Hello Paul! I have some questions I hope you have time to answer.

[Vigdis]

EDIT/Admin: This thread is translated into Norwegian by piri-piri. You can find the translated thread here: https://www.stofskifteforum.dk/showthread.php?t=14349

Hello Paul!

Thank you for answering our questions!

I have some questions I hope you have time to answer:

1. I am on hydrocortison treatment for my low cortisol levels. I also use Erfa Thyroid, and some other hormones. Is it possible that there is a problem with getting enough T3 when you use too long time to recover fra low adrenal activity?

2. Can you explane circadian rythm and T3 and cortisol? I think I read something about the importance of circadian rythm when you take your T3? Should I consider take some of my Thyroid in the early morning/late night? Could it be vital for me?

3. When you stop using T3/T4 combination and use only T3, will there be a lot of sideeffects by doing this? Or is this change in medication smooth and ok to do? What kind of sideeffects should I expect if I start on T3 treatment only?

[Paul Robinson]

Hello Vigdis - let me take you points one by one:

1. Is it possible that there is a problem with getting enough T3 when you use too long time to recover fra low adrenal activity?

The answer to this is complex as all hormonal problems tend to be. Low cortisol levels do several things. Most importantly, to thyroid hormone they reduce the peaks of blood sugar and this tends to reduce the flow of blood sugar (glucose) into our cells. This in turn reduces the amount of chemical energy produced without our cells. This chemical energy is called adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and it is made by a structure within each cell called a mitochondrion. When there is not enough chemical energy the cells respond by converting less FT4 to FT3 and more FT4 into reverse T3. So, the consequence of low adrenal levels and cortisol in particular is lower FT3 entering the cells. The only danger with having low adrenal levels for a long time is the risk of permanent shrinkage of the adrenal glands. The lack of cortisol can be fixed either by the provision of hydrocortisone or hydrocortisone with DHEA or sometimes also aldosterone needs to be increased (via drugs like Florinef). The alternative to medications is to use the technique that I invented and many are using successfully - the Circadian T3 Method. The CT3M makes the adrenal glands themselves work harder in many cases.

2. Can you explane circadian rythm and T3 and cortisol? I think I read something about the importance of circadian rythm when you take your T3? Should I consider take some of my Thyroid in the early morning/late night? Could it be vital for me?

I don't know if this is vital for you because I cannot see any data from you on the information that I usually look at.

I usually look at:
TSH, FT4, FT3
Current thyroid medication - type, amount and timings
serum iron, serum ferritin, transferrin saturation % - iron panel
B12
folate
vitamin D
cortisol - via a 24 hour adrenal saliva test or 24 hour urinary cortisol test or several serum cortisol tests
body temperature during the day
blood pressure during the day
heart rate during the day
symptoms - main symptoms someone has
their history of thyroid disease - how it started, how it developed, what medication they have used

- so I don't make random comments. Any comments I make are based on a lot of information from a person.

The circadian T3 method is explained fully in my book 'Recovering with T3'. It requires either the T3 that is found in natural desiccated thyroid or standard T3 to work. It will not work well with slow release T3.
Cortisol is produced every day. Most cortisol is made in the last four hours of a person's sleep. Free T3 also peaks around the time this cortisol production starts. So, for someone who get up at 7:00am then most of their cortisol is made between 3:0am and 7:00am. The Circadian T3 Method uses this information to add either some T3 or some NDT (natural desiccated thyroid) medication into this time period. I usually start with about 1 grain of NDT or 10 mcg of T3. I place it 1.5 hours before someone gets up and watch the results. People need to track temperature, heart rate and BP during the day - several times as well as their symptoms. If things are better but not good then it is moved back in time by one half hour earlier. This proceeds to the four hour time - perhaps to 3:00am for a 7:00am riser. If this is not enough then the process is repeated with an increase of thyroid medication. The results have been spectacular. Many people have been made completely well and others have been able to stop their hydrocortisone medication.

3. When you stop using T3/T4 combination and use only T3, will there be a lot of sideeffects by doing this? Or is this change in medication smooth and ok to do? What kind of sideeffects should I expect if I start on T3 treatment only?

Well, firstly to use the CIrcadian T3 Method - you don't need to stop T4/T3 or natural thyroid. Someone would only use T3 on its own if everything had been explored and no solution could be found with NDT or T4/T3.

It is not smooth because the T4 has to be stopped and the T3 can only be started in a low dose to begin with. It takes about 8-12 weeks for all the T4 to clear from the body and it is very important to only slowly raise the T3 dose during this time. So, some hypothyroid symptoms will be present during this process. This is all explained in my book. I also explain all the preparation that needs to happen first - laboratory tests and supplements that need to be taken to make it work smoothly.

I think we will be doing some kind of Q&A tomorrow at 1:00 Norway time.

Best wishes,
Paul

[Vigdis]

Thank you for your answer, Paul! I have ordered your book and are looking forward to understand more of this. It is a lot of new information for me. I must confess I have already started to take a bit of my NDT early in the morning/late night in two nights, around five o'clock. But one of my problems is sleeplessness. So I decided to just wake up by myself and take the pill. I am a little bit afraid of disturbing my precious sleep by new patterns. But on the other side my function is not satisfaing as it is now, so I am looking in all directions for new answers. I am also looking at LDN. I will see my doc next week, and I hope he are willing to give me LDN.

[Paul Robinson]

When it begins to work you get more cortisol. This makes you sleep deeply after you take the dose containing NDT. If your sleep is very disturbed then begin with 2 or 3 hours before you are due to get up. Most people do not believe this works but when it does you sleep like a baby - because you are not short of cortisol anymore. Set your alarm clock to a fixed time and do it. If it is not a fixed time then you won't be able to judge the response and then adjust the new time.
)))

[Vigdis]

Oh, alarmclock... I am wondering what the man on the other side of the bed would think about that....

But I see your point clearly, Paul. So, I have in a way started, haven't I?

I often wake up between 3-5 in the morning, with heartbeat. Does this mean that what I feel with the heartbeat is my low cortisol?

[Paul Robinson]

Low cortisol - most likely. Also low FT3 in the cells may be an issue.

Use a mobile phone on vibrate under the pillow - no sound just a vibrating head on the pillow!!!!

[Vigdis]

Stupid of me not to think about the mobile phone

Do you think I could test a little amount of T3 some few days with my NDT just to see if it changed anything? Or do you think I would just be hyper? Could it be a possible try?

I feel like an old woman, I am around 50, and feel like 80, or more. My energy levels are too small. At evenings like now, at 6 o'clock, my energy for this day are used up. Nothing left. So now I have to turn off my computer. My house want a facelift The beds want new sheets and so on. But I feel drained... The rest of the evening is for relaxing. No more work today. What a dull way to live.....

[Kevlin]

Use a mobile phone on vibrate under the pillow - no sound just a vibrating head on the pillow!!!!

Remember to turn the mobile off (radiance) - it will still vibrate on time
Husk stråling - ha aldri påslått mobil liggende i nærheten av hodet

[Vigdis]

If I added a small amout of T3 to my Thyroid dosis (and took away a bit of Thyroid) would I then be able to see a difference. I am sorry my head is filled with cotton today! I mean: could I take a kind of test with a very small amount of T3 togeether with my Thyroid. Would I then be able to see if the T3 only maybe was a solution?

You wrote another place

If someone has spent several years trying to use natural thyroid and their iron is Ok and everything else is OK and they are still unwell then T3 should be tried. Doctors try to tell people that there is 'some other problem' but it is rarely true - it is usually because the thyroid hormone treatment is not working.

I feel I could be one of those people! I have been using NDT/Thyroid for 3 years now. The latest months I have a feeling of moving backward into worse conditions.

I have tried to take Thyroid in the night (CT3 Metod) some nights now. I wake up with a heatbeat in the night, like 3-4-5 o'clock. But I still have that heartbeat after taking my Thyroid. And cannot sleep the rest of the night. You said earlier

You need to be using the Circadian T3 Method to raise cortisol. If cortisol is higher then cellular glucose and ATP will be higher and you'll get more FT3 and less reverse T3 - this is a big area.

So my question is: is my reaction to take Thyroid in the late night a kind of proof that I should start on T3 only?

Tonight I will start on my first dose of LDN, 1.5 mg.

[Elbeth]

I have bought a BP meter today. I have had a low BP for a long time, checket at my GP each time. Today it seems to be high? 166 systolic 114 Diastolic. Pulse 78. Earlier I used to have a resting pulse on ca 70.

Lommelegen about blood pressure

Your BP is high, even if doctors have measured the same on me and daid it was not high. I participated in a research project "Vitamin D against fat", a doctor at UNN said that I as a hypothyroid should not have more than 135 in systolic pressure.

The balance between systolic and diastolic must be right. The nearer numbers, the worse is the BP

Fra Lommelegen:

The fact that high blood pressure usually does not give any symptoms, means that it is often detected later than it should. There are many different and good treatment for high blood pressure. If treatment is started early, it can prevent much damage to the heart, kidneys and blood vessels, particularly the risk of stroke.