I began treating my adrenals 14 days ago, and my thyroid 7 days ago. I’ve learned a couple of things in the last 14 days. My adrenals are affected negatively by ibuprofen and inadequate sleep. The morning after I had ibuprofen before bed, my basal body temperature plummeted. Now, this drop also coincided with what appears to be an ovulation shift in my chart, so it’s difficult to say how much of the drop was ibuprofen and how much was ovulation. I’ll keep an eye on this in the future. Secondly, the night I stayed up till about 4am the next morning (resulting in 3-4 hrs sleep), caused a dramatic drop in my basal body temperature that took two days to recover back into the previous range. Still, my temps are more stable than they were even with these interruptions. I’m currently reading Adrenal Fatigue: The 21st Century Stress Syndrome by James L. Wilson. I don’t expect this resource to alter my treatment, but so far it suggests I have had moderate to severe adrenal fatigue for quite some time (some symptoms since childhood).

Now, let’s talk about the current temperature range. Since I was charting my temps for a few days during this point in my previous cycle, I have something with which to compare the last 4 days. I only have 6 temps before our Disney vacation, and I didn’t temp while in Florida because I figured the lower altitude and change in climate would most certainly skew the numbers. Anyway, comparing an average of the last four days with this same point in my last cycle, I am showing a 1.25 degree average increase in my body temperature. This indicates an increase in my metabolic rate. Despite this increase, my body temperature is still too low overall. So, after six days at my initial thyroid glandular dose, I’m increasing from half a pill to a whole pill. I plan to maintain this dose for 7 days to evaluate it’s effectiveness.

Some symptoms that have improved in 14 days are:

• The debilitating fatigue has become more manageable. While I still feel an overall “tired” feeling, I feel less like I’m fighting to stay awake most days. I had reached a point where any activity would zap everything. We’re talking worse than 1st trimester fatigue. The only reason I had any energy for Disney was probably due to the forced rest I had with a knee injury and then a nasty cold that hung on for over a week. Well, that and I had a lot of caffeine on that trip. I usually do de-caf everything. After our trip to Disney World, I was on the sofa for about 3 days straight… spent, exhausted, migraine. I would get some energy after dinner for a couple of hours, but then crash again.
• Most days, I feel more up to accomplishing simple household tasks that require physical energy.
• I felt like taking a walk yesterday… so I did. If I exercised before, I wouldn’t feel energized, I would feel like crashing afterward. I didn’t feel like crashing yesterday.
• I feel less irritable, which is rather miraculous at this point in my cycle… well, I just snapped at two of my kids… so obviously I’m still somewhat irritable lol.
• My cravings for certain foods have diminished even more. I believe this was already happening very slowly by eliminating diet mentality, but it seems to have sped up since starting treatment. The biggest difference has been not seeking out food for pain, fatigue, and boredom as much. I think sometimes I was eating to keep myself awake too. Generally this meant something that would give me a sugar spike. Overall, this has lessened significantly in the past few days.
• More in control of my emotions.
• I feel warmer. My hands, feet, and nose felt like ice most of the time. Mostly they are just “cool”, which is better than “icy”, but occasionally they’ve actually felt warm (without exercise).
• I’ve had some really restful nights. Not every night has been, but more than usual. Last night wasn’t one of those nights, so I do feel tired right now. In fact, I could probably go back to sleep very easily.

That last bullet point just proves that this is a process… often a long process… toward healing. It can take anywhere from 6 months to 2 years to heal the adrenals. The fact that I’m having any marked improvement this early in the game is marvelous.