Secondary Adrenal Insufficiency

[Pat]

My dr dx me today with this. Actually he first said Addison's. I do not have the skin pigmentation. He said my pituitary is not telling my adrenals or my thyroid to function properly. He says I should get a medical ID bracelet. He said that if I was in a car wreck or some trauma my adrenals would not respond and EMS would need to give me Cortisol IV. He has me on 20 mg of Cortisol/day and it is helping immensely. Also helps with D. Almost normal. He has me on 60 mg NP Thyroid (generic for Armour) but my labs were still not good.
TSH 0.079 0.0450 - 4.500
Free T4 0.97 0.82 - 1.77
Free T3 1.7 2.0 - 4.4

He is adding Levothyroxine (T4) He says he has had success adding the synthetic to the natural pig thyroid. Ever heard of this?

Pat

[tex]

Hi Pat,

That's a bummer, but I have a hunch that it's more common than doctors realize. And I certainly agree that a medic alert bracelet would be a good idea.

If the NP Thyroid translates at the same rate as Armour, that's a relatively small dosage. Some people take 4–6 times that much. I don't understand why your doctor doesn't just increase your NP Thyroid dose. Looking at your lab results (and noting that your TSH result indicates "adequate" T4), it appears to me that you need more T3 (rather than more T4). But I suppose that's why your doctor is a doctor and I'm not.

Tex

[Pat]

I thought the same thing. Why not just up the NP Thyroid but he said I would have symptoms. I am having what I call strong heart beats already. He says my body is just waking up after not being dx and undertreated for so long. Years probably. He has helped me the most of any doctor that I have seen and I've seen many so I just gotta trust him for now. I think they just experiment around anyway. Some other labs are pending. Aldosterone for one. We'll see. I called my SIL and she has 2 friends that are taking natural and synthetic. So I guess I'm not the only one.

Pat

[tex]

I hear you. But I never cease to be amazed at the convoluted thinking that doctors are plagued with. Look at it this way: Nothing is more sophisticated and more perfectly designed than the human body, and it's life-sustaining processes. Absolutely nothing in nature is synthetic (by definition). So why would anyone think for a second that something synthetic could somehow work as well as what nature designed, let alone work better?

I don't know if you are aware of this, but the pig's digestive system is very, very similar to the human digestive system — so close that many of the parts are interchangeable (and in fact, porcine organ transplants into human digestive systems are commonly done, and quite successfully). That's why porcine thyroid hormones are ideal replacements for humans who have insufficient production capability.

But about 40 years ago, Big Pharma was able to convince the medical establishment that the TSH test was the only way to treat hypothyroidism, and synthetic hormone supplement is somehow better than NP supplements. They sold doctors a bill of goods, but after falling for that pitch for 40 years, doctors aren't likely to ever admit that they've been wrong for so long, and most of them don't know the difference anyway. So now we're stuck with it.

Tex

[Pat]

I agree. My doctor does believe in natural and I am on it too. We will see if his experiment works.

Pat

[Tessa]

Dear Pat & of course, Tex

Sorry for your DX But happy that you have mentioned it on this forum.

I have Secondadry adrenal insufficiency too. And yes, you are not alone.

I wonder how they got the Dx of secondary. Do you keep a copy of the results?

I agree that you should carry a medical ID bracelet (and a medical card explaining the way to treat an adrenal crisis), as well as an emergency inyection (hydrocortisone).

Adrenal insufficiency is under diagnosed. For sure.

You mentioned to be on 20 mg of Hydrocortisone. How are you taking it?

Did they tested you for aldesterone? And what about other hormones?

I will be glad to help you if you want to.
Please, feel free to send me a private message and we can talk more about this.


I totally agree with you, Tex with regard to thyroid treatment.

Please, take a look to the following website. Really interesting: stop the thyroid madness

Love,:pulsinghearts:
Tessa

P.S.: In order to deal with it properly, any problem with your thyroid should be treated once your adrenals are balanced.

[Pat]

Tessa,

He did not do a ACTH test. My understanding is that I would have to go off the Cortisol to do that. He tests every couple months and my cortisol does not raise and my Free T3 and Free T4 does not increase even though I have been on NP Thyroid. I have read Stop the Thyroid Madness. I may have a phone conference with Janie. My doctor is actually one of the doctors she recommends on the Yahoo Groups site. I take the Cortisol 10mg at breakfast, then 5mg at lunch and 5 mg late afternoon. My DATS are stable. He did test aldosterone at my last blood test but I don't have the results yet. I am taking Progesterone, Testosterone, and Biest, and DHEA. The first 3 are creams and the DHEA is a capsule. I need to retest for those as it has been a year. Any suggestions?

Pat

[Tessa]

Hi Pat:

If you did not do ACTH test, what did you test to diagnose adrenal insufficiency?

You mention that you are taking cortisol (2o mg./day), but what´s the name of the steroid that you are taking?
You are taking Cortisol 10mg at breakfast, then 5mg at lunch and 5 mg late afternoon. But at what times exactly?

With regard to your dx, I see that you have been diagnosed recently, so you do not have much information about the disease and its management. It can be frustrating and even scary not knowing what to with such an unknown disease... May I recommend you to join an association or group which can help you in your own language?

For your problem with Thyroid, I am sure that Janie will be most helpful.

Regards,
Tessa