Whether or not they require a prescription, these are all hormones, and hormones can have powerful effects and side effects. But the answer is not to start self-treating with over-the-counter progesterone creams or order estradiol creams, or to hit the vitamin store for bottles of melatonin, pregnenolone, and DHEA. Not enough melatonin, pregnenolone, or DHEA can also interfere with weight loss. Imbalances of progesterone and estrogen - either too much or too little, or an improper ratio of one to the other - can slow down your digestion or make you more efficient at fat storage. Things to avoid include caffeine, ephedra, guarana, kola nut, and prescription stimulants. It puts further stress on the adrenals to work harder and produce more energy, and ends up further depleting the adrenal glands. As much as you may want them, stimulants are the equivalent of giving too much gas and flooding the engine in a car. Some people prefer to take this in a concentrated form known as pantethine. Pantothenic acid, 100-500 mg with each meal, can promote proper adrenal balance.

Consider contacting the Broda Barnes Foundation to purchase their referral list of doctors who have expertise in diagnosing adrenal fatigue and treating with hydrocortisone. If you are suffering from adrenal fatigue, here are a few tips: Some people with adrenal fatigue or unresponsive hypothyroidism have found that low-dose hydrocortisone can help their immune system and can resolve many symptoms. A holistic or complementary practitioner can do a saliva Cortisol test to evaluate your adrenal function and diagnose more subtle dysfunctions. Conventional endocrinologists and conventional tests cannot diagnose adrenal fatigue, because they are only prepared to diagnose extreme dysfunction in the adrenals, such as Addison's disease, a potentially fatal condition where the adrenals essentially shut down, or Cushing's syndrome, when too much Cortisol is produced. But being consistently under stress takes a toll on the adrenal glands, and eventually they run out of steam and stop producing sufficient hormones. This can include the use of the adrenal hormones (i.e., DHEA and pregnenolone), ovarian hormones (i.e., using natural progesterone and natural estrogens and natural testosterone), growth hormone, melatonin, and others.

In order to achieve the best results, I feel it is necessary to balance out the entire hormonal system. Dr. David Brownstein, author of The Miracle of Natural Hormones, believes that balancing the entire hormonal system may be a key to weight loss for some people. It's an art and a science not particularly suited to our own amateur efforts at diagnosis and treatment. For a thyroid patient who is already taking a hormone supplement, it is particularly essential. So you need to have your levels tested and deficiencies and imbalances assessed before you start adding hormones to the mix.