adrenals tags

Louis Neipris, M.D., a staff writer who has written many fine articles for myOptumHealth.com, recently wrote one article titled Adrenal Fatigue: Is it for real? It appeared on Upper Michigan News, TV 6 website on July 16th and is making the rounds on other sites. His answer to his own question?  “Not really”. He adds  “it’s not an accepted medical diagnosis.”

Oops.

Dr. Neipris, thyroid patients all over the world beg to differ, as do a growing body of colleagues in your profession. Adrenal fatigue, aka low cortisol, has been discovered on the back of a huge body of thyroid patients, wearing them down with  irritability, anxiety, shakiness, feeling dizzy or lightheadedness, sleep issues, sweating, salt craving, nausea in the face of stress, and a host of other symptoms unique to each individual with adrenal fatigue. My personal observation, as a thyroid patient activist, is that up to 50% of millions of thyroid patients all over the world, may have adrenal fatigue, or at the very least, a sluggish feedback loop.

Even worse, the widespread occurrence of adrenal fatigue, especially in thyroid patients, has caused problems when they try raising a far superior thyroid medication called desiccated thyroid. Because cortisol is needed to facilitate the move of thyroid hormones from the blood to the cells, the direct T3 in desiccated thyroid pools in the blood, causing low-cortisol-induced hyper symptoms like a pounding heartrate and irritability. The first-pass treatment then has to start with hydrocortisone like prescription Cortef from their doctors.

Why have such a large body of thyroid patients found themselves with adrenal fatigue and its low cortisol? It’s clear. The TSH lab test sucks, giving one a “normal” reading for years in spite of obvious clinical presentation of hypothyroid symptoms, and pushing one’s adrenals into overdrive with high cortisol and adrenaline to keep the patient going, and ultimately leading to adrenal fatigue.  On page 65 of the Stop the Thyroid Madness book, you’ll read about a 44 year old woman who went 15 years with a “normal” TSH result, in spite of obvious clinical presentation of hypothyroidism, and which led to her own low cortisol. This is not uncommon.

Second, the risk of adrenal fatigue is high due to the inadequate treatment of T4 medications like Synthroid, Levoxyl, levothyroxine, Eltroxin and other T4-only meds. They all leave patients with their own brand and intensity of lingering symptoms of a poor treatment, forcing the adrenals to kick in too long for many.

Even William Mck. Jeffries MD., who wrote the medical classic Safe Uses of Cortisol around 1984, understood the preponderance of adrenal fatigue even without the diagnosis of Addison’s, and the need for physiologic doses of cortisol treatment, or the amount needed by each individual.  And he would certainly be amazed by the explosion of adrenal fatigue that has occurred since then in thyroid patients thanks to the lousy TSH and synthetic T4-only ‘affaire de coeur’ with doctors.

Adrenal fatigue may not be an “accepted diagnosis” by many.  But medical professionals and doctors who think it’s not real or an acceptable diagnosis will have to face a huge body of patients globally who DO have real live adrenal fatigue. And adrenally-fatigued patients can get realllllly hostile and angry because of low cortisol, and be very impatient when you deny their reality.  (You’re going to see a lot of comments to this post which I highly suggest reading.)

P.S. Even desiccated thyroid like Naturethroid and the pre-reformulated Armour are not considered to be the standard of practice for treating hypothyroidism, yet thyroid patients all over the world are having lives CHANGED thanks to it.

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***Read below why thyroid patients are not happy with Armour and switching to brand names like Naturethroid.

With recent news of Oprah’s continuous weight gain (currently partially due to her failure to properly treat her hypothyroidism and probably Hashimotos (see post below this), it can make us all shudder as we deal with the holidays and all that great food!

I admit it: At Christmastime, I LOVE the easy Gingerbread Boy Cookies recipe I used when the boys were little, the Microwave Fudge recipe to die for, my world famous Chocolate Chip Meringue Cookies which I color red and green, my mother’s wonderful Pralines which I occasionally try to make myself,  and Grandma’s Fruit Cake–yeah an actual fruit cake I LOVE, which I order EVERY SINGLE YEAR at this time.

And it’s hard not to gain weight! Is that you, too?? So let’s go over 6 HOLIDAY FACTS about thyroid treatment with desiccated thyroid:

1) Armour, Naturethyroid, Westhroid, or any other desiccated thyroid medication is not meant to be a Christmas weight loss pill. Desiccated thyroid medications consist of thyroid hormones: T4, T3, T2, T1 and calcitonin. They simply give you back what your own thyroid is not giving you…the same five hormones which give you back a stronger immune system, a normal body temperature & improved metabolism, better energy, healthier hair and skin, less aches & pains, emotional happiness, better lipid profiles like cholesterol, stronger bones…and on and on.  But even with all that benefit, and even though it does improve your metabolism, desiccated thyroid is not meant to be a weight loss pill.

2) Armour et. al. can only do its holiday job if you have strong adrenals or adequate cortisol treatment. Because cortisol is needed for thyroid hormones to move from your blood to your cells, you can only benefit optimally from desiccated thyroid during the holidays if you are lucky enough to have strong adrenals, or if you are giving yourself back the cortisol you need based on stable temps, blood pressure, and removal of most low cortisol symptoms.  So don’t forget that cortisol right now, and definitely consider adding a stress dose of cortisol if things get rough with the in-laws. (See Chapter 6 in the STTM book for even more details about stable temps, blood pressure, and stress dosing)

3) Don’t drink that Armour down with Egg Nog! Calcium is a known binder of thyroid hormones in your stomach, keeping you from benefiting from some of those health-giving thyroid hormones.  So if you swallow your desiccated thyroid, get the water.  Or even better, do it sublingually.

4) Don’t expect Armour to keep you from looking like Santa Claus: you still gotta exercise & watch what you eat! It’s true: the optimal use of desiccated thyroid does raise your metabolism and eats those extra calories up like PacMan.  But if you’re like me, you can still have a tendency to put on those love handle butter pounds if you eat your fill of holiday foods.  ho ho ho. To curtail the gain, add exercise to your holiday regime, or increase what you already do. I try to aerobically walk a LOT during the holidays. And when I’ve eaten a Christmas stocking full of goodies, my next meal will be nothing but high protein, like  turkey, cheeses and nuts. Or, you can also balance your intake by choosing one meal a day to be low glycemic to somewhat balance out the high glycemics you know you are going to eat later. For example, I make my breakfasts only eggs and nitrate-free bacon, or plain yogurt with berries, nuts, and Stevia.

5) Building a holiday snowman outside?  Consider an extra 1/4 grain of Armour. It’s a fact that prolonged exposure to cold increases your demand for energy, which in turn can increase your demand for more thyroid hormones. As a result, many patients find that adding an extra 1/4 grain of desiccated thyroid to one’s daily amount helps meet the demands of Frosty the Snowman or that holiday sprinkling of lights all over your house in the cold air.  Talk to your doctor.

6) Give a gift of the STTM book to a loved one. There are other good thyroid books on the market, but unlike all of them, this is the bible of patient experience on successful thyroid treatment. You’ll find volumes of information that patients all around the world have learned. A true patient-to-patient guide to feeling wonderful again.  Go here to order.  And the publishing company is extending the time you can order a book to be sent DIRECTLY to your loved one.

SECOND UPDATE as of Dec. 10th: WHOOPI GOLDBERG has it RIGHT! Today on The View, she stated that Oprah needs to take her thyroid problem SERIOUSLY!! Contact the View about STTM and the seriously correct treatment here.

UPDATE as of Dec. 10: Gail King, Oprah’s best friend, was on the Good Morning America show this morning talking about Oprah’s weight gain and thyroid problem. She also talked about how depressed she looked.  Oprah, a huge and growing body of thyroid patients are all around the world, waiting to tell you what the answer is.  Listen to us.  We have been emailing you for years, and you’re going to see more of those emails. Contact Good Morning America here. (Then contact Oprah below)

Just on the stands, Oprah’s January issue of “O” magazine has an eye-opener: Oprah Winfrey admits that she’s now back up to 200 lbs, a condition that puts her at higher risk of several chronic conditions, including diabetes and heart disease.  She states “When it comes to maintaining my health I didn’t just fall off the wagon. I let the wagon fall on me.”

But what Oprah, a wonderful talk show host and chairman of  Harpo, Inc, doesn’t seem to get is that the “wagon” is probably a “poorly treated” hypothyroid condition, which causes a lower metabolism and easy weight gain.  She even admits in the article that she deals with an out-of-balance thyroid condition which has made her develop a “fear of working out.”

A fear of working out?? Oprah, do you get exhausted from working out? Because there is NOTHING to fear with working out if you are optimally treated with natural desiccated thyroid in the presence of strong adrenals or adequate treatment.

Are you on desiccated thyroid, Oprah?? Are you dosing high enough to remove all symptoms?? Have you learned what patients have learned? And what condition are your adrenals in, Oprah?? Because it’s all too common for thyroid patients to have developed adrenal fatigue from being poorly treated for so long.

And Oprah, when you state that you don’t need to be thin, but do want to be “strong, healthy and fit”…the way to do that is optimally treat your thyroid! We are a large and growing body of patients worldwide who have done just that, and now live “strong, healthy and fit”.

IT IS TIME FOR JANIE TO BE ON YOUR SHOW, OPRAH. (Thyroid patients even have a book you can recommend to others.)

Because in all due respect to your personal trainer Bob Greene and Dr. Mehmet Oz…you have YET gotten someone on your show who can give you GOLD about the right thyroid treatment.  Call me, Oprah.  Email me, Oprah.  I am waiting to tell you how to stop your yo-yo weight problems and fear of working out!  We and I have a LOT to tell you, Oprah, to stop your own personal thyroid madness. Contact Oprah here.

Send a message to Oprah’s best friend, Gayle King, here.  Tell her about desiccated thyroid and YOUR story. Send Gayle to this website so she can understand all this.

Oh jolly.

Diane, a thyroid and adrenal patient, informed me of a recent visit to a local Endocrinologist.  The doc stated that she was on a committee that is working with the FDA to do away with saliva testing, strongly proposing that it’s not accurate testing and is “harming” people.

Well, let’s see. For a couple of years now, thyroid patients who strongly suspect they have adrenal fatigue by the reactions they have to desiccated thyroid have been using saliva testing…and lo and behold,  the results they receive nearly completely conform with how they feel! i.e. saliva testing, which tests one’s cortisol levels at four key times during a 24 hour period,  has worked beautifully in helping thyroid patients with adrenal fatigue identify their problem, in helping these patients doctors have a better understanding of their problem, and knowing better what might be their best treatment, which can range from using licorice root, to over-the-counter adrenal support, to hydrocortisone (HC).

Harmful?? Give me a break. (And why are we not surprised this is coming out of the mouth of an Endocrinologist.)

Could it be that medical school trained doctors just hate and despise any method which a patient might benefit from WITHOUT going to the doctor and paying big bucks??  hmmmm.  And once again, could it be that a method NOT taught in medical school just MIGHT be a good one (just as desiccated thyroid like Armour, Naturethroid, etc. is far, far better than Synthroid or Levoxyl, which ARE taught in medical school)?

The FDA approved saliva testing for AIDS in 2005. They approved saliva testing for ovulation in 2003. They approved saliva testing to detect if a woman is going into premature labor in 1998. And there’s many more they have approved.  So…perhaps this is all a gasp of a committee who hates to see patients have some control over their health (terrible, awful thing, isn’t it?) or the cry of a committee that only reveals its ignorance.

p.s. Dr. Best of San Antonio recently posted the following excellent article on saliva testing: http://besthealthandwellnessinfo.com/hormone-testing-i-spit-on-your-blood-test/

HO! HO! HO! Laughing Grape Publishing will send the STTM book for you to a loved one or friend for the holidays!

How many doctors can I strangle with my bare hands?? Grrrrrrrrrrr.

Today, I am once again appalled and saddened by the endless body of thyroid patients who continue to plummet into the abyss of adrenal fatigue, day after day after day. And it just never needs to happen if doctors would simply pay attention and be informed.

Belinda is the perfect example. She didn’t participate in thyroid patient groups anymore, living her life happily, because she thought her post-RAI thyroid treatment was under control, being on 2 grains of Armour for a year. But suddenly, she felt the need to return to her groups and seek feedback. Because she has become more irritable and moody, has a hard time falling asleep, and feels frequently anxietal. Labs are redone, and she finds herself with a slightly over-range free T3 and a very suppressed TSH. Her doctor decides to lower her thyroid meds, which in turn improves her insomnia and anxiety, but weight starts piling on. She’s confused and wonders how she can find her balance between being on too little with unwelcome weight gain and being on too much with uncomfortable anxiety and insomnia.

What Belinda didn’t get, and what her doctor didn’t get, is that Belinda had now joined the dubious camaraderie of those with adrenal fatigue, a needless condition of over-stressed and under-functioning adrenals. As a result, T3 in Armour starts to pool in the blood, causing anxiety, insomnia, and all sorts of low cortisol symptoms. Thyroid patients just like Belinda have to first discover what is going on, then face the complicated balancing act of treating adrenal fatigue AND hypothyroidism. And it’s a path that never needed to happen.

WHAT IS POTENTIALLY TAKING YOU DOWN THE DIRTY-YELLOW BRICK ROAD TO ADRENAL FATIGUE??

1) Being undiagnosed, or being dosed by, the faulty TSH lab test and its dubious “normal” range, which will leave you with lingering hypothyroid symptoms. (Belinda’s 2 grains tells me she was being dosed by the TSH)
2) Being treated by T4-only medications like Synthroid, Levoxyl, Eltroxin, et al, which end up teasing your adrenals to work harder to take up the slack of an inadequate treatment.
3) Lowering your expectations of what “normal” is. No, it’s not normal to have less stamina than others, to be on an anti-depressant to bandaid your hypo depression, to feel colder than others, to require frequent naps, to feel the need to avoid people, to be bothered by lights or noises, to be told by those you love that you are too defensive or over-reactive…and so on.

I hope anyone reading this comes to an understanding that you canNOT enter your doctor’s office as if you are entering the throne of a god. Your doctor, no matter how educated or dedicated, may not have a strong understanding of the role of adrenal function in relationship to bad treatment via T4-only meds or the TSH lab range. You may have to bring this knowledge to your doctor, or find another one who is either learned, or open-minded. Because your chances of having adrenal fatigue are huge if you are on T4, if the TSH is worshipped by your doctor whether on T4 or desiccated thyroid, or if you keep walking into the doctor’s office and hang your own knowledge on the hook outside his or her door.

(See Deborah’s story about ceasing to smoke with adrenal fatigue)