Brenda Beats Chronic Fatigue And Depression With Thyroid and Adrenal Support

For years Brenda experienced repeated bouts of severe depression that markedly interfered with her quality of life, personal relationships, and ability to raise her young son. Consulting one doctor and specialist after another, she was placed on a revolving course of commonly prescribed antidepressant drugs, none of which provided her with sufficient improvement to reclaim the joy of life and vibrant personality that defined her for most of her life. To make matters worse Brenda also became increasingly debilitated by what can only be described as a complete lack of energy. Barely able to get out of bed on most days, or climb a single flight of stairs, she slowly became a prisoner of her bedroom on many days of the year. Unable to find the energy to cook meals, clean her house, actively engage with her young son, she became more and more dependant on others to perform the daily tasks of house keeping and parenting that she once did so effortlessly. Although many doctors described her state of overwhelming fatigue to an extension of her depressed state, she and her husband were not as convinced.

After reading a paper I had written (see this month’s Featured Article) on the effects of an under active thyroid and adrenal fatigue on mental health and symptoms of chronic fatigue, they contacted me and asked if I knew of a clinic that could investigate these possibilities. Her own family doctor had already looked at her thyroid function test (TSH) and determined it was normal according to accepted medical standards. The problem is that the accepted medical standards are outdated as so aptly presented in the book The Anti-Aging Revolution (Dr Philip Lee Miller M.D. – past president of the Life Extension Foundation). After viewing her blood work I sent Brenda to the clinic where I practice as the Director Of Nutritional Therapies.

She booked at appointment with the chief medical officer at the clinic, who looked at her original blood work and then ordered additional tests to evaluate her adrenal function (including the saliva test outlined in this month’s Featured Article). Based on a complete blood, urine and saliva panel it was determined that Brenda had both an under active thyroid and almost completed adrenal exhaustion, which accounted for a great deal of her chronic and debilitating chronic fatigue.

She was given a prescription for dessicated thyroid, and was started on regular series of intravenous treatments, which provided system with adrenal adaptogen herbs and vitamins and minerals to support and re-establish normal adrenal function. In concert with this she started taking the Thyroid Support Supplement and Adrenal Support Supplement I refer to as this month’s featured products. Her blood and saliva panel were so alarming that supplements alone were not going to be enough to revitalize her adrenal function in a timey fashion, so to speed up the process intravenous treatments were scheduled for her twice per week.

A Remarkable Recovery           

Within the first month of taking dessicated thyroid tablets, thyroid support formula, adrenal support formula and receiving regular intravenous treatments with adrenal adaptogen herbs and vitamins and minerals, Brenda’s depression and chronic fatigue started to improve. After three months of treatment the improvement was so dramatic that when I ran into her at the clinic one day it was as if I was speaking to a completely different person compared to the highly depressed, unmotivated, and lethargic individual I had seen just weeks ago. She was smiling, highly engaging, her energy had returned, her coping skills had improved, she could think more rationally, and was able once again to experience the joy of day-to-day living. It was the best she had felt in many years according to her own admission, and she had reclaimed much of the quality of life that had been stolen away from her a thyroid and adrenal gland that had gone hay-wire.

The biggest problem was that every doctor and psychiatrist she had seen in the past either didn’t check her thyroid function or misinterpreted the test results, using outdated normal range values. And none of these doctors, other than my associate, explored the possibility that adrenal gland fatigue could be contributing to her depression and chronic fatigue symptoms.

The question is, how many other people are walking around thinking they have depression or chronic fatigue due to a chemical imbalance in the brain and/or a low-grade infection, when in fact a major contributing factor may be  the misdiagnosis of an under active thyroid and/or adrenal fatigue. I strongly suggest that you read this month’s Healthy Living Message and Feature Article. Someone you know with depression or chronic fatigue may be greatly helped by undergoing the testing I describe and following through with the appropriate lifestyle and supplementation game plan. Cases like Brenda’s are becoming more and more common place in this highly stressful world in which we live.

Success Story

• Adrenal

• Thyroid

• Serum Ferritin

• Chronic mono