But in every individual, a thyroid also converts T4 to the inactive RT3 (reverse T3) as a way to clear out excess T4 that the body doesn’t need.  It’s natural and necessary. It will especially happen if you go through surgery or a diet.

Unfortunately, many thyroid patients make far too much RT3, and patients have been making cutting edge discoveries about this fact and how to treat it with their doctors.  High levels of RT3 can be found if you have high cortisol, low cortisol, low ferritin, low B12 and other undiscovered and untreated underlying issues that can go hand-in-hand with being hypothyroid.

Why is a high level of RT3 is problem? That excess RT3 is making itself lazily comfortable on your cell receptors, preventing T3 from gaining access to your body.  It becomes like a clogged up drain to your body. So you stay hypo and symptomatic, in spite of seemingly normal labwork.

This coming THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 19th (tomorrow as I write this) on the TALKSHOE THYROID PATIENT COMMUNITY CALL, we’re going to talk about the Reverse T3 problem with thyroid patient advocate Valerie Taylor. She not only owns the NTH Adrenals group (and is considered the most knowledgeable patient on adrenal fatigue in the world), she also created the RT3/T3  group on Yahoo, which you will find on the Talk To Others page.

We’ll talk about excess RT3, symptoms that can go along with it, how to do labwork to determine if you have this problem, how to treat it with T3-only, and more. There’s a Chat Box you can participate in while the show is going on. Audio will come directly out of your computer, and you can call in and ask Valerie or Janie a question. Times are 6 pm Pacific, 7 pm Mountain, 8 pm Central and 9 pm Eastern.

Want to read more? Thyroid patient Nick Foot, who also moderates the RT3/T3 group, has created an excellent Question and Answer RT3 website. This will make you even more informed before this Talkshoe event. Note that the website is still work-in-progress, so expect to see more as he works on it.

For those with the Stop the Thyroid Madness book, there is also more good detail in Chapter 12 called T3 is the Star of the Show, page 155. This is all good information to take into your doctor’s office.

Update: cellulose in our desiccated thyroid meds may be much more of a problem than we ever imagined. See my blog post below.

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*Want to be infor­med of these ‘fringe web­site’ blog posts?  Curious what’s on radi­cal Janie’s mind? Just use the Noti­fi­ca­tions on the left below the links.

* The extre­mely hip and sophis­ti­ca­ted STTM t-shirts are half price! I love sales! Spread the word!

* Pre­fer STTM in book form with more detail? You can read about it here.

*Need options for thy­roid treat­ment during the current shor­ta­ges due to demand being grea­ter than supply? Go here.

*HO HO HO! Have a STTM book sent to someone  you care about as a CHRISTMAS or HOLIDAY present. All the work is done for you!

But you gotta wonder if they will be wearing noise reduction headsets and ear plugs…or not…when it comes to the scandal of synthetic T4-only medications.  Will they?

Just today, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced the Safe Use Initiative, “a program aimed at reducing the likelihood of preventable harm from medication use”.

Statements I gleaned from this initiative include:

1. Today, tens of millions of people in the United States depend on prescription and over‐the‐counter (OTC) medications to sustain their health—as many as 3 billion prescriptions are written annually. Too many people, however, suffer unnecessary injuries, even death, as a result of preventable medication errors or misuse.

2. Although FDA and many other stakeholders have been working to improve how the healthcare system manages medication risks in the United States, it is widely recognized that more needs to be done to protect the public from preventable harm from medication use.

3. Medications offer great benefit, but they come with risks. Whenever medications are not used optimally, risks of harm can increase significantly.

4. FDA proposes to identify, using a transparent and collaborative process, specific candidate cases (e.g., drugs, drug classes, and/or therapeutic situations) that are associated with significant amounts of preventable harm.

This initiative is actually far broader than what I gleaned above, and also involves self-abuse, exposure of dangerous medications to children, dire side effects, and more. Five areas are also specifically targeted:  Consumer medication information (CMI), Medication dosing devices, Acetaminophen toxicity, Alcohol-based surgical preps, and Medications in vials. You can read more in the fact sheet.

But if the FDA is going to do their job with this initiative, or do their job overall, you have to wonder if they will listen to and include the problems associated with being treated with a T4-only medication as experienced by millions of patients worldwide. Continuing symptoms of hypothyroidism while on this inadequate treatment is widespread and damaging for many, causing hands reaching deep in pockets to pay for numerous doctors appointments, besides antidepressants, anti-anxiety meds, blood pressure meds, statins, cortisol meds for adrenal fatigue, and other medications which we would have never needed, and would have been preventable, if we had been on natural desiccated thyroid like Naturethroid or Westhroid in the first place.

Many patients on thyroxine, T4-only medications will also report actual hospital visits due to the side effects of a poor treatment.

In other words, thyroxine aka levothyroxine aka T4 treatment has been an unsafe and harmful treatment, causing millions to suffer unnecessary injuries and side effects for over 50 years of its useless and popular use.  It fits the Safe Use Initiative. Or at the very least, it calls for the FDA to listen to patient experience with this lousy choice to treat hypothyroidism.

Listen to us, FDA. Listen and be wise.

P.S. See the blog post below about a genetic reason why so many do lousy on T4.

*Want to be infor­med of these ‘fringe web­site’ blog posts?  Curious what’s on radi­cal Janie’s mind? Just use the Noti­fi­ca­tions on the left below the links.

* The extre­mely hip and sophis­ti­ca­ted STTM t-shirts are half price! I love sales!

* Pre­fer STTM in book form with more detail? You can read about it here.

*Need options for thy­roid treat­ment during the current shor­ta­ges due to demand being grea­ter than supply? Go here.

Just when you think we’re full of great information for better thyroid care, there’s still more to learn and find out.  Below is information that you might find interesting on STTM.

ADRENALS: For those who discovered via the 24 adrenal saliva test that they needed cortisol support, we have come to realize that some can’t do the ramping up schedule from a small amount to a larger amount without having problems from the feedback loop.

Instead, many simply need to “start” on the higher amount, which would range from 20-30 mg. You can read about that on the How to Treat page, and you’ll note that not one morning amount goes higher than 10 mgs.  With the exception of men, higher than 10 mg seems to suppress the ACTH and adrenals too much.

A NEW LOOK: To make the STTM home page more understandable to newcomers, the home page has broken down the information better into separate pages, and also has a new interesting way of using it.

LISTEN TO THIS INFORMATION: STTM has short audio clips you can listen to, or send someone else to, to help understand what this is all about.

STORIES OF OTHERS: Individual real-life stories continue to come in, proving over and over that this revolution for far better care really does work.

FEEDBACK and MORE FEEDBACK: I get emails daily about lives changed thanks to this patient revolution. It’s wonderful to see people finding out WHY they have depression, less stamina than others, rising cholesterol and blood pressure, hair loss plus other lingering symptoms of  hypothyroidism left untreated because of the lousy TSH, or undertreated because of the equally-lousy T4-only treatment like Synthroid. I can’t begin to post them all, but STTM does contain a sampling of this feedback.

DESICCATED THYROID BRANDS: Wow, the list is growing for desiccated thyroid brands around the world! We now have listings for Denmark, Germany, Italy and New Zealand, as well as more detailed information on compounded thyroid in Australia. Thanks to all who contributed.

KEEPING UP WITH ADDITIONS TO STTM: In case you didn’t know, there’s a page meant to inform you of what’s added to STTM. I may neglect to list a few additions occasionally, but think I’m pretty close to getting most of them up there.

MEDICAL RESEARCH TO PROVE WHAT WE ALREADY KNOW: Did you know that STTM has a page which compiles research and studies which prove what we as patients already know? It’s not loaded with research yet, but it’s growing. And if you have found more to contribute to that page, use the Contact Me form.

SITE MAP: And bottom line, you can always go to the Site Map, or review the information more compactly in the book, which patients are taking into their doctors offices.

*Want to be informed of these blog posts? Curious what’s on Janie’s mind? Use the Notifications on the left at the bottom of the links.

*Stop the Thyroid Madness T-shirts are now 50% off! I like sales, don’t you? And by wearing these shirts, you’ll never know what seed you put in the mind of someone walking past you who’s still on Synthroid or any other T4 meds, and doesn’t know WHY they have depression, rising cholesterol, easy weight gain, the need for naps, etc. You”ll also find humorous bumper stickers which definitely spread the word.

“Oh, I take thyroid meds, too.  Synthroid” she explained as she was writing on the papers with her pencil.

Now when I hear something like that, being who I am, I’m like a bear in a china cabinet who suddenly smells honey.  So as not to overwhelm,  I casually say “Oh, I used be on Synthroid.” And after a long pause while we are going over the paperwork, I say “Did you know there’s a worldwide patient revolution going on against medications like Synthroid?”

At the point, she raises her head in curiosity.

I then stick my paw in the honey: “You and I and millions have been put on meds like Synthroid and then told we are “normal” because the TSH says so. But all of us have continuing symptoms of hypothyroidism.  It’s a lousy medication. “

And when I laid out what those continuing symptoms were, her eyes got as big as saucers and she was shaking her head up and down in recognition. “Depression, rising cholesterol and blood pressure, easy weight gain, fatigue, less stamina than others, dry hair and skin, feeling cold, etc”, I told her.

And the most profound aspect of Michelle? She lives her life like the Energizer Bunny, going and going and going. She told me she often doesn’t get home until 6 pm doing her job, and she clearly has a lot of professional responsibilities.

But does an active Michelle mean that Synthroid works and is just as good a thyroid treatment as desiccated thyroid? You know the answer. She revealed that she’s quite tired when she comes home, wishes she had more energy, and still has issues with her weight, even though she lost some when she got on Synthroid.

And reading between the lines, it was clear that Michelle is probably on an anti-depressant, a statin, and a blood pressure medication.  And…she clearly has an adrenal problem that’s only going to get worse. She has a terrible time falling asleep at night (high cortisol), and is very sensitive to light and noise (high or low cortisol).

Suddenly it dawned on me. I am sitting across hundreds of millions of women, and some men. I am listening to how millions live their lives–making a living, maintaining a home, loving their spouses and children, interacting with people.  But underneath it all, it’s not a pretty picture. They cope, and they cope again.  And they dish out their money for more medications to treat the very symptoms caused by an inferior medication. And as they age, they’ll pay each of their millions of prices, just as my mother did, and as I was headed.  Energizer bunnies with faulty batteries.

P.S. Barack Obama has a health care reform plan. Will it change the lives of those 50 million with thyroid disease in the US, or will it only continue this T4-only travesty and health care scandal?  Are we headed in the same insane direction as the UK when it comes to T4-only?  Express your opinion.

Today I baked a chocolate cake for my son’s birthday. It was excellent. Why? Because it was the result of several important ingredients. Leaving any of them out would have resulted in a cake less than great.

And your health and feel-goods as a thyroid/adrenal patient, including your ability to successfully get off HC,  is like my son’s cake: a combination of ingredients that you have to get right. Below are ten “ingredients” to investigate and find out which may not be right in you for good health and feel-goods.

1) The right amount of cortisol: Too little cortisol or too much cortisol has its consequences. Too little results in thyroid hormone still pooling, continued hypo symptoms, plus hyper in some. Too much can mean easy bruising, rising blood pressure, fluid retention, a round face, etc.  And both can increase anxiety, feeling poorly, etc.  Watch for symptoms and compare your daily averaged temperatures. Also, have you checked your aldosterone?

2) The right amount of desiccated thyroid: I have a friend who was stuck on 3 grains Armour out of habit. But she continued to have hypothyroid symptoms out of habit. I finally convinced her to talk to her doctor. Labs showed her free T3 was just a few points over mid-range, and having a free T3 towards the top seems to work better for most. So she did raise, and it finally did the trick.

3) Optimal B12 levels: Since hypothyroid patients can have digestive/absorption issues, B12 levels can be lower than optimal. Symptoms include fatigue, weakness, feeling faint, breathless, bruising, heart palps or others. Don’t take a chance. Get a B12 test. You want the result to be at the top of the range.

4) Plenty of Ferritin (storage iron): Low ferritin means you have no iron in storage to draw upon. And it also means you are probably anemic.  Additionally, low ferritin adversely affects the conversion of T4 to T3. Symptoms include fatigue, depression, weakness, achiness, breathlessness or others.  Have a ferritin test.  Optimal is 70-90.

5) Good digestion: Hypothyroid patients can have low hydrochloric (HCL) stomach acid levels. That not only contributes to acid reflux because of the overgrowth of bad bacteria, it means you don’t absorb nutrients well (including low B12 mentioned above). As a result, it’s crucial to give that acid back to yourself.  A tablespoon of Apple Cider Vinegar mixed in water and taken twice day helps many. Or try taking Betaine, which is HCL in pill form, or any other quality HCL or digestive product.

6) Recognition and treatment of Gluten intolerance: Some thyroid patients lack a particular digestive enzyme, intestinal glutaminase, that helps digest gluten in various food products. As a result, they don’t absorb nutrients well. Symptoms include bloating & gas, aches, stiffness, fatigue, burning or numbness in arms or legs, rashs or hives, worsened allergies & others. Your chance of have a gluten problem is higher if you have Hashimotos disease. If you suspect a possible problem, eliminate all gluten from your diet. Also consider having your doctor run a Celiac antibodies blood test.

7) Controlled EBV: At least 90% of adults have the Epstein Barr Virus (EBV) sitting dormant in their bodies. EBV is what causes mononucleosis, but you don’t have to have had mono to carry the virus.  Because hypothyroidism lowers your immune system, it’s not uncommon for thyroid patients to have activated EBV. I did, and my symptoms included extreme easy fatigue, ringing in my ears, achiness and some swelling of my lymph glands. Some may have a sore throat return and other symptoms.  Ask your doctor to test EBV. You’ll then need to ask about treatment options, which include beefing up your immune system.

8 ) Sex hormone balance: When your thyroid or adrenals get out of balance, your sex hormones can follow suit, from estrogen dominance to low testosterone.  When estrogen dominance occurs, you can feel depression, fatigue, and sore breasts.  Low testosterone can equal lower energy and mood. Ask your doctor to test all your sex hormones.

9) Taking plenty of supplements: There are a variety of good supplements everyone with thyroid or adrenal issues should take for good health. They include high potency B-vitamins, Vit. C (1000-3000 mg. or to tolerance), Selenium (around 200 mcg), minerals including magnesium, probiotics, Vitamin D (1000 iu), iodine, and others.  In addition to these, I also take CoQ10 (for heart and blood pressure health), and my favorite: a green powder which I stir in my orange juice.

10) Exercise: If you are a couch potato, you’re going to feel like one. Instead, do what it takes to get moving, which promotes all sorts of good health. If you have adrenal fatigue, keep it very light and easy.  If you just have hypothyroidism, get out and walk.

P.S. My chocolate cake: I think cake mixes are just as good as homemade. I use Devils Food Cake. But the icing is ALWAYS homemade: cream one stick butter, add about 4 cups powdered sugar, 1/2 cup cocoa, then cream or half-n-half.  Shake some sea salt in. Add two tsp. vanilla.  Beat, beat.  Taste. Modify as needed. YUM.

STTM has created lab profiles in partnership with MyMedLab, a direct-to-consumer lab facility which has expanded to provide services to nearly the entire United States

This lab facility promotes the empowerment of patients in their own care, similar to STTM’s focus on educating the patient and expecting a partnership when you walk into the doctor’s office. Empowerment!

You will find a combination of both in-home collected tests (saliva cortisol) and those performed at LabCorp collection sites across the US.   Take a Peak: STTM Lab packages (be sure and click on the green What’s Included icon on the lower right. You get a lot!)

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.

But in spite of strong reasons to quit, most smokers will tell you it’s NOT easy. Why? Because the nicotine in tobacco is the addictive bogeyman. Nicotine stimulates those pleasure centers in your brain, besides being a substance which “gets you going” by releasing both blood sugar and adrenaline. The American Heart Association states that “Nicotine addiction has historically been one of the hardest addictions to break.”

But for hypothyroid patients, tobacco smoking presents another whammy. Namely, it stresses your adrenals over and over. And with adrenal fatigue being a common side effect of treating hypo with T4 meds like Synthroid, Levoxyl, Eltroxin, et all, as well as being dosed by the lousy TSH, you’ve got a third reason to fall into adrenal fatigue if you are a smoker.

Additionally, another factor in the difficulty of quitting is that cortisol decreases when you try to quit. A 2006 research report found that the lowered cortisol after quitting is associated with smoking relapse and with reports of increased withdrawal severity and distress. So, when you already have adrenal fatigue, and you quit smoking–a double whammy against being successful.

What’s the solution? If you don’t have adrenal fatigue and want to quit, it may be wise to have a good adrenal support on hand, such as Isocort or any quality OTC adrenal product at your health food store. If you DO have adrenal fatigue, staying away from cigs may require adding additional cortisol to your daily amount. Chapters 5 and 6 in the STTM book have good information to help you with cortisol support.

Are you a smoker with hypo? Don’t hesitate to respond to this post with your experience. (Please note that replies are not for questions.)

READ DEBORAH’S STORY ABOUT HER ATTEMPT to STOP SMOKING.

And it dawned on me: if desiccated thyroid with its T4, T3, T2, T1 and calcitonin did this for ME, what could it do for others?!I  A group was NEEDED with a direct focus on desiccated natural thyroid.

And over time, as NTH grew and other fine internet patient groups evolved and grew, other patients were just as amazed at what it was doing for them, as well.  This wasn’t coming across at ALL as a treatment only for “some”. It was coming across as a treatment that might just benefit quite a large body on individuals! We also learned by the seat of our collective pants about low ferritin, low cortisol, low B-12, Celiac and gluten intolerance–you name it.

From all the above came the STTM movement: a patient-to-patient compilation of all we have learned–and then the book with even more information.  The STTM movement was created because “internet groups” were NOT enough to get the word out about the efficacy of desiccated thyroid, nor were they enough to change the huge and rigid medical establishment. Change had to come from the bottom up–in other words, educate patients, who in turn can take the new information into their doctor’s offices.

But sadly, with the success of patient information about the amazing results of desiccated thyroid treatment has come veiled criticism and overblown misconceptions within our own ranks. And it’s a sad thing to behold!

Namely, we can now read a September 10th internet blog “conversation” by so-called thyroid patient advocates who imply that it is “dogma and narrow-minded” if anyone dares state there just might be a thyroid treatment which JUST MIGHT BE better for most all thyroid patients. IMAGINE the audacity!! I guess it was just as “dogmatic and narrow-minded” when it was first suggested there were better ways to deal with certain health conditions than bloodletting. I can hear it now: “To deny bloodletting is just boxing people in!” “Offering bloodletting as a choice is helping people expand.”

And contrary to the self-righteous tone, condescending misrepresentations, and veiled criticisms towards certain patient groups, this patient movement is not a one size fits all movement.  Instead, it’s a “one size JUST MIGHT BE a better alternative” than the other available alternatives, and we strongly encourage that each patient consider finding a doctor to help them give it a try.  And, if something about desiccated thyroid isn’t working, we strongly encourage patients to look at particular reasons that can underlie problems.

If you think T4 is working for you, go for it! The same goes for the use of T3 only, or synthetic T4/T3, or certain ratios of T4 and T3.  Choice is a blessing we can all respect.  Just keep an eye out for depression, rising cholesterol, less stamina than others, adrenal issues and/or a myriad of other continuing hypo symptoms that just might creep up on you as you age on these treatments.  Or, consider that we’ve seen many people on these treatments, who, when they switched to desiccated thyroid like Armour, Naturethroid, Westhroid, etc, they reported even better results. (The use of T3-only for high RT3 is a different issue and is where T3-only may be absolutely needed and good. We also respect those who have ethical issues with animal products.)

Finally, I encourage others who consider themselves thyroid patient advocates to TAKE A BIG BREATH and TAKE THE TIME to be in open-minded dialogue with all patients, including me and all of us over here, instead of openly ignoring our existence or deciding what we promote is simply narrow-minded dogma.  You might find that direct communication and kindness is a far better method to help thyroid patients instead of the underhanded veiled bashings and misrepresentations within this recent blog conversation.

I appear to have adrenal fatigue.

Now understand this: I didn’t have it when I got on Armour over 4 years ago. I raised my Armour without a hitch, except for low Ferritin twice that I had to correct. And for approx. 3 1/2 years, I’ve been optimal with Armour with a perfect mid-afternoon temp of 98.6

So why adrenal fatigue now?? It helps to explain it this way: Two years ago, in Dec. of 2004, I entered serious peri-menopause. My progesterone fell rock bottom while I still had a youthfully high estrogen. And I’ve had to deal with the misery of severe estrogen dominance for two years. I’ve used compounded progesterone cream for those two years, but it was often never enough to stop the symptoms of estrogen dominance.

Also, Dr. Lam states the following and it explains me to a T: In early stages of adrenal fatigue, cortisol output is high as the body attempts to neutralize the stress by producing more of it. However, when too much cortisol is produced, it will have multiple undesirable effects. For example, cortisol blocks progesterone receptors, making them less responsive to progesterone. Progesterone normally produced by the adrenals comes to a halt in favor of cortisol. Insufficient progesterone production leads to an imbalance of estrogen to progesterone…(aka estrogen dominance). And voila–I did have high cortisol in the morning and noon. I had done the saliva adrenal test just a month after my progesterone had dropped.

Finally, this past October, I noticed the estrogen dominance FINALLY stopped, as did my periods. A huge victory. But in early December, after a particularly busy day on a Saturday, I majorly crashed………and haven’t recovered since.

And ALL my symptoms point to adrenal fatigue. First, my temps fell. And they were all over the place. My highest would only be 98.3, and one night, I was 97.1. That was VERY wrong for me.

Next, I started waking up EVERY night between 3-5 am. A typical adrenal symptom. Also, if I felt emotional about something, my body would get VERY hot. At first I thought it was a hot flash…but it was different.

And I was achy for 1 1/2 weeks. That stopped when I raised my Armour and got my temps back up. But even without the achiness, I have felt fatigued all over, and just bad.

Also, I fail the blood pressure test in the mornings. The other day, my supine blood pressure was 135/84. Standing, it was 115/84. A good sign of adrenal fatigue. I also have a faster and a pounding heartrate.

I have sent off my saliva samples…but have no doubt what the results are going to be. So….I am going to start the very adrenal support that I have written about in so much detail here on STTM. Because there is simply too much stress in my life to think that practicing all the other adrenal support methods are going to help my adrenals recover, or even help me feel better.

And by the way, for the past year and more, I have always given myself 5000 mgs of Vit. C and high dose B-vitamins, plus E. I have exercised regularly by walking. But it wasn’t enough to stop what a huge female hormonal change has done to me. I now am using Licorice Root daily (which stops some of the breakdown of cortisol in your liver) and 1/2 tsp sea salt, stirred in orange juice and my morning yogurt. And I’ll have to start on cortisol.

What can you do to not find yourself in my shoes? For one, if you enter peri-meno, even without the presence of adrenal fatigue, I would start on some mild OTC adrenal support now, which I was never on. Also, do whatever you can to counter excessive emotional stress in your life during this time by finding times to laugh and doing what you enjoy. I have been stuck with a job that wore me down, and family issues that stressed me terribly, and I’m sure that played a part.

COMMENTS TO THIS POST ARE WELCOME (I could use pats on the back because this makes me SICK), but if you have questions, this is not the place for them. Go to our forums here: www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/community And by the way, I will update this particular blog post when I get my adrenal saliva test results back…and as I progress in my treatment. My fingers are crossed.

Click here to see the continuation of my comments on my own Adrenal Fatigue.

UPDATE as of Feb. 2009: for those still reading all the way down here, I became fully meno by 2008 and remarkably, require no progesterone or estrogen to feel good.  I did start having constant nighttime waking up and probably could use a little progesterone at bedtime. I do use testosterone gel to keep my muscles healthy and stronger.  And my adrenals are still fine.  I’m on 4 grains Armour plus a slew of good supplements.