More than
"adrenal support"

Isocort
Dr. John C. Lowe

● Adrenal fatigue—A real disorder no matter what its name: A response to Dr. Peter Hibberd, by Dr. Lowe.

● Dr. Lowe's A&Q page on the adrenal glands and cortisol (at drlowe.com)

● Rebuttal to the British Thyroid Association's denouncement of natural desiccated thyroid. Thyroid Science.

When more than adrenal support is needed. Over the past year, we recommended RLC Labs' Adrenal Support Formula for people who had adrenal fatigue, although our intention was for it to work in conjunction with Isocort. Theoretically, adrenal support products are a good idea. But after a year of  recommending the product and listening to feedback from those who used it, we've ceased to recommend the product.

Some people with adrenal fatigue preferred to try Adrenal Support Formula as their first-line approach. Too many of these people later contacted us and asked if we had a stronger approach they could use. Almost invariably, those people were highly satisfied once they stopped Adrenal Support Formula and began using Isocort. Finally, we decided to stop providing Adrenal Support Formula at ThyroidScience.us.

I regret that adrenal support with RLC's product, as well as similar products by other companies, has proven (at least to us) to provide less-than-perceptible benefits, if any at all. Unfortunately, without clinical trials of a product, we have only one way to evaluate it: that is, make sure the product contains at least some ingredients shown in clinical trials to benefit people, and then collect feedback from people who use the product to learn over time whether they believe it has helped them. That was the approach we had to use.

We plan in the future to carefully formulate another  adrenal support formula and test it in clinical trials. Until we find through such trials a formulation that works, we can't in good conscious recommend an adrenal support formula for our customers.

When we recommended Adrenal Support Formula to patients, it was with the intention of the product facilitating their recover from adrenal fatigue with Isocort. Our aim was for the people who wanted to try adrenocortical rehab was for them to expeditiously recover from adrenal fatigue. Many have done so with Isocort, but many reports from people who've consulted with me convinced me that when used properly, Isocort alone did the job, and Adrenal Support Formula provided no additional benefit.

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Contents. Isocort is a freeze-dried extract of adrenal cortex. The pellets provide a standardized dose of cortisol to supplement adrenal function. Isocort pellets also contain synergistic herbs and medium chain triglycerides. The herbs in Isocort are very small amounts of echinacea extract, prunus spp. and lomatium dissectum. Each bottle of Isocort contains 240 pellets.

Dr. David K. Shefrin is the naturopathic physician who formulated Isocort. He designed the product to provide adrenal support for people who have adrenal fatigue. Adrenal fatigue involves lower than optimal amounts of cortisol.

People with adrenal fatigue may have a few or many symptoms. The most common symptoms are low energy and fatigue, muscle weakness, low blood sugar, low blood pressure, dizziness upon rising from a sitting or lying position, sensitivity to lights or sounds, an exaggerated startle reaction, salt craving, excessive thirst, and trouble getting up and moving after sleeping.

Patients differ in how the experience adrenal fatigue. Some have one of the symptoms above, another patient may have several, and still other patients may have them all, plus others I didn't list.

Some people take Isocort on an empty stomach; others take it with food, which interfere with its absorption. 

For use as adrenal support, Dr. Shefrin recommends the following dose schedule: 2 pellets with breakfast, 2 at lunch, and 1 at dinner. He recommends that people not take more than 8 pellets daily. Some other clinicians recommend that people take 2 Isocort pellets 4 times each day.

I make a distinction between the supplemental approach the use of Isocort and a rehabilitative approach. The latter approach is more assertive. One of its purposes is to enable as many patients as possible to overcome their adrenal fatigue. Some are able to do so by taking Isocort in a way that minimizes the need for the cells of the adrenal cortex to produce much cortisol. After several weeks to a couple of months, some people are then able to wean themselves off Isocort without their adrenal fatigue symptoms from returning.

Before using the rehabilitative approach, I suggest that people have their free cortisol levels in their saliva measured. Low cortisol levels in patients with cortisol deficiency symptoms warrants the person undergoing the treatment. Later, after weaning off the Isocort with a symptoms returning, the person should have his or her salivary cortisol levels measured again. If the levels are higher than at baseline, and possibly within the reference range, this and the relief of the symptoms shows that the person's adrenal cells have recovered the ability to produce enough cortisol, which is the purpose of the rehabilitative approach.

Whether a person uses Isocort for adrenal support or for adrenal rehab, I recommend that he or she also take an adrenal support product. A quality adrenal support product should hasten the recovery of normal adrenal cortex cell function as the person goes through adrenal rehab with Isocort.

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