Re: Brain fog answers, birth control

I'm sorry to read about your symptoms. It brings back some memories of 20 years ago--not good ones.

Brain fog was one symptom that I couldn't really control with supplements and diet back then. A diet for hypoglycemics helped me to avoid big dips in brain energy. Cutting back on the sweets and switching to whole grains were a puzzle piece, not fix-all.

Various supplements helped somewhat--a multi with generous amounts of minerals, tyrosine for support of catecholamine neurotransmitters helped somewhat, so did low dose Adderall medication for inattentive ADD. Eventually I found that I had heavy metal toxicity--mostly lead and cadmium. I also had 5 silver fillings containing 50% mercury. so I assume that did not help matters considering the synergistic effects of those toxins. Thankfully my list of symptoms is very short today after years of detox--Cutler Protocol. That includes greatly reduced brain fog.

In your situation I'd start with some magnesium (Mg). It can take the edge off of Depression and anxiety. It is also good for muscle cramps. Many of us have inadequate intake of Mg. I'd choose the glycinate form of oral Mg for your situation since glycine also has a reputation for a calming effect.
https://www.iherb.com/search?kw=magnesium+glycinate
http://www.greenmedinfo.com/blog/magnesium-safe-first-line-defense-clinical-depression

US RDA for Mg and more at OSU's site
http://lpi.oregonstate.edu/mic/minerals/magnesium

I HIGHLY recommend that you try Epsom Salt. More on why later. That is magnesium sulfate. Some like the effect of a warm foot bath in the evening to make it easier to settle down before bed.

It might help member to know what type of birth control you were using. For example, a hormone-based pill would have different implications than a copper-containing IUD, etc.

Your adrenal/sex hormone panel is interesting. Most of the hormones are a little on the low side of normal, but not low, and the levels are not scattered all over the reference ranges. I would not expect adrenal cortex support to be a fix-all but would not be surprised if a little support would be welcome.

You might start with some adrenal *cortex* glandular--not whole adrenal glandular! If you have chemical sensitivity issues, you might try Thorne's product. I also suggest that you consider trying low dose pregnenolone--maybe just 10mg with lunch.
https://www.iherb.com/pr/Thorne-Research-Adrenal-Cortex-60-Veggie-Caps/18706
https://www.iherb.com/pr/Source-Naturals-Pregnenolone-Cherry-Flavored-10-mg-120-Lozenges/1352

Notice the various adrenal and sex hormones in this diagram. Notice pregnenolone is the grandmother of them and DHEA is not abbreviated.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Steroidogenesis.svg

The level of DHEA-S in your hormone panel is the outlier of the adrenal/sex hormones. The "S" stands for Sulfation, one of the liver's detox pathways. On the first hormone panel I like to see both DHEA and DHEA-S to see if there is much of a difference. Some consider this a bit of a test of your liver sulfation pathway.

My guess is that your DHEA would have tested similar to Testosterone and progesterone--maybe a little higher if indeed liver sulfation is not ideal.

Now you can see why I recommend Epsom Salt that contains sulfate. Sulfation is involved in the natural breakdown of adrenaline-like substances that are a part of our body's natural chemistry. There are other somewhat similar substance in our diet, including phenols. You might look up the list of foods containing generous amounts to see if they contribute to hyperactivity or anxiety--chocolate, most fruits and their juices, some flavorings and additives such as vanilla.

Have you gotten a stool test to try to better understand what is happening in your digestive tract? That could be a major underlying factor in all of this.

Do you have a history of yeast infections, especially ones that are difficult to get rid of?

Do you have a history of frequent sinus or other infections? If so, have you been one to go to the doctor for an antibiotic? Hopefully you realize it will not be so helpful if you have a viral infection. There are other things you can do for that.

Have you tried probiotics, especially after a round of Antibiotics ?

If you are not taking a multi vitamin, you might try one, maybe half of one twice per day. I'd select one with 100% RDA zinc and some iron, maybe not 100% RDA unless you have heavy monthly blood flow and don't eat much red meat. Eventually an iron panel could be requested.

If your digestive tract is not messed up, especially if you don't have high ammonia, you'll want to consider the supplement glutamine. That's certainly been helpful to me and a close female friend for our brain fog, especially between meals. Again it is not a fix-all.

Glutamine is also upstream from our natural production of our most important anti-anxiety brain chemical--GABA. Some need to take a multi B to help with a relevant conversion, especially if you are sensitive to MSG--more on that if requested.

You are fortunate to have the Internet and groups such as Curezone. My friend and I are older than you. We did not have the Internet decades ago when our problems started. Our lives got messed up because mainstream doctors were worse than useless--especially our endocrinologists. Those clowns are only good if you are at risk of dying from a hormone problem.

So remain hopeful! You are not close to being out of bullets! Unfortunately it can be a long and somewhat expensive process to get to the bottom of the problem.

Wishing you all the best in your search,

Joe Tweet