Resources for my Supplements, Toiletries, Foods, Videos, Books

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So many people have called or emailed asking where I get my supplements, what do I use instead of makeup and shampoo so I don't get toxins and hormones into my body from the storebought stuff, and how much it costs to deal with my illness. So, I am posting it all in one blog post so that the resources can be found here. So here goes:

SUPPLEMENTS (vitamins, minerals, herbs, glandulars, etc.):


ConcenTrace Mineral Drops I use 60 to 70 drops per day. The link to this only shows the product. I don't buy it from Amazon because I can get is straight from local health food store for $18.99.


Isocort I am currently tapering off this glandular and will slowly start using ACE (Adrenal Cortical Extract) under my doctor's supervision. I purchase the Isocort from Natural Healthy Concepts online for $28.00 and get free shipping with their minimum purchase requirement.


ACE (Adrenal Cortical Extract) $32.00 from Clymer. I have not started this product, but will this week to replace the Isocort. It's an adaptogen so it will help me make cortisol when I need it and lower it when I don't need it.

Vitamin E (Unique E) is $40.50 from Clymer. I've looked all over for a better price, but this is it! And this is by far the best Vitamin E I can find.

Magnesium Malate I use both this product and a transdermal magnesium for now. I might switch to transdermal completely, but then I'll be missing the malic acid for my fibromyalgia. I use 3.5 tablets of this product daily, but get about 1,000 mg. more from the transdermal, so I'm loaded up on magnesium! From Natural Healthy Concepts for $5.39 each bottle and there's free shipping when I order $50 or more at a time from them.


Ancient Minerals Magnesium (the transdermal magnesium). I don't actually get mine from their website. There's a seller on eBay who sells it for the same amount but free shipping. $55.00 for the flakes and more for the acutal "oil" which is just pure water. I really want to get the book, "Transdermal Magnesium Therapy" by Mark Sircus. If anyone has a copy and wants to let me borrow theirs, let me know!


Pregnenolone Pure Encapsulations I'm taking 2o mg of this now, but started out the first 5 weeks on only 10 mg. It costs about $20.00 for a 3 month supply for me.

Seriphos $20.00 for each bottle of 100 capsules. This is the most expensive of the products I buy. My husband and I found that the best price is if we get it at Natural Healthy Concepts because if we buy 3 or 4 bottles at a time, we get free shipping and the bottles are a tad cheaper anyway. My doctor had me start using about 5 of these a day for panic attacks (adrenaline rushes from my HPA not working properly) and insomnia. We've moved me up slowly to 15 capsules a day (sometimes I need only 9), but it's something that has helped me get off the benzodiazepine and help with sleep and panic attacks. And just imagine... it's all natural. God made it... fancy that huh? I have had no problems with this company and wish I could buy all my supplements through them! If I'm not well, I need about 450 of these capsules a month which means over 4 bottles of it. As my HPA Axis calms down more (hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal Axis), I'll be able to use a lot less of this product.


Symplex F by Standard Process This has been a great product for me to help heal the hormonal problems and support for my adrenal glands. The doctor has me taking 3 each day. Found that I get 2 weeks free if I buy it in bulk from Amazon for $49.50 plus shipping.

Pantothenic Acid my doctor has me taking 3,000 mg. a day to balance my hormones. It's just Vitamin B-5, but has been helpful. I was buying it at the local health food store, but my doctor is sending me a bottle of what they have because it has ingredients that are more helpful (apparently more of something I'm neeeding in it). The cost is higher, so I'll see if I can get the same brand elseshere unless his is the least expensive.

Thymuril I cannot say enough about this product for me! We are even getting my husband on it. It's boosted my immune system greatly. If I could get only a few products into my system, this would be at the top of my list for sure. I found the best place to get mine is through PlanetRX for $11.14 for each bottle (they have free shipping with a minimum order too). I use 3 tablets or 6 capsules (the tablets have twice the amount of supplements in it). I am not struggling nearly as bad with chemical sensitivities now whereas before the Thymuril, I coulnd't breathe, my chest would tighten, and I would get very dizzy and confused if I even smelled perfume, much less nasty soaps and bleach!

Vitamin C Buffered 500 mg. I am trying to find a good Vitamin C, but for now, I have een using what my doctor has which is a buffered Vit. C for $13.50. I'm taking about 2,000 mg. a day of Vitamin C to boost my immune system.


Vitamin D Thorne D-5000 60 Capsules for $12.00 is what I use. Doctor has me taking 10,000 IU a day. This is good for my Calcium and Magnesium and helps with depression caused by hormonal problems.

Licorice Root Powder $16.00 to raise my cortisol in the mornings to "get going." Nice instead of coffee. This is organic and tastes great. One bottle lasts me about 3 months.

Passionflower Organic Powder I get in bulk and buy the vegetable caps and use this for insomnia. It does not have an effect on benzos or benzo withdrawal for me and from what I understand, it doesn't take the same CYP Pathway as Klonopin (benzo). They do sell non-organic powder, but I prefer knowing I'm not putting pesticides in my body, so I definitely get the organic and so far, the middle sized bag has lasted us 4 months and I'm sure I have another 4 months to go. This is a very inexpesive way to get passionflower.

FOODS:


Flax Seeds I buy from our local health food store in bulk. I crush them up in a coffee blender and use 1 to 2 Tb. a day.


Psyllium Husks I'm starting this week for a soluble fiber which I found will pull out the extra hormones (especially extra adrenaline), toxins, sugars, and all the bad stuff from my body by binding to the bile that needs to get out of my system. The BEST information I have ever seen on this is found HERE.

KAL Organic Stevia Extract is awesome! I've used stevia instead of sugar for a couple years now, but there's always a little aftertaste, but then I found KAL Organic and oh my! What a difference. I spend $9.85 plus shipping for this and it lasts a while.

Coffee Substitute I use instead of coffee because 1. coffee is very hard on the adrenal glands and all systems really, 2. it's hard on my blood sugar levels with the hypoglycemia, and 3. it is known to have pesticides that I don't want to consume which is hard on the liver (though there are organic coffees that use a Swiss Water Process). I use Kaffree Roma as a substitute buying at our local health food store and the canister lasts one month for me.

Ezekiel Bread I use because 1. it's organic, 2. I actually know what is in the bread (go look at your loaf of bread and see the sugars and words you can't pronounce!), and 3. it is good replacement of the bad breads for hypoglycemics and diabetics as it's lower in carbs and there's good fiber in it. I buy mine at the local health food store.

Redmond RealSalt is what my husband and I use now after reading what's wrong with regular table salt and what's right with the stuff God has made. Here's a good book on this subject called "Salt: Your Way to Health" by Dr. David Brownstein. It was such an eye-opener about the lies I've been told, "don't eat too much salt!!!" Now I understand and my doctor has me drinking saltwater in order to raise my aldosterone levels (kind of a "duh" moment for me when I read this book). Book can be found HERE. I think the next book on my list as far as nutrition and getting over this illness is going to be on Iodine which can be found HERE or HERE

Wonderslim Fat Free 99.7% Caffeine Free Cocoa Powder I've not tried this yet but have heard great things about it. I don't know if they use a good water process to remove the caffeine or do what most companies do and use formadehyde. I ordered the Wonderslim recently, but have yet to try it.

TOILETRIES:

Body and Hand Soap I use the Natural (Fragrance-Free) (Milky White Soap) from Sappo Hill Soapworks as it doesn't have toxins and hormones in it like storebought soap. $1.65 per bar of soap.

Tooth Chips I use instead of toothpaste. Toothpaste has fluoride, sodium lauryl sulfate, dyes, artificial sweeteners, silicates (sand), stabilizers or an addition of 60% glycerin found in it. What's all that? Google the words on the back of your toothpaste and see if that's what you want in you and your family's mouth each day! *smile*

Makeup (other than mascara and lipstick) I buy from a lady who makes mineral makeup.

Lipstick I use Ecco Bella so I don't get the toxins and hormones into my system with my makeup.

Macara is Ecco Bella also because I can't stand using mascara with carcinogens which is "is any substance, radionuclide or radiation that is an agent directly involved in the exacerbation of cancer or in the increase of its propagation."

Laundry Soap is handmade by my friend Dana. If you want laundry soap that doesn't have carcinogens in them, contact here HERE or email me and I can get you contact with her. She makes the soap and it lasts and lasts and lasts and I don't have to worry about harmful chemicals for my husand and I.

What I use for shampoo is baking soda and for conditioner, I use vinegar. They both work fine and there's not nasty chemicals that cause cancer in them.

OTHER:

Power Mixer for my benzo withdrawal water titration I have to do each day to get off this medication. This is the best little blender for doing this. I spent $11.75 plus shipping for mine.

The most helpful books I've read to help me understand my illness, how to get better, and overall how to live healthy even if I wasn't sick are:

1. Chronic Fatigue Unmasked 2000 by Gerald Poesnecker, N.D. (free chapter can be found HERE)

2. Salt: Your Way to Health by Dr. David Brownstein

3. Benzodiazepines: How They Work and How to Withdrawal by Dr. Heather Ashton (free online)

3. The Magnesium Miracle by Carolyn Dean, M.D., N.D.

4. Sugar Blues by William F. Duffy

5. What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Menopause by Dr. John R. Lee

6. When God Weeps by Joni Eareckson Tada

The most helpful videos I've found have been:

1. Karen Hurd's LECTURES

2. Videos done by the Citizen's Commission on Human Rights HERE.

3. The Birth of Modern Psychiatry 1 through 4 found HERE.

4. A man going through Klonopin withdrawal without tapering slowly and addressing the other problems related to withdrawal such as adrenal insufficiency (this video is what commonly happens when getting off of benzodiazepines... it happened to me too). It's important to learn how to taper safely. Video HERE and HERE.

5. Ruth's Story of getting off (safe... yeah right) antidepressants.

6. Peter Breggin reports on psychiatric drugs HERE.

7. Food, Inc. was the most helpful in understanding our foods.

8. Super Size Me was helpful in knowing how the body responds to good food and bad food. This man had tests done to see his levels prior to eating fast food. The doctors are in this video too!

9. The Future of Food ... the title says it all! A must see if you are still breathing and require food to exist!

My other blogs can be found HERE and HERE.

Tamara Slack


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008 Part 2 of Chapter 4 "Patient and Family Responsibilities"

To visit blog home page and comment on this entry, click HERE.

November 7, 2009
008

Here's more of the story of one of his patients who was a pastor from Part 1 of this post (book notes in brown, my notes in black, without that bad, complaining attitude I've had:

"At other times, he had became so weak that he had to spend two or three days flat on his back in bed before he could carry on with his work." (pg 71)

Stop! This so reminds me of Charles Spurgeon's problems with depression. You can read the "Anguish and Agonies of Spurgeon" HERE. Continuing on with the book:

"He was, however, as are so many CFS patients, a definite overacheiver. As soon as he was able to get out of bed, he was out working on church duties, giving lectures in different parts of the country, attending parishioners and planning new projects. Since he lived about six hours from our Clinic, it was not possible for us to see him frequently, so every attempt was made to find a physician in his local area who was knowledgeable about CFS. As previously reported, those who would accept him as a patient seemed to have little knowledge of CFS, and those who were knowledgeable refused to accept him as a patient... He had to give up as many of his external church duties as possible and delegate wherever possible his internal church duties. Eventually, once he was able to regenerate his system, he could gradually return to his various duties. However, I do not believe that even under the best circumstances he should ever return to the full intensity of activities he was fulfilling when I first saw him. Admittedly, such an opinion is not what a patient wants to hear. In fact, this patient has had a difficult time accepting our diagnosis of CFS. Nature has a way of helping truth, however, and once he again fainted during church services, he had little choice but to accept the condition." (pgs 71-72)

"Probably the most common question asked me by those with CFS is, "Will I ever be normal again?"

His answer, in part:

"Your problem happens to be a weakness in the neurohormonal mechanism. Luckily, it is one we understand, one we can control, and in most instances one we can correct. It is necessary, however, for you to live more cafefully in regard to the various stresses of life than the individual with a stronger neurohormonal mechanism, somewhat in the same way that the individdual who has inherited a mild diabetic condition must watch his diet so that he does not ingest too much sugar." (pg 75)

"Unlike the true neurotic or basic nonachiever, the adrenal victim wants nothing more than to be able to do all the things his friends and relatives are extolling him to do. The fact is, he is physically incapable of accomplishing these tasks and will remain so until the basic underlying condition is remedied." (pg 76)

"... the most well-meaning friends and family members hasten the development of this disease. In fact, from my many years in treating this conidtion, I have concluded that the most difficult to resolve and the most prolonged of all stresses imposed on the CFS patient are those place there by friends and amily who are truly trying to be helpful." (pg 77)

What family and friends can do: Understand, Encouragement, Reinforcement.

"Friends should let him know that they understand his problem, that they appreciate his suffering, but that with the proper treatment and care he will improve. They should let him know that although he will have ups and downs - for this is the nature of the condition itself - he must not give up, but must continue his treatment... There is no end to the value of encouragement for the CFS patient, no end to the need for constant assurance that he is going to get better... When friends and relatives ask what they can do to help the new CFS patient, I reply that there are three things which they should give in full measure: encuoragement, encouragement, and more encouragement." (pgs 80-81)

"Because of the lowered blood pressure, and therefore lowered nutrition and oxygen available to the brain of the CFS patient, he has difficulty making decisions and discriminating among types of thearapy." (pg 81)

"if he becomes quiet and withdrawan, if his eyes start to look somewhat vague and glassy, he is being exhausted." (pg 85)

"He needs encouragement in the same way that a woman in love wants to hear the words, "I love you." A woman can never be told "I love you" too often, nor can the CFS patient be given too much encouragement. Even if you have told the patient an hour before that he is going to be all right, tell him again because it is on these words that he must live during an important part of his therapy program.... Let the patient know that he is on the right road." (pgs 87-88)

This last paragraph reminds me of how much Chrisitans need to hear the gospel over and over again. We don't hear it once, repent of our sin, and never need to hear of God's love and forgiveness for us. No! We need to remind ourselves of the gospel daily, sometimes hourly as we journey through this life before being with Christ. I think it's the same thing when someone we love is very sick. We don't try to ignore the problem at hand, nor do we brush it off and change the subject. We comfort, try to understand, and encourage. We don't give the Law, but Grace!

My other blogs can be found HERE and HERE.

The original post for this daily diary began HERE.

Coram Deo,
Tamara Slack

006 PART 1 of Chapter 4 "Patient and Family Responsibilities"

To visit blog home page and comment on this entry, click HERE.

November 1, 2009
006

Continuing with some words from "Chronic Fatigue Unmasked 2000" by Dr. Gerald Poesnecker, I have to say this is one good chapter! It's called "Patient and Family Responsibilities" and has already helped my husband, Roger, and I to see what we both are supposed to be doing during healing of this illness. I sure thank God for him! It's a rough road, but he is staying the course with me. One of my good friends agreed to read this chapter when she gets time. That's one of the most comforting things - to know I have a friend who will support me by doing her best to understand how best to do so. You know who you are if you are reading this - know I love you and thank God for you! Quotes from the book are in brown. My notes are in black:

"The patient with this problem is usually intelligent, highly motivated, responsible, with a great desire to achieve. The difficulty is that he has neither the glandular nor the nervous strength to carry out these deisres and ambitions... Put yourself in his place for a moment, and perhaps you will see the degree of frustration that is produced by his condition. You are an individual of intelligence and character. You have desired to do useful and productive things with your life, and yet every time you attempt to do something, you become more and more exhausted. Every attempt at productive activity is met with strange nervous anxieties or, as one patient put it, "agitated depression." The only thing that even remotely seems to help is rest and withdrawal from all the fascintating events of life. You are like an athlete who is trained to run the hundred-yard dash, but who collapses after a few yards each time he attempts to run. Soon you stop trying and wonder if there is any sense in training or in trying to accomplish anything because fatigue, anxiety and failure have become the essence of your existence. Here, of course, is where your friend and family come to your aid. They entreat you: "Now, come on, don't be lazy. Keep going, keep trying," they tell you. "It's all in your mind. Tell yourself you are going to succeed and you will." The more of such admonitions and encouragement you receive from your family and friends, the more guilt you accumulate when you are not able to accomplish what they extol you to do." (pg 77)

If you are reading this and do not have Adrenal Syndrome (CFS), please, never take your health for granted. Use it for the glory of God... it is a gift I wish I had.

"Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) requires more patient cooperation and responsibility in its mastering and cure than any other medical condition known to me... The physician, no matter how accomplished, cannot cure CFS by himself. All honest treatment of CFS requires a great deal of work and dedication on the part of the physician, the patient, and especially those around the patient, both friends and family." (pg 65)

"It is not always easy for the CFS patient to comprehend his condition as readily as a more stable person might, because by nature CFS causes mental clouding, poor concentration, and inferier memory rentention." (pg 68)

"To understand the patient's difficulty, let us reconsider the nature of the condition, the nature of the CFS patient and the advice of the various physicians the patient may have consulted before us. In past years, most of these patients had been diagnosed as neurotic or just plain lazy. But they know that something is really wrong with them, and so most have fears that some strange, undiscoverd disease is gradually eating away at their vitals." (pg 69)

"Just yesterday, one of my CFS patients told me how she startled a surgeon, who had just told her she had breast cancer, by saying, "Boy, am I glad that's all it is, I was afraid it might be another manifestation fo CFS." "After all," as she asserted to me, "They do have a treatment for breast cancer." (pg 69)

One word about the last two statements above: EXACTLY!

"I once had a young minister from Pittsburgh as a CFS patient. His condition had become so severe that he had fainted in the pulpit while delivering a sermon. This reaction, not all that uncommon in CFS patients, occurred because his low blood pressure delivered a deficient amount of oxygen to his brain." (pg 71)

The story goes on about this pastor, but I want to stop at this point and note that in all the years I've seen doctors (which has not been in the past few years because they just want to send me to psychiatrists and not treat the real problem), they always said that my low blood pressure is fine, nothing to worry about. Why then have I always been faint? Why have I fainted? Why is this okay? It's not. It's dangerous and yet the medical community thinks, "Oh, well it's not high blood pressure, so you are better off." They ought to read their own material. Here is what the Mayo Clinic says in part:

for many people, low blood pressure can cause symptoms of dizziness and
fainting or mean that they have serious heart, endocrine or neurological
disorders. Severely low blood pressure can deprive the brain and other vital
organs of oxygen and nutrients, leading to a life-threatening condition called
shock.

The first time I fainted was when I was 11 and it was even in a hospital. You would think from 11 on, someone in the medical field would test my endocrine system or heart. Now I have a competent doctor and he and I are working on getting my blood pressure up so that I can get oxygen to my brain. I know these posts are long, so I'll stop here and move onto the rest of this pastor's story in tomorrow's post and finish up the rest of the portions of Chapter 4 too.

My other blogs can be found HERE and HERE.

The original post for this daily diary began HERE.

Coram Deo,
Tamara Slack

005 Snippets of Chapters 1 - 3 of Chronic Fatigue Unmasked 2000 Book

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October 29, 2009

005

I thought I would post some of the highlights of the book I'm reading on Adrenal Fatigue / CFS. It's called "Chronic Fatigue Unmasked 2000." It was written by the doctor who taught my doctor (Dr. Neville in PA) all about this disorder. The author is Dr. Gerald Poesnecker. So here's some snippets I've gleaned from this book that have been very helpful (the quotes are in brown below):

"Whereas six years ago most CFS patients were still considered to be malingering or just downright lazy by most physicians, they are not looked upon as "depressed" and placed on a variety of antidepressants. The use of antidepressants in CFS is like the use of NSAIDS in arthritis. They treat the symptoms but do nothing to correct the real cause of the condition... Thank goodness that there are medical men like Drs. David S. Bell, Paul R. Cheny and Charles W. Lapp who do understand CFS and know that it is not just another form of depression." (pgs ix-x)

Ha! Not just by doctors have I been considered lazy. I've got a host of people who have me down as "lazy" or "crazy" or "depressed" who have given up on me. Good thing Jesus never gave up on His promise to take care of me now and throughout eternity! He cares for the weak and sick. He tells us that He actually chose the weak and despised to inherit life. See:

1 Corinthians 1.26-29: "For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God."

Also see my post about HOPE.

"The more these patients are given regular treatment, the worse they eventually become." (pg xi)

"I don't know if it's practical to attempt to differentiate between Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Chronic Fatigue Immune Dysfunction. The mere fact that a virus is the stress factor that triggers the Chronic Fatigue reaction does not seem to me now to be such an imortant distinction." (pg xiv)

"The most common symptoms produced by this condition are unexplained exhaustion sometimes alternating with spells of anxiety or panic, a tendency to be oversensitive and/or allergeric to certain substances or environments, a lessening of the ability to reason rationally and to make decisions readily, a tendency toward low blood pressure, sensitivity to cold, poor circulation (cold hands and/or feet), and brain fog or other mental aberrations which can mimic a large variety of mental diseases." (pg 1)

"Personally, I think that much of this medical apathy has been produced by the general vagueness of this disease's character, by the neurotic-like symptoms of its victims and by the slow and tortuous path of its correction even with the best and most advanced therapies. " (pg. 2)

"The "scientific" physician, when confronted with a patient who displays the symptoms of CFS, has a ready answer: "The patient is depressed, neurotic, mildly psychotic, unmotivated or just bored with life." This that self-satisfied stance that can be a "badge of our trib," the patient is given a tranquilizer, antidepressant or both, and with the fatherly advice to stop worrying and to go to work he is sent home. It is just as impractical to tell a tubercular patient to go and play football as it is to tell a CFS patient to stop worrying. Am I exaggerating? Am I a little too hard on my medical contemproaries? One has only to remember that a short time ago patients were literally bled to death in an efford to satisfy this medical ego." (pg 3)

Here's what Wikipedia says about George Washington:
"George Washington asked to be bled heavily after he developed a throat infection from weather exposure. Almost 4 pounds (1.7 liters) of blood was withdrawn, much of it without a doctor's supervision, contributing to his death in 1799."

Yeah! And now docs are telling us to take a bunch of anti-anxiety (benzodiazepine) drugs and anti-depressants which are killing us. See videos HERE.

"Most chronic CFS patients are considered by their friends, relatives and health practioners - the people from whom they seek aid - to be suffering from some form of mental or psychological disturbance... One of the first and most important tasks of our therapy is to convice them that this is not true. Unless we accomplish this, treatment is difficult and sometimes nearly impossible. Many of these patients are called schizophrenic, some paranoiac, some manic-depressive, and most are called neurotic... chronic CFS can mimic the symptom patterns of all of these medical conditions." (pg 53)

I've been diagnosed with everything under the sun by doctors who never tested anything in my body. I was given about 12 different kinds of drugs including the very addictive drug, Klonopin for nearly 15 years, hospitalized (yes, mental hospitals!) and told I would probably kill myself. Had they just looked into the endocrine system and asked, "why is this happening?" they would have seen I've been very, very sick for a long time and needed their help, not their destructive drugs.

"Counseling, even by the best of physicians, often has little effect on these patients. About the only help at the present time for this patient is an active treatment of the general adaptive system to improve the oxygen-carrying power ot the tissues of the brain so that it can again function in a more rational manner." (pg 57)

"Somewhere in the life of a CFS patient there has to be a rock-stable person to offer support and sustenance, or his whole existence is built on constantly shifting sands... One of the most common symptoms of the chronic CFS patient is a feeling that he has an illness that no one can understand ant that no one has had before. Friends and relatives assure him that they have never heard of anything like it." (pg 60)

My husband, Roger, is that rock-stable person the Lord has given me. He does everything he can to alleviate the stresses in my life, even if that means he has to cook something for me and let me lay in bed or hold me while I'm crying and in pain. He defends me when his family members have called me names and laughed at me. I love him very much for all the sacrifices he has made on my behalf.

"Many individuals who are drained of energy by those around them feel that they are victims of agoraphobia, that is, fear of crowds, mainly because when they are in a crowd, they find they they grow weak and anxious. Generally this is not true agoraphobia, but merely the draining effect, or what I call the "leeching effect" that crowds have on CFS patients. This is one of the earliest symptom patterns I usually notice in CFS cases... If there is a function the CFS patient wishes to or must attend, however, we suggest that he remain for as short a time as possible... even events and circumstances that the patient enjoys or that might be a happy surprise fatigue and weaken him. A surprise birthday party, a visit from a long-forgotten friend, or a telephone call from a sweetheart - all of these things strengthen the body and spirt of almost everyone except the CFS patient. This is perhaps the saddest component of the entire condition." (pg 61-63)

It is interesting that agoraphobia is one of the first things I had from my late teens on through the years. It's even worse now, but now I realize it's produced from weakened adrenals (that will heal!). Psychiatrists always said it was fear I had and that I could talk myself out of it. For over 15 years, I tried what they said. Fail! It didn't work. I would tell them it wasn't until I got into the group of people or whatever that I started feeling drained and anxious. Anyway, now I know what's going on in my body. My weakened system just can't handle the normal stresses of life (even good stresses) until I heal these little adrenal glands. Then I will be able to handle the normal stresses that non-adrenal patients can handle. Until then, I cannot put myself in those situations because I would be going backwards in my healing of my body.

My other blogs can be found HERE and HERE.

The original post for this daily diary began HERE.

Coram Deo,
Tamara Slack

002 Began Licorice Root Powder

October 19, 2009
002

I finished my ASI Test as of late last night and began drinking my Licorice Root Powder which I got from the Clymer Healing Center. When checking out the insert that came with the Licorice Root Powder, I read this:

People with adrenal insufficiency generally do not retain enough sodium and have
an excess of potassium. The licorice extract inhibits 11 beta hydroxysterioud
dehydrogenase (11-BHOD) in the kidneys. 11-BHOD is the enzyme that inactivates
cortisol and allows cortisol access to the mineralcorticoid receptors triggering
and increased retention of sodium and a lowering of potassium. This action
brings a person with adrenal insufficiencey into sodium/potassium balance.
Therefore, a potassium supplement is not needed or recommened. The increased
sodium causes the body to conserve water, which quickly increases our overall
blood volume. Increased blood volume indirectly increases blood pressure by
increasing the efficiency of the heart.

Now that is interesting! I'm sure if you are reading this and do not have CFS, you are thinking, "yeah, sure Tamara, real interesting!" Oh, it is, believe me. I've had low blood pressure all my life. I've even passed out from it when I was younger. Upon standing, I've been lightheaded all my life (no jokes about my head now!).

And salt. Oh salt! I can't get enough salt. Dr. Neville told me to continue salting everything I eat along with drinking 1/4 tsp. of salt twice daily. Yuck, right? No, when someone craves a nutrient, there's a reason and I crave salt because I lose so much of it from the aldosterone problems.

I don't use regular white table salt which is just sodium chloride stripped of its natural trace minerals and a bunch of iodine added to it. I have been using sea salt for about two years now which has 50+ trace minerals which are all natural and benefit every human needs. One of the best books I could ever recommend reading (and I read a lot of books!) is Salt: Your Way to Health by David Brownstein, M.D. Once I understood what this Dr. Brownstein is trying to get across to the average person like me and his medical friends about why the body needs salt (and not the sodium chloride on our dinner tables!) and using it, I started getting a little more energy and less heart palpitations. I asked my doctor if the reason for less heart palpitations is due to the sea salt helping my thyroid. He said it is not that, but because I'm constantly fighting dehydration due to the low aldosterone which is common in CFS patients no matter how much water I drink daily. I drink a lot of water and yet I'm thirsty throughout the day anyhow. I don't drink coffee or soda or any other thing that would cause me to lose water. Since I've been using so much sea salt, I don't get lightheaded anymore and I'm starting to become hydrated.

I found a couple links about Licorice Root other than the one I noted above. One is from The National Cancer Institute about Prostate Cancer in which the article mentions that Licorice Root may slow the growth of tumor cells.

Another interesting find is that a study published in the March/April 2008 issue of General Dentistry found that Licorice Root can help with canker sores which is something I suffered with most of my childhood through teen years so badly, I could hardly eat or drink anything because my mouth was full of them. I haven't had one in years though.

My other blogs can be found HERE and HERE.

The original post for this daily diary began HERE.

Coram Deo,
Tamara Slack

001 Taking ASI Test and CFS Book

October 18, 2009
001

I've decided to keep a diary (Daily Post) of how I am doing with the Chronic Adrenal Insufficiency. I'll post the whole story in one long post later and then go back through the years as to what was happening to me from age thirteen on as I find time to sit and work on this project. I have an email into my mother right now who knows which year it was I had mononucleosis which I'm seeing as a possible link to when my immune system started weakening. I believe this can be traced back to about age eleven to thirteen. That's when I started having kidney problems, the mononucleosis (but still need an age on that one), and, of course, when puberty happened - oh joy!

I've found Chronic Adrenal Insufficiency is also called other things: Hypoadrenia, Chronic Fatigue, Adrenal Fatigue, and Addison's Disease, with it being diagnosed about a hundred years ago as Asthenia, but since our medical doctors in the U.S. don't know what to call this neurohormone problem yet, I'm just going to go with what they call it for now: CFS (Chronic Fatigue Syndrome). Feel free to click on the words that are highlighted. I am trying to cut down on the length of posts so it may be necessary in order to understand what is meant by terms to click on the actual words.

Today, we are testing to see how much my adrenal glands are producing cortisol. Back in February of this year, I was tested by ZRT Labs and results show low cortisol and low thyroid (T3 only) so we finally have it figured out as to what is not working in my body. What is working is still questionable! Of course, we are hoping that my adrenal glands can restore themselves and my doctor, Dr. Andrew Neville, N.D., has told me that after I do the ASI Test and start the therapy he suggests, he believes in one year, I will be pretty functional. At this point, I'm still unable to even walk all the way down to the mailbox and back yet, but can do the dishes and pick up the house about five days a week now. I've also had some better days since the end of September and have been able to ride in the car to the store with my husband. This is really good!

So today is the big day! With the ASI Testing, they require me to do in-home saliva testing for morning, afternoon, evening, and midnight. I did the first one this morning at 6:45 a.m.

I also received my book, Chronic Fatigue Unmasked 2000, written by Dr. Gerald Poesnecker yesterday which is very informative about this disease. You can read one chapter online called The Nature of the Condition to get a little better understanding of adrenal problems that cause CFS.

I'm not yet sure if I should called this a syndrome, disorder, or disease at this point. It depends on who is talking, I suppose. Most doctors in our day don't understand it, so it sits on the shelf while they tell their patients to go see a psychiatrist. I realize doctors are doing what they can, what they are told to do, but to send a patient to a psychiatrist for a biological, neurohormonal problem is not helpful. In fact, it can be very harmful as it was for me (I will post about this in upcoming days). It just doesn't work to not test patients who have severe anxiety, fatigue, shakiness, confusion, hypoglycemia, etc. for endocrine problems and to tell them some common things I've heard:

• You need to think more positively
• Maybe exercise more, take some walks or take up jogging
• You really should just pull yourself up by the bootstraps (as one doctor I had said, "next time someone tells you that, tell them they don't make bootstraps anymore." I have looked up the actual definition of what it means to pull myself up by the bootstraps. Here it is: "to succeed only on one's own effort or abilities." So in other words, when I was hurting for help, they were saying, "no, pick yourself up."
• You should go out and get some fresh air and have a little fun in life
• Maybe you need to start a hobby
• You sound like a hypochondriac; maybe don't look at the PDR and concentrate on something else (one doctor threatened to not refill my prescription if I don't stop reading medical material that is for "doctors only" as she stated in Columbus, Ohio)
• You have four suicides in your family, so you probably will do the same (Nice! That's my all-time favorite from psychiatrists when they don't know where to turn, but to leave someone in a hopeless state)

Now I ask, would this be good advice for someone suffering with cancer or any disease for that matter? No. A few of them might be helpful, but won't cure the actual disease, wouldn't you agree? In all the years (twelve total), not one doctor ever tested my cortisol or thyroid levels, never helped me learn about hypoglycemia and what is happening with my brain without glucose, but put me on many (many!) medications which has compromised my immune system and adrenal glands even more. One of the medications I'm still taking which has completely messed up my HPA Axis has many side effects I have to deal with daily. I've been seen by so many doctors and psychiatrists, I can't count them, and like I've said before, they are all fired due to incompetence.

With all this said in my first post on the matter, I don't think what I have is Addison's Disease because in February, my test results showed some cortisol in my body, so though my adrenal glands are misfiring all the time, shooting off too much epinephrine (read adrenaline) causing severe panic and anxiety, blood sugar problems, body weakness, insomnia, body pain and such, it seems the glands are making some cortisol, but we'll see when I get the results this coming week.

I'll be giving these daily posts different titles, but will number them so they are easily accessed. To help search in sequence, I'll mark them with a number starting out with 001 as seen in the top of the post and they can all be found under the TOPIC "Daily Post." My reason for doing this daily (or as often as I can) is not only to help myself remember what has been helping me, but I hope this will reach men and women along with mothers and fathers who want to learn about CFS for themselves, other loved ones, and their children through this little diary. If you have suffered the heartache of family and friends not understanding what you go or your loved ones endure and have had that label of "hypochodriac" or "lazy person" put upon you, I know the struggle. I pray almost daily for the people out there who don't know where else to turn and it breaks my heart. I hope I can help some with giving resources like the links in my posts so they can figure out with a doctor's help if they too have adrenal problems that have been misdiagnosed.

My other blogs can be found HERE and HERE.

Coram Deo,

Tamara Slack

The Benzo Book

"Are you−−or is someone you care about−−taking tranquilizers or sleeping pills? You could be at risk of addiction without even knowing it. "Benzos" are the most commonly prescribed tranquilizers and sleeping pills, in use by millions of people. Doctors prescribe these drugs routinely without ever warning patients that regular use may cause a dangerous dependency. For many people, benzos are much harder to quit than heroin, cocaine, crack and other illegal substances, even though taken under a physician's supervision..." - Jack Hobson-Dupont

See "The Benzo Book" on Amazon to safely get off benzodiazepines. I am not a doctor, but I can tell you that I've been on benzos for years and it's very dangerous getting off them suddenly. Any sane doctor will tell you that. They will not always tell you how to get off them. Many people I know have been told six weeks is ample time to get off the mediction. Please, read this book and go to the other links on my blog for more information. Watch the videos and get acquainted with what is really going on with your body and brain. If you are a friend or relative of someone suffering with benzodiazepines, one thing I would like to say, be patient! It's a long, difficult journey and most people don't want to help people who are stuck on benzos. Also, get educated yourself so you know how to help your friend, sister, daughter, father... it's a lonely, scary place to be for a long, long time.

Tamara Slack