Thank you for reading this – this is my first post to Curezone.

I have suffered from fibromyalgia and treatment-resistant major depressive disorder my entire life. I have spent the last nine years pursuing different mostly alternative medical treatments after finding no relief through conventional medicine in the preceding decade or so.

I recently saw a doctor who specializes in treating patients with CFIDS and FMS who has studied under Dr. Jacob Tietelbaum. He said I have adrenal fatigue (probably among other things) and prescribed a supplement called Adren-All by Orthomolecular Products. In the first two weeks of taking this, I didn't notice anything. But the week before last, the third week, I started experiencing extreme fatigue. Now, having felt exhausted my entire life, this was significant. I would be suddenly hit with fatigue and feel like I could collapse on the floor. I started perpetually feeling like I was feeling a combination of being lightheaded, hypoglycemic, and anemic all at once. It sort of felt like I was in a daze. Changes in posture were especially difficult and made me feel even more lightheaded. I would get very tired randomly but also wake up abruptly at around 3am. And I craved salt.

I felt pretty certain these symptoms were the result of the adrenal supplements, so I stopped taking them. Last Saturday night (2 days after stopping), in a stressful situation, I experienced some sort of crisis. My blood pressure felt like it dropped rapidly. I was exhausted and weak to the point of barely being able to move. It took all the energy I had to just be able to bring myself to a sitting position. I was in tears, I'm not sure if this was just out of fear about how I was feeling or something else? I could hardly sense my body in space. It was a really scary feeling. I felt sick, drained, exhausted, lightheaded, etc, all at once with shallow, rapid breathing. And the worst of it lasted for several hours. I had a very difficult time functioning for the next day or so. I had to rest every few minutes after doing something.


Here are the ingredients in the supplement:
Vitamin A: 500 IU
Vitamin C: 200 mg
Vitamin E: 20 IU
Niacin USP: 20 mg
Vitamin B6: 30 mg
Vitamin B12: 200 mcg
Pantothenic acid: 350 mg
Adrenal Concentrate (Bovine): 220 mg
Eleuthero Root Extract: 100 mg
Rhodiola rosea Root Extract: 100 mg
Schizandra Berry Extract: 100 mg
Licorice Root Extract: 75 mg (standardized to contain 12% Glycyrrhizin complex)

I was taking two capsules in the morning with breakfast and two with lunch. I have since dropped that to two in the morning with breakfast at the recommendation of my doctor.

I was also on Iodoral (25mg daily in the morning since early July, but I haven’t always been consistent) though my doctor told me to stop taking this. He believes it's the cause of the above symptoms, though I don't. I've taken Iodoral on and off for a couple years and never had an adverse reaction.

I have been taking the following supplements as well:
Pregnenolone (10mg with breakfast and lunch)
Jarrow B-Right B complex (1 capsule with breakfast)
Vitamin C (2-3 caps daily)
MSM (around 25g/day, I've taken high doses of MSM before without any adverse reactions)
Selenium (400mcg daily, not always consistent with this)
Sometimes enzymes with meals, fish oil, EPO, probiotics, niacin though not consistently.

One thing that was really strange to me was that during the crisis period last Saturday night a lot of the muscle pain and tension of the fibromyalgia seemed to fade, almost like my body was trying to release it. And I've felt a bit more open physically since then.

I'd appreciate any insight anyone might have into what happened or what might be going on.

Thank you!!