For around more than 2 years, I've experienced generalized fatigue, brain fog, feeling of muscle weakness and stiffness, tingling around the hands and feet, shortness of breath, sleepiness throughout the day, buildup of what I believe is plaque around my gums, occasional slurring, shakiness when under physical or mental pressure, and intolerance to stress. All these symptoms occurred after an extremely stressful college semester in Fall 2006. During that semester, I had also caught an ear infection and bronchitis a few months before my symptoms showed. I believe the buildup of stress had accumulated to the point which my body couldn't handle it and had a negative impact on my body's systems.

I finally went to see my internal medicine doctor in the Fall of 2008 and he did regular blood and fasting blood, urine, ENT, and chest x-ray tests. He did send me to a neurologist, but I don't think enough tests were done. Anyway, according to the internal medicine doctor, all the tests came back normal. He told sleep apnea or chronic fatigue syndrome were possibilities. He also told me that some of the symptoms I explained to him led him to believe it could be depression. He told me I could take 5 mg of Celexa for 6 weeks if I felt I needed to and if it didn't work to see a psychiatrist. I did take the Celexa, but my condition didn't change. He also told me that acid reflux could cause fatigue and shortness of breath. I took Prilosec, but my condition didn't change.

During the Fall semester, I also went to an acupuncturist who did 8 treatments of acupuncture and told me to take red ginseng and astragalus for 2 months. My conditions still didn't change.

I finally consulted with a specialist in nutrition from the internet in April 2009. After talking to him about my symptoms and how all my medical tests came back normal, he told me that I had 2nd stage adrenal fatigue (hypoadrenia) and I could regain my health in 3 months. With the help of his assistant, they both put me on a supplement treatment. It consisted of liposomal vitamin C, pantethine, and a product called Quantum C, which consisted mainly of vitamin C and a proprietary blend. I was also told to sleep by 10 pm and wake up at 9 am if possible. I didn't feel any improvements in the first few weeks and I was told to take chromium polynicotinate. All I know is it's supposed to balance blood sugar. A few days after taking the chromium, many of my symptoms went away. I thought the chromium helped clear my symptoms, but the assistant told me that it was really the liposomal vitamin C. Because I felt I could work, in the middle of May, I went to South Korea to train for my English teaching position. After 4 days in the training, I had to leave the training and country because I was experiencing brain fog, loss of appetite, fatigue, and muscle weakness. After coming back to Hawaii, the nutritionist told me to increase my supplement dosage and take liposomal glutathione. However, I haven't seen any significant improvements since then and I've been experiencing insomnia.

From my experience, physical or mental stress aggravates my symptoms and causes my "shakiness". If I have to wake up early, I don't feel refreshed. The symptoms that mainly get in my way are muscle weakness and stiffness. I've recently went to a chiropractor, but after the 3rd treatment, he recommended I see a neurologist and obtain a MRI test. He believes the problem is biochemical and something could be blocking the neural synapse. I'm hoping a MRI test will reveal something, but I have to research it more because I'm not really sure what it's all about or what the point of the test is about. Has anyone ever experienced what I've gone through? Any suggestions or advice? If I do have depression, could it show on a MRI test?