Case Study # 8 – Fatigue, Poor Memory, Low Sex Drive, Fibroids.

The patient:

• 40 yr old female

The problems:

• Excessive fatigue and exhaustion despite getting 8-9 hours of sleep every night.
• Low stamina. Gets winded walking up a flight of stairs.
• Lack of motivation and drive, at home and at work.
• Poor memory.  Feels like she is losing her mind despite her young age.
• Difficulty concentrating. “It feels like I have ADD”.
• Sleep difficulties. Wakes up 2-3 times during the night.  Having a hard time shutting her brain off.
• Consistent low blood pressure, since a teenager.
• Dry skin, scalp.
• Has always had a low sex drive. Thinks this is “normal” for her.
• Feeling overwhelmed by stress and having a hard time coping in general.
• Craving salty foods.
• History of endometriosis and ovarian cysts since a teenager, and recent diagnosis of small uterine fibroid. She was on birth control pills for 10 years to control painful menstrual cycles.
• Recently diagnosed as having low thyroid.
• She is normally a very driven person – went to graduate school twice and owns her own business. She said these have been the most stressful periods of her life.

What we found:

• Laboratory testing:
• With longstanding hormonal problems I always recommend testing cortisol and DHEA first, and then running a GI panel for parasites. This is what we found in this patient:

This patient is in Stage 3 Adrenal Exhaustion, with low cortisol and low DHEA. This accounts for her classic symptoms of cortisol deficiency and DHEA deficiency. The low cortisol and low DHEA are also causing progesterone and estrogen deficiency.

• This patient also has a parasite infection (Cryptosporidium parvum), which is commonly seen with people in Stage 3 Adrenal Exhaustion. The parasite infection actually further undermines the adrenal glands and creates even more hormonal chaos.

• Progesterone and estrogen were not tested, because in every case of female hormone imbalance it is usually cortisol and DHEA that are the primary hormones that are fueling the sex hormone imbalances.

What we recommended:

• Herbal support for adrenal function;
• Herbal support for blood sugar stabilization;
• High potency multivitamin;
• Vitamin C with bioflavonoids;
• Herbal parasite cleanse;
• Avoid common food allergies (wheat, gluten, cow’s milk dairy, soy);
• Avoid sugar, alcohol, and caffeine;
• Gentle exercise program;
• Stress management program.

What the patient actually did:

• This patient followed all of our recommendations.

The results:

• After 1 month:
• Energy better;
• Feeling more awake during the day;
• Sleeping through the night;
• Sleep is deeper, and she rarely wakes up in the middle of the night to urinate;
• No longer craving salt;
• She is slowly ticking things off of her “to-do” list.
• After 3 months:
• Energy rated 8-9 out of 10 (10 is the most energy);
• Slowly feeling more motivated to get things done;
• Memory slowly improving;
• Stamina is better;
• Sex drive is improving.
• After 6 months:
• She is happy with her progress and cannot wait to re-test her adrenals and GI tract.
• This case is still in-progress. Further details pending.