Signs and Symptoms: Adrenal Fatigue vs. Low Thyroid Function

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Signs and Symptoms:

Adrenal Fatigue vs. Low Thyroid Function

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Signs and Symptoms: Adrenal Fatigue vs. Low Thyroid Function

 

Key: - generally absent; +possibly present; ++ often present;

+++ always or almost always present

Signs and Symptoms

Adrenal

Mixed _(1) _ (http://www.drrind.com/#1)

Thyroid

Body Type

Thin, can't gain weight

Gains easily, goes to tummy/hips first, very hard to lose

Weight gain, generalized or global, extremely hard to lose

Face Shape

Eyes, cheeks sunken when severe

Normal

Full, puffy around eyes

Eyebrows

Tend to be full

Normal to sparse

Very sparse outer 1/3 to 1/2

Tissue Around eyes

Sunken appearance, may have dark circles

Normal or some " bags " under the eyes

Puffy around the eyes, often bags under the eyes

Facial Coloring _(2)_ (http://www.drrind.com/#2)

Tendency to pallor, especially around mouth. In dark skin, it darkens

around mouth, forehead, sides of face

Pallor around mouth (more visible with light skin)

Ruddy or rosy complexion, including around the mouth

Hair quality

Thin and wispy. May become straw-like or straighter. Dry. Falls out

easily. Sparse on forearms or lower legs.

Tendency to become sparse

Tends to be coarse, sparse, may become wavy or curly (rare) or change

color

Nails

Thin, brittle

Break easily

May be thick

Skin Quality

Dry, Thin, Finger-prints often " smoothed out " or flat/shiny and may have

longitudinal wrinkles over finger pads (probable cause is low collagen

level)

May be thin, dry, bruise easily, poor healing.

Poor healing, May bruise easily. Skin thickness is normal (not thin)

Pigment Distribution

Vitiligo (white spots or patches) in late stage. May tan too easily. In

dark skin, darker on forehead, sides of face, around mouth and chin/jaw.

Milder version of vitiligo (tiny white spots on arms and/or legs) and dark

patches if dark skin.

In pure hypothyroidism, vitiligo and hyperpigmentation are very rare.

Connective Tissue Quality (ligaments, tendons, skin, hair, and nails)

Lax ligaments or flexible (e.g. flat feet, double jointed). Joint

strains/sprains are common.

Mixed

Poor flexibility.

Fluids/Secretions

Dry skin, little secretions. Can't hold on to water.

Mixed, e.g. and dry body and oily face

Good secretions. Skin may be oily. Tendency to fluid retention.

Light Sensitivity or Night Blindness

++

+

-

After Image (e.g. seeing the image of a flash bulb or bright light moving

by longer than others)

++

+

+/-

Typical Pains

Headaches, migraines, muscles, carpal tunnel

Muscles, carpal tunnel

Occasionally joints, muscles, feet/lower legs

 

Temperature Pattern

see Metabolic Temperature Graph

_http://www.drrind.com/tempgraph.asp_ (http://www.drrind.com/tempgraph.asp)

 

 

Thermal chameleon (hot when it's warm and cold when it's cool). Poor

thermoregulation. Tends to low body temperature around 97.8 or lower.

Fluctuating pattern.

Fluctuating pattern, usually averaging 97.8 but can be lower

Stable, non-fluctuating pattern, average can be from low 90's to a little

below 98.6

Cold Intolerance

+++

++

+/-

Heat Intolerance

+

++

+++

Cold Hands / Feet

+++

Happens often

-

Warm Hands / Feet (in spite of low body temperature)

-

Happens occasionally

++

Sweating

May be excessive in early phase. Poor sweating in late phase.

May appear normal

Normal to increased, more oily than 'wet'

General Reactivity: Emotional, physiological, etc.

Hyper-reactive (over)

Moderate

Hypo-reactive (under)

Immune Function

Tendency to over-react results in allergies, sensitivities, autoimmune

problems

Mixed

Tendency to under-respond results in infections (sinus, bladder, bowel,

skin, etc.)

History of EBV or Mononucleosis

+++

++

+/-

Sensitivity to medications, supplements etc. Needs small doses

++

+

-

Intuitive _(3)_ (http://www.drrind.com/#3) . Picks up other peoples

feelings (e.g. at malls, parties).

++

+

+/-

Personality Tendency: Humour

+/-

+

++

Personality Tendency: Serious

++/+++

++

+/-

Depression

+

++

+++

Anxiety, panic attacks, worry, fear, insecurity, feelings of impending

doom (any combination). " I thought I was dying... "

+++

++

+

Obsessive Compulsive

++

+

+/-

Startle Easily

++

+

-

Tolerance to Change/Stress

Poor

Poor/Moderate

Moderate

Sleep Patterns

Tendency to one or more: Insomnia, light sleeper, waking up at 2-4 AM,

unrefreshing sleep

May or may not have sleep disturbance

Tendency to one or more: Sleepiness, narcolepsy, sleep apnea, unrefreshing

sleep

Mental Abilities

Poor focus, clarity, concentration, short-term memory. 'Brain fog'

Poor focus, clarity, concentration, short-term memory.

Poor focus, clarity, concentration, short-term memory. ‘Slow thinking’

Energy Pattern

Complains of fatigue or exhaustion, " wired and tired " , can't persevere,

low motivation

Variable energy that can be good or poor.

Complains of being tired, sluggish, low motivation

Exercise Tolerance

Causes fatigue. Can't persevere. If severe, body temperature drops after

exercise.

Mixed

Can't exercise much. Tires easily.

Edema (swelling), non-pitting in lower legs

-

+/-

+

Standing still is difficult or causes discomfort. Walking is easier.

+

+/-

-

Fibromyalgia / chronic fatigue

++

++

++

Orthostatic Hypotension (light-headed when getting up to stand from laying

or sometimes, even sitting)

++

+/-

-

Blood Pressure

Tends to run low, e.g., from 80/50 at the low end to 110/70 at the high

end

Can be low, normal or high

Ranges from normal to very high and poorly controlled by medications

Heart Palpitations ( " feels like my heart was about to jump out of my

chest " ).

++

+/-

-

Mitral Valve Murmur or Prolapse _(4)_ (http://www.drrind.com/#4)

++

+

+/-

Dietary Habits

Often lean toward being vegetarian or avoids certain foods

Tends to have fewer dietary restrictions than the pure adrenal type

Tends to eat everything

Digestion

Often has difficulty digesting meat, or other proteins. Some foods

troublesome _(5)_ (http://www.drrind.com/#5)

May be normal or difficulty with some foods.

Poor but they often think it's good.

Bowel Function

Tendency to be irritable, or hyperactive, transit time may be too fast

(food exits stomach too fast causing poor [enzymatic] digestion)

Poor/mixed

Tendency to constipation, hypoactive, slow transit time (food leaves

stomach too slowly) and poor mechanical digestion.

Malabsorption

+++

++

+

Cravings

Sweets, carbohydrates, salt (any combination), black licorice

Mixed

Fats

Blood sugar. (Hypoglycemia = low blood sugar. Hyperglycemia = elevated

blood sugar)

Tendency to hypoglycemia. May need many small meals or " crash "

Can range from mild hypoglycemia to hyperglycemia

Normal to hyperglycemia

Problems with menses and /or fertility (females)

++

+

+/-

Typical Findings on Blood Tests

Blood Tests

Adrenal

Mixed _(1)_ (http://www.drrind.com/#1)

Thyroid

Chem: Total cholesterol _(6)_ (http://www.drrind.com/#6)

Usually low to low normal (e.g., under 160)

Mixed: Can be low, mid-range, or high

Usually high. Very hard to reduce.

Chem: HDL _(6)_ (http://www.drrind.com/#6) (the good cholesterol)

Tends to be relatively high

Mixed: can be high, low, or midrange

Tends to be relatively low

Chem: Cholesterol/HDL ratio

Usually 3.0 or less

Can be high, low or mid-range

Usually 3.5 or more

Chem: Serum Potassium

Tends toward high normal (typically 4.0 or higher)

Tends to be under 4.0

Chem: Serum Sodium

Tends toward low normal (typically 140 or lower)

Tends to be over 140

Chem: DHEAS

Low to low normal

Chem: Testosterone

Tends to be low-normal to low

CBC: WBC _(7)_ (http://www.drrind.com/#7)

Tends to be low normal

Normal to low normal

Often in the mid-normal range

CBC: Platelets _(7)_ (http://www.drrind.com/#7)

Tend to low normal

Normal to low normal

Normal to high normal

CBC: MCV _(8)_ (http://www.drrind.com/#8) (mean corpuscular volume)

Often 93 or higher. Taking vitamin B12 regularly may normalize it.

Tends to be high or high normal. Taking B12 regularly may normalize it.

Usually not elevated

CBC: RDW _(9)_ (http://www.drrind.com/#9) (reticulocyte distribution of

width)

Normal to high normal

Normal to high normal

Normal to high normal

Blood type

Most are type A

Often type O

Platelets

Typically under 200

Typically under 300

Typically over 300

 

 

Footnotes:

1. In working with thyroid and adrenal dysfunction, I have come to

realize that most patients with low body temperatures have a mixture of low

thyroid and low adrenal symptoms (also called _Wilson’s Syndrome_

(http://www.drrind.com/faq.asp#wilsons)

_http://www.drrind.com/faq.asp#wilsons_

(http://www.drrind.com/faq.asp#wilsons) ).

 

1. Facial Pallor _http://www.drrind.com/faces.htm_

(http://www.drrind.com/faces.htm) : A pale color, especially around the mouth.

Easiest to

see in light skinned individuals. In olive skinned individuals it is much

harder to see. In individuals of African decent, there is a tendency to have

dark pigmentation around the mouth, symmetrically on areas of the face or

sides of the neck and usually over the forehead. Since wrinkles stay in the

pale area, puckering the lips artificially creates wrinkles for a moment and

their location identifies the pale zone. This technique is particularly

helpful in dark skinned individuals. It is also easier to see in women than

men (because of the beard hair which interfere with color identification and

thicken the skin to make it more resistant to wrinkles).

 

1. Intuition is an interesting quality of early life adrenal fatigue.

The later in life the development of adrenal fatigue, the less likely one

is to spontaneously develop intuitive ability. People that develop adrenal

fatigue early in life are often described as empaths and will tell their

friends (but not their doctor) about their ability to pick up feelings. They

often suffer because of their high sensitivity and are always looking for

new ways to ‘ground’ themselves. This problem often clears by simply

supporting the adrenals and getting them to function well again. Poor adrenal

function is not essential for intuitive development. Strengthening the

adrenals does not weaken the intuition once it is there. Individuals that

develop

adrenal fatigue later in life (because of high stress, virus etc.) tend not

to claim this intuitive ability.

 

Spiritual orientation is more common in those with early adrenal fatigue.

It is less common in those with later onset of adrenal fatigue and those

with strong, healthy adrenals. There seems to be a personality difference

(archetype) between those with strong adrenals and those with weak adrenals.

 

1. Mitral valve problems seem to affect women with adrenal fatigue

more often than others. Body proportions tend to be smaller at the top,

heavier at the bottom where the weight gain, if any, tends to take place. The

tendency to valve problems may be related to connective tissue quality since

it sometimes improves with connective tissue support. Hawthorn Berry seems

to help. Individuals with plain hypothyroidism don’t appear to have a

higher incidence of valvular problems compared to the rest of the population.

 

1. These individuals tend to digest meat poorly because of low

gastric acidity. They often think they have high acidity because of occasional

heartburn or heartburn with digestive enzymes containing digestive acid. The

problem is usually not one of inadequate acid production, but less adequate

gastric protection. This could be helped by chewing or sucking on a

specific type of licorice candy called DGL or Slippery Elm. Suck or chew on it

about ½ hr before the meal. It produces increased secretion of gastric

(stomach) mucous protective layer. This helps to prevent irritation by the

acids

in the stomach.

 

1. In adrenal fatigue, the total cholesterol tends to run low to

low-normal while the HDL tends to run high-normal to high. In hypothyroidism,

the opposite tends to occur with a high-normal to high cholesterol and

normal-low HDL.

 

1. In low metabolic energy states of adrenal origin, it is common to

see WBC (White Blood Cells are the front line soldiers against infection)

and Platelets (they work to initiate a clotting response in areas of

vascular injury) low relative to optimal. Typically, the WBC is under 6 and the

platelets are under 210.

 

8. The MCV (mean corpuscular volume) is a measure of the size of the

red blood cells. Their size tends to increase as vitamin B12 deficiency

increases. Individuals with poor digestion / absorption tend to run low on vit.

B12, so they tend to have larger blood cells, i.e., MCV tends to be at the

high end of normal or high. This is more common in adrenal fatigue since

these individuals tend to eat less meat, tend to digest it poorly if they do

eat it and generally absorb poorly.

1. RDW measures the distribution or variability of the size of young

red blood cells. Individuals with stable health tend to have little

variability in cell size. An unstable or poor state of health generally shows

up

as higher variability in cell size.

 

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