Armed with this new information that I had adrenal fatigue, and knowing that I would not have the support of my regular doctor, I did what all people do nowadays–I checked into Facebook to see if there was an Adrenal Fatigue group. What I found was shocking…the largest Adrenal Fatigue Recovery Group at this time contains nearly 23,000 members. Really?? And I know this is just one microscopic snippet of how many people are actually suffering.
I joined the group and felt immediately overwhelmed by the information flow. After I waded through the anti-conventional doctor comments, I then had to combat-crawl through the countless comments of, “this worked for me, it can heal you, too” type of posts. Over the course of a few weeks, I began to see a pattern emerging: one woman in particular was constantly sought after and she was always recommending the same protocol. We will call her, “Ling”. Ling was tagged daily in literally hundreds of posts. I came to learn that she practiced Eastern Medicine fully and became ill. She then began to practice Western Medicine and nearly died. She has since adopted the “Yin/Yang” principle of practicing the “Middle Way”. I understand this–although I did not have a blessed experience with conventional doctors being able to diagnose my health issues, there is a place for them and I won’t shun them completely. Still, I was intrigued by Ling and her posts recommending a particular protocol which I will explain later.
As I was sifting through the hundreds of posts that were churning through the adrenal fatigue recovery group, I was also getting tested for a variety of conditions. I found out through conventional doctors that I have the Epstein-Barr virus, sleep apnea (yes, I do wear a mask to bed now), and fibroids. Each of these things alone can cause extreme fatigue…and I have all three, in addition to the adrenal fatigue, which is the daddy of them all.
What really impacted me at this time was the test I received through one of my non-conventional doctors: my chiropractor. During one of my sessions with him, I mentioned the fact that I had adrenal fatigue. He then told me something shocking: hormone testing is most accurately achieved by saliva tests–not blood tests. In some roundabout way I have yet to fully understand, proteins in the blood can mimic what the hormones should be doing. Therefore blood panels can come back negative for any kind of hormonal distress. Since saliva comes straight from tissues in your mouth, a much more accurate result is given.
Since I did not have the backing of my conventional doctor from the base, I paid for the saliva test out of pocket…a practice I resent but have to accept.* Raising my fist against our current healthcare system will have to wait for another post!* $200 and two spit tubes later, I found out the last piece of the puzzle: At 41, my female hormones were nearly non-existent. I had the hormones of a post-menopausal woman! The blood panels that came back frustratingly normal were worthless–they did not catch that for years with each passing pregnancy, my body and hormones had been suffering. Now, I get to add hypothyroidism to the mix of ailments plaguing my body.
And the healing begins…
Writer Bio
CJ Heath is glad to share this journey with you. Can you relate? Well, hang in there! Future articles will outline the steps she’s taking to heal and get better. Although her path may not be yours, the protocol that will be listed later is something we should all do, and certainly it will help you. Until next time!
