How do I go about dosing adrenal cortex and NDT? And fixing early morning awakenings.

[Chazman224]

I've had a miriade of health issues, first starting with severe hypoglycemic episodes over 2 years ago to the point of nearly blacking out multiple times, these slowly went away but then the insomnia and nocturia crept in, that being waking up at 2-3am and not being able to go back to sleep and pissing 3-4 times a night.

Blood tests last year revealed extremely low levels of DHEA 1.24 umol/L and high cholesterol at 4.79 mmol/L, HDL 1.36 mmol/L and LDL over range at 3.10 mmol/L. Thyroid results from this year
TSH 0.9 mU/L, free T4 17.2 pmol/L, 5.59 pmol/L.

I've been spending the past 2 years trying to piece together this intricate little puzzle. I've managed to reduce my frequent urination and nocturia down to only once a night which is a big win. This was mostly through pelvic floor stretching and exercises I believe. Supplementing DHEA and pregnenolone helped somewhat aswell.

Through this I tried many different diets such as Keto / low carb and even a few weeks of carnivore which I felt awful on, and in hindsight this has probably damaged my adrenals / thyroid / liver even more.

So where I'm at now after a recent sleep study is I have very mild sleep apnea and a high RDI which is essentially arousals from sleep which seems to line up with what people call UARS, I think this is a red herring and the reason I arouse so much is simply due to high cortisol / adrenaline while I sleep. Sleep apnea / UARS is not the root cause of my issues otherwise I would have had this issue my whole life. My nose and sinuses are structurly fine and have remained unchanged, I have perfect tongue posture and nose breath 24/7 and this is confirmed by using my tape at night as it makes no difference and my GF says she never sees me breath out my mouth. I am not over weight and my neck is not too thick. I have been doing myo functional exercises for months and have seen barely any improvement on sleep quality. I simply believe it is the messed up thyroid and adrenals causing arousals and ******* up my breathing.

I've been on a peaty diet for 2 weeks now with eating mostly the following:

- Kefir, honey and berries for breakfast
- Couple glasses of milk throughout the day
- Prawns, cottage cheese, olives and tropical fruit mix for lunch
- Big glass of orange juice and baking soda before a workout
- Ground beef, honey and pineapple for dinner
- generous amounts of salt which each meal and an electrolyte supplement

I sleep much more soundly and I haven't noticed any conscious arousals from sleep since peating, only once a night to piss. I do however wake up at least an hour or two before my alarm is due to go off every single night, this is annoying but I still feel considerably better than before, I've tried honey or OJ with an electrolyte supplement / salt and it rarely works to put me back to sleep. But my sleep quality has dramatically improved and I can basically function now on 8 1/2 hours whereas before I would need 9 1/2 - 11 hours. Another big win.

I just need some help piecing together this thyroid and adrenals puzzle, to sort out these early morning awakenings with high cortisol /adrenalin. It's the last bits and I feel so damn close!

So starting with adrenals right now I'm not experiencing any symptoms in the day anymore that I can really point to them, other than an exaggerated stress response and low energy but again this could be thyroid there's seems to be much overlap in symptoms. When I wake up too early I feel the symptoms of high adrenaline / cortisol very strongly and sweaty / hot even though I keep my room very cool.

So my thyroid looks good on paper, or so what I've been told by doctors, they even say I'm on the edge of hyper thyroid apparently! However through much research on this forum I am thinking that possibly my thyroid is just not being utilisied, possibly due to low day time cortisol?? The most telling symptoms I have of being hypothyroid is I have extremely cold feet 24/7 doesn't matter room temp and even if I'm exercising, my hands and nose are not so bad but are also consistently cold and I also have a resting pulse of 55-57 bpm everyday according to my fitbit, I am yet to take my temp but I have a thermometer on the way.


I have some adrenal cortex by Thorne on the way and some bovine NDT. I just need to know how I should be dosing these as there is conflicting information depending on if your adrenals are messed up or not some people say NDT makes them feel even worse...

If I could ask
@Hans
@FitnessMike

To chime in with their opinions as they seem to have a lot of knowledge and/or experience with these issues, I would very much appreciate it.



Also
Supplements I'm currently taking
- 50mg x1 pregnenolone before bed
- 10mg x1 topical dhea gel on testicles before bed
- seriphos x3 before bed
- milk peptides / lactium x1 before bed
- 3g magnesium glycinate before bed
And I'm about to start taking TUDCA and possibly some taurine for liver health as this could be a big part of my issues.

 

[Chazman224]

Two different blood tests. Oldest to newest.
5/09/2022
And
20/01/2023

 

[satsumass]

drop the magnesium glycinate! im almost certain that high of a dose which I also took for a long time, thinking it was good (cuz it did probably help in the beginning) basically made it a lot worse, many NMDA antagonists can be stimulating, glycine too in certain cases

 

[Chazman224]

drop the magnesium glycinate! im almost certain that high of a dose which I also took for a long time, thinking it was good (cuz it did probably help in the beginning) basically made it a lot worse, many NMDA antagonists can be stimulating, glycine too in certain cases

I didn't take the magnesium glycinate for a long time, when I did start on it however it made a big difference in calming me down at night and helping me drift off to sleep easily. Nights that I haven't taken it, it hasn't affect me waking up but has made it harder to fall asleep and the quality is slightly less.

 

[mostlylurking]

I've had a miriade of health issues, first starting with severe hypoglycemic episodes over 2 years ago to the point of nearly blacking out multiple times, these slowly went away but then the insomnia and nocturia crept in, that being waking up at 2-3am and not being able to go back to sleep and pissing 3-4 times a night.

Hi Chazman224,
I see a few things in your post that I'll comment on and try to provide a few links.

Hypoglycemia points to liver function not being great. When the liver isn't good at storing sugar for later release it results in hypoglycemia because its sugar stores have been depleted. If the blood sugar gets low at night adrenaline release is triggered to signal the liver to get with the sugar release. If the liver is out of sugar to release then cortisol is released to dissolve your body's tissues for fuel so you don't die. Focusing on improving your liver function would be helpful.

Helpful supplements and why:
thiamine:

High-dose vitamin B1 therapy prevents the development of experimental fatty liver driven by overnutrition - PubMed

Fatty liver is an abnormal metabolic condition of excess intrahepatic fat. This condition, referred to as hepatic steatosis, is tightly associated with chronic liver disease and systemic metabolic morbidity. The most prevalent form in humans, i.e. non-alcoholic fatty liver, generally develops...

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Ray Peat On Vitamin B1 - Thiamine - LifeGivingStore.com

Ray Peat has written on the importance of Vitamin B1 also known as Thiamine. Here we will gather quotes from Ray Peat about the incredible power of Thiamine

lifegivingstore.com

niacinamide:

Ray Peat, PhD Quotes on Therapeutic Effects of Niacinamide – Functional Performance Systems (FPS)

I've found that taking 90-100mg of niacinamide 4Xday to be very helpful. Ray Peat suggested the dose of 90mg; it is a water soluble vitamin so it only stays in the body a couple of hours.

I'm sure there are other supplements that would be helpful; I like and use these.

Ray Peat, PhD on Low Blood Sugar & Stress Reaction – Functional Performance Systems (FPS)

Blood tests last year revealed extremely low levels of DHEA 1.24 umol/L and high cholesterol at 4.79 mmol/L, HDL 1.36 mmol/L and LDL over range at 3.10 mmol/L. Thyroid results from this year
TSH 0.9 mU/L, free T4 17.2 pmol/L, 5.59 pmol/L.

Ray Peat suggested (somewhere) taking pregnenalone to normalize DHEA levels safely. If you take DHEA itself it is very easy to take too much which then tends to convert into estrogen.

Progesterone Pregnenolone & DHEA - Three Youth-Associated Hormones

Ray Peat

raypeat.com

I have very mild sleep apnea and a high RDI which is essentially arousals from sleep

Sleep apnea points to a problem with low carbon dioxide. Good oxidative metabolism results in higher levels of carbon dioxide. Hypothyroid people would tend to have poor oxidative metabolism and thus low carbon dioxide levels which would make sleep apnea more likely. However, your thyroid panel numbers don't look like you have hypothyroidism.

Thiamine deficiency/functional blockage also blocks oxidative metabolism which results in lactic acid being the end product instead of carbon dioxide. Thiamine supplementation could help with the sleep apnea because it would raise carbon dioxide by improving oxidative metabolism. Investigating thiamine would be helpful.

Ray Peat On Vitamin B1 - Thiamine - LifeGivingStore.com

Ray Peat has written on the importance of Vitamin B1 also known as Thiamine. Here we will gather quotes from Ray Peat about the incredible power of Thiamine

lifegivingstore.com

How Can Something As Simple as Thiamine Cause So Many Problems? - Hormones Matter

Is thiamine deficiency too simple to explain the devastating nature of the systemic adverse reactions to some vaccines and medications?

www.hormonesmatter.com

So where I'm at now after a recent sleep study is I have very mild sleep apnea and a high RDI which is essentially arousals from sleep which seems to line up with what people call UARS, I think this is a red herring and the reason I arouse so much is simply due to high cortisol / adrenaline while I sleep.

You may be low on carbon dioxide and need to improve the level. Thiamine and also acetazolomide both increase carbon dioxide. Thiamine is vitamin B1; acetazolomide is a prescription drug that is used for sleep apnea. Optimizing oxidative metabolism is key to good health.

Altitude and Mortality

Ray Peat

raypeat.com

Mitochondria and mortality

New descriptive sentence from the article here

raypeat.com

I've been on a peaty diet for 2 weeks now with eating mostly the following:

- Kefir, honey and berries for breakfast
- Couple glasses of milk throughout the day
- Prawns, cottage cheese, olives and tropical fruit mix for lunch
- Big glass of orange juice and baking soda before a workout
- Ground beef, honey and pineapple for dinner
- generous amounts of salt which each meal and an electrolyte supplement

2 weeks is a very short time; the polyunsaturated fats that are stored in your body take a long time to get cleared out of the body; Peat mentioned 4 years for someone that is not overweight.

Each time the hypoglycemia kicks in, free fatty acids are released into the bloodstream to be used as a backup fuel. If you consumed PUFA prior to 2 weeks ago, it is still there to cause problems. Taking niacinamide would be helpful because it helps keep the fatty acids parked in storage.

High sugar intake exacerbates thiamine deficiency/functional blockage because thiamine is required to burn the sugar in oxidative metabolism. Sugar is a good fuel so long as you have enough thiamine to deal with it.

I do however wake up at least an hour or two before my alarm is due to go off every single night, this is annoying but I still feel considerably better than before, I've tried honey or OJ with an electrolyte supplement / salt and it rarely works to put me back to sleep.

Have you tried milk with a little (1 Tablespoon) sugar?

I just need some help piecing together this thyroid and adrenals puzzle, to sort out these early morning awakenings with high cortisol /adrenalin.

It would be helpful to put thiamine into that equation, also the Randle Cycle and your history of consuming polyunsaturated fats (PUFA). The thyroid requires thiamine to do its job, the liver requires thiamine to do its job, oxidative metabolism requires both thyroid hormone AND thiamine.

Ray Peat, PhD on Low Blood Sugar & Stress Reaction – Functional Performance Systems (FPS)

So starting with adrenals right now I'm not experiencing any symptoms in the day anymore that I can really point to them, other than an exaggerated stress response and low energy but again this could be thyroid there's seems to be much overlap in symptoms. When I wake up too early I feel the symptoms of high adrenaline / cortisol very strongly and sweaty / hot even though I keep my room very cool.

"...exaggerated stress response and low energy" is a pretty big problem, also the high adrenaline/cortisol. Hang in there. I hope the info I provided above will be helpful to you.

 

[mostlylurking]

I didn't take the magnesium glycinate for a long time, when I did start on it however it made a big difference in calming me down at night and helping me drift off to sleep easily. Nights that I haven't taken it, it hasn't affect me waking up but has made it harder to fall asleep and the quality is slightly less.

I've been taking magnesium glycinate for over 8 years. I think it's a good magnesium supplement to take. Be sure to research any type of magnesium supplement before taking it. Avoid magnesium citrate. You may want to watch your timing of taking magnesium though. Perhaps taking it a bedtime isn't a great idea for you? The body needs magnesium. Soaking in an epsom salts bath (at least 1 cup in the bathwater) in the evening can be very relaxing and sleep inducing.

Calcium and Disease: Hypertension, organ calcification, & shock, vs. respiratory energy

Ray Peat

raypeat.com

 

[Chazman224]

I haven't actually had any hypoglycemic episodes for nearly 2 years now, that was just the start of my issues. But I do agree my issues are probably stemming from my liver function, I'm working on that with starting Tudca.

I do only take 10mg dhea and apply it topically to my testicles to allow for optimum conversion to male hormones, an idea I got from many on this forum.

Yeah I initially didn't think I was hypothyroid either although I have many of the symptoms that I just attributed to my adrenals. A lot of people mention thyroid resistance or the difficulty of thyroid getting into the cells and some point this to being from low cortisol and poor adrenal function which I most certainly have. This article here How hypothyroidism affects testosterone, LH, DHT, etc. » MENELITE
From hans amato also points to the fact that people with elevated chelsterol levels are hypothyroid and therefore my cholesterol isn't being utilised for my adrenal hormones.

I've tried just straight milk without the added sugar, but I will give this ago aswell. The past few nights I've had success with milk peptides / lactium taken when I wake up to pee and this seems to have solved my early morning awakening. However now I am experiencing multiple awakenings after this point, but I am drifting off easily, I am waking around 10 times. Which isn't any improvement really as this messes up my quality of sleep even more, would almost prefer to go back to early morning awakenings tbh lol.


You've given me a lot to think about and look more into. Thank you. I'll definitely jump back on the thiamine. Just need to look into what type would be most helpful in my situation.

 

[Connor888]

I haven't actually had any hypoglycemic episodes for nearly 2 years now, that was just the start of my issues. But I do agree my issues are probably stemming from my liver function, I'm working on that with starting Tudca.

I do only take 10mg dhea and apply it topically to my testicles to allow for optimum conversion to male hormones, an idea I got from many on this forum.

Yeah I initially didn't think I was hypothyroid either although I have many of the symptoms that I just attributed to my adrenals. A lot of people mention thyroid resistance or the difficulty of thyroid getting into the cells and some point this to being from low cortisol and poor adrenal function which I most certainly have. This article here How hypothyroidism affects testosterone, LH, DHT, etc. » MENELITE
From hans amato also points to the fact that people with elevated chelsterol levels are hypothyroid and therefore my cholesterol isn't being utilised for my adrenal hormones.

I've tried just straight milk without the added sugar, but I will give this ago aswell. The past few nights I've had success with milk peptides / lactium taken when I wake up to pee and this seems to have solved my early morning awakening. However now I am experiencing multiple awakenings after this point, but I am drifting off easily, I am waking around 10 times. Which isn't any improvement really as this messes up my quality of sleep even more, would almost prefer to go back to early morning awakenings tbh lol.


You've given me a lot to think about and look more into. Thank you. I'll definitely jump back on the thiamine. Just need to look into what type would be most helpful in my situation.

Sorry if I missed it, but are you taking your temperature? I am in a similar position to you I think. Worked my way up to 5 grains of thyroid in the past, and had almost no alleviation in my symptoms. Just really elevated levels of thyroid in my blood - none of which I was absorbing, based on my body temperature, pulse, symptoms, etc. Recently I too learned about the importance of the adrenals when it comes to metabolizing thyroid in the BLOOD. and actually allowing your cells to ABSORB & USE the thyroid. My d3 was low, and I recently felt a lot better supplementing certain things and generally eating healthier. Gonna give the thyroid another try when my D3 is better. I also heard TUDCA/NAC can indirectly help t4 to t3 conversion by reducing & detoxing a FATTY liver, which I also had as OF a couple of months ago. My blood sugar is on the lower end fasted too, but it doesn't make me feel terrible. Just, I think, a little hungrier throughout the day.

 

[Chazman224]

Sorry if I missed it, but are you taking your temperature? I am in a similar position to you I think. Worked my way up to 5 grains of thyroid in the past, and had almost no alleviation in my symptoms. Just really elevated levels of thyroid in my blood - none of which I was absorbing, based on my body temperature, pulse, symptoms, etc. Recently I too learned about the importance of the adrenals when it comes to metabolizing thyroid in the BLOOD. and actually allowing your cells to ABSORB & USE the thyroid. My d3 was low, and I recently felt a lot better supplementing certain things and generally eating healthier. Gonna give the thyroid another try when my D3 is better. I also heard TUDCA/NAC can indirectly help t4 to t3 conversion by reducing & detoxing a FATTY liver, which I also had as OF a couple of months ago. My blood sugar is on the lower end fasted too, but it doesn't make me feel terrible. Just, I think, a little hungrier throughout the day.

Hey Connor,



Sorry to hear you're going though something similar. I have not started taking my temps yet, I have ordered a thermometer and am waiting for it to arrive. I plan to take temps and my pulse along with taking adrenal cortex and then thyroid to see where I'm at.


This is a great article with references on the issues that causes low thyroid uptake into cells.

Why Thyroid Hormone Stops Working | TPAUK

www.tpauk.com

This has useful info on the type of adrenal cortex we need to get Thyroid working properly and get it into the cells

Wisdom in treatment of our adrenals - Stop The Thyroid Madness

Patients have gained great wisdom in the treatment of adrenals. The latter include low cortisol, high or mixed levels--all revealed via a saliva tst.

stopthethyroidmadness.com

Also @FitnessMike has mentioned his intital struggle with taking thyroid before he started taking hydrocortisone. I believe he also came to the same conclusion about Thyroid not being taken up into the cells in the abcense of cortisol.


Im currently on TUDCA and NAC now as I'm going down the whole sluggish / fatty liver route as this may be cause dips in blood sugar for me in the night due to low glycogen stores. Only been two days but not noticed much of a change but I expect this to be a long term treatment not short.

The first article I linked mentioned candida of which I had a bad infection about 2 years ago before my insomnia started. This is something I need to explore more, although I did already try to tackle this through fasting, Keto / carnivore but not knowing if I actually still have candida, I can't actually tell if I've cured it or not lol. I need to do more tests but I've already spent so much money already on supplements, tests and doctors it's hard to justify for every little idea I have.

 

[Connor888]

Hey Connor,



Sorry to hear you're going though something similar. I have not started taking my temps yet, I have ordered a thermometer and am waiting for it to arrive. I plan to take temps and my pulse along with taking adrenal cortex and then thyroid to see where I'm at.


This is a great article with references on the issues that causes low thyroid uptake into cells.

Why Thyroid Hormone Stops Working | TPAUK

www.tpauk.com

This has useful info on the type of adrenal cortex we need to get Thyroid working properly and get it into the cells

Wisdom in treatment of our adrenals - Stop The Thyroid Madness

Patients have gained great wisdom in the treatment of adrenals. The latter include low cortisol, high or mixed levels--all revealed via a saliva tst.

stopthethyroidmadness.com

Also @FitnessMike has mentioned his intital struggle with taking thyroid before he started taking hydrocortisone. I believe he also came to the same conclusion about Thyroid not being taken up into the cells in the abcense of cortisol.


Im currently on TUDCA and NAC now as I'm going down the whole sluggish / fatty liver route as this may be cause dips in blood sugar for me in the night due to low glycogen stores. Only been two days but not noticed much of a change but I expect this to be a long term treatment not short.

The first article I linked mentioned candida of which I had a bad infection about 2 years ago before my insomnia started. This is something I need to explore more, although I did already try to tackle this through fasting, Keto / carnivore but not knowing if I actually still have candida, I can't actually tell if I've cured it or not lol. I need to do more tests but I've already spent so much money already on supplements, tests and doctors it's hard to justify for every little idea I have.

It's definitely worth taking your temps. It can tell you so much alongside pulse taken a couple of times a day.

I hear YOU with the cost of supplements, tests, and so on - ridiculous isn't it. Even though I feel I got an okay deal on the TUDCA I bought, the initial price is still so high !

Did you have any particular brand of Cortex you wanted to try in mind? IF I am remembering right, our temps should be more stable on the adrenal and fluctuate less through the day - but not necessarily increase; i think that is what the thyroid is for. I hope it works for you. I've dealt with a lot of symptoms just like you probably have for awhile now, and i'm just trying to focus on the basics. Like GOOD NUTRITION, correcting deficiencies and SUPPLEMENTING what I NEED! So the hormones can actually work.

 

[FitnessMike]

Hi mate, sorry for being late.

Im still sorting my sh it out tbh, i started tolerating and utilising some of the NDT, and even tho its better i have still long way before fully functional. I only lift weights now every other day and try to keep intensity not too high, and excluded compount exercises for now till get better, they too taxing for the sustem innit.(squats/deadlifts)

I wont stop doing bench cuz i like my boobies big. TBH i dont think lifting weights helps me with recovery, same with drinking coffee.

All this cotrisol, adrenal cortex didint help me and iv been trying for a long time to make it work for me LOL, going back and forth withthis concept of trying to boost cortisol in many different ways, bofere increasing NDT, no doupt it worked for some.

 

[Connor888]

Hi mate, sorry for being late.

Im still sorting my sh it out tbh, i started tolerating and utilising some of the NDT, and even tho its better i have still long way before fully functional. I only lift weights now every other day and try to keep intensity not too high, and excluded compount exercises for now till get better, they too taxing for the sustem innit.(squats/deadlifts)

I wont stop doing bench cuz i like my boobies big. TBH i dont think lifting weights helps me with recovery, same with drinking coffee.

All this cotrisol, adrenal cortex didint help me and iv been trying for a long time to make it work for me LOL, going back and forth withthis concept of trying to boost cortisol in many different ways, bofere increasing NDT, no doupt it worked for some.

@FitnessMike

Would you mind sharing which adrenals you were using please?

 

[FitnessMike]

@FitnessMike

Would you mind sharing which adrenals you were using please?

cortex from thorne, or UKs adrenavive if, eventually i relized that they mess with my blood sugar, so yes they do have cortisol in them

 

[Hans]

I've had a miriade of health issues, first starting with severe hypoglycemic episodes over 2 years ago to the point of nearly blacking out multiple times, these slowly went away but then the insomnia and nocturia crept in, that being waking up at 2-3am and not being able to go back to sleep and pissing 3-4 times a night.

Blood tests last year revealed extremely low levels of DHEA 1.24 umol/L and high cholesterol at 4.79 mmol/L, HDL 1.36 mmol/L and LDL over range at 3.10 mmol/L. Thyroid results from this year
TSH 0.9 mU/L, free T4 17.2 pmol/L, 5.59 pmol/L.

I've been spending the past 2 years trying to piece together this intricate little puzzle. I've managed to reduce my frequent urination and nocturia down to only once a night which is a big win. This was mostly through pelvic floor stretching and exercises I believe. Supplementing DHEA and pregnenolone helped somewhat aswell.

Through this I tried many different diets such as Keto / low carb and even a few weeks of carnivore which I felt awful on, and in hindsight this has probably damaged my adrenals / thyroid / liver even more.

So where I'm at now after a recent sleep study is I have very mild sleep apnea and a high RDI which is essentially arousals from sleep which seems to line up with what people call UARS, I think this is a red herring and the reason I arouse so much is simply due to high cortisol / adrenaline while I sleep. Sleep apnea / UARS is not the root cause of my issues otherwise I would have had this issue my whole life. My nose and sinuses are structurly fine and have remained unchanged, I have perfect tongue posture and nose breath 24/7 and this is confirmed by using my tape at night as it makes no difference and my GF says she never sees me breath out my mouth. I am not over weight and my neck is not too thick. I have been doing myo functional exercises for months and have seen barely any improvement on sleep quality. I simply believe it is the messed up thyroid and adrenals causing arousals and ******* up my breathing.

I've been on a peaty diet for 2 weeks now with eating mostly the following:

- Kefir, honey and berries for breakfast
- Couple glasses of milk throughout the day
- Prawns, cottage cheese, olives and tropical fruit mix for lunch
- Big glass of orange juice and baking soda before a workout
- Ground beef, honey and pineapple for dinner
- generous amounts of salt which each meal and an electrolyte supplement

I sleep much more soundly and I haven't noticed any conscious arousals from sleep since peating, only once a night to piss. I do however wake up at least an hour or two before my alarm is due to go off every single night, this is annoying but I still feel considerably better than before, I've tried honey or OJ with an electrolyte supplement / salt and it rarely works to put me back to sleep. But my sleep quality has dramatically improved and I can basically function now on 8 1/2 hours whereas before I would need 9 1/2 - 11 hours. Another big win.

I just need some help piecing together this thyroid and adrenals puzzle, to sort out these early morning awakenings with high cortisol /adrenalin. It's the last bits and I feel so damn close!

So starting with adrenals right now I'm not experiencing any symptoms in the day anymore that I can really point to them, other than an exaggerated stress response and low energy but again this could be thyroid there's seems to be much overlap in symptoms. When I wake up too early I feel the symptoms of high adrenaline / cortisol very strongly and sweaty / hot even though I keep my room very cool.

So my thyroid looks good on paper, or so what I've been told by doctors, they even say I'm on the edge of hyper thyroid apparently! However through much research on this forum I am thinking that possibly my thyroid is just not being utilisied, possibly due to low day time cortisol?? The most telling symptoms I have of being hypothyroid is I have extremely cold feet 24/7 doesn't matter room temp and even if I'm exercising, my hands and nose are not so bad but are also consistently cold and I also have a resting pulse of 55-57 bpm everyday according to my fitbit, I am yet to take my temp but I have a thermometer on the way.


I have some adrenal cortex by Thorne on the way and some bovine NDT. I just need to know how I should be dosing these as there is conflicting information depending on if your adrenals are messed up or not some people say NDT makes them feel even worse...

If I could ask
@Hans
@FitnessMike

To chime in with their opinions as they seem to have a lot of knowledge and/or experience with these issues, I would very much appreciate it.



Also
Supplements I'm currently taking
- 50mg x1 pregnenolone before bed
- 10mg x1 topical dhea gel on testicles before bed
- seriphos x3 before bed
- milk peptides / lactium x1 before bed
- 3g magnesium glycinate before bed
And I'm about to start taking TUDCA and possibly some taurine for liver health as this could be a big part of my issues.

Freezing feet is due to a lack of blood flow. I've seen many people get rid of it by taking citrulline for example.

 

[Chazman224]

So an update for you all..


I stopped taking the Lactium just to rule it out and I found a video by @Hans about his prebed shake, which I modified into a sort of sorbet, but I ditched the eggs and added some tart cherries and a teaspoon of coconut oil. After a few days I was sleeping through the night again. Liver glycogen issues? Most likely. However my sleep quality is still terrible, even with only one or two perceived awakenings (at least one of them being awake to pee) I still feel unrested after 9 1/2 hrs of sleep.


Now I had a big trip planned this past weekend and I was doing a big hike and I was worried the whole week that I wouldn't sleep as I'd be in a tent and only have a roll mat and a sleeping bag for comfort. But of the two nights I was there I slept the absolute best I've slept in over two years. Literally sprung awake after 8 1/2 hrs the first night even though I woke up a few times and was awoken by birds chirping at 5am and took me an a good 30-60 mins to fall back to sleep, the second night after the hike was slightly better probably because I was so knackered. I just don't get how this is even possible. Nothing I've ever done over the past two years has made barely any difference to my sleep quality, I've always need a minimum of at least 9 hrs to even function at the absolute best. I've tried it all, exercise, diet, sleep hygiene, supps. Nothing was anywhere close to sleeping in the middle of nowhere in tent on a ******* hard floor. WTF.

Anyone have any idea what caused the best two nights of sleep in over two years for me??


The only factors I can possibly think of are

- being in the middle of nowhere and away from EMF and no cell phone signals
- being grounded all night in the tent
- was watching the fire for a few hrs leading directly upto bed everynight
- being in the fresh air away from any air pollutants
- getting red light in my eyes from the fire


Now for the past two years I've been on holiday to fairly remote places, and my sleep was a fiar bit better but never this good!

I thought maybe it was something to do with me sleeping on the floor that could have helped, but for the past few days I've been sleeping on the floor at home with only a yoga mat layed out and in a sleeping bag but I have failed to replicate this level of sleep quality, I have reverted straight back to shitty sleep as soon as I got home.



I really don't know what to think about this whole EMF & grounding thing. I bought a small grounding mat a few months back to help my sleep as I've seen many anecdotals about how much it improves sleep. I had it at the foot of my bed with my feet and calves always touching but It had Zero benifit for me. I used the outlet ground but I don't know if running a cable directly to a ground rod and place that outside may be better?? I've heard about dirty earths in houses, I may infact have that?


This Emf thing is the only thing I can actually reason it could possibly be. What else has changed in the past few years with me? When covid hit 5G towers started going up everywhere in London. It sounds insane to me to even think about these being the issue as its been tied to a lot of crazy conspiracy. A handful of reputable people have said about it being bad but it's completely overshadowed by a bunch of absolute nutters. Just looking on YouTube about Emf shielding and I was coming across videos of people claiming to be gang stalked, this really doesn't help me believe in this thing very much...


I just have no idea what there is left for me to do. I know this ***t is not in my head, I have no depression, no anxiety. I am infact the happiest I have EVER been in my life even with this horrible sleep quality I have to deal with. I have my dream job, girl, and absolutely everything I dreamed for years of having.


Im looking into these EMF shielding canopys and sleeping bags but damn they are so expensive. Might just have to bite the bullet.

 

[Funnywhensunny]

I've had a miriade of health issues, first starting with severe hypoglycemic episodes over 2 years ago to the point of nearly blacking out multiple times, these slowly went away but then the insomnia and nocturia crept in, that being waking up at 2-3am and not being able to go back to sleep and pissing 3-4 times a night.

Blood tests last year revealed extremely low levels of DHEA 1.24 umol/L and high cholesterol at 4.79 mmol/L, HDL 1.36 mmol/L and LDL over range at 3.10 mmol/L. Thyroid results from this year
TSH 0.9 mU/L, free T4 17.2 pmol/L, 5.59 pmol/L.

I've been spending the past 2 years trying to piece together this intricate little puzzle. I've managed to reduce my frequent urination and nocturia down to only once a night which is a big win. This was mostly through pelvic floor stretching and exercises I believe. Supplementing DHEA and pregnenolone helped somewhat aswell.

Through this I tried many different diets such as Keto / low carb and even a few weeks of carnivore which I felt awful on, and in hindsight this has probably damaged my adrenals / thyroid / liver even more.

So where I'm at now after a recent sleep study is I have very mild sleep apnea and a high RDI which is essentially arousals from sleep which seems to line up with what people call UARS, I think this is a red herring and the reason I arouse so much is simply due to high cortisol / adrenaline while I sleep. Sleep apnea / UARS is not the root cause of my issues otherwise I would have had this issue my whole life. My nose and sinuses are structurly fine and have remained unchanged, I have perfect tongue posture and nose breath 24/7 and this is confirmed by using my tape at night as it makes no difference and my GF says she never sees me breath out my mouth. I am not over weight and my neck is not too thick. I have been doing myo functional exercises for months and have seen barely any improvement on sleep quality. I simply believe it is the messed up thyroid and adrenals causing arousals and ******* up my breathing.

I've been on a peaty diet for 2 weeks now with eating mostly the following:

- Kefir, honey and berries for breakfast
- Couple glasses of milk throughout the day
- Prawns, cottage cheese, olives and tropical fruit mix for lunch
- Big glass of orange juice and baking soda before a workout
- Ground beef, honey and pineapple for dinner
- generous amounts of salt which each meal and an electrolyte supplement

I sleep much more soundly and I haven't noticed any conscious arousals from sleep since peating, only once a night to piss. I do however wake up at least an hour or two before my alarm is due to go off every single night, this is annoying but I still feel considerably better than before, I've tried honey or OJ with an electrolyte supplement / salt and it rarely works to put me back to sleep. But my sleep quality has dramatically improved and I can basically function now on 8 1/2 hours whereas before I would need 9 1/2 - 11 hours. Another big win.

I just need some help piecing together this thyroid and adrenals puzzle, to sort out these early morning awakenings with high cortisol /adrenalin. It's the last bits and I feel so damn close!

So starting with adrenals right now I'm not experiencing any symptoms in the day anymore that I can really point to them, other than an exaggerated stress response and low energy but again this could be thyroid there's seems to be much overlap in symptoms. When I wake up too early I feel the symptoms of high adrenaline / cortisol very strongly and sweaty / hot even though I keep my room very cool.

So my thyroid looks good on paper, or so what I've been told by doctors, they even say I'm on the edge of hyper thyroid apparently! However through much research on this forum I am thinking that possibly my thyroid is just not being utilisied, possibly due to low day time cortisol?? The most telling symptoms I have of being hypothyroid is I have extremely cold feet 24/7 doesn't matter room temp and even if I'm exercising, my hands and nose are not so bad but are also consistently cold and I also have a resting pulse of 55-57 bpm everyday according to my fitbit, I am yet to take my temp but I have a thermometer on the way.


I have some adrenal cortex by Thorne on the way and some bovine NDT. I just need to know how I should be dosing these as there is conflicting information depending on if your adrenals are messed up or not some people say NDT makes them feel even worse...

If I could ask
@Hans
@FitnessMike

To chime in with their opinions as they seem to have a lot of knowledge and/or experience with these issues, I would very much appreciate it.



Also
Supplements I'm currently taking
- 50mg x1 pregnenolone before bed
- 10mg x1 topical dhea gel on testicles before bed
- seriphos x3 before bed
- milk peptides / lactium x1 before bed
- 3g magnesium glycinate before bed
And I'm about to start taking TUDCA and possibly some taurine for liver health as this could be a big part of my issues.

How are you doing, now? Have you figured anything out? Your issues are similar to mine. Do you have POTS? It’s often the cause of mild Apnea. Have you experimented with T3?