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Fellow Gluten intolerant,  All this talk lately about hypoglycemia, sugar
intolerance, etc.  has prompted me to share a remarkable experience with
you.  I've battled carb intolerance off and on for about 8 years.  The
symptoms are usually as mild as slight jitters between meals, but at
times it's severe enough to cause panic attacks and weakness when I'm
hungry.  I've used a variety of strategies to control this problem: high
protein/high low carb diet, chromium supplementation (1000 mcg/day),
alpha lipoic acid, bilberry extract, regular exercise, etc.  Everything
I've tried helped to some extent, but the problem remained and required
daily attention to diet and carrying emergency snacks with me wherever I
went.  I'm often like the recent poster who is so carb sensitive, as not
to be able to tolerate an orange.

But, I recently, quite by accident, stumbled upon what I believe is the
root cause and it's solution -- adrenal fatigue and adrenal support.  I
started on thyroid supplementation a couple of months ago.  It caused an
extreme adverse reaction:  pounding heart, extreme reactive hypoglycemia
like I'd never experienced before, violent shaking, anxiety, severe
muscle pain, panic attacks, salt craving, thirst, dehydration, etc.  I
found myself having to eat every 1 to 2 hours ROUND the CLOCK to avoid
passing out.  I was so ill I couldn't drive or function normally.  I saw
two doctors about it and neither could offer me anything other than heart
medications for the pounding heart, xanax for the anxiety, hydrocortisone
for adrenal support.  But none of these prescriptions really helped much
and all have nasty long term side affects.  I was a total wreck.

My holistic, alternative MD was out of the office and I was desperate.  I
called a friend who has an extensive background in alternative medicine.
In fact she spent 10 years working at the world famous Tahoma Clinic
dispensary.  She told me that my problem was probably adrenal fatigue &
recommended adrenal extract.  I had my doubts it would help, but I was so
desperate, I decided to give it a try.  After all, I reasoned that I
couldn't get much worse!  Within a couple of hours of taking a product
containing adrenal extract, the tension & anxiety, pounding heart, muscle
pain began melting away.  And by the evening I noticed that I had gone 5
hours without eating & experienced NO JITTERS.  It's been over a month
now using this product and I can honestly say I haven't had a single
episode of reactive hypoglycemia symptoms.  I no longer need to eat
between meals to avoid the jitters.  I am also tolerating many foods that
I haven't been able to tolerate for quite some time:  oranges, dates,
grapes, pineapple, raisins -- with NO REACTION!   In fact, I've been
binging so much, I've aggravated my old candida problem, so I still have
to exercise moderation -- darn it!  ha ha!  But....no more jitters, panic
attacks, salt cravings or feelings of weakness & confusion between meals.
 Now, when I'm hungry, I simply feel hungry instead of desperate!

I've done a lot of reading here & there about adrenal insufficiency and
it's often closely associated with hypoglycemia.  According to most of
what I've read, adrenal insufficiency is very common, but rarely
diagnosed and even more rarely appropriately treated.  (According to some
sources, the best treatment is over the counter adrenal extract and
stress B vitamins which is what I'm using.)  I now believe that one of
the root causes of my carb intolerance (hypoglycemia) was adrenal
insufficiency.  My adrenal glands were not able to respond appropriately
to stresses, even mild fluctuations in my blood sugar.  Adding adrenal
extract & some key nutrients have made it possible for my body to deal
with daily stresses more effectively.  There are a few books written on
this subject -- "Adrenal Insufficiency" by Vanger and "Adrenal Fatigue"
(I don't know the author).  I haven't read either of these books so I
can't recommend them until I do.

The product I'm taking is called Stress EZE and is made by Phoenix
Nutritionals.  I buy it at my local Curves for Women.  It's not available
at all Curves locations.  I haven't searched the web for it, but I'm sure
it's probably available there as well.  However, there are many similar
"adrenal support" products available at health food stores and on-line.
If any of you have had experience with adrenal extract or adrenal support
products, I would love to hear from you.  I'm a curious gal & always
looking for answers.  I'll summarize.

Valerie in Tacoma, WA

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