Hypothyroidism is closely tied to Adrenal Fatique, and the symptoms overlap, so I found I needed to treat both conditions to reach an optimal health level. My one regret is that it took me 2 years to get there, so I really wish I had been more proactive.
From what I read on Stop the Thyroid Madness, its best to treat Adrenals first to strengthen the body so it can handle the Thyroid medication. Here is a summary for treating Hypothyroidism and Adrenals, but please research and talk with your doctor about what might work for you.
Thyroid Treatment
According to Stop the Thyroid Madness the commonly prescribed “T4-only” Synthetic Thyroid Medicines Don’t Work. And further explain why many patients, like myself, have returned to the medication that successfully used from the late 1800’s onward: natural desiccated thyroid hormones, more commonly known as Naturethroid, Erfa’s Canadian “thyroid”.
I use Naturethroid because of the good feedback from other patients. It took time and experimentation to find the right Thyroid medicine dose for me (I hear this is common) but I started slow. Here is what I do:
• 2.5 pills of Naturethroid a day
• One pill in the morning, another at mid-day, and a half pill before dinner.
• This part is critical: I let the pill dissolve under my tongue because it gets into blood stream faster. (Swallowing the pill means I have to avoid eating eating for hours, which is just a pain in the neck.)
Adrenal Fatigue
My adrenal fatigue symptoms included:
• Difficulty falling asleep at night
• Waking frequently during the night
• Difficulty waking in the morning, not feeling refreshed
• Bright lights bothered me more than others
• Startled easily due to noise
• Dizzy/lightheaded when standing from sitting or from lying down
• Took things things too seriously, stressed, anxious
• Difficulty copying with certain people or events
• Stress related nausea, panic attacks and shaking
• Extreme Fatique
• Taking days to recover from even minor stress
This was all due to low cortisol, which I have treated through Hydrocortisone/Cortef (a low dose steroid). I take 25 mg/day, and stress dose as needed. if you would like more resources please email me, or visit Stop the Thyroid Madness to read about:
Read my full story about Hypothyroidism