BellaOnline Forums Health and Fitness Holistic Health Looking to herbs, since my doctor can't help

Hi all. This is my first post in this forum, and I hope to learn a lot from all of you.

I've been going to the doctor for those symptoms that nobody can seem to diagnose: excessive fatigue/lack of energy, inability to obtain productive sleep, lack of concentration, weak immune system, body aches, etc. etc. The doctor ruled out fibromyalgia, since I passed his tender points test. He was mentioning Epstein-Barr/mono at my appointment with him yesterday, since I've had a recurring sore throat and swollen glands as of late. But these other symptoms have existed for years without the sore throat or swollen glands. I have most of the symptoms of Chronic Fatigue, but the doctor doesn't think I have that either. I've been to several doctors about this problem, and have heard everything from chronic dehydration to hypoglycemia to depression. Nobody can give me a concrete answer about any of this, and it's very frustrating.

I've also gained an excessive amount of weight over the past 2 years - an average of about a pound a month, without making any changes to my diet or exercise (I am starting to lose the weight though...I've lost 11 pounds so far). I thought I might have low thyroid function, since it runs in my family...but I've had my thyroid checked every year and it is checking out normal so far.

I have other chronic problems like IBS, allergies and asthma.

In the past year, I've tried Effexor, which only made me have violent thoughts. I tried Elavil, which helped me sleep, but made me feel like a zombie during the day, and lastly, I tried Wellbutrin, which almost gave me a seizure. I was on 300 mg. of that, and yesterday he cut me down to 75, although I'm skeptical that it will do any good. It did give me energy though, when it wasn't making my muscles twitch.

(By the way, I checked with a therapist who does not think I have depression, so that's also off the table).

Basically, the doctor told me yesterday that I'm a hopeless case and that there really isn't anything he can do for me. He didn't say that in so many words, but that was the general impression I got from him. So now I'm hoping I can find a more natural solution to the problems I'm having. I'm not ruling out the possibility of a gluten allergy or somesuch, but living in Europe under military healthcare makes it difficult to get referrals. So I may just have to wait until I get back to the States at the end of this year before I can see an allergist. There isn't a dietition around here whom I can consult either.

(By the way, I can't change doctors. He's my assigned doctor and we don't really have any other options).

So...I'm hoping I can find a more holistic approach to start feeling healthier again. For the record, I work out regularly, which is extremely difficult to do considering how I feel most days, but I make myself do it. I eat a much better diet than my husband does, but I could still use some improvement. I just need some guidance as to what herbs I might try or what resources I might check out to try and help myself feel better.

Any information you can give me would be very much appreciated. Thank you!

Karyn -

I have a lot of the same symptoms you do. I have a pituitary cyst, it showed up on an MRI about 15 years ago, but not one 5 years ago. (Unfortunately, they don't think it is gone; that's apparently normal for small cysts.) All the other usual tests for a pituitary cyst and my various hormone levels are in normal ranges. I've had some good luck on my own with Bach Remedies, which I understand are readily available in England. I saw a naturopath when I was first diagnosed and she gave me a number of things that seemed to give me some long term (until recently - I think I need to go back but I'm ruling out a few possibilities that my medical insurance covers first) help. One of them was shark cartilage (you have to be very careful about not taking this when you have a cut because it slows or prevents healing.) Unfortunately, if you have a sub-acute pituitary cyst, the MD viewpoint is that there is nothing to do until you are sick enough that the risk and long-term problems from having your pituitary removed is worse than your current state.

I do find that eating well and exercising does help quite a bit, it IS hard when you are really tired though.

Oh, I recently had low iron levels and started taking supplements. The iron supplements really seem to help with the concentration.

Julie

Karen, I have had many of the same problems as you and the same frustrations with Dr.'s being perplexed. I have used herbs which are the only things that have helped. I found out I have PCOS (poly cystic ovary syndrome) which causes weight gain and depression as well as a host of other problems. www.drallon.com has lots of information. They provided me with a diet and exercise plan which includes supplements and it has helped. The other Dr. who helped me was www.drstu.net. Dr. Stuart Marmorstein. Also look at www.biocranial.com. I wish someone had told me about Biocranial treatments before I spent 12 years and a fortune on tests and doctors who took my money then told me it was all in my head or I just needed to lose weight.

I also have thyroid problems in my family. My dad has hypothyroidism. My tests don't show problems either but Dr. Marmorstein told me problems don't show up until your thyroid quits working completely. I have all the symptoms of Hashimotos Thyroiditis and have had them since I was a child.

You need to do some research on possibly having Celaic Disease and/or a weakened Adrenal System. Also accupuncture works wonders. The thing that has helped me most are the Biocranial Adjustments. It seems so simple but in 5 minutes I felt better than I had felt in 15 years. I vowed to reach out and tell other people because I truly felt it was a miracle! I never believed in them before until my first biocranial adjustment.

I hope this helps you find more helpful information. I have listed some of my findings on: www.calgonmoments.blogspot.com, www.360.yahoo.com/chinadolll2 and www.homeschoolblogger.com/Dalaimama

Lisa

Karen, your symptoms sound a lot like mine were. I barely functioned for about 7 months last year. Just for your information, here are some things I found helpful:

Lexapro--really helped the emotional issues I was having--I was angry/tense all the time. I described it as having PMS all the time. My doc said PMS is a serontonin issue, too, so we tried it and I am much easier to live with now. I will probably cut it back and then out in a couple of months. By the way, it has less side effects than other SSRI's (I've noticed no side effects at all on the 10 mg. dose).

NADH--a supplement highly recommended for Chronic Fatigue syndrome. The fatigue was sudden and unexplained (tests showed everything in normal ranges). It was also debilitating and depressing. NADH helped me almost instantly. It's fairly expensive for a supplement, but I think this helped me the most. I have energy now.

Acupuncture--just started last month, but so far, it is helping with my migraines and muscle spasms.

Eating better--I've cut back on a lot of meat and upped the whole grains and veggies.

I hope you find some solutions soon. It truly is miserable when you can't do the things you want to do.

Good Luck!

Hi Karen,

Many food allergies can trigger some of the symptoms you have described. Start your own food journal. By keeping a journal you will be able to notice patterns that seem to be responsible for your some of your symptom.

Start to look at what food you are eating. To help find out which foods might bring on your symptom, make notes about what you eat and drink each day. A food allergies usually occurs three to 12 hours after eating a trigger food, so look back as far as 24 hours before the symptoms occurred to see what might have caused it.

You can then show this journal, diary or calendar to your doctor and also avoid the food that may have triggered some of your symptoms.

Karen, how is your stress level?

A Healthy Immune System
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Greetings KJ,

Many physicians rule out FMS not really identifyng some key elements that comprise the entire SYNDROME.

I would also suggest that if there is a continuing weight gain there mught be need to check out the tyroid function and for diabetes.

The body can act as if it HAS hypoglycemia OR diabetes and not BE either!

Most of the time this condition is dues to obesity even tjough the initial oset of weight gain may hve begun as a sign of some ther event in your body.

Chronic Fatigue is NOt healped by caffiene; it can actually make a bad situation worse! Learning to find and set boundaries that are ideal for YOU is essential.

be fitly blessed,
aTeeDAZ

~Shalom~

Regarding your lacj of energy*

It is best to have less of any food that reqires alot of energy to digest; oils nuts and fats.

Foods that are NOT energy compromising do assist the body in maintaining the vital energy that you count precious at the event of a FMS/CFIDS crisis /flare up.
Such food low fat buttermilk/yogurt/kefir/miso soup and tofu.

Best to avoid chocolate and coffee soda pop[caffeine laden items DEHYDRATE the facia and make for less effecient movement; soda pop adds to a water weight gin prob;em water log the mucle tissues and ezperiencethe pain of FMS/CFIDS to a different degree.

Soda pop leeches out potassium from the bones and muscles suffer; you may also experience muscle spasm wirh even moderate intake of these non food products.

Baruch HaShem

I have a website for you it's www.realtime.net/anr/vitamins.html look up herbs one that I found is olive leaf extract read up on that and greentea and quercetin and resveratrol very very good especially for disappearing varicose veins.

Look here

The Healer's Manual: A Beginner's Guide to Energy Therapies
by: Ted Andrews

and the link:
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Lots of great advice here. I would also suggest that you find a reputable accupuncturist who could diagnose and treat you. I would find one who specializes in Chinese Medicine and could give you some herbs. My daughter had some problems in college this year with lack of focus and energy, etc and he fixed her up with accupuncture and herbs. We've also used this doctor for sports injuries and headaches, things like that. If I had something serious wrong with me, I would definitely consult him.

It's hard to start taking herbs, etc without an expert to direct you.

I have a friend who had similar symptoms to yours and she tried a special diet of herbs which absolutely cured her. I saw her before and after and the change was amazing. If you'd like to know more about it, you can pm me. It's a diet program that I use too and my immune system is so healthy I never even get a cold.

For an alternative, drug free and safe supplement that helps with allergies, migranes, joint pain, sinus infections and other ailments...visit my site at www.mymangosteen.com/ejoyce. You can also visit www.mangosteenstories.org and do a search for any health issue and see what you find. For scientific research, visit www.pubmed.gov and type in xanthones. Xanthones is the chemical compound found in the mangosteen fruit (the only fruit in which it is found) and is responsible for the amazing results that people are now experiencing with this juice. It tastes great and is safe for babies and adults alike! Give it a 90-day trial. I was skeptical when my boss recommended it to me last year - How can a juice help me with pain and other health issues? Well, it wasn't long before I was distributing it myself! I feel confident knowing that I am getting the help I needed without the side effects that prescription drugs can sometimes cause. Thank God for prescription drugs, but not for me if I can help it!
To your health!

There is an awesome, fairly expensive holistic supplement that you should try. If it doesn't work, you haven't lost anything, there are virtually no side effects. Continue with the daily exercise and healthy food choices, you may even consider a raw food detox and diet, for 30 days at least, see if it helps. The supplement I was eluding to originally is called Goji juice. It's all natural and tastes great, you should try it for a minimum of 30 days, and let it work it's magic. Here, I'll attach some websites for you. Shop around in them for a while, there is a lot of great info in them.
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Hi Karyn,

Wow, so your doctor thinks you're a "Hopeless Case"? Well, it sounds like this statement is definite motivation for you to take matters into your own hands, as you and everyone else should since your health is your own responsibility.

My first question is, what exactly are you eating? Nutrition plays a tremendous role in your overall health! If you want to take a holistic approach to health, and a long term solution, my first suggestion would be to eat more raw fruits and vegetables and eliminate processed foods completely. A plant based diet, where the majority of food is raw and of a wide variety, is very healing and therapeutic and can make a huge difference in your current condition over a short period of time. Try to gradually eliminate ALL dairy products and reduce meat consumption to two or three small portions a week max. You can get adequate protein from plant foods like quinoa, brown rice, polenta, oats, and a variety of legumes. And, animal protein is inflammatory to the body, so you want to reduce it to a minimum.

I'm not an herbalist, but maybe you can find one online that does phone consultations. I'm sure herbs could be helpful in the short term, but they are definitely not a long term solution. Herbs work much like drugs and they are not meant to be taken for the rest of your life.

Someone suggested here that you start a food journal. I highly recommend that you do that with the intention of using it to track the number of fruits and vegetables you eat (7-13 daily), the amount of water you drink in ounces (at the very least, you should be drinking half your weight in ounces daily), and the amount of exercise you are doing (ideally working up to 5-6 days of exercise of 45 minutes or more).

If you need an online support group to change your eating habits, I highly recommend the Eat2Live Yahoo group. The group members are following Dr. Joel Furhman's book, "Eat To Live", which is a plant based diet similar to the one I follow. Another great book to read if you want the science behind a plant based diet is "The China Study".

If you have any other questions you can email me offline.

Healthy Wishes,
Gretchen Goel, MBA, CHE

Hi Karyn,

You might want to try looking into macrobiotics (incorporating more whole foods into your diet) for your recovery.
Eating whole foods is giving your body the exact nutrition it needs. Your organs and systems will fall back into proper working order (which is health, not sickness). We are meant to be eating whole foods, that is why they were put on this earth for us, from even before WE were put on this earth!
Macrobiotics has worked for me, so maybe it can help you too!
My website is www.MacrobioticMagic.com

This sounds like it could be Candida yeast overgrowth. I am just now beginning to research this so if anyone has info on it, maybe we could share sources.

Joan

You should get lot of info. from skin websites.

Hi,

I read your post and wondered if you have had blood tests for Gilbert Syndrome (GS) - this is where you will find you have high levels of Bilirubin - a toxin the liver is supposed to filter but can't. Someone close to me has this so I recognised some of your symptoms. Tiredness, lack of concentration (known as brain fog), lack of energy, body aches - it's really a downward spiral because with GS you are not getting rid of a toxin that is part of your body's digestive process. It is easily remedied with the use of Milk Thistle daily - which filters the liver and also vitamins and eating the right foods.

Once found and dealt with most people live a fairly normal life - did you know that 1 in 20 people actually have GS and the medical profession do not give anything for it - advice or assistance with the purchase of Milk Thistle.

It is worth having your bilirubin levels checked - just a normal blood test. The normal level should be 17. When my relative had theirs done it was up to 60 - any higher and it would be classed as Jaundice.

Milk Thistle Tincture taken twice a day (comes from a natural plant); plus Dandelion Tea and at night Camomile Tea to help you sleep.

I hope this is helpful to you.

Take care,

Love and Light,

My mother had many of the same symptoms you decribed. She also did not get any help from all the doctors she visited. Thankfully she was opened minded about alternative healing, since I have been into natural healing methods for many years.

We modified her diet and removed all sugar, and white flour, dariy products for a period of time. Also all grains that contained gluten. At the same time I gave her natural herbs that would kill off any nasty bacteria. Candida is another word for it. Because of the drugs and anti-biotics and processed foods, we have gotten our balance of good vs. bad bacteria out of balance in our digestive system. This can cause the candida to be a systemic problem and give you all sorts of symptoms.

To make a long story short, she is so much better now, but it took a sustained effort.

Hi I take a product that repairs you body on a celluar level.I know many peole who have autoimmune issues who have gotten great results with this product. It's a food science company located in St Louis Mo..It's on the NASDAQ.They have been in business for 20 years..To hear a 3 minute informational message about it you can call 1 603 822 2225 to listen to a prerecorded message.You will hear 4 or 5 people tell how it helped them.The people on this call are all my friends.I know them personally,they all had life changing results on this product.
I hope you will take the time to listen.These products have changed so may peoples lives.Including mine. Good Luck Linda

Um sorry, but I disagree that any of these elixirs are the solution for optimum health. These are fine if you want to add extra antioxidants, but a person consuming the Standard American Diet and drinking Mangosteen daily is not protecting their health. The diet needs to be high fiber (more than 45 grams from a wide variety of plant foods not supplements), low fat (under 20 grams), low sodium, free of additives/preservatives, dyes, refined sugar and processed foods, and very limited caffeine.