One member on here is always talking about it, and is pretty knowledgeable about it, just keep watching your post and hopefully she will respond.

I'm quite sure this is what I have rather than fibro per se as the symtpoms overlap in almost everything except the pain.

The book is very helpful and worth the $10 or so it costs.

I've found that eating a very high salt diet helps my fatigue. I also take an adrenal cortex that has been very helpful as has the Indian herb, ashwagandha that lowers cortisol levels. I still have a fair amount of fatigue, especially if I do much or am under the slghtest bit of stress, but I've had this for 29 years now, the first 25 of which I wasn't sure what was going on, just that I felt strange.

This link is to a matrix showing the signs and symptoms of adrenal fatigue and low thyroid function:

http://www.drrind.com/therapies/metabolic-symptoms-matrix

I bought a bottle of B12 tables, you dissolve one under your tongue once a day, It has helped me. I wouldnt recommend a high salt diet, that can be dangerous to your blood pressure, heart etc.

I read the book a few years ago and it answered a lot of questions for me. Before this I was totally confused about what was happening to my deteriorating health. My symptoms seemed just like what I found in the book and I also thought that stress played a big part in my condition, so it all seemed to make a lot of sense. I have just recently purchased my own copy and will read it again.

I didn't implement all the suggestions in it though. I always assess whether anything I try will contribute to my overall well being, rather than just alleviate symptoms. Sometimes even though something may help initially, it could leave you with more or other problems later. So I didn't change to a high salt diet, just in case it may cause other health issues down the track. Though I have read that deficiency of organic sodium (that is that found in natural foods) is quite possible, even if we eat plenty of table salt. The best way is it eat whole foods in as natural a state as possible and over time the body will rebalance mineral levels and ratios properly. Nor did I stop eating fruit. It is one of the simplest foods to digest and I'm sure it keeps me alive when the digestive system can't cope with anything more complex. Though I eat the fruits on their own because they digest much faster than other foods and need alkaline digestive juices to be processed.

I personally believe in using herbs for healing. They contain the nutrients that can supplement our diets in balanced proportions. When we start just taking separate supplements, such as calcium just for example, we really have no true idea of how much our body really needs and we just throw other things out of balance. Minerals interact with each other and our body needs to keep them in the right ratio.

Personally I think adrenal fatigue and fibromyalgia/CFS are the same condition.

B12 deficiency also seems to have very similar symptoms and it would be worth seeing if you are deficient, since it is possible to become deficient if you suffer from digestive problems or are vegan.

Sorry if I've given you too much information. I do think the information in the book would be a good thing to investigate.

I have been reading a lot about adrenal fatigue lately. It is recommended to eat a high salt diet, which is often a concern in itself, however in people with adrenal fatigue, it helps rather than hurts. This is because the electroylytes in the body are out of line. It It is recommended to drink water with sea salt in it, especially if you find yourself craving salty foods. I think I am going to try it.

BTW - I have heard of the book and I take b12 sublinguals and they do help.

Been tested - not my problem - but it's another thing people with fibromyalgia and/or chronic fatigue should be tested for.

If you have adrenal fatigue, your kidneys excrete excess sodium and retain excess potassium causing you to excrete excess fluid which leads to cellular dehydration. Once I understood this, I could see why when I went into a flare I also felt better if I ate something very high in salt. I also started drinking salt water which helped me retain water and dealt with the cellular dehydration giving me more energy.

One way you can tell if you're dehydrated is if your lips are chapped and cracked. If I don't eat a high salt diet, mine crack and split within a day. So long as I eat enough salt, they don't.

How exactly can you be tested for adrenal fatigue? Just wondering if there is also a connection between that and low blood pressure as surely a higher salt diet would help that too? Only saying that on the bases that if you have high blood pressure you are told to cut out salt. My blood pressure is very low. I also crave salted foods (as well as sweet food!)

You have go to a naturopath and have a salvia test done, but when I asked the naturopath I was seeing about it, she blew it off--she wasn't the sharpest knife in the drawer to say the least. I've had 2 24 hour cortisol test but where you have to collect your urine for that long and mix it all together, it doesn't show much IMO. I think you can order the saliva test online, I just haven't done it as my symptoms fit adrenal fatigue, plus when I first started getting sick, I had this internal jitteriness like I had too much adrenaline coursing through my veins that made me very shaky. It was a very strange feeling.

Low blood pressure is a symptom of low adrenal function. Did you check out that link to Dr. Rind's site I posted in my first response? It shows the signs and symptoms of adrenal fatigue. A couple that I have are the vitiligo where you lose pigmentation in your skin so when I get tan, I have all these little round spots the size of a pencil eraser that are almost a bleached white; I also have lost most of the hair on my forearms, under my arms and on my lower legs as well as barely perspiring--it takes a 95 degree day to get me to actually break out in a real sweat rather than just a light dampness. My hair also lost all it's natural curl so I decided to let it grow out assuming it would be easier to handle but the adrenal cortex I'm taking has restored the curl to the left side of my hair so it curls on way, and the right side just hangs there. I used to have a lot of natural curl or wave. Another symptom I didn't see mentioned in that matrix is that you feel better as the day goes on, especially after around 5 p.m., and find it very difficult to get to get going before 10 a.m because your cortisol levels are low. That describes me to a Tee. If I don't have to be somewhere before early afternoon, I don't--it has be very important for me to be anywhere before 2 p.m.!!

When I started taking 5-htp, the internal jitters went away!!! It was absolutely wonderful to feel normal again after having that for 25 years!! 5-htp supports the adrenals.

Like anything else, about all you can do is try the high salt diet, some of the supplements designed for adrenal fatigue and see how you do.

One other thing--it's recommended that you eat a high protein breakfast by 10 a.m. as the adrenals need protein to function. They also need high quality fats so don't go on a low fat diet if you think you have adrenal fatigue as it's needed to produce hormones.

Another thing that will help strengthen your adrenal glands is licorice--not the Twizzler type candy, but licorice root. It does raise your blood pressure so if you have high blood pressure which most people with adrenal fatigue don't have, keep an eye on it. You can get a licorice supplement called deglycyrrhizinated licorice or DLG that has been processed to removed whatever it is that raises the blood pressure.

Aldosterone is a steroid that helps regulate sodium (Na) and potassium (K) (Adrenal fatigue looks at the different steroid levels ie glucosteroids and why you may crave sugar at certain times of the day, etc). If this Aldosterone steroid is out of wack then you could have to increase one of these electrolytes.
If you liked "Adrenal Fatigue" you may want to read Dr William Jefferies "Safe Uses of Cortisol" which looks a low dose use of this substance.

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I have a question have any of you used "Dr. Murray's Multi Enzyme Vegetarian Formula" It has Amylase, Cellulase, Lactase, Maltase, Sucrase, Hemicellulase, Protease 1,2,3, Peptizyme, Bromelain, Papain, Lipase. I usually get stuff from Life Extension but their enzymes are not enteric coated. Since some small NIH studies have shown amino acid imbalance and they come from the break down of protein via enzymes.

I wanted to know if any of you tried these and if so did it help you? I have a neighbor that has Fibro and I wanted to know if this is something she should try.

Thanks,
EP

Looks like I am going to have to buy the book, I tried to place a hold online with our Library it would not let me, so since I had to drop off books I went to my branch they tried then realized that the branch that owns the book will not send it to another branch ...seems it is a new book to them.... Can anyone tell me if there are any books as good I can try to get through the Library system before I spend money?

Good point Hayleydan about the licorice. Over the years I have used licorice root powder, which is purely the powdered root of the plant. I used to mix it with some slippery elm powder in water. Since these two herbs are good for the digestive system too, if you have IBS. I have heard it said that when using herbs you do so for three weeks and then take one week off before resuming again. I would use the licorice for a spell and then stop for a while just to be safe, since I think it may affect oestrogen levels. But it would be best to find a good herbalist.

Hayledan, I thought you may have mentioned once that Celtic salt would be a good way to increase sodium levels. I think this good advice and a much better choice than normal table salt. But I was just wondering what you think is a healthy amount to take daily?

scarletpoppy, I use sea salt. I'm sure the Celtic salt would be good, I've just never researched it.......Dr. Teitelbaum in his book From Fatigued to Fantastic mentions consuming up to 5,000 mg of salt if you have adrenal fatigue. Most of my salt comes from salting my food as I can't handle processed foods.