I only started taking Armour about six days ago, after I wrote this post. I’m taking my T4 at night and Armour in the morning, as I’m concerned the T3 will keep me awake. I think the half life is 1.5 days. I start to get withdrawal symptoms from it about 30 hours after taking it. I’m only on a tiny 1/4 grain dose at this stage but it has made a big difference to how I feel. So has supplementing B12. I wasn’t feeling blurry so much as so weak I could faint, or go to sleep. I have much more stamina now, and I can ride the day through without needing to collapse.

I agree on the conversion/T4 issue. I would much rather be on Armour, or even try a trial of pure T3, as my T4 is (was?) towards the upper end of the normal range. However, my “normal” could be 24, or even 30. I suspect my T3 is probably low. It would not surprise me if my sudden descent a couple of months ago was caused by my adrenals flaking out in the face of hypometabolism, and that I developed a conversion problem. I know I *am* converting some T4, as I have seen improvements in my health since I began taking it. But taking the Armour made a significant difference.

Be careful of cortisol, it is a big commitment and something you have to manage closely. I would not take T3 without getting a T3 test, and I would NOT take it first, without having tried T4. T3 is very powerful and can be a shock to the system. T4 is much gentler. Personally, if I were doing this over again, I would take T4 for a couple of weeks, then add in Armour.

I’m not taking beta blockers. I think I took a total of 2 tablets in very divided doses. They antagonise thyroid hormone, and make me feel like the living dead. I’m not anxious at all anymore, especially since starting a tiny dose of armour.

If your adrenal problems are caused by your thyroid, taking thyroid hormone should fix them.

Until I visit Dr. Brain McIver–Department of Endocrinology, Mayo Clinic–I’ll have to find some sort of remedy to deal with those crippling moments of apathy, fatigue, and brain fog that are possibly caused by adrenal dysfunction. With some success, I’ve started experimenting with 7-Keto DHEA and Pregnenolone. However, I’m worried about the possibility of creating some sort of hormonal imbalance, or disturbing hormone genesis, so I’m proceeding very cautiously.

The empirical record for DHEA supplementation is pretty weak, but with pregnenolone, there have been far better results. Due to its modulating effect on the NMDA receptor, I think it has enormous potential for alleviating the negative symptoms associated with mood disorders. But, I’m wondering what the ideal therapeutic dosage would be? I think I might be able to get either my psychiatrist or my new primary care physician to go along with a short-period high dose trial, but I was wondering what you think about the safety of such a venture?

Are you still using the beta blockers? Depending on the current state of your anxiety, I would suggest that you explore alternative remedies that won’t impair the encoding of memories. I’ve found a combination of bacopa, gotu kola, and rhodiola to be quite effective, but you could stick with the beta Blockers if you’ve been having some success.

Of the three supplements, I’m most pleased with the bacopa. From anecdotal experience, I can tell you that it has stimulatory (maybe dopaminergic), anxiolytic, memory enhancing, and nootropic (very subtle) properties. But, most of these qualities have been correlated to bacopa supplementation, so its probably not a placebo effect. The only limitation is the half-life, which I suspect is only a few hours. I’m currently looking for studies where larger doses were administered, and I’m looking for a more potent brand. I think the bacopa supplement produced by Advanced Orthomolecular Research is likely to be the winner. From my embarrassingly extensive experience with supplementation, I’ve come to the conclusion that this company creates the most potent, effective, and safe supplements available on the market.

I apologize for not being more supportive over the last month or so, but the weight of my responsibilities have greatly increased. However, due to the convergence in some of our symptoms, though, I’ll be following your blog closely, and I’ll try to be of some help.

Interesting read again!

I got my hashimoto tests back negative. I also noticed that the values (both of them) were in given in format: “less than something” and I asked for the real values, but doctor said that for measurement technical reasons, the lab just do not have them. Maybe in US they use some other method of measuring them?

I did not understand everything in what you wrote. I hope you don’t mind me asking some stupid questions?

The T3-cortisol connection is interesting. Why do you think that supplementing the thyroid-side only will help? Don’t you need to supplement the adrenals too?

I recall you have Armour. It already contains T3, rigth? And as you are taking the supplementation at night when conversion should work, you should already see some improvement in cortisol levels. T3 half-time is ~2.5 days, so IF it converts, you should no longer be blurry in the afternoons?

What I am thinking is that IF the conversion would work, your (and mine) T4 is high enough to provide material for the conversion. Now it seems that it does not work. I cannot see any benefit in putting in more T4.

If the adrenals are weak, they may not be able for normal output even though there would be enough T3. Is it just because of you intolerance that you are not supplementing with corticosteroids?

I think I am going to take the ASI-test and if I have similar results than you, I try to get some cortisol and fludrocortisone supplementation (as I have water balance and muscle problems). If that does not help, then also T3. At least in my case I still question the role of the thyroid as the originator of the problem. The T4-T3 conversion alone is enough to explain the similar symptoms and after that is becames impossible to distinguish the originator. And in either way, at this point it seems that the adrenals are the weaker of the two.

Adrenal fatigue isn’t recognised, but I think there is recognition for adrenal insufficiency. I hope only that she will give me the blood tests to determine how bad the insufficiency is and whether it’s serious enough to require medication.

When you ordered the cortisol tests, were free T3 available also? The free (unbound) sex hormones can also be measured via saliva tests, too. Often, a complete “package” of all the tests is much more economical in the long run, too, and paints a more complete picture of hormonal status at a given time. Estradiol and progesterone are usually recommended to be tested between cycle day 19-21 (day 3 sometimes, too).