exhausted. Not surprising after being starved for about 16 hours. That night, however, I barely slept. The next day i felt tons better--full of energy and enthusiasm, despite the lack of sleep of the night before. However, that night I crashed about 6 pm, couldn't keep my eyes open. I slept about 1.5 hours, got up and was freezing. I layered on wool sweaters and wool blankets (all handmade by me ) and finally by bedtime at 10 pm I was warm. I went to bed and all night long slept well, but alternated between sweating and freezing. Yesterday morning I was still very cold and wore my wool slippers and a wool sweater (handmade by me ) but after that I returned to what has been normal for me for the last few months. Something was definitely thrown off by that test--and I'm wondering if it was the pituitary since ACTH is a pituitary hormone that signals the adrenals (I think).

Very interesting. This suggests to me that your body has problems with thermoregulation. the relatively long fast made your body slow down more than it should, and then it had to 'oscillate' a couple of times (hot and cold spells that night) before it stabilized. Because the thyroxines control metabolic rate, this suggests to me you are on the right track with the T3 stuff. The other thing it made me wonder is if you would benefit from having, say six smaller meals a day instead of three big ones. This is recommended even for low carb diets by some.

Thanks for the info on L-carnitine. I never realized how tied up with lipid metabolism it was. Shows that I haven't read the current research fast enough!

[dkdc]

For what it is worth, vitamin D insufficiency is common and sunshine does not necessarily help you produce enough. I am trying to remember, but I think it is something like 10-30% of people need vitamin D supplements, by a few estimates I have read. It is some figure that is higher than researchers used to think even a few years ago. Don't quote me on the percentages.

I go out doors a lot and even in the summer when it is easier to make Vit D I am very low.

Also, nasal steroids if taken at the doses recommended should not affect your adrenal glands - according to what one doctor and one pharmacist told me.

Now back to the discussion you were actually having.

[Muse-Inc]

More on iodine: http://heartscanblog.blogspot.com/search/label/Iodine

[socknitster]

The video about sugar is fascinating! I still need to watch the last few "episodes!" Thanks for posting that.

Also very interesting was the blog you posted Muse--I added it to me google reader account. My LDL is high, so it will be interesting to see if it goes down with iodine/better thyroid function. Now I have an excuse to eat more of my favorite seaweed salad from the sushi bar at the local grocery store, lol. And I'm going to continue with the iodine supplementation for my entire family however I can manage to get it into them. I recently switched my sons to a new vitamin, which luckily has iodine (flintstones do NOT btw). And I'm going looking for RealSalt this weekend.

There is a reason we like salt, after all--natural unrefined salt, like the RealSalt posted above, has iodine naturally. I remember when reading the book, Clan of the Cave Bear how the Neanderthals in the book made an annual trek to the nearest salt flat near the sea because they lived inland. This is probably very close to the truth of what prehistoric mankind did to get the trace minerals they needed to be healthy when living inland.

Vitamin D information given was also very interesting. They are saying now that it is more of a hormone than vitamin, made by our bodies from cholesterol like hormones are. Fascinating! I'm already getting more than the RDA, but may add more now.

Regarding the problems with thermoregulation that you mentioned--I agree. The only other time in my life that it was that severe was during a miscarriage--another time of hormone "crisis" of course. Of course the miscarriages I've had might have sadly been related to all of this hormone stuff. I had no way of knowing then, of course. It makes me SO grateful that I was able to carry two healthy children to term. I'm blessed that that was possible.

[dkdc]

I understand that Vitaming D is fat soluable - thus if you take too much for you it can cause problems. And if you take too little for you it may cause problems. I had a blood test done to determine that I was so low.

I suppose most people know this, but just in case...

[Muse-Inc]

...Vitaming D is fat soluable - thus if you take too much for you it can cause problems...

Only if you're taking the D2 (synthetic) form. Very high amts of D3 have been taken with no problems from reports on the Vitamin D Counsel website. D, a neurohormone, also activates the body's natural antibiotics and the European Stoss Protocol for fighting pathogens is to use 50,000 to 100,000 IU of D3 for 3 days (or 500 IU per # of wt).

[dkdc]

Thanks for the added info

[gasp]

...RealSalt’s unique “pinkish” appearance and flecks of color come from more than 50 natural trace minerals, including iodine" http://www.realsalt.com/learn-about-realsalt.html

I've been hunting for this stuff and didn't have its name...thanks for posting, just ordered some!

If you want to get a little crazy with salt, take a look at all the types and uses on this site:
http://www.saltworks.us/salt_info/si_go ... erence.asp

[socknitster]

...RealSalt’s unique “pinkish” appearance and flecks of color come from more than 50 natural trace minerals, including iodine" http://www.realsalt.com/learn-about-realsalt.html

I've been hunting for this stuff and didn't have its name...thanks for posting, just ordered some!

If you want to get a little crazy with salt, take a look at all the types and uses on this site:
http://www.saltworks.us/salt_info/si_go ... erence.asp

I found RealSalt at Target yesterday. There is no estimate, however, for how much iodine is actually in a serving of the salt. It does taste great.

I also found Himalayan salt at Trader Joes, also pink, in its own grinder for $2. I imagine it is a similar kind of salt. I've seen similar stuff at health food stores for much more.

And Trader Joes also has a French sea salt that is grey that has some iodine in it as well. Of course this would not be as "pristine" as it is coming from our modern day oceans as opposed to the purity of the buried salt that is millenia old. Althought they do claim that it is from an area that is pollution free.

Also, Trader Joes has lots of supplements at really incredibly reasonable prices. A bottle of D3 1000 mg was just $3, I think.

I also found iodoral at my local health food store and started taking it yesterday. They were out of Lugols which I want to get for my kids to give them small doses of iodine. Their new vitamins have it (animal parade) but I suspect they are both deficient.

I think I'm up to about 25 pills now which is requiring a lot of organization. I have a list to help me fill my 4 a day pill minder. I started having mild tension headaches about 4 days ago so I decided to remove the Ashwaghanda from the mix--it was the most recently added herb and the one I know the least about. If the headaches continue I will have to think about cutting back on other things in about a week. I intend to start decreasing the doseages of some of the vitamins as they run out. I'll take a similar B complex, for example, just a smaller dose. Should save money! I don't even want to think about how much all of this is costing. But it has been worth it, so far--for the mental clarity I have gained as well as the decrease in irritibility. My energy has come up some too, but doing a task like sorting laundry or carrying something upstairs still leaves me with heart pounding and needing to lie down for a minute to rest and regroup. I am accomplishing more in a day now than I was two weeks ago, though, and enjoying myself more, so I feel like I am healing from whatever has been wrong with me.

I'm so grateful for all your support and ideas.

Also, I bought a glucose meter over the weekend. They aren't expensive (but the test strips are!). I just want to be able to monitor my blood sugar before and after meals for a while to make sure that my low glycemic diet is working. It will help me quantify what things I can eat with what to keep my blood sugar as stable as possible. My husband thinks I'm being a bit extreme, and maybe I am. But just about every member of my family is diabetic--and my Mom just started taking insulin. Its a wake up call for me. I HAVE to prevent this. And being able to directly see that maybe for example I cannot have that small square of chocolate because it sends my glucose over 200--will really help me cut back on the excuses I give myself. I'm just taking the time to focus on my health right now in all its dimensions. This just seems like a logical step to me.

Jen

[timbalionguy]

Jen,
You mentioned that you had had thermoregulation and other problems during a hormone crisis related to a miscarriage. Did you experience any interesting 'ups' or 'downs' during your normal childbirths?
You also mentioned a blood glucose level of 200 from a square of chocolate. Was this just a figure of speech, or have you actually observed this?

Good luck in balancing all those vitamins and stuff. I hope you are able to drastically cut back on drugs and vitamins in time. (When my mother developed dementia and first ended up in the hospital when she was hallucinating, they found she was on 30 different prescription drugs, and was addicted to Valium.)

Too bad there isn't a warranty replacement program on bodies. It sounds like yours would qualify!

[Muse-Inc]

...found Himalayan salt at Trader Joes, also pink, in its own grinder for $2...

Will ck it out, thanx~!

...bought a glucose meter over the weekend. They aren't expensive (but the test strips are!)

Ain't that the truth! Did you read that the average diabetic spends $5000+/yr to treat the condition...yikes! We hoseheads with diabetes in our families must take that possibility seriously because apnea untreated for 5 yrs will almost always (well, something like 70% if memory serves) activate the diabetes genes that might have been inactive...not good depending on how long you were undiagnosed and how effective your current therapy is...scary as he!! actually! When you start testing, ck at 1, 2, & 3 hr intervals to see when your highest readings occur (this will also identify if it's first phase insulin (within first hr) or second phase insulin that's not working well)...then, just test at that interval. When you have identified meals where the increase is <15 and that rise is consistent, you know you can predictably/safely eat that meal. From repeated studies, any reading above 140 is the cutoff for cellular damage; some even suggest keeping blood glucose under 130 to prevent cellular damage. A lot of this is from Jennie Ruhl's site Blood Sugar 101. My diabetic friend's eye surgeon says when she allows her blood glucose to get to 150, she's causing retinopathy -- because she's already legally-blind from retinopathy, this statement made her take her condition more seriously and she started monitoring more often. Be sure to test snacks too!

Good luck!

[sagesteve]

Good artical, thyroid RELATED is the difference : http://articles.mercola.com/sites/artic ... tigue.aspx

Scroll all the way to read it all...could answer some of your questions.

[WearyOne]

Oh, this is such an interesting conversation and so much great information!. Jen, I'm having many of the issues you're having, especially in relation to fatigue and sleep issues; I do hope you find your answer REAL soon! The thyroid hormone discussion is really interesting, as I'm on Synthroid for an ablated thyroid. I'm one of those whose thyroid issue is due to an autoimmune issue--Graves' Disease.

In relation to some of the discussion here...

I know I'm low on VitD, at least I was. And every time I take the prescription (VitD2) and then get tested, I'm still low. Right now with no insurance, I can't afford the VitD test again, as it's around $100+, so I just started taking OTC VitD3 in gelcap form of about 3,000 IU a day. What do you guys think about that? (My last VitD blood level was 13 about nine months, which I know is VERY low.)

Also, what about a EPA/DHA supplement (Omega 3). I started taking that yesterday.

Sugar...does that possibly increase all this mess with fatigue?

[DreamStalker]

Oh, this is such an interesting conversation and so much great information!. Jen, I'm having many of the issues you're having, especially in relation to fatigue and sleep issues; I do hope you find your answer REAL soon! The thyroid hormone discussion is really interesting, as I'm on Synthroid for an ablated thyroid. I'm one of those whose thyroid issue is due to an autoimmune issue--Graves' Disease.

In relation to some of the discussion here...

I know I'm low on VitD, at least I was. And every time I take the prescription (VitD2) and then get tested, I'm still low. Right now with no insurance, I can't afford the VitD test again, as it's around $100+, so I just started taking OTC VitD3 in gelcap form of about 3,000 IU a day. What do you guys think about that? (My last VitD blood level was 13 about nine months, which I know is VERY low.)

Also, what about a EPA/DHA supplement (Omega 3). I started taking that yesterday.

Sugar...does that possibly increase all this mess with fatigue?

I use Carlson's liquid fish oil. The fish oil capsules tend to cause fish burps (yuck). The liquid does not cause the burps and it has lemon flavor going down so very palatable plus it is more cost-effective than capsules. Actually I do one Tsp. fish oil and one Tsp. Carlson's cod Llver oil ... one of each both morning and night.

My guess is that yes. Sugar is a problem from almost every aspect of health.