Entry for February 15, 2007

ADRENAL BURNOUT SYNDROME

Thousands of people suffer from constant fatigue, unrelieved by rest and sleep. This is the main symptom of adrenal burnout syndrome. Other symptoms may include a craving for sweets, low blood pressure and blood sugar, irritability and depression. Low energy impairs every system of the body. Secondary symptoms range from impaired digestion to infections. Toxic emotions accumulate with adrenal burnout. The world looks bad, people are evil, and a hopeless attitude is not uncommon.

The condition is also called adrenal hypofunction, exhaustion or insufficiency. Unlike fatigue, one’s energy does not return after a good night’s rest. Burnout is a more serious derangement of the bodyís energy system.

The adrenals are the major glands the body uses to respond to stress. Its hormones raise the blood sugar and blood pressure, and promote energy production. Adrenalin or epinephrine is used for emergencies. Longer-acting anti-stress adrenal hormones cortisone and cortisol. Aldosterone, another adrenal hormone, retains sodium and increases the blood pressure. Related closely to the sympathetic nervous system, the fight-or-flight response it is called. When the adrenals become depleted, the body is unable to handle stress.

Most physicians do not diagnose adrenal burnout syndrome. Rarely, if enough tests are run, it may be called Addisonís disease. This doctors consider incurable. Recovery from adrenal burnout, however, is definitely possible.

Entry for January 18, 2007

Tonight we had a problem with the car on the way home from work. There was a grinding noise coming from the front wheel of the passenger side. I take it into Canadian Tire to see if they can look at it. It sounds like some ice is caught inside the wheel. I was with my wife and our baby was in the back seat.

I ask one of the oil changers about it and half reluctantly, he agrees to take a look. They lift the car up on the hoist and takes a quick look and finds nothing. He said I’ll need to get a brake inpection. I drive the car over to service and it’s almost seven o’clock. He tech says he can’t do anything tonight so it will have to wait until tomorrow morning. I can’t leave the car behind because we’d have no way of getting home and we would need a car seat for the baby.

We really need to rent a car if we are to leave our car for a repair so we go driving looking for a car rental. We actually found one not too far away and as I knock on the window, I look at my watch. It’s ten minutes after seven.

The guy comes to the door to tell me that he is closed for the night. I explain that my car has no brakes and I have a baby that will be looking for food very soon. He smiles and agrees to help me. I fill out the paperwork and ten minutes later, I have a new car. I drive around to meet my wife in the parking lot and we try to install our car seat in the new vehicle. After a few minutes trying every way possible, we don’t have the proper connections to make it work.

We install the car seat back into the other car and we drive back to her parents house to change and feed the baby. Now that we have the rental car, I can drive the old car back to Canadian Tire to get it fixed and leave it overnight. It’s a short bus ride back so it’s not a big deal.

I drop the car off and walk back towards her parents house. So the old car is getting fixed and we have a rental car with no baby seat so we’ll have to stay overnight. I was very close to a Swiss Chalet and by this point, I was starting to get real hungry. Trying to keep with the candida diet, I order the quarter chicken meal with grilled veggies. I also picked up some dinner for my wife and her parents. Her father picked me up and we went back home. I was so hungry, after my meal that I ate two bread buns. It was against the diet but I was starving.

After dinner we needed to make a trip back to our own house for a change of clothes and supplies for the baby. Got back to the house around eleven o’clock. What an evening…

Still vibrating… in someone else’s bed…

Entry for November 30, 2006 *Moving Day*

Moving can be very stressful so today will be a great test for my symptoms. The doctors seem to think that it’s stress related symptoms and they couldn’t be more wrong. It really annoys me that they think it’s stress related but I keep telling them it’s not and they brush me aside. I stopped taking paxil a few days ago so today will be a really good test. I didn’t really feel any effects good or bad from taking it and it had no effect on the vibration. If the deficiency still exists how is paxil supposed to correct the problem?

Having moved four times in the past six years we are no strangers to what is required to make a successful move, and the key for us has always been to hire professional movers. We moved from Oshawa to Markham and the weather was lousy. It rained all day long and well into the night, but at least the temperature was quite warm for the end of November.

We have never been so organized and prepared for a move, a feat that was not easily accomplished with our 1 year old daughter just learning to walk. We had 95 percent of our belongings packed and neatly labeled with U-Haul labeling tape that indicated the designation for each room and we were ready to go. The employees from the moving company commented on how organized we were.

The movers showed up with a truck at 8:15am. I took him around the house, room by room and by the end he told us that we wouldn’t be out of the house by 6pm and that all our belongings were NOT going to fit on the truck for one trip. I explained that the new owners would be moving in later today and legally we had until 6pm to get out. He promptly told my us that moves are very stressful and that we would most likely need to make two trips. He continued to tell us that there was no possible way for the new owners to have possession by 6pm and that there is the possibility that they might threaten to sue.

Throughout the morning, he attempted to pressure us numerous times to contact our lawyer to push for the key as soon as her office opened. They instilled in us a sense of panic and stress unlike the type of employee mentioned on their website who are “friendly, understanding, and dedicated to making your move as comfortable as possible.” His lack of professionalism made us seriously wonder if this wasn’t his first time working on a move.

As the move began, we asked one of the movers about wardrobe boxes for our clothing. He told us that they were already on the truck. We hadn’t even seen them let alone use them and it was never offered to us. We had to then scavenge around ourselves for a box for our suits and dresses and in the end we had to put them in a large stroller box that we found in our basement.

We have a strict non smoking household. We have a young child and I am allergic to cigarette smoke. We are not against taking a normal break for a rest and a cigarette break. But I was upset at the lack of respect they showed for our belongings as they sat in the half loaded truck sitting on our antique dining room chairs for cigarette breaks. We know that smoke can get into clothing and fabric which is why they should’ve at least had the courtesy to ask our permission.

The movers began taking open boxes containing last minute items such as bedding and towels that we were still packing or sealing. We told them not to take them as they were still needed and not taped closed. We were brushed aside and told that they would seal them for us. As we looked out the window we saw our unsealed boxes tossed on the truck with their contents falling out. It was still raining and the grass was starting to get very muddy. Not the sort of day to take anything out of the house unprotected in that manner.

As the movers continued to worry us about getting moved out by a reasonable time, they continued to push us to harass our lawyer to get the key sooner, a matter we both viewed to be none of his business. He was in talks throughout the morning with other drivers to see if he could get a second truck but to no avail. I suggested trying to get a U-Haul van to speed things up, and avoid requiring a second trip and the person in charge agreed that this would be a good idea.

Luckily we were able to, as in the end it is the only thing that made this move possible. At an additional cost of $200.00, it was the best money we spent all day. As I was walking up to the house from the U-Haul van, one of the movers commented that it was first U-Haul he ever saw that wasn’t broken down, such comments and attitudes are not only unprofessional, but don’t help to make our “move as comfortable as possible.” The movers helped us load the van, but wouldn’t allow us to use any of their blankets and we had to provide our own protection for our antique dining room table.

The movers had their undersized truck packed by 1pm. The head mover continued to tell us it was normal to require two trips in a move, something we have never had to do in our three previous moves. We unfortunately weren’t able to get into the new house until 4pm causing 3 hours of down time for the movers, which in past moves wasn’t an issue because they still would have been packing their truck with the entire contents of our house. We don’t have a large house, nor did we underestimate our belongings on the quote form, I just don’t understand how requiring more than one trip is considered normal. If the law states that an owner has until 6PM to move out then the moving companies should over estimate jobs, not under.

Our old house was a two bed room, 2.5 storey home with an unfinished basement and a loft with a family room and computer den. If two trips are so normal, then why when we filled out the on line form was this not mentioned as a possibility? It was never mentioned when I spoke to dispatch and booked the move. On our past move, we filled out an online form very similar to these movers and they had no difficulty estimating the truck size required. The home that TSC moved us from was a 3 bedroom, 2 storey home with a finished basement. We saved all of our boxes from the previous move and used every one of them again in this move. In fact, we only purchased ten small boxes to add to the previous total. Our only addition in belongings was a futon, a collapsible crib, a change table and three appliances, all of which were mentioned on the online form.

But all this was minor compared to the rude, disrespectful and unprofessional manner that we encountered once things started being moved into the new house.

The plan suggested by the head mover was to pack all the large items in their truck and the U-Haul leaving only small items and boxes left at our old house. Then, when we got into the new house, they would unload the U-Haul first so that I could bring it back to the old house to reload it all by himself. Because we still had belongings in the old house I stayed behind to gather what remained, leaving the movers alone in the new house. A big yet unavoidable mistake. The movers wanted to put all the boxes in the garage to make the move easier, but since it is a very small detached garage, we clearly requested that all boxes were to go to the basement unless marked for the kitchen, dining room and living room.

At around 7:30, as I was back at the old house loading the U-Haul in the pouring rain for a second trip, I received a call from the head mover to say that they were almost finished and could he quickly come to the house so that we could pay them. I explained to him that I was still loading the U-Haul van and at least an hour away. He still asked him to come over as he required our signature. He also wanted to know about the location of a china cabinet and a heavy corner cabinet. I clearly explained that the china cabinet was to go into the dining room and the corner cabinet was to go into the master bedroom. Because they made it sound like the job was almost completed, we decided it was best if I sent my wife ahead to meet with them. I was left to load the truck alone in the pouring rain, and she went ahead in the car.

When she arrived there at 8:30, she found the front door to the new house wide open, the truck was up the street with the back open, and none of the movers were in sight. She went into the house, found boxes and furniture carelessly dumped everywhere.

During the course of my telephone conversation with the head mover, I requested that the large heavy corner cabinet go to the master bedroom, that piece of furniture was sitting in the living room. She walked around our open, unattended new home for 10 minutes looking for any of the three movers and eventually found them sitting in the truck with their backs to the open door of our home having a break, a luxury my myself or my wife did not get all day.

When the movers returned to the house, she told them that the corner cabinet needed to go upstairs and asked if they could move another piece of furniture to the basement. This request was met with resistance and an argument from one of the movers and she was rather shocked at his response. He claimed he wasn’t told about the cabinet needing to go upstairs and behaved like the request was unrealistic. She told him that even if he didn’t know about the request for the cabinet to go upstairs, it still needed to go there. To her surprise he continued to argue.

She asked the head mover how much longer he thought they would be, and he felt it would be about another hour. My wife unfortunately needed to leave again to pick up our daughter, so she paid them up till 9:45, and told him that I would be there before they left with another load in the U-Haul truck. She paid him just following this altercation with one of his employees, and to our absolute shock the supervisor asked for a tip for “the boys”!!

When I arrived at 9:20, the movers had finished and were in their truck so I asked them if they could help me unload the U-Haul van, knowing that we were still paying them for another 25 minutes and they told me they couldn’t because they had another move to go to. He continued by saying that “if I wanted to offer more money he would approach the boys about helping!!!! So while we were still paying the professional movers to help us, I unloaded the U Haul van all alone in the rain and we still had one more U Haul trip to make and did not finish until 2 am.

We have moved 4 times now, in the last 6 years and never have we paid so much and had to work so long and hard ourselves to move. Never have movers treated our belongings and ourselves so unprofessionally and with such disrespect.

On moving day, you and your belongings are really at the mercy of whoever you have chosen to help you move. I would have expected better from a company with the numerous Consumer Choice Awards that this company has, and who charges the kind of rates this company charges. Our last move, everything fit on the truck and we were in our new home nicely settled in about 8 hours and we never lifted a finger, we only paid about $1000. They were very professional and all our instructions were met. This move about half of our belongings fit on the ‘professional movers’ truck, they took 10.5 hours to load and unload it, and I spent an additional $245.00 for a U Haul truck and gas and weren’t finished until 2 AM.

For the privilege of using an award winning company we paid $1800.00 and only half our possessions were moved! The employees were unbelievably unprofessional and our few instructions were met with arguments and confrontation. We were quoted 8 hours for the ENTIRE job, we ended up paying 15 hours for HALF the job and moved the other half ourselves.

Once we both returned to work and related our story to our co workers, many felt we deserved a full refund. We hired a moving company based on the strength of numerous Consumer Choice Awards, and unfortunately did not check the company’s track record with the Better Business Bureau. After doing a quick search, we learned that the company has had 48 complaints within the past 36 months. So out of curiosity, I decided to check our previous moving company as a comparison.

One complaint for the same time period. Enough said. And my symptoms? None. I took my regular routine of vitamins and dealt with the days events. What a day! We did manage to leave a small bonus for the new owner. We decided to leave the microwave behind…

Entry for October 08, 2006

The search if over! Less than two weeks after selling our house, we managed to buy a new one. Over 5000 metres from the hyrdo transmission towers and over 2000 metres from the nearest cell phone tower.

Not only that, but daddy daycare comes to an end after this weekend. Looking after a child is a lot of work and there were times when it wasn’t easy but overall, it wasn’t that bad and she’s a real easy baby to care for.

Again, I didn’t really feel the added stress had any effect on my symptoms and we were trying to sell our house and buy another one at the same time as daddy daycare was going on.

There is no way my symptoms are stress related. These doctors are out to lunch. So why do I have anxiety?

Entry for September 28, 2006

Previous Night Vibration Status: None
Morning Vibration Status: None

After being on the market since June, we finally sold our house. Anyone who has moved knows the stress level involved in buying and selling a house so how where my symptoms during this time?

No different…no better and no worse.

The stress now is to find a new house within the next sixty days!!!

Entry for August 29, 2006

I was in Shoppers today and picked up some flax seeds. I’ll add them to my morning oatmeal. While I was in the store, I noticed a Healthwatch sign that mentioned talking to the pharmacist about anxiety. I head back to the pharmacy and pick up the Healthwatch Anxiety System Assesment kit. It comes with a questionaire and a symptom diary.

I showed the booklet to a bunch of my friends and they don’t agree with the diagnosis from the neurologist and they certainly don’t agree with the list of symptoms for anxiety.

But if I do have a “profile for anxiety” it’s just another symptom of a magnesium deficiency…

Entry for August 18, 2006

I came across this article last week. Another mention of Mitral Valve Prolapse and the link to Magnesium:

Magnesium: The Essential Mineral Critical For Youth And Health

Magnesium is the most critical mineral required for electrical stability of every cell in the body. Its major role is at and in the cells so that blood levels, whole blood, serum, plasma, and even white blood cell levels of magnesium do not give an accurate picture of optimal magnesium levels. In fact, serum levels of magnesium are low only in acute alcoholics and in severe starvation. Magnesium stored in bones is stolen by the body to maintain the narrow range of serum levels required for life.

Eighty percent of American women and seventy percent of men do not eat even the recommended daily requirement of magnesium. And soil throughout the world is deficient in magnesium except in Egypt. Thus, most foods today, even those supposed to have a high content of magnesium, are low themselves. As a single essential nutrient, magnesium may be responsible for more diseases than any other nutrient! There are many reasons for this widespread deficiency: nutrition, stress and drugs. White flour has had removed 85% of its magnesium. Considering the fact that almost 20% of calories come from white flour, essentially a junk food, this inadequate food is responsible for about 17% “loss” of magnesium. Chemical fertilizers, high in nitrates, phosphates, and potassium, deplete soil magnesium so that even most whole wheat is basically borderline.

Farmers are well aware of the major impact of magnesium depletion; horses and catfle may die from “grass staggers,” an uncoordinated gait, severe muscle spasms and even seizures. All this is curable by magnesium supplementation, if caught early enough.

The second junk food which has no magnesium, and indeed no real nutritional value, is white sugar. The average American consumes 42 teaspoons of sugar per day, 210 calories, or about 10% of caloric intake.

Add 15%, minimum, for protein and 35%for fat, both lacking in magnesium, and it is obvious that at least 77% of our food has no magnesium. Furthermore, both fat and protein interfere with absorption of magnesium.

And then there is that enigma of modern life, “pop,” which is phosphate of soda, a major stumbling block in magnesium metabolism. At an average of 24 to 36 oz. per day, the ultimate junk non-food, pop, is one of the unsung, unrecognized villains in disease promotion.

Other major magnesium detractors include the 550,000 different chemical pollutants released every year into our air, soil and water. Pesticides, herbicides, and ammonia, widely used in agriculture, seriously stress the body, affecting every aspect of metabolism. One of the major pollutants is aluminum, which blocks many normal magnesium functions. Aluminum, the non-essential and highly toxic mineral, is used to wrap foods and to store pop, beer and even juice. The acid pH of many juices and of pop leaches aluminum out of the containers. And to compound matters, antiperspirants and most baking powder contains aluminum. Any of the toxic metals, aluminum, cadmium, lead, arsenic, and mercury may block magnesium metabolism.

In addition, the clinical stressors mentioned above contribute to the overall stress reaction – an increase in “adrenalin,” cortisone, blood sugar, and insulin. And both adrenalin and cortisone lead to increased excretion of magnesium in the urine. Noise and electromagnetic pollution also elicit this biochemical stress reaction leading to magnesium dumping. And then there is the Future Shock of modern life. All emotional/mental stress further aggravates the adrenalin, cortisone induced magnesium depletion.

And to compound the remarkable attack upon magnesium, there is a huge arsenal of prescription drugs that deplete magnesium. These include most diuretics, hydrochlorothiazide, chlorthalidone, furosemide, bumetanide; antibiotics – gentamicin, carbenicillin, amphotericin B; cortisone/steroid drugs such as prednisone and dexamethasone; digitalis/digoxin; antiasthmatics including ephedrine and pseudophedrine; laxatives; chemo therapeutics – cisplatin, vinblastine, bleomycin, cyclosporine, methotrexate, etc. And, of course, those non-prescriptions – nicotine and alcohol. It’s a near miracle that we survive in modern society!

Stress begets stress. The lower your magnesium level, the lower your threshold for new stress – thus, you become increasingly more sensitive – more adrenalin, greater magnesium loss, greater sensitivity, etc. Soon the intracellular magnesium level is no longer 10 times that of serum and the cells are in a chronic state of hyperexcitability. Anxiety, irritability, anger, depression and mood swings are just the tip of the iceberg of magnesium deficient symptoms:

Anxiety
Attention Deficit
Confusion
Depression
Diarrhea or Constipation
Faintness
Fatigue
Hyperventilation
Incoordination
Insomnia
Intestinal Problems
Muscle Cramps
Muscle Tightness
Muscle Twitches
Pain
Poor Memory
Seizures
Tinnitus
Vertigo�

Major diseases associated with magnesium deficiency are:

Angina Pectoris
Anorexia
Arrhythmias
Asthma
Atherosclerosis
Attention Deficit Disorder
Auricular Fibrillation
Bulimia
Cancer
Cardiomyopathy
Chronic Fatigue
Chronic Bronchitis
Congestive Heart Failure
Cirrhosis
Depression
Diabetes
Eclampsia
Emphysema
Fibromyalgia
Gall Bladder Infections and Stones
Hearing Loss
Heart Attack
Hyperactivity
Hypercholesterolemia
Hypertension
Hypoglycemia
Immune Deficiency
Infections (Viral and Bacterial)
Intermittent Claudication
Kidney Stones
Migraine
Mitral Valve Prolapse
Osteoporosis
Panic Attacks
PMS – Pre menstrual syndrome
Benign Prostatic Hypertrophy
PVC’s
Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy
Strokes

In perhaps no illness is magnesium deficiency more relevant than myocardial infarction or acute heart attack. On average, patients given intravenous magnesium have a 50% greater survival rate than those who do not receive magnesium. No drug is more effective than magnesium in reducing mortality from a heart attack. No drug is as safe. Indeed, I consider failure to give magnesium to such a patient significant negligence.

Another major disease in which magnesium deficiency is rampant is diabetes. Just glucosuria, the spilling of sugar in urine, depletes magnesium. Indeed there is an inverse relationship between glycosuria and serum magnesium. In severe diabetic crisis with ketoacidosis, extreme magnesium loss is common.

More critically, magnesium is an important co-factor in production of insulin by the pancreas. Normal total body magnesium is essential for glucose metabolism. Thus, the rampant magnesium deficiency in our society may be a contributing cause of diabetes.

Insulin resistance, muscle spasms, atherosclerosis, cardiac arrhythmias, and even the increase in vascular disease in diabetes may be related to magnesium deficiency.

Another heart-rending illness, cerebral palsy, may be the result of magnesium deficiency. Mothers given intravenous magnesium just before giving birth are much less likely to have children who develop cerebral palsy.

Diagnosis Of Magnesium Deficiency

Serum or blood levels of magnesium are a waste of blood, money and time except in acute alcoholism, starvation or diabetic acidosis. There are only two tests worthwhile: magnesium loading and intracellular spectroscopy.

Magnesium Loading

Although this test is considered the standard by the few physicians who at least recognize the possibility of magnesium deficiency, the test is somewhat tedious and frustrating to patients. First one has to collect every drop of urine for exactly 24 hours. The urine is then analyzed for total magnesium and creatinine output. Then the patient is given intravenously a specific “load” of magnesium and a second 24 hour urine is collected and tested for magnesium and creatinine. If less than 50%of the administered magnesium is excreted, this is “proof’ of magnesium deficiency. In fact, if less than 20% is excreted, “borderline” magnesium deficiency is suspected.

Intracellular Spectroscopy

Much simpler and the test I prefer is a simple tongue blade scraping of the frenulum of the tongue.

Then the cells are placed on a slide and sent for x-ray defraction. At about the same cost as the magnesium load test and much better patient compliance, this test also gives intracellular levels of magnesium, calcium, potassium, sodium, chloride, and phosphorus, as well as equally important ratios. If your physician won’t order this important test for you, find another physician. If you have any of the symptoms or illnesses listed earlier, it is extremely wise to have this test done.

Magnesium Replacement

Except in patients with kidney failure, some magnesium supplementation is advisable. The problem with oral magnesium is that all magnesium compounds are potentially laxative. And there is good evidence that magnesium absorption depends upon the mineral remaining in the intestine at least 12 hours. If intestinal transit time is less than 12 hours, magnesium absorption is impaired. There are two oral forms that may be considered: 25%magnesium chloride drops (Magic Drops) or magnesium taurate. The drops are extremely strong tasting, salty and bitter. At least 50% of patients refuse to use the drops after a taste test! Twenty drops per day are recommended. It requires 3 to 6 months for replacement to be accomplished.

Magnesium taurate at dosages of 250 to 500 mg., if well tolerated (no diarrhea) by the intestines, is better absorbed than any other oral tablet or capsule. This approach requires 6 to 12 months.

Entry for July 13, 2006

Brain and Nervous System

General Health Information

The brain and nervous system act as the bodys electrical system communicating millions of messages every second. The brain is the command center and coordinates incoming and outgoing messages from all over the body. A healthy brain and nervous system enable us to cope well and respond appropriately to the countless stimuli we encounter daily. Our nervous system can become overloaded and begin to malfunction if we do not maintain it properly as well as filter excessive stimuli or stress.

An important factor to a healthy nervous system is the proper balance of the brain’s neurotransmitters (chemicals that transmit information from one nerve cell to another) such as dopamine, GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid), and serotonin.  A healthy nervous system allows us to handle lifes ups-and-downs smoothly, and to feel more emotionally balanced.  Exercise, stress-management techniques, proper nutrition and diet can help to better balance the brain’s intricate chemistry.

Several key nutrients are necessary to supply the chemicals responsible for the formation of the brain’s neurotransmitters, thus helping to balance brain chemistry. When taken on a daily basis, supplementation with certain amino acids, vitamins and minerals, antioxidants, and herbs helps us feel more mentally balanced and provides us with an overall sense of well-being.

Wellness Plan for Support of Brain and Nervous Systems  

Well balanced diet

Regular exercise

Stress management

Supplement Recommendations:  Vitamins and Minerals – B-complex, folic acid, inositol, copper, manganese, potassium, zinc, selenium, boron, calcium and magnesium 

Antioxidants – coenzyme Q10, vitamins C & E, n-acetylcarnitine, melatonin, Pycogenol, grape seed extract, and NADH 

Essential Fatty Acids – DHA and omega-3 

Amino Acids – GABA, asparagine, aspartic acid, glutamine, glycine, taurine, phenylalanine, 5-HTP, and tyrosine 

Herbs and Phytonutrients – gingko biloba, rosemary, sage, horsebalm, brazil nut, fenugreek, stinging nettle, gota kola, ginseng, ashwagandha, phosphatidylserine, DMAE, and huperzine 

Entry for June 05, 2006

Adrenal Imbalance:

Two or more symptoms are an indication that testing Cortisol for adrenal imbalance is recommended.

Fatigue	Depressed	Sugar craving
Weight gain waist	Heart palpitations	Allergies
Decreased muscle mass	Headaches	Chemical sensitivity
Thinning skin	Decreased libido	Stress
Elevated triglycerides	Hair loss	Cold body temperature
Sleep disturbances	Increased facial hair	Increased joint pain
Anxious	Increased body hair	Aches and pains
Memory lapse	Acne	Irritable

Overall, low adrenal cortisol production contributes to symptoms of fatigue, allergies, chemical sensitivity, and sugar craving. Low cortisol can also exacerbate symptoms of low thyroid. Cortisol is essential for thyroid function at the tissue level.

Adrenals:

The adrenals are our energy and stress system. When we are under a great deal of stress, we will usually blow out our B-complex vitamins which in turn will eventually blow out our adrenal systems, as it is this system that takes over when we are too tired to function, and yet we continue to push ourselves. When your B-vitamins and adrenals have been blown out, symptoms will begin to appear. At first you may feel more tired than usual, eventually looking for a nap in the afternoon. You may find you cannot handle the littlest stress in your life and eventually, you may find you are not able to sleep at night even though you are very exhausted. This deficiency becomes overwhelming to the body and it seems as though you are on a merry-go-round. You are very tired, but cannot sleep, and so you become even more tired and drained. In order to help heal the adrenals, it is imperative to reduce stress in your life as much as possible.

So I have six symptoms of an adrenal imbalance due to Cortisol.

1. Elevated triglycerides
2. Fatigue
3. Hair loss
4. Allergies
5. Sugar craving
6. Cold body temperature
7. Heart palpitations?

The urine test I had months ago showed that my adrenals were extremely overworked and I know for sure that I am low in B-complex vitamins.

Tomorrow, I will drop off the saliva sample to the Naturopath.

Entry for November 15, 2005

Every day the doctor comes in and she is still very concerned about the amount of gas in the gastrointestinal tract. She asks if the gastro specialist has come yet and although we keep asking the nurses about it, there is no sign of him. As a precaution, they want to take some x-rays.

My wife calls her mother and tells her about the how we’ve been waiting three days for the specialist. She recommends that we call her regular Crohn’s specialist to see if he knows the doctor and ask him to come. We get the phone number and I call his office. I talk to the receptionist and explain the situation. She’ll let him know and I asked if he could call my wife directly and she agrees to pass on the message.

He called later that afternoon and spoke to my wife. He knew the specialist out here and would call him. By nine o’clock the specialist shows up with her x-rays. He was a very nice man and explained everything in detail. He said the x-rays do show a lot of gas in the gastrointestinal tract and he precribes a drug that should help.

The effect was immediate and the next day her doctor was happy with the progress and felt it was okay to go home.

Entry for November 12, 2005

 

Morning arrives and the doctor comes in to check the progress. She is now six centimeters dialated. Only one centimeter after all of that work during the night. The doctor thinks it’s still good progress and wants to keep going for a natural birth. A few more hours pass and she mentions to me that she thought she had a fever. We call the nurse and she checks for a fever. It’s 38 so it’s a slight fever and reason for concern. After five minutes she checks it again and it’s risen to 40.  At this point a few more nurses come in to monitor. After a while I notice that her hands are turning blue, then her feet. I ask the nurse if this is normal and she says it is.

She oxygen monitor was reading low so as a precaution they strap on a mask and give her oxygen. A normal fetal heart rate usually is between 120 and 160 beats per minute. As I’m watching the fetal monitor it rises to 190 beats per second. More nurses come in and it’s a crowded room. There was so much going on that I thought I’d be doing everyone a favor by getting out of the way so I wait in the hallway. One of the nurses sees me sitting on the floor and tells me to grab a sandwich from the lunchroom, and sit in the waiting room where it’s more comfortable. She would come and get me if there is any development.

I finish off my lunch and I’m feeling better now that I’ve had the time to relax a bit. I called my parents and my wife’s parents to give them the update: No sign of the baby yet and there’s now talk of a C-Section. Her parents are now on their way to the hospital.

The last 24 hrs have been really tough and although I don’t have any of my weird symptoms, I’m really tired. I was talking to my mother about the events from last night and I’m trying to hide it but she’s a mother and she knows I’m upset. She says not to worry and that everything will turn out okay.

I go back to the room and everything seems to be better. Her hands and feet aren’t blue anymore and the baby’s heartbeat has gone back to the normal range. She’s so exhausted and we are waiting now for the doctor’s word on what happens next. She finally comes in and there has been very little progress so it’s time for the C-Section. I’m somewhat relieved now and there is finally an end to all of this. There is another C-Section in progress so we need to wait until they clear the room. Her parents arrive just before she is taken in so their timing was perfect.

The nurse hands me a pair of scrubs and tells me to change if I am to be in the operating room. They take my wife in first, get her in position and hook her up to all of the machinery. A nurse leads me into the room and shows me the seat where I can sit. A long green curtain is hiding the view and that’s fine with me! It’s a weird feeling knowing you are going to have a baby and all of the responsibility of being a parent, but to hear the cry for the first time makes it so real. The doctor brings her over to show us what she looks like. He says everything is fine and he has no concerns. She looks nothing like we imagined. I guess with her being a girl, I expected her to look like my wife. She’s adorable and looks just like her daddy.

After the birth, they ask me to leave while they finish with the surgery. I’m in the hallway and her parents are in the hall. I tell them that the baby’s born and everybody is okay. About thirty minutes later my parents show up. I had no idea they were coming! My mother was so upset and worried about the birth, they drove all the way from Orangeville to be with us.

I’ll never recommend the induction process to anyone. I’m just glad I didn’t have to do it physically although it felt like I had. My daughter was born at via a C-section after 28 hours of labour.

It was the most stressful experience I’ve had in recent memory and no real symptoms occured during the entire time but I’m exausted and running on a few hours sleep. How can my problem be stress related after yesterday and today? There’s no way… it’s impossible.

My symptoms are the same. No different, no worse, no better.

If my symptoms are stress related, it’s not showing on this day despite the tremendous amount of stress of the past 24 hours.

We spend the next few days in the hospital and we’ve survived the stress of having a baby. Evey day the doctor evaluates my wife’s condition and now they have a concern about her diarrhea. The doctor reviews her chart and tells us that the night shift nurse gave her a stool softener. It’s routine to give a stool softener after giving birth but in our case it was a mistake because she has Crohn’s disease and only two feet of colon.

The doctor checks on her again by the afternoon and now she’s concerned about the amount of gas still in the gastrointestinal tract. Because of the Crohn’s disease, she recommends that a gastro specialist come and review her file.

Entry for Nov 11, 2005

I’ve been taking B6 Complex for a couple of days now and I have a mild pinch in my chest so I stop taking the pills and the pain goes away. Did some googling again to find out if there are any side effects. Most of what I find says B6 is very beneficial to the system so I don’t understand what the problem is. Last year I was diagnosed with RBBB or Right Branch Bundle Block. It’s a fancy term for a leaky mitral heart valve. It’s a similar type of pain so I wonder if it’s related? I’ve had it checked out by a cardioligist and it’s considered a normal variation with nothing to worry about.

No sign of the baby the natural way so we call the hospital, they have the room to take us in and want us there by nine o’clock. We scramble to get our suitcase, camera and video camera.

They start by showing us to the Outpatient Fetal Monitoring room. It’s a small room with about four beds. They hook my wife up to the fetal monitor and a printer is printing out the baby’s heartbeat. This goes on for about an hour and now we have to wait until the doctor comes in to make an analysis.

She finally comes in and begins the induction process and recommends using Prostaglandin Gel to get things going. About five minutes after using the gel, my wife starts having contractions and almost immediately has a huge contraction. Each dose is given six hours apart, depending on the contractions and what changes have occurred.

Usually they send people home but the contractions are strong enough that they told us to wait the six hours and the doctor will do another check to see how things are progressing. They told us do walk around the floor and get some exercise. That will often speed things up. I called my parents to give them the update: No sign of the baby yet.

During the afternoon they move us to a private room and after six hours the doctor come in to check the progress. She’s only one centimeter. Not enough progress so they recommend oxytocin. They start her on the oxytocin. As we are watching the fetal monitor, the contractions were very strong, close together and very painful for about an hour. To ease the pain, they suggested taking morphine. The effect was almost instant and she feels so much better that we start playing cards.

They check her again and she’s now 5 centimeters. At this point the water hasn’t broken yet and there is still not the progress they need to start the birth so they recommend an epidural. Originally she didn’t want one and was going to try natural birth. I wasn’t keen on the side effects either but we decide to have the epidural. The page goes over the intercom for the anesthesiologist to come to the birthing suite. He was taking so long they paged him three times. After about an hour he finally shows up and he’s extremely quick.

The doctor now decides that with the epidural, and little progress made so far, that it’s time to break the water. She breaks it and she can’t believe the amount of water. She comments on the fact that it’s the most water she has ever seen with a birthing patient. Two litres of water! With the water now gone, she told her to rest and they’ll check the progress again first thing in the morning.

What a stressful day. All of this drama and still no sign of the baby.

Entry for November 09, 2005

I’ve tried foods high in fibre and even bought a fibre supplement from the health food store. It had no effect and I’m still vibrating. It must be something else in the pear that makes it stop. But what is it?

I tried googling again about the effects of stress. I discover that a B6 Complex is highly recommended for relieving stress. What the heck? I make another trip to Shoppers Drug Mart and look for B6 Complex. As I’m looking in the vitamin section, on the top shelf is two different brands of Acidophilus. They had it all along! Weird that the pharmacist didn’t know that? They even have it in Shopper’s very own Life brand. Then I realize that I still had the B6 complex from the naturopath so I’ll start taking it again.

The due date of November 4th has come and gone. My wife still hasn’t delivered yet but they have now scheduled her for induction on Friday November 11th. Unless it happens before then.

We call the hospital to make the arrangements. They want us to call back on Friday morning and if they have the space, they’ll start the induction process.

Still vibrating…

Entry for Sept 03, 2005

Today is my follow up appointment with the naturopath. Yesterday was my last dose of the ultra flora pills. I didn’t think it was making a difference so I won’t bother getting a second batch. Besides, it’s forty dollars a bottle!

In the waiting area I grab a book from the shelf called “Natural Cures They Don’t Want You To Know About” by Kevin Trudeau. I remember my wife telling me about one of his infomercials and we had a brief discussion about it a while back. So I start reading the first chapter and was blown away with what I read. The naturopath then calls me into her office and I put the book down.

My basal temperature readings for the past week are as follows:

Tuesday- 36.37

Wednesday- 36.02

Thursday- 36.15

Friday- 36.25

Saturday- 35.95

I compare them to the last set of readings and they are not much different. I still have the cold body temperature. Interesting but what does it mean?

We talk about the effects of the Candida diet. No real improvement and still vibrating. I also mention about the mild chest pain when I took the B complex vitamins and she said there should be no side effects so I mention sympathy pregnancy. She tells me of a hormone test and shows me a chart of symptoms for each of the three hormones they test for. Estrogen, Andogen and Cortisol.

The Cortisol Deficiency symptoms are interesting. From the ten listed, I appear to have five (*) of them and possibly seven.

Cortisol (Adrenal Function) – Check List For Men

1. Fatigue*
2. Sugar craving *
3. Allergies*
4. Chemical sensitivity
5. Stress?
6. Cold body temperature *
7. Arthritis
8. Heart palpitations*
9. Aches/pains?
10. Decreased concentration*

Could the stress be the internal vibrations? The doctor said in my first appointment that internal vibrations are usually caused by stress.

The test is expensive so I tell her I’ll think about it. We are only two months away now and why spend the money if I don’t need to. I’ve waited this long so what’s a little bit longer? She recommended another test that would be a lot cheaper. A Hair Analysis Test.

Drug and chemical residues, toxins, heavy metals, and radiation present in the body embed in hair fiber protein as it grows. Hair has the advantage of long-term memory. It’s a permanent record, like tree rings. A three-inch strand of human hair will give a six-month history of what’s going on in the body since head hair grows at a rate of about a half an inch a month.

Clinical research indicates that hair levels of specific elements, particularly toxic elements, correlate with pathological disorders. For such elements, the levels in the hair provide a superior indication of body stores opposed to blood or urine specimens. This is one reason hair element tests are preferred for drug testing and forensics.

Within polluted environments, accurate decisions on how to clean up toxic spills cannot be made without performing soil and water analyses of the effected area. So it is with a hair analysis for the human body. The hair analysis identifies the root of illness. The key to a good hair analysis is in the interpretation – a lost art amid traditional medicine, yet a critical step in disease recovery.

Next week is my appointment with the gastro specialist. Let’s try the Hair Analysis in the meantime. She snips a sample of my hair and she’ll call me when the results are back.

I start googling again and discover a link between low adrenals and how the adrenal gland is responsible for the production of cortisol. Now I’m back to thinking it’s all about sympathy pregnancy and only one thing can happen to see if the symptoms go away…

THE BIRTH!!!

Entry for June 08, 2005

Today is the day. All morning I’ve been singing the Beach Boys song “Good Vibrations” although these vibrations aren’t good.

Found the doctor’s office quite easily and the receptionist hands me the generic patient/doctor agreement form. I sign it almost without reading it. Show her my health card and she shows me to one of the small waiting rooms.

I wasn’t really expecting a lot with this first visit. I had my hopes of course but I went in thinking it was more of a formal greeting than an actual check up.

In comes the doctor and he introduces himself, shakes my hand and starts reading the patient form with my medical history. I told him I was looking for a family doctor because I was being bounced around by the walk in clinics. My symptom? Internal vibrations. I showed him the blood test results from the lab, showed him the high blood pressure medication and told him what the previous doctor had said.

He asked if they checked for Thyroid. I wasn’t sure so he suggested starting with a full physical.  I’m 34 years old and never had one so it seemed like a good idea. He said the test results look fine and didn’t think more testing was necessary.

He said that in most cases, internal vibrations were usually stress related. He knew my wife was pregnant so he mentioned about all of the big changes and the added stress a new child can bring.

Although I agreed, I told him I was not the type of person who worries about anything and that I don’t spend an extraordinary amount of time thinking about it.

Scheduled the physical for June 20th. What’s another two weeks of vibrating?