Dependence on Pills

 Once again, my demands are hardly unreasonable.  I've accepted that I will never be free from the pills.  A total cure is unrealistic.  I only wish to get it under control with treatment.  So far, I am doing great on Demand #1.  The inexplicable reactions have stopped.  That's the one that I needed the most.  It still remains to be seen if these reactions will still be gone at 3 mg but I have a good feeling.  I believe that anything above that dose will trigger morning issues.  Enough about that for now.

Regarding Demand #2:

The Melatonin is not a magic bullet that cures all of my chemical imbalances.  I had no such expectation My adrenals remain unbalanced and I still need support in that area.  Also, without at least semi-regular B-12, I will have issues with pernicious anemia. As long as it's controlled with treatment, I can live with that.

What happens if I miss a dose of Thym Adren?

I was slightly slower but not enough to be considered significant.  The gap in a sprint was only 15 seconds per mile and I believe that some of that was due to natural variability.  That said, if I go 3 days without it, yes I will start to feel a little bit off.  If I had to go 5 days, it will get ugly.

Even though 11/1 was a downer, I still beat the previous day's time on a tougher course.  I attribute that to the reduced Melatonin dose.  I began the workout with a noticeable increase in energy on 8 mg vs 10 but faded down the stretch because of adrenal imbalances.  I recognized what was wrong and made the correction before things got too ugly.  I can live with that. 

 It was not a shock that I had to raise my dosage.  Adrenals often spike temporarily after a major problem is solved.  The difference between 3 and 5 pills was 30 seconds per mile.  That's significant but not a night and day difference.  It would not have been a total disaster if I raced a 5K on 3.

I predict that once I hit equilibrium on 5, I will once again be able to get away with an occasional missed dose.  I expect that in time, the dosage will go back to 3.  I'll be sluggish for a couple of days then get 30 seconds faster after going back down to 3.  As long as these adjustments are relatively infrequent, I can live with it.  Hopefully, after I fully adjust to the Melatonin, the adrenal dosage will be consistent.

Now let's compare this to where I was before the Melatonin:

A missed dose of Thym Adren cost me nearly 2 minutes per mile in a sprint. In a real workout, it would have been even worse.  The longer the distance, the uglier it gets.  To put it another way, I could not even function without the Thym Adren.  

Add to that, the dose was a lot more unpredictable.  Some days, I could get by with 3.  Other days, I needed 6 or more.  If I overshot on an adrenal spike, I was CRAP for another 2 days because I took too much.  Taking 3 when I needed 5 and vice versa was a DISASTER.

Conclusion:

Sure, I wish I could get off Thym Adren and I wish the dose was consistent but I am a LOT better.  Again, there is a chance that the adjustments will stop once I am on the Melatonin long-term.

Sleep changes:

This is a minor consideration as I never did have serious sleep issues.  I've noticed that I don't require as much sleep at night and the quality has improved.  I had a funny dream last night that involved being naked at my desk at work.  Nobody noticed but I was afraid of getting caught.