Adrenal Fatigue and Thyroid: Still Fiddling with my Medications

DIYing my adrenal fatigue and low thyroid has been a challenge. At least I'm over the brain fog and can read and think more clearly.

After my ears got dry and itchy again--which seems to be a symptom of low thyroid for me--I upped my thyroid dose again. I also lowered my adrenal cortex dose since I was gaining weight, even with the increased NDT (natural desiccated thyroid medicine) and decreased carb intake. The cortisol (an adrenal hormone) will make you gain weight if you take too much.

I hope this is the last time I need to up my NDT, since my current dose costs $80 per month. I can't even pay for it with my HSA (health savings account, a pre-tax deal in the US). At least the adrenal cortex is cheap, and hydrocortisone is $5 a tube.

The adrenal cortex, which I take in the morning at at noon, started turning me into a morning person. I was up at six doing dishes, vacuuming the house, and packing a lunch. I was tired around 10 PM. Since backing off a little, I'm back to being a night owl: writing late at night and looking at a sink full of dirty dishes.

I'm no longer wiped out on Saturdays. Today I added to the shade garden in my yard by busting up some sod by the maple tree, scattering some seeds, sprinkling the area with organic garden soil and vermiculite and covering it with a thick layer of leaves. It'll have to do. I already have plans to plant two hell strips in prairie plants next year, which will take more seed trays and lights than I now have. (The area between the sidewalk and street is called a tree garden here in Indianapolis, but I prefer hell strip, coined by fellow Coloradan Lauren Springer.) It's going to involve some 400 plants, mulch, and all the old bed sheets I can scrounge from my neighbors. Unlike landscape fabric, the sheets will keep out weeds and eventually decompose. (Hat tip to Bernadette Banner for the idea of reusing old fabric.)

I wouldn't say I'm bursting with energy, though. I still tire easily and don't feel ready to start an exercise program.

I'm no longer in la-la land. I've been downloading podcasts and listening to them in my new stereo on the way to work, something I hadn't done in months. I think my fine motor skills are better, too--I'm no longer mistyping passwords at work so often, and I can play songs on the recorder that gave me trouble before.

And I no longer have bronchitis. I am finally, completely, over it.

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