Will the Circadian T3 Method still work... ?

[Bettie B.]

Thank you for your answer!

You'll need to use the Armour portion of you medication. You need at least 9-10 mcg of T3 to be effective = 1 grain of Armour.

I use only 1/2 grain of Armour, higher dose than that gives me heavy heart pounding. I will have to get your book anyway, appears that there is still a lot to learn about this topic!

Do you think that an irregular sleep rhytm like mine does contribute to drain the adrenals?
Dr James Wilson writes about sleep in his book "Adrenal Fatigue". He recommends that you sleep until 8-9 in the morning as often as possible. He states that Cortisol levels normally have a rise from 06.00 until 08.00, but by adrenal fatigue levels often don't get so high, and/or lowers faster than normal. What happens to my adrenals if I - on workdays - get up before my cortisol levels have had the chance to rise, and thereby interrupt the process? In week ends, I sleep until 9, then I wake up and feel like I'm finished sleeping.

[Paul Robinson]

Thank you for your answer!



I use only 1/2 grain of Armour, higher dose than that gives me heavy heart pounding. I will have to get your book anyway, appears that there is still a lot to learn about this topic!

Do you think that an irregular sleep rhytm like mine does contribute to drain the adrenals?
Dr James Wilson writes about sleep in his book "Adrenal Fatigue". He recommends that you sleep until 8-9 in the morning as often as possible. He states that Cortisol levels normally have a rise from 06.00 until 08.00, but by adrenal fatigue levels often don't get so high, and/or lowers faster than normal. What happens to my adrenals if I - on workdays - get up before my cortisol levels have had the chance to rise, and thereby interrupt the process? In week ends, I sleep until 9, then I wake up and feel like I'm finished sleeping.

First I must say that if more than 1/2 grain does this then you are likely to have either cortisol insufficiency of low iron levels. The first step MUST be to have iron and cortisol tested properly. The correct tests for iron are: serum iron, serum ferritin and transferrin saturation %. All three iron tests need to be done and the tested levels need to be good (not low in the reference ranges) - my book has suggested levels that thyroid patients have found to be good for these three tests. Cortisol also needs to be tested: an adrenal saliva test or 24 hour urinary cortisol test would be good. B12, folate and vitamin D should also be tested.

Second if you respond like that to Armour then you probably have an issue with cortisol or iron. The irregular sleep pattern is the result of this NOT the cause. Wilson's ideas on sleeping until 8-9 are wrong. He is also wrong that cortisol rises from 6am to 8am. His book was not based on the latest understanding of the rhythm of cortisol. You should not worry about Wilson's comments on this - they aren't right. You work in the week so your adrenals will conform to your weekday pattern because this is the main sleep wake pattern you have. So, most of your cortisol production will occur in the four hours before you get up in the week day.

The big issue is that your cortisol production is probably low, your iron may be low, low B12 may be low etc etc.

You need to have the tests to work out what is low and what is not low.

If your adrenals are low then using the Circadian T3 Method and taking your NDT 2-3 hours before you get up for work may help a lot. I normally suggest starting 1.5 hours before getting up but I suspect your adrenals are in a bad way.

[Bettie B.]

Thanks for the answer! You are probably right about the iron and vitamin D, both were low last time I had some blood samples tested. Ferritin was 40 (10-130) and vitamin D 58 (75-150). The physician advised me to take extra D3, but no comment on the iron - though I see it is low.

Seems like I should also try again to convince her to let me take a cortisol saliva test. One year ago, she had me take a blood cortisol test, along with ACTH and aldosterone, who were all normal:
S-kortisol 07-09: 477 (138-690), P-ACTH 07-09: 5,0 (below 10,2), S-Aldosteron: 687 (70-800). I believe those tests don't give the full picture.

[Paul Robinson]

Thanks for the answer! You are probably right about the iron and vitamin D, both were low last time I had some blood samples tested. Ferritin was 40 (10-130) and vitamin D 58 (75-150). The physician advised me to take extra D3, but no comment on the iron - though I see it is low.

Seems like I should also try again to convince her to let me take a cortisol saliva test. One year ago, she had me take a blood cortisol test, along with ACTH and aldosterone, who were all normal:
S-kortisol 07-09: 477 (138-690), P-ACTH 07-09: 5,0 (below 10,2), S-Aldosteron: 687 (70-800). I believe those tests don't give the full picture.

Yes - iron is low and needs proper / a lot of supplemention.

A saliva cortisol test would be good or 2-3 serum cortisol tests over the day. One blood cortisol test in the morning is no good as many people have low levels later in the day. Your first serum cortisol sample is good - this may or may nto be a problem. Iron is though. For iron serum iron, ferritin and transferrin saturation % needs to be tested. I hope you take enough D3 - 5000 IUs?