Adrenal Fatigue

It does not take all that much exposure to sunlight to generate the vitamin D you need. Somewhere I read that 10 or 20 minutes od sunlight exposure is all you really need. (I am assuming reasonably dressed, perhaps with short sleeves.) Use of sunscreen or sunblock severely interferes with the body's ability to produce vitamin D. This is one of the reasons I don't put on sunblock right away. I have also found that if I protect my head (and especially my bald spot), I can usually build enough tolerance to the sun that sunblock is not required.

Get a book by Dr. Jacob Teitelbaum

PB, book just came from Amazon yesterday along with 2 other books on hypothryroidism, lol! Interesting how you brought up your cortisol with pregnenalone. Makes total sense. Since I likely have PCOS which means my body doesn't make progesterone in large enough amounts, this really explains why ALL of my hormones are deficient. Progesterone being the precurser for all hormones except testosterone. Maybe that is why I have been feeling better since I started taking it. My body is taking it and turning it into all the other stuff I need! I imagine it will take time and continued support with diet and supplementation to feel really good. And the T3 therapy that I should be starting friday.

BTW, I went to Teitelbaums website http://www.endfatigue.com and took his free questionaire and it told me this: suboptimal adrenal function, suspect hypothyroidism, rule out testosterone deficiency. All three of which have been confirmed either by a lab test or a doctors diagnosis. So, I think his questionaire must be pretty accurate. This was months ago that I took it. Pretty interesting, huh?

Speaking of nutrition. I've been trying to absolutely maximize that. I started making chia "shakes" which are very interesting! And I just bought some spouting supplies from sproutpeople.com and am going to give that a try. All this on top of my antioxidant/hemp protein shakes, green tea, rooibos tea etc etc. Hard to fit all this nutrition in one day, lol!

Gasp,

Regarding the D, that is good advice. I wondered about it. I was concerned at the time because I was nursing and my calcium was barely in the normal range. At that time I increased my calcium citrate + D, so hopefully my D levels are higher by now since those tests were done in April and I recently stopped nursing. I will have everything retested in March when I am 3 months post-weaning. Hopefully I will be well on my way to healing by then!

Regarding sweeteners: Have you tried ribose? It is a sugar the body doesn't use as fuel, but as part of the metabolism of ATP (energy in the mitochondria) and making DNA. It is recommended for those with chronic fatigue since the body is really slow to make it. Thus it can do double duty. I also like to combine sweeteners--they seem to make more than the sum of their parts for some reason. For example if I'm really hankering for something like sweet tea, I might add a very small dose of each of these: ribose, stevia, erythritol, agave nectar and end up with something very sweet, resembling sugar, very few calories, no aftertaste and very satisfying. Maybe that will help you with that issue, Muse.

Lion Guy,

You are right, sun exposure never hurts. We have a really shady yard so I rarely use sunscreen unless we will be out in a sunny location all day. When I take the kids to the park I either put it on them and sit in the shade myself, or I limit the time we are there. Unfortunately there isn't any sun exposure to be had in Indiana right now! LOL! Have to wait a few months for that.

Socknister, I am beginning to wonder if, with all your hormonal problems, you might have some sort of a pituitary problem. The pituitary gland controls most of the hormone production in the body. If that is messed up, you could have adrenal and thyroid problems, as well as problems related to sex and childbirth hormones.

socknitster wrote:...Regarding the D...

Took me 18 months of increasing amts of D3 to get my levels from 15 to 66.3 . Can't get in sun, an Rx I take has photosensitized my skin and I now burn in 6 mins total day exposure..sucks living in the South.

timbalionguy wrote:Socknister, I am beginning to wonder if, with all your hormonal problems, you might have some sort of a pituitary problem. The pituitary gland controls most of the hormone production in the body. If that is messed up, you could have adrenal and thyroid problems, as well as problems related to sex and childbirth hormones.

That is what I have wondered. However, according the the endo I saw last April and the test they ran on my pituitary, its function is normal. All I can do is continue to pursue the path I'm on. If it doesn't resolve, I will try another doctor and more testing etc etc. I'm going back in March to have everything retested again and I will specifically ask about the pituitary.

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).

Honestly, I think once one hormonal system is weakened, it throws off the whole endocrine system. I have been in a downward spiral since my early 20's. Right now I see myself inching my way back up to the top, slowly but surely. I'm going to solve this. Eventually. And reclaim the life I was supposed to have all along.

timbalionguy wrote:It does not take all that much exposure to sunlight to generate the vitamin D you need. Somewhere I read that 10 or 20 minutes od sunlight exposure is all you really need. (I am assuming reasonably dressed, perhaps with short sleeves.) Use of sunscreen or sunblock severely interferes with the body's ability to produce vitamin D. This is one of the reasons I don't put on sunblock right away. I have also found that if I protect my head (and especially my bald spot), I can usually build enough tolerance to the sun that sunblock is not required.

Some of us still have issues with this. I'm on a Vitamin D supplement (1000mg) for a Vitamin D deficiency, and I walk outdoors 3-4 times a week, mow the lawn (1 hr) regularly, and have a vegetable garden, etc. No, I usually don't wear sunblock unless I'm going to be under a full sun for several hours consecutively (seldom).

My Dr. told me (unknown if this is true) that you need to be out in the sunlight in the morning hours only. Why this? I have no idea, and I can't imagine that the sun is different at 3pm than 9am (silly doctor... you shouldn't read medical studies you don't understand, and then tell patients this). At least the blood work did confirm the Vitamin D issue, so that's not questionable (yes, more than once .

Of course, this Vitamin D issue could go away with my Cpap treatment?

socknitster wrote:Gasp,
Regarding sweeteners: Have you tried ribose? It is a sugar the body doesn't use as fuel, but as part of the metabolism of ATP (energy in the mitochondria) and making DNA. It is recommended for those with chronic fatigue since the body is really slow to make it. Thus it can do double duty. I also like to combine sweeteners--they seem to make more than the sum of their parts for some reason. For example if I'm really hankering for something like sweet tea, I might add a very small dose of each of these: ribose, stevia, erythritol, agave nectar and end up with something very sweet, resembling sugar, very few calories, no aftertaste and very satisfying. Maybe that will help you with that issue, Muse.

I haven't tried ribose. I try to keep my tongue and body from knowing their is sweet as a choice. For me, if I get a little I want a LOT : ) As a result, fruit is intensely sweet for me so I use that as my treats and sometimes it seems too sweet for me! Kids are particularly adaptive to this kind of sweet change because they are sweet magnets. They have more active taste buds and those buds are attuned to sweet is good, sour is bad : ) Anyway, I just drink pure water and maybe %10 of my daily fluid in organic white or green tea. I use organic Stevia when fixing food for company or on holidays.

I have taken L-Carnitine and Co-enzyme Q10 for many years, starting them when I used to be an athlete. Here is a good article on L-Carnitine which includes this information:

"Biological Activity Mitochondrial Oxidation of Long-Chain Fatty Acids

L-carnitine is synthesized primarily in the liver but also in the kidneys, and then it must be transported to other tissues. It is most concentrated in tissues that use fatty acids as their primary dietary fuel, such as skeletal and cardiac (heart) muscle. In this regard, L-carnitine plays an important role in energy production by chaperoning activated fatty acids (acyl-CoA) into the mitochondrial matrix for metabolism and chaperoning intermediate compounds out of the mitochondrial matrix to prevent their accumulation (1).

L-carnitine is required for mitochondrial beta-oxidation of long-chain fatty acids for energy production (1). Long-chain fatty acids must be in the form of esters of L-carnitine (acylcarnitines) in order to enter the mitochondrial matrix where beta-oxidation occurs (Figure 2). Proteins of the carnitine-acyl transferase family transport acylcarnitines into the mitochondrial matrix. On the outer mitochondrial membrane, carnitine-palmitoyl transferase I (CPTI) catalyzes the transfer of long-chain fatty acids into the cytosol from coenzymeA (CoA) to L-carnitine, the rate limiting step in fatty acid oxidation (12). A transporter protein called carnitine:acylcarnitine translocase (CACT) facilitates the transport of acylcarnitine esters across the inner mitochondrial membrane. On the inner mitochondrial membrane, carnitine-palmitoyl transferase II (CPTII) catalyzes the transfer of fatty acids from L-carnitine to free CoA in the mitochondrial matrix, where they are metabolized through beta-oxidation, ultimately yielding propionyl-CoA and acetyl-CoA (1)." http://lpi.oregonstate.edu/infocenter/o ... carnitine/

List of Supplements I Take
New Chapter Organics for Women (I take when tissue and blood levels are showing all is well, no deficiencies.)
Jarrow L-Carnitine 500 mg 2 x day (energy, fat metabolism)
Jarrow Ubiquinol 100mg 2 x day (heart health)
Now Vitamin D3 5,000 IU (when blood levels are low)
Jarrow Glucosomine HC1 (for joint heath, especially when pounding the pavement, running : )
$83.54 month/$2.74 day at Super Supplements taking advantage of sales.

I add these two products because of blood sugar issues (I have a tendency to have borderline Type 2)
BioChem Organic Whey (for nighttime drink before bed to stabilize blood sugar until morning)
BioChem Glycemic Factors (to stabilize blood sugar during the day)
Total supplements including blood sugar products $163.41 month/$5.36 day Super Supplements

PS I only eat fermented soy, I don't eat it in any other form. Weston Price is a pioneer in bringing good nutrition information to the forefront and doesn't have that extremist personality Mercola has : ) He has good info on the soy and I can get you a formal scientific research article if you want to wade through it. http://www.westonaprice.org/Soy-Alert/

Gasp, Wrote down L-carnitine on my list of supplements to think about taking when I start feeling better. I counted last night and I am now taking 21 pills a day. I'm not adding anything else unless and until the doc tells me to. Yesterday i just added a thyroid support capsule taken twice a day, hence the counting and disbelief. The thyroid (Now Thyroid Energy) support has kelp for iodine, selenium, zinc, b-vitamins and guggul and ayervedic herb for thyroid support.

One important thing to note: I didn't realize I wasn't consuming very much iodine! A long time ago I switched to kosher salt for baking, seasoning pasta water and meat before its grilled or baked etc. And sea salt for seasoning at the table and for homemade soups and stews. A few years ago I thought, hmmm, maybe this isn't good, and started mixing 50/50 sea salt with iodized table salt (which tastes awful to me now!). Yesterday I refilled all the salt shakers with iodized salt only.

I also discovered that two eggs will give you 80% of the RDA of iodine. Add some iodized salt to those eggs and you are getting a good amount of iodine. Since every T4 molecule has 4 iodines on it and every T3 has 3, you really have to have enough in your diet! And another thing I didn't know--I live in the "goiter belt." All the local produce and meat I'm eating from the farmers market is likely deficient in iodine because of the glaciers scraping off the topsoil those many thousands of years ago. Isn't that interesting!

Iodine is one of those things that you think you are taking in all the time, but maybe not as much as you might think. Processed foods with lots of salt don't have iodine in them--uniodized salt is cheaper for them to use. So unless you eat a lot of eggs and shellfish and use iodized salt, you too might not be getting enough.

Also read recently that fibromyalgia might be a form of thyroid disfunction. I know SO MANY WOMEN with fibromyalgia (and I was told about 3-4 years ago that I was part way there to having it myself by a rheumatologist). If it is true and modern medicine is pushing big pharma drugs instead of the tests and treatments these people need, I am going to go absolutely bonkers!

I want to thank you all so much for your support and suggestions. It means so much to me! I have so much trouble maintaining unclouded thought. I write myself notes all the time so I don't forget something but then lose the notes, lol. Anyway, your thoughts and suggestions have really helped me to focus my research and make my lists and improved my hope for the future! You guys ROCK!!!! This is truly the best forum on earth! Thank you, thank you, so much!

socknitster wrote:thyroid (Now Thyroid Energy) support has kelp for iodine, selenium, zinc, b-vitamins and guggul and ayervedic herb for thyroid support.

If your thyroid problem is due to autoimmune disease, these won't help. They'll help only if the basis of your thyroid problem is in nutrition. Hint: More than 95% of thyroid problems in the US are caused by autoimmune disease. The other 5% are caused by all other causes, including nutritional deficiencies.

Good point, HowKim,

I have been tested for thyroid antibodies and they are absent.

socknitster wrote:...write myself notes all the time so I don't forget something but then lose the notes...

My short-term memory is still a challenge. My "best friends" are 4x6 colored index cards...if it ain't on the list, then it (task/item) will more than likely to be forgotten! Finally made a 3-column form of oft-used grocery items that need to be checked before going shopping; the forms sit in a small clipboard on fridge or in purse, NEVER sit one down anywhere else...might disappear forever

Might ck out taking Iodoral for awhile (I get from Amazon). Since last Sept, I've been taking half of the smallest-dose pill to get iodine (I don't eat salt). Endo I fired said if I ate out, I'd be getting 'nuff iodine...I was skeptical and checked, he was clueless. I've read that iodine in salt fairly rapidily disappears ( conversion to something else or vaporization has completely disappeared from my memory SORRY), so you might rely more on the egg's content than iodized salt in determining daily intake.

OH, for whoever posted about sunshine & D; the intensity of the UVA/UBA rays varies throughout the day and that difference accounts for the increased likelihood of burning vs increasing conversion of cholesterol to vitamin D within the same period of time. Remember too, that as we age we have a decreased ability to make that conversion.

socknitster wrote:Are you sure its fructose and not high fructose corn syrup that causes the fatty liver etc? Because fructose is present in variable quantities in fruits as the natural sweetener. It would seem to me that in moderation it would be fine. I use it so sparingly that I'm not worried--its not like I eat a pint every night. More like 1/3 of a pint on a rare occasion. I think the real issue is people drinking gallons of high fructose corn syrup laden soft drinks etc, don't you? I keep hearing agave nectar is lower glycemic than table sugar. Maybe more sleuthing is needed in this matter. . .

Jen,

Agave nectar is horribly processed and is about 80% fructose. Bad news.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjxyjcvW7RE

is an interesting discussion of sugar (including fructose and HFCS), the obesity epidemic, and many other issues. This link is part one of nine parts, a list of which can be found at the Youtube site.

The speaker is Dr. Robert H. Lustig, of the UCSF Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism.

This is a long presentation (wish I had a transcript of it -- I can scan faster than I can listen!), but worthwhile.

socknitster wrote:I have been tested for thyroid antibodies and they are absent.

The definitive test for autoimmune thyroid disease is a thyroid biopsy. This is because the antibody levels in the blood fluctuate wildly. As an example, after years of definitively positive antibody levels, my last testing showed none. I'm willing to bet that my next testing will show them again.

socknitster wrote:One important thing to note: I didn't realize I wasn't consuming very much iodine! A long time ago I switched to kosher salt for baking, seasoning pasta water and meat before its grilled or baked etc. And sea salt for seasoning at the table and for homemade soups and stews. A few years ago I thought, hmmm, maybe this isn't good, and started mixing 50/50 sea salt with iodized table salt (which tastes awful to me now!). Yesterday I refilled all the salt shakers with iodized salt only.

I also discovered that two eggs will give you 80% of the RDA of iodine. Add some iodized salt to those eggs and you are getting a good amount of iodine. Since every T4 molecule has 4 iodines on it and every T3 has 3, you really have to have enough in your diet! And another thing I didn't know--I live in the "goiter belt." All the local produce and meat I'm eating from the farmers market is likely deficient in iodine because of the glaciers scraping off the topsoil those many thousands of years ago. Isn't that interesting!

Iodine is one of those things that you think you are taking in all the time, but maybe not as much as you might think. Processed foods with lots of salt don't have iodine in them--uniodized salt is cheaper for them to use. So unless you eat a lot of eggs and shellfish and use iodized salt, you too might not be getting enough.

I highly encourage you to use a natural salt with natural iodine instead of chemically altered table salt. Even those that have an under-functioning thyroid only require less than 225 micrograms of iodine a day which can easily be obtained using a natural versus chemically altered table salt. I'm uncertain which Centrum you take, but just the regular Centrum contains 150 mcg of iodine.

I use Real Salt "Compared to RealSalt brand salt, regular “table salts” and also many sea salts appear stark white because they have undergone harsh bleaching and refining. By contrast, RealSalt is extracted from deep within the earth, crushed, screened, and packaged without any bleaching or refining. 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

gasp wrote:...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!