1985

21 Years of Good Health until.....
Around 1979 a naturopathic physician accepted me as a patient and cured a number of supposedly "incurable" chronic/degenerative conditions that were caused by food intolerances poisoning my system and causing serious health problems. In 5 weeks time I made a remarkable recovery, and maintained good health for over 20 years with an allergy-free diet and healthy lifestyle.

In 1981 I went back to that clinic and spent the next 21/2 years with the internationally-known naturopathic physician, the late Dr. Harold Dick, N.D., Spokane, WA, who had more than restored my health.  Like one patient said, I felt like I'd "gone to a body factory and gotten a new one". Not only that, but I'd seen miracles take place there, and people needed to know about it. He mentored me as a lay person with the understanding that I would go forward and educate others in the same way. With that investment of time and effort, he kindled a debt of gratitude and a burden of obligation that lit a fire in my belly. Spreading the word became all-important.

1986: The only health threat I experienced in 20 years arose from a vaccination gone bad for my daughter that resulted in infection with the flesh-eating virus, Strept A and Staph, which I contracted from her. The infection was serious, but my immune system was so powerful that I recovered without medical intervention in spite of doctor's warnings that the infection was life-threatening without antibiotic treatment. They were very wrong.

1990's: I had no medical treatment for years after 1979, other than childbirth, until I bragged to a doctor about my superior health. Dr. Ron Couturier, D.O., of Sunnyside, WA is an osteopath who expressed an interest in alternative medicine, but he doubted my claim of exceptionally good health and talked me into an examination and blood work (at my own expense) to prove my point. It was a "put your money where your mouth is" challenge. When the results came back, he confessed surprise at the results and admitted that I was unusually healthy and had the vascular system of an athletic teenager. I was in my 40’s at the time, had a reasonable weight for my age and height, good skin and a mane of hair. I looked younger than my years. My 80-year-old mother had the same youthful skin and thick hair I expected to have at her age.

Unfortunately, I was desperate to get going with a website in 2000, after getting my first computer a few months earlier. I didn't have the skills to manage "Front Page" and so fell victim to a telemarketing scheme that advertised a website construction program for $40 on tv. I ordered it, but was talked into something to go with it that tripled the price. Then I got it and discovered I had purchased one single website page. To get more I had to sign a contract that would cost $5000 over 4 years time. To make a long story short, they somehow convinced me to do it, and I regretted it as soon as I faxed it off.

My mother, age 80, 2005

Health Effects
I sent off the contract and immediately developed stomach problems. The insomnia started soon after. I became literally sick with worry.

By the fall of 2000, I was already terribly ill, but thought it was "just stress.".

The way I was supposed to pay off my site was to make it a commerical site first, sell the companies products and then switch to my natural healing site. However, not one single item ever sold. Depression caused me to be so weary and uncaring that I could do very little. I was developing chronic fatigue and severe hypoglycemia which would cause me nearly almost pass out and would lay me out for hours at at time, unable to function. I also had trouble mentally focusing on complex research.

By the fall of 2000, just weeks after signing the Leasecomm contract, insomnia was keeping me up at night for the first time in my life. My stomach hurt, the skin started cracking and peeling on the bottom of my feet, which burned and bothered me constantly, and the skin on my hands and feet took on an odd "orange peel" wrinkly look, after I'd had such good skin all of my life. I started having sight problems and became blurry-eyed even with my glasses on. My eyes were weepy and itchy. I could barely drag through a day of teaching, and then would collapse at home. One day I was sitting on a stool at the front of a middle school class, reading from a book. I blacked out momentarily and fell off the stool. The class laughed uproariously. I knew I was in real trouble then.

Before Leasecomm
1964	1973	1981	1999
After "the contract" 2000
Rapid skin and tissue changes		Adrenal/thyroid deficiency: bad skin, muscle-wasting, hair loss, extreme weight gain, arthritis, swelling, "lumps", teeth, gums, depression, chronic fatigue, etc.

My memory became so affected I couldn't even put the time periods in proper order without documents. Memory lapses and brain fog became additional symptoms.

By October of 2000, just weeks after purchasing the Internet Tool Kit and signing an “uncancellable” Leasecomm contract, I was too ill to handle all day subbing and started looking around for a less demanding part time job. I found one working half days in a government-funded adult literacy program.

2000-2001: There came a time at work when I broke out in huge welts all over which I assumed were hives. I’d never had anything like this before. The hives went away in a few hours, but then came back during the night, a pattern which repeated itself daily after the first time. I didn't like my immediate supervision, but loved the job otherwise. My classroom was on fire! I discovered a gift for teaching writing and had students writing poetry and stories who had barely strung together whole sentences before. I taught GED, ABE, and all levels of ESL in the same class, and writing skills were essential for them all...but I was becoming more and more ill despite my enjoyment of the work.

Hives and More Hives
After Christmas, 2000, the hives continued day and night now and worsened. They came unconnected to any specific event. I didn't understand until later that adrenal exhaustion from unrelieved stress had caused liver congestion (among many other systemic problems) over a period of months since the previous summer, and when it stopped working properly, anything would set it off the urticária. The first sign of adrenal distress came with the stomach problems after signing the Leasecomm contract. After that, insomnia signaled adrenal insufficiency.

I lasted at work until sometime in March, 2001—just a few weeks after my website was dismantled, my dreams dashed, and the Leasecomm harassment started. By then I had overlapping hives from the top of my head to the bottom of my feet coming and going daily, and the welts were sometimes so thick on the back of my scalp and neck that I could hardly move my head. I covered up from the neck down to hide myself.

After the website and contract worries, I developed a second form of urticária (hives) in the spring of 2001 called “angioedema” that also affects the eyelids and lips. I frequently looked like a beaten-up gargoyle. Luckily, in the beginning it usually affected me in the early morning and went down by school time. Later on, some of my family experienced the first shock over my appearance at a Mother’s Day outing that spring and were stunned when my face swelled up right in front of them. I had been avoiding social gatherings since my appearance changed so drastically (weight gain and hair loss as well as hives), but couldn't get out of that one. My mother had been agonizing over this health situation since it started with the insomnia in late summer 2000. She had seen it all happening and thought I was dying, and worried about me all the time.

The hives erupted internally also. My throat closed up several times and I nearly suffocated but couldn't go to the hospital because of the expense, no matter what the consequences. Even with military health insurance (Champus), the deductible and co-payments made the cost of emergency medical care a potentially overwhelming expense on top of what we already had. I was lucky to have survived these incidents.

More Severe Symptoms (kidney failure)
In the last few days before I left the job, my arms and legs started swelling up. Up until then I thought everything was “just stress” but now feared congestive heart failure or something, because I could tell my heart was affected when the hives started—with fluttering and episodes where it felt like it arrested, especially in bed at night. These frightening experiences continue to the present.

The only shoes I could get on my swollen feet were a pair of clunky boots I had to leave unzipped. My swollen fingers only bent about half way. Writing and typing became difficult.

I gave up and quit in the middle of one day. The hives were too painful, the insomnia was worse, my digestion was a mess—my stomach hurt all of the time--and the new symptoms frightened me. I kept gaining weight without eating more, my skin was sagging and changing in texture, and I hurt all over. I thought a break from work stresses would help me recover.

My physical health had continued to deteriorate as the Leasecomm (contract) harassment continued. Whenever a stress reaction set in, instead of getting an adrenal “rush” I experienced a “pins and needles” pain all over my body. My insomnia was worse, as were all of the other symptoms. I had already lost a lot of hair and had started gaining weight over the last few months after maintaining the same general weight for over 15 years. In fact, I gained so much weight from the summer of 2000 that by the time I started the adult literacy job I had put on 40 lbs. in just a matter of months. Alarmingly, it kept increasing until my overall weight gain was about 70 lbs within a year, putting me in the category of "morbidly obese" which became a serious health issue in itself.

Naturopathic Intervention
By the end of summer, 2001, a year after I became ill, I was finally able to go to the best doctor I knew, naturopath Dr. Letitia Dick-Watrous, N.D., who is acquiring a national reputation in the field of naturopathic medicine. This distinguished physician is so highly regarded that the students at National College of Naturopathic Medicine in Portland, Oregon presented her with a Lifetime Achievement Award that same year.

I was such a swollen, hivey mess when the doctor saw me that she said I looked like I’d "run into a beehive". She took a small blood sample from my earlobe and looked at it through a microscope to which a camera was attached to photograph a magnified picture of the blood. She immediately recognized the blood condition and said “adrenal fatigue". She showed me the photo, which is in my clinic file now, and my blood looked like a red and white rounded checkerboard instead of normal red blood cells clumped together. Coincidentally, she had a poster on her wall of “adrenal” blood. It looked identical to mine.

Dr. Watrous explained that when my adrenals started to fail, the kidneys tried to take over and were themselves now shutting down, which caused the swelling from fluid retention. Other organs began to slow down and become congested, particularly my liver, which no longer properly filtered out toxins and allergens from my blood, which in turn caused the hives. I had adrenal-related conjunctivitis in the eyes, high blood pressure, and deficiencies in B and C vitamins, calcium, and sodium. She also diagnosed low stomach acid as part of the symptoms, which affects digestion, absorption and assimilation of foods. Adrenal hormones (or the lack thereof) affect every organ and system in the body, as do those of the thyroid. The nutritional deficiencies would be caused by poor absorption and assimilation due to illness rather than dietary deficiencies, particularly in my case since I had lived on a primarily raw, health food diet for 20 years.

Dr. Watrous was unsure if my thyroid was involved at the time of my visit. Her type of testing was inconclusive (conventional blood tests are unreliable until the deficiency is extreme). However, it later became obvious my thyroid was affected after the adrenal insufficiency occurred (which is common, according to my research, because they are linked physiologically) based on more profound symptoms that manifested distinctly after my one appointment with her: hair loss on my head, arms and legs, eyebrows, eyelashes, underarms and pubic, exceptional weight gain, dry, flaky skin on my arms and legs (less so on my face and torso), and low early morning body temperature. I was diagnosed with low thyroid and anemia as a kid, which normalized with naturopathic treatment in 1979. There was no sign of these problems when Dr. Couturier examined me years later. The symptoms became more pronounced later, when I had difficulties getting with the healing program Dr. Watrous advised. I should have stayed and been treated at the clinic for a period of time, but the money wasn't there and by then my credit was ruined so I couldn't have financed a stay otherwise. I still hope to have treatment in the future. When her father, Dr. Dick, treated me in 1979 it only took 5 weeks to recover, but that was food-based problems. Stress-elated illness with so much systemic involvement might be harder to repair.

Signs, Symptoms, & Consequences of Adrenal Fatigue

http://www.emedicine.com/emerg/topic16.htm
"Adrenal crisis and severe acute adrenocortical insufficiency are often elusive diagnoses that may result in severe morbidity and mortality when undiagnosed or ineffectively treated." "Every emergency physician should be familiar with adrenocortical insufficiency—a potentially life-threatening entity. The initial diagnosis and decision to treat are presumptive and are based on history, physical examination, and, occasionally, laboratory findings. Delay in treatment while attempting to confirm this diagnosis can result in poor patient outcomes." "Pathophysiology: Adrenal medullae normally secrete 80% epinephrine and 20% norepinephrine. Sympathetic stimulation results in secretion."

The adrenal cortex produces cortisol, aldosterone, and androgens. Cortisol is produced from 2 hydroxylations of 17alpha-hydroxyprogesterone. Cortisol, also known as hydrocortisone, is 90-93% protein bound (primarily by corticosteroid-binding globulin). Physiologic effects of glucocorticoids: Glucocorticoids are nonspecific cardiac stimulants that activate release of vasoactive substances. In the absence of corticosteroids, stress results in hypotension, shock, and death." "Left untreated, a patient with acute adrenal insufficiency has a dismal prognosis for survival. Therefore, treatment upon clinical suspicion is mandatory. Any delay in management while waiting for diagnostic confirmation cannot be justified."-- Author: Kevin Klauer, DO, FACEP, Director, Quality and Clinical Education, EMP, Ltd., Assistant Clinical Professor, Department of Emergency Medicine, Doctors Hospital

(http://www.womentowomen.com/adrenal fatigue/symptoms.asp)
"Stresses like '... financial pressures...' cause the adrenal glands to produce cortisol. However, when we ask our adrenal glands to chronically sustain high cortisol levels, they eventually become fatigued. The resulting adrenal dysfunction not only affects cortisol production, but also impairs the adrenals' ability to produce and balance hormones like DHEA, estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone."

"* Fatigue * Feeling tired despite sufficient hours of sleep * Insomnia * Weight gain * Depression * Hair loss * Acne * Reliance on stimulants like caffeine * Cravings for carbohydrates or sugars * Poor immune function *Intolerance to cold"

"Adrenal fatigue is a likely factor in several medical conditions such as the following:

* Fibromyalgia * Hypothyroidism * Chronic Fatigue Syndrome * Arthritis * Premature menopause"

B vitamin deficiency is linked to higher homocysteine levels—an acidic by-product of protein metabolism that is normally rendered harmless when neutralized by B vitamins. Without B vitamins, homocysteine levels increase dangerously and burn the cardiovascular system, causing a cholesterol buildup when repairs are attempted, and is associated with inflammatory artery disease—the most dangerous type and most likely to result in heart attack and death, according to my recent research.

A few citations on B deficiency (only B12):

C vitamin deficiency: "Vitamin C deficiency is associated with a risk of chronic diseases such as cancer, cardiovascular disease, and cataract, probably through antioxidant mechanisms." --http://www.ajcn.org/cgi/content/full/69/6/1086 American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol. 69, No. 6, 1086-1107, June 1999 © 1999 American Society for Clinical Nutrition

"Moderate vitamin C deficiency, in the absence of scurvy, results in alteration of antioxidant chemistries and may permit increased oxidative damage." --American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol 54, 1302S-1309S, Copyright © 1991 by The American Society for Clinical Nutrition, Inc

"Vitamin C deficiency results in fatigue and lethargy" --American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol. 69, No. 6, 1086-1107, June 1999

"Clinical manifestations are weakness, myalgia and arthralgia, vascular purpura and hemorrhagic syndrome, and later the stomatologic manifestations: gingivorragia and loss of teeth. Biological signs are nonspecific: anemia, hypocholesterolemia, hypoalbuminemia."--Rev Med Interne. 2004 Dec;25(12):872-80

"...varied metabolic systems with which vitamin C interacts. These systems include collagen synthesis, steroid and peptide metabolism, endocrine function, the immune system, blood pressure control, haemostasis, Fe and Cu balance and mitochondrial fatty acid catabolism (Levine, 1986 ; Padh, 1990 ; Smirnoff & Pallanca, 1996 ; Bates, 1997 ; Hemila, 1997). However, while the systems themselves are diverse, the biochemical role played by vitamin C in each system appears to be mediated via its antioxidant properties (Frei et al. 1989 ; Padh, 1990). Increased risk of chronic disease, including cancer, cataracts and CHD, is associated with low intake or plasma concentrations of vitamin C (Block, 1991 ; Riemiersma, 1994 ; Gey, 1995 ; Machlin, 1995 ; Maxwell & Lip, 1997 ; Benzie, 1998). -- Proceedings of the Nutrition Society
Volume 58: Issue 2:Copyright Nutrition Society, 1999

Vitamin C deficiency causes capillary fragility. Depression is the first symptom of experimental scurvy, and a marginal deficiency of vitamin C may cause fatigue, lassitude, and depression. --MR Werbach - Altern Med Rev, 2000 - thorne.com

Calcium deficiency also affects the body adversely. As one of the primary alkalizing agents, the body seeks to replace low calcium stores by pulling it from the bones and teeth. It has many other functions, also. The root of a large molar disintegrated in my mouth during this period and had to be surgically removed. About this time, my ears started ringing also, all pointing to calcium deficiency.

IMPORTANCE: Builds and maintains bones and teeth; regulates heart rhythm; eases insomnia; helps regulate the passage of nutrients in & out of the cell walls; assists in normal blood clotting; helps maintain proper nerve and muscle function; lowers blood pressure; important to normal kidney function and in current medical research reduces the incidence of colon cancer, and reduces blood cholesterol levels.

DEFICIENCY SYMPTOMS: May result in arm and leg muscles spasms, softening of bones, back and leg cramps, brittle bones, rickets, poor growth, osteoporosis ( a deterioration of the bones), tooth decay, depression. --http://www.realtime.net/anr/minerals.html

Low stomach acid so severely affects digestion that food rots, according to its makeup, and one becomes poisoned by the by-products of fermentation, putrefaction and rancid oils. Fat metabolism is a matter of life and death. The structure and membrane integrity of every cell in the body depends on this process, and malfunction of oil and fat digestion leads to disease and death. This is particularly affected by liver congestion and apparently caused me to have gallbladder attacks also--the kind of pain I wouldn't wish on anyone. Any stress can bring on a gall bladder-like attack now. The most recent attack was January, 2006.

http://www.drkaslow.com/html/adrenal_insufficiency.html
"Adrenal Dysfunction: The adrenal glands are small but very powerful glands that sit atop each of your kidneys located in the middle of your back. They are really two separate organs combined into one location - the outer portion called the adrenal cortex and the inner portion called the adrenal medulla. The focus of this text is on the adrenal cortex.

The cortex serves primarily a hormonal function - among the main functions of the adrenal cortex are the regulation of the mineral metabolism (sodium, potassium, chloride), water balance, metabolism (utilization and distribution of carbohydrates, protein, and fat), allergic and immune reactions (such as hypersensitivity, allergies, and autoimmune diseases), and production of the male and female hormones (progesterone, testosterone, estrogens, DHEA, etc.).

Some of the signs of adrenal insufficiency are often similar to those found in persons who are hypoglycemic. These chief complaints listed in order of prominence are:

1. Inability to concentrate 2. Excessive fatigue 3. Nervousness & irritability 4. Mental depression 5. Apprehensions 6. Excessive weakness 7. Lightheadedness 8. Faintness and fainting 9. Insomnia

Patients with low adrenal cortex function may have hypoglycemia (or disturbed carbohydrate metabolism)..."

"...arthritis, pain in shoulders and back muscles, allergies, premenstrual problems, headache, migraine, ringing of the ears, tension, depression, suicidal thoughts, nervousness, apprehensions, noticeable heart action (palpitations), gastrointestinal problems, heat exhaustion, and an inability in handling stress."

Thin, dry "orange-peel" skin		2006: Red fingertips

The following physical findings suggest low adrenal function.
1. Skin thin and dry or scaly, pigmentation of temples, red palms or fingertips, and cold clammy palms.
2. Deep Tendon Reflexes are exaggerated.
3. Lymph Gland inflammation of the neck (swelling, pain, or tenderness).
4-7. N/A
8. Pain and tenderness over adrenal area of mid-back when pressure is applied (called Rogoff's sign).
9. Urination is either very frequent in small amounts or infrequent in large amounts. This person usually does not do well in the heat or in the summer, particularly in conditions of high temperature, high humidity, and low barometric pressure.
10. Scanty perspiration (except under arms or hands and feet). This person may be a "salt loser" (the tendency is to lose salt and to retain potassium). The urine and perspiration of the salt loser is saltier than normal and there is consequently a greater salt concentration on the skin. Animals are attracted to the salt on the skin, and often the low adrenal patient will be a favorite of animals to lick.
11. Ankle and/or finger swelling.

2006: Swelling comes and goes in both hands and feet

http://www.immunesupport.com/library/showarticle.cfm/ID/3074/e/1/T/CFIDS_FM/
Hans Selye who looked at the response of rats’ adrenal glands to stress. In the short term, the adrenal gland hypertrophied (got bigger) and then when the stress was removed, recovered to a normal size. However, if the rats were stressed without rest, i.e. chronically, the adrenal glands would initially grow but ultimately fail and shrink down to a shriveled state, at which point the rats would die.

"Unfortunately the conventional blood tests for adrenal insufficiency will only detect total adrenal failure as occurs in Addison’s disease."

Treatment Instructions
Dr. Watrous gave me medicine and instructions for treatment. I had drops for my eyes, two months worth of adrenal protomorphogens for glandular repair, homeopathic Apis for the hives, and homeopathic tissue salts based on the Carroll Food Intolerance blood test she did. I was to avoid animal proteins because of my kidneys, go on a complete 3-day fast to rest my digestive system and detox, do hydrotherapy at home to improve my blood circulation, digestion and eliminations, and supplement the vitamins and minerals from food sources, such as natural Celtic Sea salt for my sodium-depleted kidneys, nutritional yeast for B vitamins, C-rich foods, and sources of calcium. I lost one of the bottles of glandular protomorphogens, so half of that important remedy was gone. We were so broke by then I couldn't afford to replace it.

I needed my husband to give me the hydrotherapy treatments at home (alternating, timed applications of hot and cold packs, front and back), but we were estranged over the events of the previous year so I didn't ask him to put himself out and tried to do them myself with hot showers and cold towels, which is probably far less effective than the other way. My husband was too angry to care how ill I was and expected me to continue on working and taking care of the house as if I were perfectly healthy.

After a time the swelling in my arms and legs went down, proving some recovery, but I tried for months to get through a 3-day fast without success. Months later I had to have oral surgery to remove a molar whose root had disintegrated (calcium deficiency?). The anesthesia knocked me out for most of two days. All that sleep helped me get to the 3rd day without food, but I didn't make it long enough to get a full detox reaction going, or to fully rest my system, as needed. I believe that hypoglycemia made fasting more difficult. A 72 hour fast does something. The blood stops dumping toxins into tissue reservoirs after that amount of time and starts picking them up instead, in a true detoxification event.

The hives were reduced by about half after the partial fast, but I realized I would have to push a lot harder in other ways to detox my sick liver. I believed my adrenals had improved after a year or so because the pain was replaced by a normal “adrenaline rush” when sudden stress situations came up. But I had hives for almost two years (23 months) before they finally ended after numerous healing protocols. I did a program my chiropractor had for partial fasting with supplements, all from Standard Labs, which helped somewhat. Then I started researching my own means of self help. I finally came across information on how to do liver-gallbladder flushes, which are a miserable process to do through, but ended the hives. I continue to go through the process and have done about 10 in the years since. It required a parasite cleanse first, which took 3 weeks, but had some effect. I did some research and found that candida and parasites are common when the body becomes too acidic, and was probably also fueled by the lowered immunity resulting from low adrenal/thyroid function. I also got kits from the health food store to use for detoxing, knowing my entire system had become very toxic with lowered nerve energy, the chronic fatigue, poor stomach function, and everything else that went with glandular insufficiency. My life revolved around illness and finding ways to treat myself without drugs and most of all, without the dangerous cortisone derivatives that allopathic physicians prescribe for adrenal insufficiency.

I tried to help out my low stomach acid and indigestion with HCL (hydrochloric acid supplementation), digestive enzymes, papaya enzymes, and pancreatic enzymes, but still had trouble digesting food. I knew an acidic pH meant trouble and went on an alkalizing diet, drank copious amounts of lemon and lime juice, supplemented with calcium, which is dangerous considering those little white pills can end up in your vascular system and on joints as calcium deposits, but calcium is an alkalizing mineral if it stays "in solution" (liquid) and does what it's supposed to, so I had to take extra measures to handle the supplements...but I couldn't get my pH to budge. It didn't even register on testing strips that started at 6. (7.4 is healthy.)

These difficult "natural healing" protocols were still preferable to “conventional medical intervention.” The standard treatment for adrenal failure is steroids—cortisone in the form of prednisone, which dissolves your bones, creates the typical “moon face” many users have and in general reduces your life span and quality of life. It becomes a permanent treatment, because once you start, whatever remains of your adrenals begins to atrophy from lack of stimulation. Then, it’s “do or die.” I'd seen people deteriorating from cortisone use and wanted no part of it. In fact, my mother's first cousin was killed by cortisone use in the 1950's.

Medical Intervention
I was still suffering terribly from hives and was so mortified by my unexpected weight gain that on 11-06-2001, I finally broke down and visited a medical doctor for hive medicine and diet pills. He prescribed drugs for both. Neither worked. Dr. Wallace Donaldson of Zillah, Washington wanted to do a hormone blood panel when I told him about the findings of my naturopath, but I had a deductible on my military health insurance and this was the first medical doctor appointment I’d had in many years, so I would have to pay for the appointment and any testing out of my own pocket. I didn’t have the money to do so and so had to settle for the drugs, which I also had to pay for out of pocket. The cost for the appointment alone was $81, not counting the meds.

I knew the low adrenal and thyroid function caused the weight gain and finally realized that little I did would change it until or unless I made a complete recovery. I was eventually able to stabilize myself. The hair loss and weight gain stopped, but the hair didn't grow back and the weight wouldn't come off even with diet and what exercise I could manage.

Back Injury and Lowered Immunity
In the Fall of 2002, just 18 months after the first back injury I had another fall, this time inside my classroom when I slipped on a magazine a student threw on the floor. I hit sideways, injuring my shoulder and lower back. Therapy on the injured rotor of my shoulder responded to several weeks of physical therapy, but the school district person in charge of insurance misread my accident report, and the treatment on my lower back was delayed for several months and deteriorated during that time. I developed a severe inflammatory condition in the back that caused almost unbearable pain, the touch of clothing hurt, and I was reduced to walking with a cane. My legs or leg would often buckle and I kept falling. We were so financially strapped that I had to keep working, but on the day I was subbing in a first grade class and they had their first fire alarm, I couldn't get out of my chair. I had to dump myself on the floor and pull myself up with my cane and desk just to get upright, and then hobble out with the kids, who were distressed by my actions and the unfamiliar drill. It was the end of the school year in 2003 by then, and I knew my health problems were putting my younger students at risk. I had also developed bladder problems and some incontinence. That made teaching more difficult. Just in case I couldn't get to the restroom in time, I had to travel with extra clothes. This condition later improved with organic mineral supplementation, which pointed to adrenal-related mineral deficiencies as the cause.

More Glandular-Related Treatment
My chiropractor, Dr. Troy Binfet of Grandview, Washington was interested in my case of glandular exhaustion and the findings of the naturopath. He had taken training with Standard Processing Laboratories (the only producer of glandular protomorphogens) in diagnostic work to increase his ability to provide nutritional supplements and glandular support products and advice more accurately.

Dr. Binfet did some diagnostic testing along with a comprehensive questionnaire and came up with almost identical results as the naturopath Dr. Watrous had, with the addition of more clearly defined thyroid deficiency which was probably to be expected, since low adrenals would affect thyroid similarly, according to my own research.

He tested my saliva pH (acid-alkaline level) at 6, which is very acidic, instead of the normal alkaline 7.4. That was probably the result of low stomach acid, which would cause digestive problems and and acidify my system when it needed to be more alkaline, but that's just a guess. PH affects the workings of every cell in your body. People with a normal, slightly alkaline pH don’t get cancer or other degenerative diseases. A reading of 6 means the immune system is severely compromised, and cancer and other diseases, as well as yeast, fungus and other parasitic organisms, have an accommodating acidic terrain in which to grow and thrive. (Cancer cells are primarily anaerobic acid "eaters".)

Standard Processing Laboratories had a supplement and semi-fasting protocol for glandular support, as well as the glandular medicine. So once again I started on the protomorphogens, a number of supplements, and a (disgusting) fasting protein drink intended to detox and rejuvenate my system. In spite of the expense, I went for the program and made some improvement, thanks to Dr. Binfet, although I still had hives. After that I did other semi-fasts, took supplements, and used liver and general detox products, programs and protocols in a constant effort to get healthier.

When my overall glandular condition had improved, my hair loss and weight gain stopped. By my estimate, I lost at least 1/3 to 1/2 of my hair from the late summer of 2000 through the next few months, mostly on top. It didn't really hit me until a child came to my house and saw me under a light at the computer. She asked me "what happened to my hair?" and how come I "didn't go to a hair store and get more?" Until then I had deluded myself into believing that other people wouldn't notice the hair loss too much. It was especially depressing considering the women in my family that I took after all had thick hair like mine and kept it until death. Hair loss is different for men. It's more expected, and less generally noticed. (See photo.) Baldness in men is linked to high testosterone levels and openly or unconsciously linked to manliness and virility. Hair loss on women is unsightly and certainly unattractive and repugnant.

My first liver-gallbladder flush finally ended the hives for good. I had suffered from this ungodly misery in my life for almost two years. Many times I sat up in bed at night scratching myself with a hairbrush until I bled. It was worse during the day when I couldn’t scratch in public and had to suffer the burning pain and itching in silence.

After the beginning of the 2003 fall quarter, after a few weeks of substitute teaching, I knew I was still too ill to handle work effectively so I enrolled in college to take a website construction class and related subjects. I was finally able to get a website up 3 1/2 years after the Leasecomm website construction fiasco.

Inflammatory Arthritis Due to Low Adrenals & Impaired Immune Function
Treatment on my back was approved for the fall of 2003 just before I started college. I had to be evaluated by a panel of doctors and they ordered an MRI on part of my spine to see if there was a connection between the injury and the incontinence that began the previous winter. That's when they found arthritis had settled into the injury site. They cut me off from treatment, I assume by claiming the pain came from "natural causes". Luckily, by the time that happened I'd had treatment for many weeks and had made a 70-80% improvement in the actual structural damage, but needed many more treatments which were now denied. I recently did some online research and found that adrenal insufficiency often results in arthritis, particularly with the calcium absorption problem and the adrenal role in inflammatory processes.

Lumps Removed By Black Salves Without Benefit of Pain Medication,
When my immune system became impaired, a couple of "lumps" developed, one beside my chin, and the other in the site of an old injury to my left thigh. They became tender with streaks of pain radiating outward. I feared these lumps (I couldn't face the term "tumor") were putting out roots, and since there was no money for medical treatment, I decided to remove them with the infamous escharotic "black salve" cancer treatment. This was "botanical" surgery without benefit of anesthesia or pain killers. I first removed the lump in my chin in the fall of 2003, while attending college. I had to keep it covered up because it grossed people out. It didn't all come out with the first application so I had to do it a second time before it would heal up. I ended up going through the entire quarter hobbling on a cane, with a bandaged face. It left a small but unsightly scar I am unable to hide with makeup, which makes me self-conscious. Low adrenal/immune function=tumor formation.

I didn't start on my thigh "lump" until the following May, 2004, when substitute teaching jobs were about done, because I knew I wouldn't be able to walk as the treatment progressed. The process was terribly painful, like having someone run a metal rake up and down my thigh muscle to rip off the abnormal tissue. I had sleepless nights when I wanted to scream, because no amount of aspirins or herbal pain killers completely dulled the pain, but did resort to alcohol more that once. I photographed the whole process. Unfortunately, some of the roots broke off before the first treatment was done and I had to do it again. You can see a root hanging out at the 2 o'clock position in the photo of the hole after the eschar came out.

Treatment takes 3 weeks, but I had to wait for the tissue to close up before doing the second treatment. Black salve on raw flesh causes unspeakable pain. I finished the second treatment, but I'm not sure if I got all of the roots out, so will test the area with the salve again (it only reacts in the presence of cancerous or abnormal tissue), but facing the process again without an effective "pain management protocol" has made me put it off too long. It left me with another scar, but at least this one I can cover up. (The whole process is detailed on the page: http://www.truthquest2.com/cancersalvephotos.htm )

Adrenal-Related Gall Bladder Attacks in response to stress
I started having gall bladder attacks on New Year's Eve 1999, after eating an order of nachos. They lasted for several months until I did enough research to know to avoid fatty foods and to heal myself with herbs: milk thistle seed, dandelion root, and licorice root. However, the attacks started up again in the Spring of 2005, this time unrelated to diet. I was having a bad day in class and hollered at a group of wild kids, when chest pain started. I feared I was having a heart attack, and called for the school nurse. He checked and found that my vital signs were good and suggested that I be tested for clogged arteries, which I had feared for a long time considering the B vitamin deficiency and weight gain--both serious risk factors for cardiovascular disease. However, within an hour or two, the pain had dropped to the gall bladder area and continued characteristically for several hours before abating. It was near the end of the school year, and I had several other attacks relating to stress situations, so if it was gall bladder, it was now reacting to stress rather than diet.

Fibromyalgia
About the same time I started having these gall-bladder like attacks in reaction to stress, I started having pain in my arms from the shoulders down to the elbows. The muscles on the back of my arms became painful to the touch. I knew this kind of nerve pain is fibromyalgia, listed as a symptom of adrenal exhaustion. My eyes were blurry at that time, making reading difficult, so I knew my adrenal function was low again and started back on glandulars and other protocols for low hormone production. I knew I had to remove as much stress as possible, so I quit work at the end of the school year and haven't returned. Years earlier, a friend of my who is a naturopath (went into research, not private practice) now running a health food store, told me that apple pectin and magnesium were "specific" for fibromyalgia, which I asked for someone else who had it. (magnesium chloride-Dr. Mark Sircus)
http://www.medicalveritas.com/
http://www.imva.info/
http://www.magnesiumforlife.com/
http://web.mac.com/medicalveritas/iWeb/FSEM/FSEM.html

If one Googles adrenal exhaustion+fibromyalgia, or adrenal insufficiency+fibromyalgia much information is available.

Gum Disease Brought on By Lowered Immunity and Stress
In the fall of 2005, a little financial windfall came our way (retroactive back pay on retirement income my husband has), so I went to the dentist to have a bridge made to fill in the gaping hole left by the molar I lost in 2001. I hadn't been able to afford the dentist since then, and thought all was well. Instead, they found I had since developed gum disease for the first time in my life. I asked the dentist, Dr. Robert Larson, Sunnyside, WA, if lowered immunity and stress could have caused periodontal disease and he said agreed that was probably the case. So, instead of fixing the unsightly, gaping hole in my mouth, the money I paid up front for the bridge went instead to treat periodontal disease. It wasn't a fun process. Unfortunately, it doesn't seems to have worked too well. My gums aren't healing as expected. Nothing heals well anymore.

Burning Heals
This fall, 2005, my heals started burning painfully. One of my first symptoms in the summer of 2000 was thickened, cracking skin on my heals, but this was new. It's mostly at night, but very uncomfortable. A new symptom is not a good sign.

Itching
This is embarrasing, but I developed a new symptom--anal itching--but this is also a new symptom as of spring, 2005 (along with burning heels and gall-bladder type attacks) and one that's causing a lot of misery, again mostly at night. From the research I've been able to do, the digestive component of my condition may be the cause.

Insomnia
The insomnia has come back, but not as intensely as it began in the summer of 2000. I feel restless and jangly at night, and thrash about. During the day its just the opposite--the hypoglycemia is worse, and fatigue keeps me worn down.

A Lump, or Something Else
The latest concern is something in my head at the base of my skull, that is pulling on my neck and shoulder. I hope it's not another "lump." I don't wish to remove something from the area of my brain with black salve. It may be something entirely different. It continues to the present.

Sex? Forget That
Forget about sex. When your adrenals and thyroid go, your libido goes with them.

12/29/06: I found a website with better information and explanations that most, along with a treatment program that looks hopeful. http://www.chronicfatigue.org/History.html

truthquest2.com
My website is now up and running. It should have been up in 2000, and would have been if I'd spent the money on instruction instead of getting involved with Leasecomm and having both my health and finances ruined by the experience. People contact me every day who have cancer or other serious diseases. They should have had access to the information I have back then, when I purchased the Internet Tool Box to create a website with, as advertised. It was all so wrong.

Chronic fatigue, hypoglycemia, depression, eye problems, injuries that don't heal, arthritis, swelling, and other lingering systemic effects of glandular insufficiency have left me debilitated. That, along with the unexpected changes in my appearance have turned me into a recluse. Normal aging and deterioration one expects as part of life. Unexpected abnormal deterioration is a different matter. I haven't worked since May, 2005, and have become too agoraphobic to leave the house much. I have no source of personal income presently and collection agencies calling night and day. We just don't answer the phone.

I've cut off from all but a few closest family members. My husband does the grocery shopping and about everything else outside the home. This means no family reunions, no school reunions, no social activities, no family get-togethers any more, no friends, no neighbors, no church, no nothing. I've even cut off email contact with old friends to avoid the inevitable invitations to visit.

Ironically, for all that I went through and put my family through to get my natural healing website up and running, I'm too blurry-eyed to do much writing and the unhealed back injury/arthritis prevents me from sitting or holding any position for any length of time. The lasting effects of low glandular function steals away my mental clarity and energy.

Mentally, I feel like a different person from the one who used to read science and medical journals as recently as the spring of 2000. Now I have to take notes to remember the name of subjects I used to write reports on. I live by notes to fill in the empty spots when my memory goes blank. I've lost a great body of information I originally planned to put on my website. If I hadn't written it up already or in some way preserved it, too much is lost to reconstruct. (It has taken two weeks just to edit this page.)

Physically, I get by as long as stress is avoided. How does one do that? By avoiding life, it seems. My world is mostly one small room with my computer and website activities. That's my connection to the outside now. It's been a high price to pay for the privilege of public service, but many people have benefited from the health information provided.

UPDATE
I went through a number of other healing modalities on my own, including detoxification programs, liver-gallbladder cleanses, super foods, the Budwig protocol briefly, carrot, celery and beet juice on occasion, selenium, probiotics, etc. But in spite of making good progress without resorting to hormone replacement--prednizone in the case of adrenals, and thyroid hormones for that deficiency, both of which cause atrophy and permanent dependence, as well as terrible side effects in the case of cortisone use--I think a person who "crashes" to the degree that I did remains "sensitive" to stress and must remain ever vigilant and continue with whatever maintenance treatment is called for.

Recent Conditions: Summer-2005, I was substantially improved, but still had some debilitating symptoms. My pH remained dangerously low. It didn't even register on testing strips that started at 6. My eyes got blurry again from adrenal-related conjunctivitis after I submitted to treatment following toxic smoke inhalation from a chemical fire in the town where I was teaching. The eye drops I was prescribed were cortisone-based (I carelessly didn't read the label) and I think affected my adrenals. I still had some sleep problems. My hypoglycemia was improved but only slightly. The arm pain which started months earlier was severe. My injured back was stiff and sore from the waist down and I had daily pain in the sacroiliac regions of each hip, despite a long term of chiropractic care and the mostly successful arthritis program I followed. I still suffered from occasional bouts of "brain fog" though not as severe, and memory lapses--especially short term. My hair hadn't grown back, and losing the weight I gained seemed a "losing" venture. My skin texture remained dry, wrinkled and roughened also, though mainly from the neck down.

"Ocean Plasma" The seawater treatment: I knew Ocean Plasma was considered a "mineral drink" that helped to remineralize the body, balance electrolytes, and normalize the pH, as well as being "energizing." But I had also become familiar with the historical use of  "The Marine Treatment" as a far more serious therapy. (My report on this site .) So, while I had some hopes, I still had few expectations, especially concerning my all-important pH. No amount of alkaline-forming foods, raw lemon and lime juices, calcium, or other efforts or alkalizing products had budged my pH since 2001, when my chiropractor tested me in the course of doing diagnostic work. (His findings were exactly the same as those of Dr. Watrous, except that the thyroid deficiency was now more pronounced.)

I started on the "juice" in the fall of 2005, just a few weeks ago. The first night I didn't feel any different, but stayed up all night working and went through the next day normally, for probably the first time in 20 years. It wasn't insomnia--I just felt like writing. I didn't feel "buzzed" or anything, like from a stimulant, just awake and alert. The next night I fell asleep without staying up to watch tv as normal and slept through the night without thrashing around and waking up off and on as I usually did and then resorted to watching tv infomercial's until I could sleep again, sometimes hours later. A pattern developed. I went to sleep and slept soundly all night, or if I felt like I wanted to work (I've always been a night owl who also loves being up at the crack of dawn) I was able to stay up by choice. Having a choice was the strange part.

Then I noticed my eyes had changed. Instead of only being able to work on the computer for minutes at a time, it became hours. It happened so naturally I didn't realize what was happening at the time. That's the way all of the changes have taken place, slowly, naturally, and almost without notice at the time.

Then I realized my back wasn't hurting, and most of the stiffness was gone. I don't even know when it stopped. Also, the pain in my arms had reduced by about half.

Then I checked my pH (I always forget to do it in the morning first thing, before any food or drink). For the first time, it was creeping upwards toward the slightly alkaline range. It has a way to go, but nothing else had budged that baby into the color zone (light green instead of dead yellow). It hadn't even changed the color of the yellow testing strips since I got it. I ran out but will test it again soon. If for nothing else, this would have been worth the effort.

Then I noticed my bladder--not something one wants to be "aware" of. I won't go into embarrassing detail except to say I had previously considered having corrective surgery for what may be a prolapse, or whatever leaky middle-aged and old folks sometimes get. The problem is mostly gone. No more thoughts of surgery.

Then I noticed my appetite. It wasn't terrible before, but with a weight gain after the thyroid deficiency that has so far resisted "fixing" and hypoglycemia which sets up cravings and crashes, suddenly realizing that I have an appetite thermostat and an only moderate interest in eating, I wonder if  I've come across a whole new use for seawater. In the historic photos above, most seriously ill people were thin and emaciated, and gained weight. But on the other end of the spectrum, it also might work to normalize weight. After all, it's known that food cravings and binge eating can arise from mineral deficiencies and the need to restore them.

Then I noticed my brain--also not something one generally wants to be aware of. But I've noticed a kind of clarity I haven't experienced for several years. Also, the memory lapses seem to disappearing. I think so anyway--can't remember for sure. (Just kidding.)

And then I noticed my blood sugar. I've had a couple of dips (after starches) but no crashes that landed me on the floor, or even in bed.

Dec. 8th: About 4 years ago I spent several days bent over a computer without much relief. It put such a burn on the muscles across my shoulders that it became agonizingly painful to bend over like that since then, after the first few minutes. My eyes improved enough recently so once again I could spend hours instead of minutes working online, but that aggravated my strained shoulder muscles. The only thing that helped before was Dr. John Christopher's famous "Tissue & Bone Salve," but we were out so I ordered more, along with the recommended Cayenne salve which helps it penetrate deeper (Cayenne has amazing vaso-dilation properties and a high Vit C and calcium content also). However, by the time the salves arrived today, the pain was gone. It hasn't returned, even with many hours a day spent on the computer.

Feb. 26, 2006--the healing effects of my seawater consumption seem to have leveled out, so I am now just hoping to maintain the improvements. One symptom returned--ringing in the ears. Otherwise, everything else seems to have stabilized without change. My energy levels may have improved a little more, because I seem to be getting more work of a physical nature done, but I feel the same. Improvements happen so gradually they are hard to discern during the process.

In November of 2006 I went through some kind of acute illness I assumed was brought on by my sick gallbladder. I couldn't eat for 4 days, felt like I'd been poisoned, my tongue swelled up almost out of my mouth and I was sure I was dying, but it suddenly ended, and I felt well. I already had gallbladder surgery scheduled, but I suddenly felt like I didn't need it. However, I was too timid to cancel out after the doctor assured me I could drop dead from a condition of blocked something or other, so I just went through with it in spite of feeling healed of everything. That has been the situation since. I think the forced fast got me over the final healing block, and I have felt fine since. The weight is finally beginning to come off, my energy levels are nearly normal and no more pain or other symptoms, other than some digestive complications due to the lack of a gall bladder.

Nov. 2007-- just started experimenting with a new mineral product--MMS (Miracle Mineral Supplement now called something else with the same initials) which is acidified Sodium Chlorite that briefly turns into Chlorine Dioxide before breaking down into Sodium Chloride (salt). It selectively kills pathogens -bacteria, fungus, etc. during a 2-hour window of activity. The product is very inexpensive and considering that one only adds drops to vinegar, one container would last for years.

Well, the first application has ended a 40-year misery I don't talk about. In 1996 I was walking through waist high grass when I got attacked by a swarm of biting insects from the ground --sand fleas or something. They crawled through my pantyhose where I couldn't brush them off and were only stopped by the tight wasteband before I could get out of them. It took a decade or more for the bites on my legs to heal, but they never did where the sun don't shine. The itching was a nightly misery. One application of MMS and they were gone, and it appears that Candida went with it, so I'm a believer.

I remained well until 2009, when a traumatic event undermined all the progress I'd made, but that's another story. Now, a new recovery adventure is in the works.  **DJT