Re: My story...a host of sudden debilitating symptoms

 Thanks for your extremely detailed response!

They checked my liver as part of the comprehensive metabolic panel. This was taken after I started having the fainting attacks and hypoglycemia-like symptoms but before "all hell broke loose." The results seemed to be in the middle of the normal range (Bilirubin 0.6 mg/dL, Alkaline Phosphatase 62 IU/L, AST 20 IU/L, ALT 13 IU/L.)

I started adding watercress and amla...so far, so good. Will look for schizandra next time I go to the co-op. I was looking online and found a thyroid complex (http://www.luckyvitamin.com/item/itemKey/77199) that includes ashwagandha, schizandra, as well as kelp, bladderwrack, coleus forskohlii. Are the rest of these beneficial to take at this time?

The forskohlii and watercress work best if taken together.  And using adaptogens together such as the ashwagandha and schisandra is also good.  But with multiple sensitivities it is a good idea to add one thing at a time.  Kelp and bladderwrack are both seaweeds, so you don't need both. Bladderwrack is better for the thyroid and immune system, but is not a good idea if there is autoimmunity due to the polysaccharides.  If there is autoimmunity then kelp would be a better choice.

Also, I have looked up chaparral and it does look like it has many good properties but there have been results of it causing liver problems. Which makes me think I should be wary of it at this time as my liver may be messed up. Or should it just be OK to take it in very small doses?

The whole chaparral and liver issue is very misleading.  There were 13 ISOLATED cases of hepatitis that the FDA tried to link to chaparral use.  But the FDA conveniently left out the facts that most of the people had pre-existing liver failure or were on pharmaceutical drugs known to damage the liver.  Of course the herb got blamed instead of the actual causes.  Although, fresh chaparral does contain alkaloids that can damage the liver.  These alkaloids are very unstable though and quickly break down upon drying of the herb.  It takes about 2 months after drying for all of these alkaloids to be completely destroyed.  Commercial chaparral will have been oxidized sufficiently to destroy all of the alkaloids.  So this is only a problem if you are picking your own chaparral fresh.