I had my GI re-test and I successfully killed the tapeworm, roundworm, ameba, C-diff, and 2 kinds of yeast. The markers that test for the gut lining are almost normal. It took 8 months of strict dieting and supplements to do this. I am also not longer allergic to gluten and eggs and I am no longer allergic to dogs, cats, 4 kinds of trees, 5 kinds of grasses, pollen, ragweed. Only a mild allergy left to dust. I still have the antibodies for dairy and soy though and one parasite left, toxoplasma.

All my skin issues are pretty much gone and I have totally normal BM's now but I feel worse. I have such ups and downs relating to fatigue, headaches, brain fog, mood.. I have Hashimotos disease and adrenal fatigue that is now worse according to my testing. I only was able to tolerate 4 months of chelation. (DMSA and EDTA).

I'm worried that it is the mercury now that I no longer have all the candida and parasites soaking it up in my gut. I stopped the algin at my doctors recommendation but am about to start it up again today. It is just hard because I have so many supplements to take. Some on an empty stomach, some 30 minutes before a meal, some 10 min before a meal, drops, powders... <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif" alt="" /> I take 20 different things just in the morning!!!

I'm not sure what to do besides starting back up with the algin and the greens powder in the morning. These supplements are costing me over $700 a month. The newest ones I just started are cortef, DHEA, and thyrolur. My doctors regime really helped me to heal my gut and I trust him a lot, but I just can't take all the supplements anymore. I think I would rather feel mildly fatigued all the time then have such ups and downs.

Anyone have experience with helping adrenal fatigue? what helped?

thanks,
chigirl

Please help!!

chigirl

hi chigirl : if you are suffering from adrenal fatigue I would strongly recommend that you purchase a book called (adrenal fatigue "the 21 st century stress syndrome ') written by James l. wilson ,it cost about $15.00 on amazon.com in his seattle ,washington practice he has helped thousands of patients with adrenal disorders and cured them ,in his book he explains what foods to avoid ,what food to eat ,suppliments that help you feel better ,and how to use adrenal glandulars instead of hydrocortisone to heal the adrenal glands ,you may be able to get rid of some of the suppliments you are taking now,once you have read his book (do you still have amalgam filling?)

Blimey Chigirl you have had mega problems. How did you get c-diff, if you don't mind me asking. My mum has got it and had diffferent types of antibiotics but can't get rid of it. You have done well to beat all that stuff already, You must be very brave. Hope you continue to improve. Tracy

Thank you so much for the book suggestion. I think I will buy that one for sure.

regarding the c-diff. God only knows how I got it. I guess my gut was so messed up from all the other stuff and the fact that I am exposed to it on a daily basis in the hospital where I work. I refused the antibiotic that my doctor recommended. I felt like antibiotics messed me up in the first place (I took them for acne for over 7 years) and just didn't want to take another. My doctor gave me Tinidazole (for 10 days), oil of oregano, Floraster, and L-glutamine. I also took digestive enzymes and betaine HCL with each meal. In about 2 months I started also taking a probiotic from Custom Probiotics and later stopped the oil of oregano.

Thanks you so much for your replies. I'm feeling pretty down lately. I turn 40 tomorrow!! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif" alt="" />

chigirl

I suggest that you try grapefruit seed extract. Start out slowly with 3 drops in 8 ounces of water 3 times a day, then gradually increase it to 6 drops in 8 ounces of water 6 or so times a day. Stir it carefully. This is powerful stuff. Grapefruit seed extract works against candida, bacteria, viruses, and parasites. Candida problems can come back with a vengance . It might be a good idea to keep taking 3 drops in 8 ounces of water twice a day after you feel completely well just as a preventative.

chigirl :happy early birhday and remember like wine and cheese we only get better with age.

Thanks heavymetalme.

regarding the grape seed extract. Your right, that stuff is very powerful. Since I do not have anymore parasites, yeast, or c-diff I don't think I want to kill all the good bacteria that I have finally re-colonized in my gut. I will continue with the floraster, probiotics, betaine HCL, and L-glutamine for my gut. I'm not sure what other ones to cut out at this point.

chigirl

Grapefruit seed extract is much different than grape seed extract. Grape seed extract is an immune booster. Grapefruit seed extract is a very powerful antimicrobial. A few times I thought I was over candida, and it came back quite severely. The last time was after having some amalgams removed. As for beneficial bacteria, eating plain yogurt and/or taking acidophilus supplements would be a good idea.

Happy Birthday Chigirl. I turned 40 last year, one month after having my amalgams out. I was so sick and down on life I didn't celebrate it at all - couldn't eat anything nice, or drink a glass of champagne. It was rough, especially when I heard of friends having massive birthday parties to mark the same birthday.

Glad you are getting on top of your gut issues. I think the cortef will make a difference (or glandulars if your adrenals are not beyond them). Cortisol improves digestion and absorption; when I started taking it I finally put on some weight. I had classic low adrenal symptoms - weak, very thin, couldn't put on weight, dark rings under eyes, very shaky, couldn't function, insomnia.

Sounds like you are in better shape than I was. But I would still give the HC or the glandulars a go. I think supporting adrenals is almost mandatory when you have amalgam illness.

Best
Nicola

Nicola,
I have some of the same symptoms. dark circles under my eyes, low energy, very thin (except my butt, lol), low drive in general, trouble sleeping...
Are you taking cortef or DHEA? How long before the dark circles started go and you energy improved? Sometimes I feel like everything would be fine if I could just sleep 8 hours straight every night. I feel so good when I do that.

chigirl

Chigirl

I take 6.5mg of Prednisolone a day - 5mg in the morning, 1.5mg at night. My adrenals were completely shot before I worked out what was going on, found my way through idiot doctors, and finally found none who would treat me. ~By then I was a hypoglycemic, insomniac, weak, shaky, rake-thin wreck. I would wake every night at 3am unable to sleep due to low cortisol and low blood sugar. I craved sleep more than anything else, but couldn't.

My doctor suggested the Pred because he thought HC wouldn't be strong enough. I tried it for a couple of days, but running out of cortisol every 4 hours was even more stressful, so I switched to Pred. This gives a more constant supply of cortisol and I have improved greatly on it. Obviously I would like to cut down, but I think that is unrealistic now.

I also take DHEA - 20mg a day, and have been for over a year. I'm not sure what effect it is having, but I don't look so haggard. It is supposed to be THE anti-ageing hormone, so at 41, I'm not going to complain !

In terms of how long it took for the Pred to take effect - recovery kind of crept up on me over 6-12 months. In that time I also finished having my amalgams out, so I wouldn't know what effect that had on my adrenals. Of course I was functioning at a very low extent when I was newly on the Pred. But now I have better function. I can go shopping for an hour without feeling horribly shaky. I can walk from one end of the supermarket to the other. I can go several hours without becoming hypoglycemic. I can take my kids where they need to go. I still have the bulk of chelation ahead of me.

My view is that if you have adrenal fatigue, it isn't going to get better by itself. In fact, detoxing and chelating will stress your adrenals more, and you could end up worse after chelation than you were before. It makes sense to support them to the extent that you can function again. I had little choice with three young children.

Of course I'd rather not be taking the Pred, and be dependent on it age 41 (birthday 2 days ago!!). I'd rather not have had a mouthful of amalgams that trashed my adrenals over the years, but I didn't have any say over that either. Sadly, that's my reality now.

Nicola

Happy Birthday to you to!! You are very blessed that you already have children. I feel a certain stress about getting better because I haven't given up yet on having a baby. Time is ticking though, but we have a lot of friends that had babies in there early 40ies and are doing well. My doctor actually said that I may be able to start trying in November if my hormone tests come back OK. I guess I can still get pregnant with adrenal fatigue?

I've been working though all of this. I was able to decrease down to 4 days a week, but can't do it for much longer. My husband doesn't really acknowledge this as a real problem, so I keep limping through each day as if I am normal. I'm sure my job isn't helping things. I work in a hospital and I am exposed to sick people every day. Breathing in hospial air isn't so good either. All those harsh cleaners. I'm just to tired to switch jobs at this point.

I'm actually going Salsa dancing tonight with a girl friend for my birthday. I've been preparing my body all day for it and have off work tomorrow. Still have this headache. I hope I survive it.

Mary Jane

Nicola,
Get back to us in a few years when you have all kinds of symptoms from your prednisone use.

Mary Jane:

Just a word of caution, it takes a lot of physical energy to make a baby and if you are already adrenal fatigued, it will only stress your body even more. Please be careful, you might want to wait until you have FULL recovery.

Gabriella

Anon, I don't mind your posts, but you know a little sugar with your salt might help, geez, have you no compassion? If you cannot post with respect, you should go somewhere else.

Anon

as soon as I am able, I plan to switch over to HC, which is the physiological equivalent of the cortisol the body produces.

At present, I have no weight gain, no swelling, no osteoporosis, no high cortisol symptoms, so I assume that I am taking a dose that is good for my body and that my body needs. I would not have got through amalgam removal and would not be able to chelate without the pred.

I hear your viciousness, which I don't understand. You don't seem to understand, although I have made it perfectly clear, that I had NO CHOICE when taking the Pred. HC was too weak, and I could not get out of bed, let alone walk around. I have three children aged 10, 8 and 5 who need a functioning mother. My husband works long hours and is simply not there a lot of the time. am I supposed to lie in bed all the time? What are the kids supposed to do?

There are plenty of people with addisons, which I have, who have to take steroids for the rest of their life. Would you tell them to stop taking the hormone that is essential to their life? Would you tell a diabetic not to take insulin?

As I said, my intention is to switch to HC as and when my adrenals get stronger, and more of the mercury is gone. I do not smoke, drink or take drugs. I burden my body in no other way. I know it is less than ideal, but life is not perfect. You must be perfect if you can preach to people on the internet. You need to give sick people a break.

Nicola

Gabriella,
I just bought the book "Adrenal fatigue: the 21st century stress syndome". It actually says that children born to mothers with adrenal fatigue are typically born with lower adrenal fuction. I definately wouldn't want to start my child off with this problem. I definately need to talk with my doctor about the projection he gave me.
The thing is that I really want to believe him that it will be OK in November. If I wait until my adrenals are 100% (can take 2 years) I will be 42! Thanks for the concern though.

chigirl

Chigirl

I can testify to this. Two of my three children are hypothyroid and hypoadrenal, confirmed by blood and urine tests. My son, who was born three years before I got sick, is particularly badly affected, and I am thinking of chelating him with DMSA and ALA.

Someone else I know who has mercury toxicity had dental work while pregnant. Her son has mild Addisons.

They are both taking Armour, but no adrenal support at present. My endo believes that taking Armour will help stimulate and heal the adrenals, but this works only in children. I have just started my eldest on Armour also - she is very anxious, cold and has puffy eyes. That mercury was wreaking havoc not just in my body way before I knew it, but in their little bodies as well. It is a crime to humanity. The dentists have poisoned us for generations to come.

Best
Nicola

Sometimes I think we can over supplement Chi, maybe taking a break might give your body a chance to reboot; just my 2 cents. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

Sandi
xoxo

Mary Jane,

I just bought that book too and "Your Thyroid And How To Keep It Healthy" since usually both are affected by mercury.

What I am really realizing is that I didn't get sick in one day and the healing is going to take as long as it takes, but its better than continuing with the poison in my body and getting worse.

Gabriella

Approximately 5 in 1,000,000 people have Addisons and you fail to list a few dozen known side effects to say nothing of the unknown ones of prednisone.

Sandi, I'm thinking the same thing. Just a short break from some might do me some good. I actualy feel pretty good today.

chigirl

Anon, you got the floor, if you want the side effects of prednisone mentioned, please post. I am sure people WILL want to read it.

chigirl-
PLEASE tell me what you mean by "no longer allergic to gluten". Were you gluten intolerant or allergic to wheat, oat, rye, barley? I found out a year ago I was gluten intolerant after suffering for 17 years. Many of my symptoms have disappered since being on a gluten-free diet, but I would love to know more about how you did this (if it was indeed an intolerance, which is genetic).
THANKS!
Tracy M.

$700 in supplements. That's insane!. Having to even worry about taking that many a day almost makes you a slave to the supplenments! Honestly I'd say cut way back on the supplements. Leave some room for your body to get what it needs from some food. Is there even any room for food in your stomach after taking all those <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />

wow v1001 is that you in the pic... your so cute.

lol, I was going to ask the same thing. The guy looks like he fell out of a magazine....

TracyM,
I had a GI test which showed antibodies for gliadin/gluten about 8 months ago. (also soy, diary, and eggs). I also had a very messed up gut. 3 parasites, 2 kinds of yeast, and a very nasty bacteria. So, basically I started developing food sensitivities because of Leaky gut syndrome. I healed my gut, but our bodies still develop antibodies because it has "memory". Even though the original reason behind it is no longer there. The body also "forgets" so if you can go without even a molecule of the troublesome food for at least 3 months, the body will forget to create the antibodies. Eggs are not really hidden in things, so I got rid of that sensitivity. I was very strict regarding gluten, so I got rid of that one. I cheated and had goats milk products because I didn't think it was bothering me and I was eating soy without knowing it. (I found out later that one of the restaurants I go to mixes soy oil with the olive oil). If I truely avoid it for another 8 months and I still come back with the antibodies, it is possible that it is genetic. Do they check for antibodies when you get tested for Celiacs disease? I would imagine that it is something different because Celiacs is genetic right? There is also a connection between mercury and some foods like gluten and dairy. I know Sandi has info on that.

Yeah, I spend tons of money on supplements. It is crazy!! Part of me wants to just stop (and I may just have to at some point), but another part of me thinks about how my doctors protocol managed to kill all that nasty stuff in my gut, get rid of my eczema, acne, some food sensitivities, and even environmental allergies. He has really helped me a lot. I also look so much more healthy (and younger!). I recently told someone I just met my age (just turned 40) and her jaw dropped!! She said I looked like I was 28! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />
All that being said, I think I may just decrease one of the really expensive supplements that I am taking. Each capsule cost about $1 and I take 12 a day! Tomorrow I am decreasing it down to 10. That alone will save me $60 a month! Just 2 less!

chigirl