Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Postmeno3]

Am bouncing around like Tigger from 6p.m.! I feel like my "old self". It is such a good feeling. I feel alert, focused, alive, happy, energised. Boy, do I pay for it next morning! Sleep or a nap is becoming increasingly necessary by early afternoon. It's a very imbalanced way of being at the moment and seems to have worsened since the introduction of testosterone. Anyone else on systemic HRT like this? Thanks!

[Nik2502]

Hi

I’m the same. I struggle in the mornings - awful anxiety, tears, exhausted but by teatime I’m my normal self and could take on the world!
I’m on 100 patch, Provera and Androfemme.
Not sure what the answer is but you’re not alone!
X

[CherryC]

Those of us taking Progesterone tend to take it at bedtime - I wonder if the sedative effect of the Progesterone wears off by early evening the following day and so just experience the high of the Oestorgone/Testosterone by then?  Just a thought!

[Postmeno3]

Thanks. I have only been like this since going down the HRT route and my gut feeling is the adrenals need to be healthy to cope with any "threat" from sex hormones. So, what I want to explore is that readiness to receive and use sex hormones to benefit rather than challenge me? I really feel my adrenal glands have been shot to pieces with the addition of what they clearly can't cope with, or cope with yet, hence all the emotional and reactive, under threat responses? 🤔

[Marchlove]

Yes I think you’re on the right track Postmeno3 and good that you’ve suggested that this thread be a way of exploration of this issue for people currently using systemic hrt.
It would be wonderful if we could find out more from other members who have already come to the understanding that they need to support their adrenals alongside taking hrt and share with us their experiences of what they’ve tried and how they’ve been supported.
This must be the reason why some woman sail through taking hrt and others do not! xx

[ATB]

Could it be about the time of day you apply things or when you take progesterone? I know my doc mentioned if I feel better/worse when taking Utrogestan as you can apply another pump of gel for whichever weeks this may happen.

[VictoryV]

I’d like to hear from member’s who have taken a more holistic approach to hormone supplementation. It makes sense to me to look at all hormone imbalance however I’m not sure where to start as it’s a complex field. I’m sure I’ve read an article from Dr Newson regarding adrenal support but I can’t find it to link here.

[Postmeno3]

Wow! Thanks, ladies. I don't have progesterone so that bit doesn't apply to me. I know a lot of ladies on here feel they are progesterone intolerant, even oestrogen intolerant which poses a question why. We maybe need experience more than expertise, perhaps and curiosity! We can be curious together and gain understandings of how the sex hormones don't just function as an independent group, but as part of whole "cascade" of interdependent hormones produced increasingly in the adrenals during menopause, post-hysterectomy and postmenopause. I could have wept the other evening when my NHS Menopause Specialist said they are only beginning to understand the role of the adrenals and that there is "much to learn"! 🥳

[Marchlove]

Well at least she admitted that there’s a connection but so ‘much to learn’ from a professional doesn’t sound very inspiring!
Still it’s a start and we’ll done for questioning her about it.
I don’t think they teach them anything about functional adrenals, they think you can only have Cushing’s or Addisons but anything aside from these two extremes is considered normal.
So, what to do about it, that’s the big question….
xx

[ATB]

When I was first diagnosed hypothyroid ( private ) he did extensive testing including a saliva cortisol test, which I continued to do over the years following until I got green light readings at each time of day, only took 5 years! But I definitely know the difference in myself before, when I had cortisol levels all over the place throughout  the day, to now when they’re in range and healthy. If you are wondering about your adrenal health, I would recommend saliva cortisol testing across the day, and test often. I was always too high in the morning and evening, and too low during the day. Bizarrely I did not have lots of energy when it was high either, the exact opposite.  I was basically bedridden when it was really bad, no sleep, weight gain etc combined with the thyroid issues it was a bad time and also I was in Peri menopause and not on anything. I feel like I know more about which hormones cause which symptoms now, I can tell an adrenal tired from a menopause tired…

[Postmeno3]

So how did you learn to get your adrenals healthy, ATB? Anything you can share with us? Thanks!

[ATB]

I’ll try! I don’t know if it’s that helpful but… I didn’t take anything supplement wise. Not specifically for my adrenals. One doctor termed it adrenal fatigue, but that seems ambiguous to me, at the least it was sub optimal cortisol levels. While it was bad, I had to alter my lifestyle. I went from very social, highly active, amateur athlete, to someone who stayed home a lot and could only do light yoga and walking. I basically concentrated on keeping stress down for as long as possible to try and stop the cycle of up and down cortisol levels. I focused on the night time cortisol because sleep affects so much. There’s no one formula for helping that so I read all I could about what helps lower night time cortisol, like sleep hygiene stuff, meditation, set bedtimes etc everything you’re ever told about what to do at night so you get a good sleep! Ultimately living a very quiet life with less stress than I used to have, plus really getting my thyroid levels ( through meds ) right resulted in normal adrenal levels. This was before I started HRT. I think also looking at why your cortisol got like that helps piece everything together. I know that I was doing too much intense exercise for me, that I had a stressful living situation for years, and I rarely relaxed. I spent too much time online and on my computer for work. I also developed horrible anxiety through certain events that happened and altogether I think it all created a perfect situation for terrible adrenal health. I had to really seriously prioritise getting better, and I was fortunate I could take less work in order to do that. Not everyone can. We even moved location for a more relaxed lifestyle, which I know is extreme but honestly within months the last few labs normalised. I don’t know if this helps anyone, it’s not very specific but after years feeling so bad I think everything we did worked for me. I know moving is a big thing to do but I was truly so ill and so miserable it has been completely worth it for us. I’m also extremely fortunate to have a very supportive husband who was prepared to do anything. He himself has changed a lot too, realising a lot of the stress was something he could do something about. Also, I tried lots of supplements suggested by my first private doctor, and from various support groups with others with adrenal issues, honestly none of it helped. I take vitamin D, B12 as I’m vegan and that’s it. No special tea or adrenal cortex! None of that worked for me and I spent years trying all sorts.

[Postmeno3]

So, do you think getting the thyroid balanced had the greatest impact? I agree about all the measures necessary and prioritising ways to reduce stress as absolutely essential. I wonder, too, if living with a chronic health condition overstimulates the systems and, in some senses, it's the resulting "stressed" systems which can contribute to adrenal insufficiency. It's a vast area needing much greater attention, but, like everything, with similarities and differences. We speak about creating the ideal "conditions" for healthier adrenals, don't we, and you certainly invested in those.

[Nik2502]

Have you had Covid? Or the vaccine? I’ve just ready an interesting article about its effect on sex hormones and why women suffer from long Covid and problems with their HRT even years after being settled on it.
It’s by Louise Newson and is in the BMJ x

[ATB]

Yes I do think you’re right. The thyroid affected it the most in my case. The endocrine system is very sensitive and if one hormone is out of whack a long time it puts strain on the entire system and starts to affect all hormones. I think cortisol gets most affected as it’s a stress hormone. Because I had undiagnosed hypothyroidism a long time I think that’s why it caused such a lot of stress and as that pressure eased and I made lifestyle changes, my adrenals were able to recover. When I first finally got a large amount of tests done, every single hormone was way too low. Every one. My cortisol was low at every time of day initially but then as I say it went up and down after that. I think chronic illness of any kind affects our hormones quite a bit. I used to run a hormone support group and it is truly heartbreaking how much needless suffering there is. If I had a good wholistic doctor at the start, I could of got well within months instead of years and the only reason I finally did, aside from my own research and some actual study in nutrition and health, was because I had money saved for tests and good doctors. That can’t be right in a fair society. I should of been put on HRT from the start, the right thyroid meds sooner too plus some GP advice at the first appointment about lifestyle to avoid all my constant looking for answers. Which, has now created health anxiety! Because I’m so used to looking at every symptom and reading about it looking for relief. I find the health system in this area is simply not fit for purpose. I remember watching a video on a study about endometriosis and seaweed and how it helped every participant but was a small study, although still extraordinary. In 10 years no further study had been done and the doctor narrating said that even though it was a small sample of participants, the results were so positive any other issue would have had researchers clamouring to do more study. I think that says it all… anyone read Invisible Women?