POTS

Healing Our Daughter, Healing Ourselves

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Our Little Tadpole

Abby is our little tadpole. Sensitive to seemingly everything, she morphed into something she should never have been. Many people openly stare quietly, thankful their kids aren’t like her and go about their business without much thought. Or worse were those who only stood by saying “God, somebody DO something!” when our daughter was screaming in pain in public as if WE weren’t there. There is much to be learned from them, if we only had eyes to see. We’ve made mistakes in our journey with our daughter, but the 10 specialists we’ve taken her to in the last nine years have provided numerous test results with little to no answers. The last allergist I took her and told me to “stay off the internet” as he was handing me free pharmaceutical samples as I was walking out the door. They made it as far as the trash can in the restroom. And so began our journey of doing something different, looking for answers outside of what we’ve been told. In our journey to heal our youngest daughter, we are healing ourselves too as we all seem to be dealing with very similar issues of low stomach acid, connective tissue dysfunction, and nutritional deficiencies/dependencies. I will start with her story first, since it is because of her that we’re figuring ourselves out.

The Early Red Flags: Hypermobility, Digestive Issues, Speech Problems and Intense Reactivity

Abby was adopted from China in September 2010 at the age of 10 months. Her birth and family history is unknown. She was found in a very poor district at three weeks old, underweight and jaundiced. She also had a congenital heart defect called atrial septal defect, which later closed up on its own. She was kept in ICU for a period of time. She was bottle fed until 10 months, then introduced to gluten and dairy. Orphanage caregivers reported she had a much heartier appetite than other babies (an early red flag that we all missed).

When we adopted her, we found her to be a very happy and social baby, who transitioned well. Her eye contact was always good. We did notice, however, her hips, elbows, knees, and fingers were hypermobile. In hindsight, we recognized that she played differently with infant toys. More red flags.

  • In October of 2010, she had her first post-adoption doctor’s appointment.
  • In December 2010, she was walking on her own. She tested positive for TB exposure and put on Isonaizid. She tested negative for lead. She became ill and was in pain for 10 days with diarrhea 3x day. We switched to Rifampin for the next 6 months. She was on Isonaizid and/or Rifampin from December 2010 through July 2011. Anti-tuberculosis antibiotics required monthly liver checks. She was vaccinated during this time as well, a mistake we came to regret. Our once happy child now became stoic and would remain so for nearly a year, but things had changed.
  • In spring of 2011, she experienced continuous and severe congestion along with loose stools.
  • In July we stopped Rifampin. She was a good eater, often ravenous.
  • In spring of 2012 we began speech therapy, 3x per week, but progress was slow. After removing gluten she spoke her first three word sentence.
  • July 2012 her hearing was checked. “Possibly mild frequency decrements. Minor issues”.
  • July 2013, probiotics stopped her diarrhea, unless she was exposed to a problematic food.
  • In 2014, we found she was a MTHFR 677ct double mutation. We strongly suspect she has a CBS mutation due to very strong reactions to various things: ALA, NAC, Epsom salts, CLO, methylated B12/Folate. Though over time, some of these we have been able to get in her in small amounts.
  • Over the next few years, and a multitude of negative tests, all we were able to determine was that her B12 levels were consistently high, even when not supplementing much, as were her B6 levels (though iodine brought her B6 levels down into the normal range). Creatinine was low, and a few amino acids were only slightly elevated. Prostaglandin F2 were extremely high and liver enzymes were elevated.

Despite all of this, Abby is a very happy, socially engaged and intelligent girl. Her speech has always been intermittent, ranging from very slurred to full complete clear “normal” sentences. It switches at random. Her former teacher of 5 years doesn’t think it is ASD, but in truth, it doesn’t really matter. Our kids are often labeled for the convenience of others.

Altered Pain Sensitivity

Abby appears to have a high pain threshold, except stomach pain. Since she was young, she has preferred to be barefoot and wore few clothes, even in winter. Over time this has changed and she has grown more “normal” in her body’s adjustment to temperatures.

The only observable nervous system affect was that she tightens/clenches her fingers when very excited. Excitement seems to trigger degranulation in her unstable mast cells. She had been extremely reluctant to draw, write, or color when young. She’s doing all this now, not as age-appropriate, but gaining.

She has had many problems with probiotics in the past; often creating an immediate OCD/stuffing whatever she could get her hands on behavior, under furniture, peeling birch tree bark for hours, etc.  Her brain was almost immediately affected.

Severe Reactions to Triggering Substances

Trying to solve her medical problems has been difficult. She has had so many reactions in the past when trying various vitamins/minerals and supplements recommended by her physicians. The results were always mixed and reactions could be extreme. We often, and still do, dose her vitamins and minerals separately, mixed together. Many reactions were not to the main ingredient, but to the binders or fillers added to the supplement. Some treatments would spur a short snippet of normal speech but only 1-2x then nothing more.

Below are the symptoms that we have been navigating.

  • Dry, itchy skin. Rashes, hives, angioedema, large welts from some foods/chemicals and insect bites.  Her skin feels like it’s on fire and she tore at her clothing after a small amount of Pure Vegetable Glycerin (99.9% pure) was applied. In 2015, her skin peeled off her arm, wrist to shoulder in a 3” wide band of deeply reddened dry/cracked skin, after eating non-organic strawberries. It looked like a third-degree burn, minus the blisters. Epsom salts, baking soda, Vick’s Vapor Rub, various other skin oils like jojoba, or almond oil, all caused painful reactions.
  • Severe abdominal pain. She experiences severe abdominal distress and pain after ingestion of various foods or charcoal-grilled food. She may also develop constipation/diarrhea, headaches/migraines. Probiotics often dramatically changed her behavior within an hour to severe OCD. Fruit-based digestive enzymes would cause facial rashes and behavior changes. Pancreatic enzymes caused much less speech, very quiet per her teachers.
  • Urinary. She was unable to urinate 9+ hours after ingesting cough syrup on two occasions. She was not dehydrated either time. She formerly had urinary incontinence on occasions and enuresis. The enuresis resolved with the addition of vitamin K2 MK7.
  • Insomnia. Occasionally she would develop insomnia, often after ingesting or exposure to an offending food or chemical. Tap water seems to be particularly problematic.
  • Behavioral. She has experienced severe OCD, irritability, extreme aggression/anger, hyperactivity.
  • Heart and Lungs. She develops a rapid heartbeat at rest and persistent coughing for 6+ hours following ingestion of a trigger.
  • Head and nose. Congestion, puffiness/eyes, headaches/migraines (based on focused tearing behavior).
  • Speech Problems. Her ability to speak various greatly relative to exposures. It goes from single words to full clear “normal” sentences. With gummy vitamins, recommended by her doctor, she developed a very notable and immediate regression in speech when she was four years old.  The day before she took the vitamins, she had clearly-spoken emerging speech, i.e., “I eat” “I do” “I wash”.  Immediately after giving her the vitamins, she walked about the entire day just saying “mmmmmm” over and over. Unsure of the cause, I was thinking dyes, rancid hydrogenated oil, or some such.  I would not make the sugar connection for a few more years.
  • Severe pain after exposures. She had a strong reaction to Cassia cinnamon. In class, she and other children were making Christmas ornaments with lots of Cassia cinnamon. Although none was ingested, her teacher said she was inhaling it and handling it for hours. Near pickup time, the teacher said she was not feeling well, began to be irritable, like her head hurt. As we were walking out of the building, she went down fast onto the ground and began writhing in pain (not sure if head or gut related). Teacher held her head to keep her from hitting it on the pavement, while I ran to get my Lavender essential oil rollerball. Applied it, and within a few minutes she was fine and got into the car. No further incident. Ceylon cinnamon causes no problems. Cassia can affect B1 levels, or so I read.

Our Journey to Healing Began With Vitamin K and Thiamine

In October 2018, we learned about thiamine and suspected that many of her problems may have been the results of a longstanding thiamine deficiency. We began in August slowly increasing Thiamine HCL. She began to improve at school, but results were inconsistent. We then moved to Benfotiamine for a while and results seemed better, but still inconsistent. By October, she was taking Sulbutiamine and we worked our way up slowly to 200 mg. Organic Acid Test (Great Plains) showed her lactic acid levels came down with the addition of the high dose of thiamine.

Nighttime enuresis persisted several years beyond toilet training. In 2016, we added approximately 700 mcg of vitamin K (MK7) working up slowly to this dose and her nighttime accidents completely stopped. The addition of vitamin K (MK4), reduced her food intolerances and allowed her to eat a broader diet, but that form of the vitamin did not stop the enuresis, the MK7 form did. We have since lowered her doses and now she just takes a D3/K2 liquid form with no return of the enuresis and food tolerances seem good, though we monitor her diet closely.

We use a variety of homeopathic remedies to treat reactions, illnesses, and injuries and reduce chemical exposures at home. Once her lactic acid levels came down into the normal range with the thiamine, we were able to add probiotics without negative reactions.

Her diet is mostly organic, grass-fed beef, organic chicken, wild-caught fish, cage-free eggs, local raw honey, coconut and olive oil, ghee, no GMOs. MTHFR mutations seems to be sensitive to gluten and dairy, but I wonder if that’s because of our need for the TTFD form of thiamine. She has been sugar free since July 2018.

My Big Takeaway: Healing Requires Resolving Nutrient Deficiencies Dependencies

EDS and ASD both share very similar nutritional deficiencies and/or dependencies. I wonder how much of autism isn’t simply the undiagnosed trio of EDS/MCAD/POTS. As most genetic testing is beyond the reach of most family budgets, it is difficult to know. It seems like it would be worth looking into one’s broad family history. A friend once told me that the foods we crave the most can be our biggest problems.

Years ago when Abby was in preschool, her teacher had me in for a conference. She showed me her notebook, which sadly only had a few scribbly lines in it. She slowly closed the book and moved it to one side. She looked me straight in the eyes and said “this isn’t autism”. Her son was on the spectrum. She said “Abby is smart, very, very smart. I think she’s gifted”. I looked at her dumbfounded, asking “then why?”.  She said, “I don’t know what’s going on, but she knows… she knows!” She proceeded to tell me something Abby did that proved to her unquestioningly her assessment. Giftedness and learning disabilities seem to share many commonalities.

We sort of figured some things out in reverse. For example, the MK4 form of vitamin K2 allowed for more food tolerances, and the MK7 stopped her enuresis. Bacteria in the gut (bacillus subtilus) produces K2, but then too much lactic acid was a problem because her thiamine was low and the CBS mutation seeming caused trouble as well. K2 seems to be very important in the distribution of calcium in the body.

We often see admonitions to heal the gut on the internet; so many opinions and recommendations. As Abby’s case suggests, it is far more complicated than simply taking a probiotic. It is also highly individual. Our daughter’s journey may not be applicable to someone else, but perhaps something can be gleaned.

We continue to avoid triggers, eat and live clean, heal the gut, use holistic remedies, play and laugh a lot. Thankfully, her reactions are now infrequent and fairly mild, but it was long road to get to this point. Her appetite is now normal with no real cravings or hunger extremes. We use vitamins/minerals, fish oil, and probiotics less cautiously now. She is gaining speech rapidly. She may still not be typical, but she is a far cry from what she had morphed into and much more normal than even a year ago.

We’ve been fortunate to avoid prescription drugs overall and use natural remedies, diet, and vitamins and minerals to affect change. We are avoiding further vaccinations, as our belief is her body has had enough and can’t deal with the stress at this time. Overall many people’s demeanor changes rapidly when mentioning alternative approaches to western medicine. If outside the norm, we may even be deemed a quack, but since we’ve been able to heal various family members of numerous ailments, if we’re seen as strange, so be it.  We can heal our bodies, probably not 100%, but often without prescription drugs.

Perhaps even the most complicated puzzles among us are not as hard to put together after all. We are still healing and our journey is not over. We tell ourselves and our kids to eat less junk because a nutrient-dense diet is helpful to everyone, but it seems that it is even more vital to those who suffer both the blessings and curses of a good brain.

Our brightest lights are ever so vulnerable.

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More people than ever are reading Hormones Matter, a testament to the need for independent voices in health and medicine. We are not funded and accept limited advertising. Unlike many health sites, we don’t force you to purchase a subscription. We believe health information should be open to all. If you read Hormones Matter, like it, please help support it. Contribute now.

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This story was published originally on August 19, 2020. 

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How Can Something As Simple as Thiamine Cause So Many Problems?

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I have read a criticism that thiamine deficiency is “too simple” to explain the devastating nature of the post Gardasil illnesses or the systemic adverse reactions to some medications. Sometimes, it is the simple and overlooked elements that are the most problematic.

Understanding Thiamine’s Role in Complex Adverse Reactions – The Limbic System

The lower part of the brain, called the brainstem, is a like computer, controlling the most basic aspects of survival, from breathing and heart rate, hunger and satiety, to fight or flight and reproduction. This computer-like function within the brainstem is called the autonomic system (ANS). The ANS together with the limbic system act in concert to regulate our most basic survival functions and behaviors. Both require thiamine to function.

Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome or POTS , a type of dysautonomia (dysregulation of the autonomic system) seems to be the among the commonest manifestations of the Gardasil effect. Many cases have been diagnosed already, while others present all of the symptoms but have yet to receive a diagnosis. Dysautonomia and POTS have also been observed with adverse reactions to other medications, as well. Dysautonomia and POTS, at the most basic level, represent a chaotic state of the limbic-autonomic system. Let me explain.

Fragmented Fight or Flight

The brainstem autonomic system together with the limbic system enable us to adapt to our environment, presiding over a number of reflexes that allow us to survive. For example, fight-or-flight is a survival reflex, triggered by perception of a dangerous incident that helps us to kill the enemy or escape. This kind of “stress event” in our ancestors was different from that we experience today. Wild animal predators have been replaced by taxes/business deadlines/rush hour traffic etc. These are the sources of modern stress. The beneficial effect is that the entire brain/body is geared to physical and mental response. However, it is designed for short term action and consumes energy rapidly. Prolonged action is literally exhausting and results in the sensation of fatigue. In the world of today where dietary mayhem is widespread, this is commonly represented as Panic Attacks, usually treated as psychological. They are really fragmented fight-or-flight reflexes that are triggered too easily because of abnormal brain chemistry.

Thiamine and Oxidative Metabolism: The Missing Spark Plug

Our brain computers rely completely on oxidative metabolism represented simply thus:

Fuel + Oxygen + Catalyst = Energy

Each of our one hundred trillion body/brain cells is kept alive and functioning because of this reaction. It all takes place in micro “fireplaces” known as mitochondria. Oxygen combines with fuel (food) to cause burning or the combustion – think fuel combustion engine. We need fuel, or gasoline, to burn and spark plugs to ignite in order for the engines to run.

In our body/brain cells it is called oxidation. The catalysts are the naturally occurring chemicals we call vitamins (vital to life). Like a spark plug, they “ignite” the food (fuel). Absence of ANY of the three components spells death.

Antioxidants like vitamin C protect us from the predictable “sparks” (as a normal effect of combustion) known as “oxidative stress”.  Vitamin B1, is the spark plug, the catalyst for these reactions. As vitamin B1, thiamine, or any other vitamin deficiency continues, more and more damage occurs in the limbic system because that is where oxygen consumption has the heaviest demand in the entire body. This part of the brain is extremely sensitive to thiamine deficiency.

Why Might Gardasil Lead to Thiamine Deficiency?

We do not know for sure how Gardasil or other vaccines or medications have elicited thiamine deficiency, but they have. We have two girls and one boy, tested and confirmed so far. More testing is underway. Thiamine deficiency in these cases may not be pure dietary deficiency. It is more likely to be damage to the utilization of thiamine from as yet an unknown mechanism, affecting the balance of the autonomic (automatic) nervous system. It is certainly able to explain POTS (one of the many conditions that produce abnormal ANS function) in two Gardasil affected girls. Beriberi, the classic B1 deficiency disease, is the prototype for ANS disease. Administration of thiamine will not necessarily bring about a cure, depending on time since onset of symptoms, but it may help.

Thiamine Deficiency Appetite and Eating Disorders

Using beriberi as a model, let us take appetite as an example of one of its many symptoms. When we put food into the stomach, it automatically sends a signal to a “satiety center” in the computer. As we fill the stomach, the signals crescendo and the satiety center ultimately tells us that we have eaten enough. Thiamine deficiency affects the satiety center, wrecking its normal action. Paradoxically it can cause anorexia (loss of appetite) or the very opposite, a voracious appetite that is never satisfied and may even go on to vomiting. It can also shift from anorexia to being voracious at different times within a given patient. That is why Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia represent one disease, not two.

Thiamine Deficiency, Heart Rate and Breathing

The autonomic nervous system, responsible for fight or flight, regulates heart activity, accelerating or decelerating according to need. So heart palpitations are common in thiamine deficiency. Its most vital action is in control of automatic breathing and thiamine deficiency has long been known to cause infancy sudden death from failure of this center in brainstem.

Thiamine Deficiency and Sympathetic – Parasympathetic Regulation

The hypothalamus is in the center of the brain computer and it presides over the ANS, as well as the endocrine (hormone) system. The ANS has two channels of communication known as sympathetic (governs action) and parasympathetic (governs the body mechanisms that can be performed when we are in a safe environment: e.g. bowel activity, sleep, etc.). When the ANS system is damaged, sometimes by genetic influence, but more commonly by poor diet (fuel), our adaptive ability is impaired. A marginal energy situation might become full blown by a stress factor. In this light, we can view vaccines and medications as stress factors. From false signal interpretation, we may feel cold in a warm environment, exhibiting “goose bumps on the skin”, or we may feel hot in a cold environment and experience profuse sweating. The overriding fatigue is an exhibition of cellular energy failure in brain perception.

Sometimes, it really is the simple, overlooked, elements that cause the most devastating consequences to human health. Thiamine deficiency is one of those elements.

To learn more about thiamine testing: Thiamine Deficiency Testing: Understanding the Labs.

We Need Your Help

More people than ever are reading Hormones Matter, a testament to the need for independent voices in health and medicine. We are not funded and accept limited advertising. Unlike many health sites, we don’t force you to purchase a subscription. We believe health information should be open to all. If you read Hormones Matter, like it, please help support it. Contribute now.

Yes, I would like to support Hormones Matter. 

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This article was published originally in October 2013.

 

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Hormonal Birth Control Plus Poor Diet Is a Recipe for Disaster

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I am a 29 year old female who began experiencing a decline in my health at 25 years old. This was in 2020. At that point, I had been on hormonal birth control for nearly 10 years. I suspected the birth control was contributing to my ill-health but my doctor disagreed and continued to prescribe different forms to alleviate my symptoms. That did not work and only made things worse. When Depo-Provera was added, I completely crashed and have not recovered, nearly two years later.

When I first began to experience extreme fatigue, abdominal bloating, irritability, restlessness, and massive amounts of hair falling out, I went to my primary care doctor who could find no reason for it on basic bloodwork, except for a low vitamin D level (27mg/mL). They checked CBC, CMP, autoimmune markers, B12, a complete thyroid panel, Lyme titers, mono titers, and iron levels. Since everything was basically normal, my primary care doctor blamed it on my stressful job. At the time, I was working in the emergency room on the night shift. I was not getting the best sleep, and not eating that well either. I was lucky to eat one meal a day and then maybe a snack especially on my busy shifts. On my days off, I was so exhausted that I would eat maybe twice a day. My diet consisted of easy meals like grilled chicken, salads, granola bars, processed cereals, pizza, chicken nuggets, chips, bananas here and there, and overall not a lot of fruits or vegetables.

Enter Depo-Provera

Fast forward to the fall of 2021, after these symptoms persisted, my doctor decided to switch my birth control to the Depo-Provera shot. After taking this shot, havoc was wreaked on my body and brought me down to a level of non-functioning that I never knew existed. Over the next couple months and after taking only one depo shot, I began to experience debilitating symptoms of headaches, fatigue, achy joints/all over body pain that eventually progressed into episodes of heart-racing anytime I would change position. I also experienced shortness of breath, chest pain, difficulty swallowing, a complete loss of appetite, GI issues, brain fog, severely decreased ability to concentrate, severe restless leg syndrome, insomnia, and neurological symptoms so extreme it felt like my brain was “short circuiting” for lack of a better word.

One side of my body would become extremely numb, tingly, and feel weak without any clear deficits. I experienced severe muscle weakness, where it would feel like my body was doing everything it possibly could to keep me upright and breathing. It was so bad, I felt as though I couldn’t even grip my phone and just talking on the phone to family felt like I was dying. I could barely concentrate. I developed severe visual issues, a condition called visual snow syndrome, and still am dealing with it with no improvement. I also developed tinnitus and have a constant high pitched ringing in my ear. I am unable to handle any type of stress, multi-tasking, or any emotional upset without truly feeling like my body is dying from severe neurological symptoms. I became scared to leave the house alone because of these debilitating symptoms. I lost over 30 pounds from feeling so awful and a complete loss of any desire to eat. I would have to force myself to put in fluids or food.

Over the course of many months, I saw multiple neurologists, neuro-ophthalmologist, cardiologist, electrophysiologist, primary care doctor, ENT, TMJ specialist, otologist, binocular vision specialist, rheumatologist, had numerous ER visits, two hospital admissions. I even participated in vestibular/neurological physical therapy over the course of several months. I had multiple head MRIs and CTs of my head and neck, MRIs of my spine, and so much bloodwork looking for autoimmune causes. I had a colonoscopy, a camera down my nose to look at my throat, an audiogram, a sleep study, a tilt table test, an echocardiogram, a stress-echocardiogram, and they even attempted a lumbar puncture on me as well. Conditions such as blood clots, multiple sclerosis, any type of cancer or tumor, etc., were ruled out and the only thing they came up with was a diagnosis of Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS), a suspicion for “some type of migraine variant” and a deficiency in vitamin D and phosphorus on my bloodwork.

Could This Be Thiamine Deficiency?

Fed up and worsening, I paid out of pocket to go to a natural medicine doctor who did heavy metal and mold testing on me along with hormone testing. Nothing really turned up there and so I took it upon myself to order a full vitamin and mineral panel paying over a grand out of pocket. This panel revealed that my serum thiamine was one point away from being flagged as low (8 nmol/L). I then returned to my primary care and two different neurologists to ask if a thiamine deficiency could be the problem or at least part of it, especially after my own research and the known research that birth control depletes many B vitamins. All of the doctors told me that there was no possible way I could have a thiamine deficiency since it is added to so many foods in the United States. They also told me that I could just take a B complex vitamin if I was worried. Even after I told them I was hardly eating because I felt so sick and that when I was eating it was mostly foods like processed toast, frozen chicken nuggets, cans of soup, and other things of that nature, they still dismissed the idea of thiamine deficiency.

May-Thurner Syndrome

On top of all of the debilitating POTS and neurological symptoms, throughout my time on birth control I had complained to my GYN about persistent left sided pelvic pain. It felt like my labia was swollen and at times like something was bulging into my pelvic area. In 2019, I had a CT scan of my abdomen and pelvis done due to some GI symptoms I was having. An incidental finding on it was suspicion for pelvic congestion syndrome (PCS). The report stated that I had very prominent peri-uterine vessels and a dilated left gonadal vein. I took these results to my GYN at the time who clearly stated “PCS is a fake diagnosis and you don’t need to do anything with that.” Since I was young, in my early 20s, I didn’t take it too seriously. Again as time went on, I continued to have the pain and over the years my GYN kept changing my birth control and mentioned endometriosis and small ovarian cysts as possible causes. The birth control would help a little bit for a while but then I would have irregular bleeding and the pain would always come back. It wasn’t until after I took the Depo shot and came off of the hormones that things became worse.

I began to have severe left pelvic pain that persisted for months. I had transvaginal ultrasounds every 6 to 8 weeks to monitor recurring small cysts that they swore were not the cause of my pain. I was tested for PCOS and was negative for that too. It wasn’t until the end of 2022, that I had another transvaginal ultrasound and this one read as having a hydro-salpinx. I had a new GYN at the time who referred me to get an MRI done of my pelvis. This MRI came back as also showing “likely hydro-salpinx” on the left. Since I was having such severe pain, I was referred to a GYN surgeon who said in extremely painful cases it is recommended to take out the tube and it was pretty much nonfunctional when it was as swollen as mine. I elected to proceed with the surgery, as the pain was so extreme. Funny enough, after the surgery when the pathology came back there was no hydro-salpinx and my surgeon said he did not see any endometriosis when he performed the laparoscopy. He said he believed my MRI may have been misread since he did not see any indication of hydro-salpinx during the procedure.

As if that wasn’t enough, after the procedure I had a severe neurological reaction to the scopolamine patch they put on me during the procedure. I had so much testing for this. I was even in the hospital for 5 days with what they thought was “scopolamine patch withdrawal” even though I only had the patch on for 3 days like they told me to wear it.

Fed up and still in pain, I let it go for a few more months thinking it was just “scar tissue” from the surgery or some other easy explanation. It wasn’t until my POTS doctor recommended me to wear an abdominal binder/compression device around my stomach that things worsened so much that I was forced to figure this out. I began having severe left pelvic, hip, and leg pain after wearing this device for only 3 days. I went to the ER because the pain was so bad, but they could only find a small ovarian cyst on my left ovary. They didn’t even consider doing any other work-up. I was then sent to an orthopedic to look at my hip and back to my GYN. Neither could really give an explanation for this pain. Finally enough was enough, I went to a vascular doctor on my own accord to get this PCS, which no one seemed to take seriously, looked at.

At the vascular surgeon’s office, they did a vascular scan of my pelvis and abdomen and were quickly shocked to find that my left iliac vein was almost completely compressed causing my peri-uterine vessels to get almost no blood flow. They diagnosed me with something called May-Thurner Syndrome and said that they usually only see severe cases like mine in women who have had “5 or 6 babies.” I was 28 at the time with one previous ectopic pregnancy many years ago. They quickly scheduled me to get a stent of my left iliac vein placed, as my left leg had begun swelling bigger than my right due to the limited blood flow.

On the day of surgery, my left leg was 2 inches bigger than the right and I was in severe pain. They did a venogram with internal ultrasound and were able to tell me my left iliac vein was 85% compressed. So basically, I was getting no flow through it and hardly any return through that vein up to my heart. They also informed me that the birth control was probably masking the problem but also could have been worsening it when I was on estrogen-containing birth control. They said I was extremely lucky that I did not develop a blood clot, especially when I had taken Beyaz for several years. Now, I am on blood thinners for several months post stent, while waiting to see if this helps with my POTS symptoms at all. So far, I have not seen any improvement except that my leg is no longer swollen.

Still Seeking Answers

I don’t know if thiamine deficiency could be causing my issues, but I have not received any answers other than POTS and my recently discovered May-Thurner Syndrome. I have seen so many doctors and spent so much money with no improvement in my health. This all severely worsened after I took the Depo shot. I have been unable to work for months, was bed bound for a long time, and was completely unable to eat during the worst of my symptoms. Now, I am at least able to move around more than I was and leave the house for doctor appointments, but I am still not working and I am still searching for answers. I would like to feel better and get back to some type of semi-normal life.

We Need Your Help

More people than ever are reading Hormones Matter, a testament to the need for independent voices in health and medicine. We are not funded and accept limited advertising. Unlike many health sites, we don’t force you to purchase a subscription. We believe health information should be open to all. If you read Hormones Matter, like it, please help support it. Contribute now.

Yes, I would like to support Hormones Matter. 

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Health Shattered By Poor Diet and Conventional Medicine

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My health has declined over the last few decades, to the point that I am totally disabled and haven’t driven in 10 years. I have severe POTS with high blood pressure while sitting and laying down. Previously, it was low. I am not able to stand up as my heart rate goes too high and I feel as though I’ll pass out. I have coat hanger pain, jaw tension, and headaches daily. I am very irritable and impatient. Emotional outbursts crying spells, depression. I feel like I am a completely different person. I am in survival mode. My body cannot shift out of sympathetic dominance. All of this has developed over the last 20 years; a progressive decline until everything hit the fan.

I thought I had a relatively healthy childhood and into my early 20s. I did have mono in 7th grade. Looking back though, I ate poorly growing up and did a lot of crazy starvation diets. I also consumed a lot of alcohol in my later teens through my early 20s. I stopped drinking in 1994. However in 2006, I started drinking on and off again and the night I had the severe vertigo attack, I had been drinking. Since then I haven’t touched alcohol.

My mom passed away when I was 22 and I had my first child at 23, which was a C-section. At 26, I developed rosacea. This was really my first health problem. At 27, I was divorced (1993). I remarried a year later and had another child at 30 years old. Three months later, I had my gallbladder removed. With all of this, I was still active and healthy with only rosacea that would come and go, but it would get really bad on occasions and was very distressing. This was until 2007, when life stressors, poor diet and illness caught up with me.

Unending Vertigo and the Protracted Decline of Health

I started working again in 2000 after we relocated to Arizona. I was a preschool teacher, a wife, and was raising my two sons. I had a very full schedule. I was always a high achiever. In 2004, I opened my own school with another teacher. Things got even more stressful. In January 2007, I had a very emotional falling out with my father and a couple weeks after that I was diagnosed with viral pharyngitis. Within a couple weeks of this diagnosis, I was thrown out of bed with the worst vertigo you can ever imagine. This went on for three days and I was unable to walk for over two weeks. As things were improving, the dizziness never did go away. I sought out multiple practitioners, including neurologists and audiologists, but none were able to help.

I went back to work but I was never the same, having to deal with constant dizziness and feeling of being off-balance. In October of 2007, I wound up in the ER with a resting heart rate of 160. This had come on out of nowhere over the day and by the evening I was very frightened. They gave me lorazepam and sent me on my way. I continued with the constant dizziness and then the anxiety and panic attacks started. My GP gave me a script for benzodiazepine and offered an anti-depressant. I tried the antidepressant and I had a bad reaction. I  felt completely numb. I couldn’t laugh smile or have any sort of reaction. That was after just try half a tablet. I never tried that again.

In 2009, I had an ankle injury and was wearing a boot for most of that year. In October, of that year I ended up having a surgery on it. What was interesting is that I was not experiencing much of the dizziness for most of that year. It wasn’t until a couple months later when I had a sudden onset of the dizziness during my physical therapy session. So the dizziness had come back and the anxiety and panic attacks were getting worse. In September 2010, I basically collapsed at work. It was about four or five days later at home, I experienced a severe shift of my energy. I was severely fatigued and now was experiencing POTS.

Is it Lyme? Maybe. Maybe Not.

November 2010, I was diagnosed with Lyme, however, my test was not conclusive. The Lyme literate doctor said my immune system was so weak that it was hard to get a positive result. He diagnosed me clinically. This set me off on a seven year journey of protocols that included benzodiazepines, two IV chest ports, supplements, herbs, homeopathics, bio-hormones, coffee enemas, detoxification therapies, chelation, IV and oral antibiotics, Flagyl, anti-fungal drugs, and every diet imaginable. You name it I did it. We had spent our life savings and I was still disabled and incredibly ill.

I became addicted to the benzodiazepines that he prescribed. He never told me about how addictive they were. I was on them for three years and they made me so much worse! I tried to come off of them several times. They turned me into a 3 year old. I was so fearful I couldn’t leave my bedroom even to cross the hall into bathroom. Finally, in 2014 I was able to kick the addiction. It took me six months of liquid titration.

As If Things Weren’t Bad Enough: Cancer Too.

Also in 2014, I had a huge fibroid and had a procedure called UFE ( uterine fibroid embolization ) to cut off blood supply so it would shrink. I know now I had severe estrogen dominance.

In 2017, I hit menopause and stopped menstruating. I was using sublingual progesterone at the time. The doctor also had me on hydrocortisone for adrenals and a time-release thyroid supplement. These supplements never helped and only made me worse. I was in such bad shape. I wasn’t sleeping for 3 to 4 days at a time and then when I would sleep it was only couple hours. This sleep regime went on all year.

In May of that year, I woke up one morning and left breast had shrunk significantly overnight!! The doctor I was seeing, had me come in. He physically examined me and felt that it was not anything to worry about. He said that I needed to detoxify my breast because it was probably blocked lymph. He told me to do skin brushing on it. I was in such bad shape that I wanted to believe him but I was so frightened. In October, I saw a different doctor and she said I had to get a biopsy. It was cancer. I did not see an oncologist. I did not have any lymph nodes removed or chemo radiation. I just had a surgeon remove it. I left the rest up to God. At this point, I could not endure anything else mentally or physically. The pathology report indicated the cancer was 98% estrogen driven.

A Dysautonomia Specialist Prescribed More Antibiotics

In 2018, I tried one more doctor. He was an autonomic dysfunction doctor and his protocol was quite simple. It was focused on lowering inflammation in the brain and body and balancing gut bacteria. At this point, I had suffered from chronic constipation for at least 10 years, on top of POTS and all of the other health issues. I was put on fish oil, olive oil, Rifaxamin and Flagyl for the possible SIBO and a vagus nerve stimulator. He told me not to use any other supplements of any kind. He claimed that most all supplements were fraudulent and using them would interfere with progress. I could not finish the Flagyl. I was feeling severely agitated and I thought it was due to the drug. I took most of it though. He assured me that the Rifaxamin was very safe and that they actually have renamed this antibiotic as a eubiotic. I did see my rosacea clear up. I had read some research and trials were they used Rifaxamin for rosacea and had a very positive outcome. So over the last 2 1/2 years I’ve been faithful on this protocol. It seemed like I had periods of time where I was able to stand up longer and do more around my house but I always relapsed. I was using the Rifaxamin on and off as per his direction for 10 days at a time. This year he put me on it indefinitely to use daily. I’ve been on it now for 8 months straight, but in July I started to go downhill very fast. I was having a decent spell able and had been able walk around for a a bit, do some limited chores and even able to be out in the pool, but one night my heart just went crazy and began to race. The vertigo came back too. I have been bedridden again since.

Discovering Thiamine Deficiency

After going back to doing some research, I came upon Dr. Lonsdale and Dr.  Marrs’ book Thiamine Deficiency Disease, Dysautonomia, and High Calorie Malnutrition. I am thinking thiamine deficiency could be a piece of my puzzle. After reading one of Dr. Lonsdale’s articles on high B12 correlating with thiamine deficiency, I remembered two of my B12 tests. One in 2014, where it was 2000 and one in 2017 was 1600. The max upper range is 946.

Although my ill health was progressive at first, over time, everything has just become unbearable. I have been bedridden now for 10 years. The POTS symptoms are severe and I think I have the hyperadrenergic POTS. My blood pressure is very high when both sitting and laying and when I stand up, both my blood pressure and heart rate climb. I feel as though I’ll pass out. As I mentioned previously, I also have coat hanger pain, jaw tension, and headaches daily. I am very irritable and impatient. Emotional outbursts crying spells, depression. I feel like I am a completely different person. I am in survival mode. My body cannot shift out of sympathetic dominance. I am hoping to get some direction and advice on using thiamine to possibly help my condition.

Supplements, Medications, and Diet

Upon learning about thiamine and mitochondria, I stopped taking the Rifaxamin about two weeks ago. Below is a list of supplements I currently take and some information about my diet.

  • Magnesium hydroxide, Magnesium glycinate, 100mg, magnesium citrate, 100mg and some magnesium oxide in an electrolyte drink, in some variation for the past 3 years
  • 3000mg daily (6caps) DHA 500 by Now Foods for past 3 years
  • Liver capsules 4 daily past 3 months
  • Camu Camu powder, a natural Vitamin C, 100-300 mg just started about two weeks ago
  • Rice bran 1 tsp before bed started two weeks ago
  • Bee pollen 1/2 tsp daily, started 3 months ago
  • I follow gluten free diet. I eat beef, chicken, raw liver, raw dairy, raw kefir, cheese, bone broth, some fruit, oatmeal and some vegetables like tomatoes, green beans, onions.

Since learning about thiamine, I have begun using Thiamax but am having a rough time of it. I took my first half dose (50mg) of Thiamax on December 26, 2020 and continued that dose through December 31st. It seemed to increase my fatigue more than my normal, which is already pretty debilitating so I switched to 50mg thiamine HCL on January 1st. By January 3rd, I had a big crash. Hoping to minimize these reactions, on January 4th I took 25 mg thiamine HCL with 12 mg Thiamax in two divided doses. The next evening, however, I rolled over at 2 AM and my heart rate went crazy. I was shaking and went into a panic attack. It took hours to settle down. I haven’t had anything like this in quite a few years and I can’t imagine this would be from the tiny doses of thiamine I’ve been taking. I also took 600mcg of biotin that night at around 6pm. This was for a longstanding fungal infection. The biotin may have contributed to my reaction, but I do not know. I skipped the thiamine and biotin the next day and was able to sleep. I have resumed the thiamine once again and so far, I am tolerating it. I understand that people with chronic health conditions have difficulty adjusting to thiamine and I am trying my best make it through to the other side, but these reactions are difficult to manage. Any input from others who have been through this would be appreciated. I desperately want to recover my health.

We Need Your Help

More people than ever are reading Hormones Matter, a testament to the need for independent voices in health and medicine. We are not funded and accept limited advertising. Unlike many health sites, we don’t force you to purchase a subscription. We believe health information should be open to all. If you read Hormones Matter, like it, please help support it. Contribute now.

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This story was published originally on January 11, 2021.  

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From Mother to Daughter: The Legacy of Undiagnosed Vitamin Deficiencies

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This is a story of a mother with undiagnosed vitamin B deficiencies who gave birth to a daughter who was also born with undiagnosed vitamin B deficiencies. In the eyes of conventional doctors and labs, there was not much wrong with us, but we knew that life was harder than it should be. We lived managing debilitating dizziness, daily migraines, fibromyalgia pain, chronic fatigue, allergies, hormonal changes, anxiety, and depression. Until we discovered that we were both hypermobile with histamine issues, hypoglycemic, and had many vitamin B deficiencies. The biggest challenge was for my daughter to start taking thiamine (vitamin B1). Her heart rate was all over the place and she had such a bad paradoxical reaction to thiamine that we believe she had been living with undiagnosed beriberi along with POTS.

Mom’s Health Marked by Asthma, Anxiety, Migraines, and a Difficult Pregnancy

All I remember as a child is being afraid to talk in school even if I knew the answer to a question. I had allergies and could not exercise due to asthma. During college, I had to read over and over the same thing because I could not concentrate. I worked extremely hard because the fear of failure was too much to bear. I started to have hormonal imbalances and missing periods. I successfully finished college and moved away to another state. That is when migraines started. Later, I became pregnant with my first child and started having blood clots. Anxiety and depression would come and go with hormonal changes.

When I was pregnant with my second child, my daughter, I was sick every morning with nausea.  After 6 months of pregnancy, I had gained only 6 pounds. Ultrasounds showed that the baby was growing normally, but I was losing weight. At that point, I also could see blood clots on my leg. I was placed on bed rest. By the 8th month, my water broke and my daughter was born. She was jaundiced and placed under UV light for a week. I also stayed in the hospital for a week dehydrated, with blood clots, and with the “baby blues”. We left the hospital after a week, and she had a “normal” development. However, you could see that she was a baby that would not go with anyone, not even the people close to us, indicating some anxiety.

Daughter’s Early Health Issues: Selective Mutism, Asthma, Concentration Issues

When my daughter turned four years old, we moved out of state and that is when she stopped talking outside the house. I later found out that it is called selective mutism, a form of severe social anxiety. She started seeing a school counselor to try to help with her anxiety and self-esteem issues. I brought a girl scout group to my house so that she could start having friends and talk to others in her area of comfort. She also developed asthma and needed nebulizer/albuterol treatments frequently and daily QVAR for prevention. She was given Singulair, but it made her very depressed. Her grades in all classes were all over, from A to D.  She would spend the whole time after school trying to complete homework, but she couldn’t. Her teacher told me that she really did not have that much homework. I would ask her to watch the dog eating and to take her outside as soon as the dog finished but she would be wandering around the kitchen and could not pay attention to the dog. Her neurologist gave her Strattera and that helped a little. Her EGG also showed some abnormal activity. The doctor recommended anti-seizure medicine and said that she was probably having mal-petit seizures. I refused medication based on how she reacted to Singulair and because the doctors were using words like “probably” and “just in case”. I kept an eye on her and noticed when she ate ice cream and got asthma. I had her stop sugars and dairy.  Soon after that, a teacher called me, excited to tell me that my daughter was talking at school. She also was able to stop all asthma medication except for 2 weeks every year when seasonal allergies would hit. At this point, it had been already four years since she stopped talking outside our house. She started excelling in all classes and we were able to stop Strattera. However, the continuous anxiety remained.

The Teenage Years: Continuous Migraine, More Medications, and No Answers

At 16 years old, she got a cold that turned into asthma with a continuous headache that just would not go away. She started waking up every day with a migraine, depressed with no energy. We had to wait three months to see a pediatric neurologist. Meanwhile, I would take her to my chiropractor early in the morning, give her an Excedrin, and she would go to school whenever she felt better. She began drinking at least 2 cups of coffee every day to help with the pain. Sometimes she would go to school at 11am, sometimes at 1pm. Even if there was just one class left, she would go to school. At this point, she felt that she wouldn’t have a future.

When we finally went to the neurologist, he recommended amitriptyline. I had been on amitriptyline and woke up one day not knowing which year or season was, but I was told that the issue was the high dose given to me (125mg), after decades of it increasing it every year. I agreed as long as it was a low dose.  Amitriptyline lessened the continuous headache, but it was not really gone, and she still needed some Excedrin. She started daily aspirin as well. She was just getting by day to day trying to manage her pain and mood and trying to have a normal teenage life.

Increasing Weakness When Outdoors: Untangling Root Causes

She became very weak whenever we would go to the beach or to a park. We would have to drag her indoors and give her water. On some occasions, she would say that she could not see. Somehow, she successfully managed to graduate from high school. We started seeing functional doctors. We found that she had some variants related to mitochondria dysfunction, but we really didn’t know how to address this. We also found out that she had Hashimoto’s and antibodies against intrinsic factors, which was indicative of pernicious anemia. We knew right there, that she had issues that conventional doctors had missed.

We also did a Dutch test and found that all of her hormones were high. The functional doctors suggested sublingual B12, folinic acid, and a B complex. She said the vitamins made her feel awake for the first time. However, chronic fatigue was still a major struggle for her. Eventually, she had to stop folinic acid because it made her depressed and unmotivated. Meanwhile, she managed her anxiety with herbs, but it was a real struggle.  She also continued to have asthma requiring albuterol every fall season. She chose a very challenging career in cell biology with biochemistry. She went through college with many cups of coffee just to control migraines, have energy, and be alert.

Discovering Her POTS Symptoms

The summer of 2019, before her senior year of college, the nurse checked her vitals as part of her new summer internship. The nurse thought the pulse monitor was broken because her heart rate was 120 sitting down. After a few minutes, it went down to 99, so the nurse dismissed it. When she told me that, I started paying attention to her heart rate. We went to her physician and neurologist and in both instances, her heart rate was 100, just sitting down waiting for the doctor. I asked if it was normal, and they said that it was in the upper range but not a concern. I was still concerned and made an appointment with a cardiologist but also bought her an iwatch. She noticed right away how her standing heart rate would be over 100, and by only taking a few steps, her heart rate would go even higher and she would become fatigued and even dizzy. From the heart rate monitor on her iwatch, we could see how quickly her heart rate would climb upon standing and then slow a bit when sitting.

That is when I remember that I have read about POTS and hypermobile people. I remember that when she was a child, the neurologist had said that she was hypermobile, but never said that it could be a problem for her. It just seemed like a fun thing to have. I started asking in health groups and someone mentioned that her medications could also cause high heart rate. I searched and amitriptyline did have that side effect.  That is when my daughter showed me that her resting heart rate was in the 90s and it would fluctuate from 29 to 205 without exercising. When we went to the cardiologist and explained all of this, he said that he did not even know how to diagnose POTS because it is rare. He did testing and said that the heart was fine but there was some inefficiency due to some valve leaking but that it usually does not cause symptoms. I asked about amitriptyline and he confirmed that it could raise heart rate.  At that point, she stopped amitriptyline and her maximum heart rate was 180 instead of 205.

She went back to her last year of college when Covid hit. She came back home and we could see the lack of energy and how much doing any little thing or stress would crash her for days. Since I needed glutathione for chemical sensitivities, I decided to see if it would help her. Glutathione with co-factors helped her recover, instead of crashing for days, she would recover the next day. That is when she told me that every time she walked to school, she felt that she would pass out. When she gets up in the morning, she ends up lying on the floor because of dizziness. Despite her dizziness, daily muscle pain, daily migraines, and chronic fatigue, she had big dreams. She just kept pushing through day by day, with coffee, herbs, and whatever it took, but she knew that something had to change. She successfully graduated in May, Magna Cum Laude, and she had a couple of months to deal with her health before she would leave to start her graduate studies and research job. That is when I found people that knew about Dr. Marrs’ work and thiamine, and her life finally changed.

Introducing Thiamine and Other Micronutrients: Navigating the Paradox

A functional doctor recommended magnesium and niacin for her migraines and they significantly helped. This gave the functional doctor the idea to try tocotrienols. High doses of tocotrienols worked better for reducing her migraine pain than amitriptyline and aspirin combined. Then she started taking high doses of B6. This helped her muscle pain and improved her mobility. Despite being hypermobile, easy stretches gave her intense muscle cramps prior to starting B6. Guided by very knowledgeable researchers belonging to Dr. Marrs’ Facebook group, Understanding Mitochondrial Nutrients, we started Allithiamine. The first thing she said was “wait, the sun does not hurt?”.  I asked her what she meant.  She explained that all her life, being in the sun gave her pain in her eyes and forehead and that she couldn’t understand why people wanted to be outside. No wonder she never wanted to go outside. She also said her migraines were gone. We have waited 4 years to hear that!

After just a couple of days, she started having a lot of nausea and lower-intensity migraines returned.  The researchers knew right away that she needed more potassium. She started to eat apricots, coconut water, or orange juice every time she had nausea and it helped. However, it was happening every hour so we decided to try a different Thiamine. We tried half Lipothiamine and Benfotiamine but she didn’t feel as much benefit and still gave her issues. We went back to 1/10 of Allithiamine. Chatting with the researchers, one asked if she also experienced blinding episodes. Yes! Finally, someone that knew about that! They recommended B2 and we started it. That’s when we discovered that her pain in the sun and dizziness were caused by a B2 deficiency. She continued waking up with crashes needing potassium every hour. She did not sleep that week. The researchers suggested taking cofactors including the rest of the B vitamins, phosphate salts, phospholipids, and beef organs. Beef organs and phospholipids helped with energy and bloating, phosphate salts helped with nausea and irritability.

Then researchers suggested that she needed to stabilize sugars and have more meat. That is when we realized that she had some type of hypoglycemia. We had noticed that she would get very tired and got shaky hands if she didn’t eat. Functional doctors had mentioned that she may have reactive hypoglycemia since she had a fasting glucose of 70. She started having more meat to stabilize her sugars and removed all packaged foods, sugars, grains, and starches. She started having just fresh meat, veggies, rice, beans, nuts, and berries. She felt that she was so much better with beef that she started using it for potassium between meals and bedtime.

She was able to increase allithiamine little by little. She would mix a little bit with orange juice since it tasted so awful. Little by little, she started having fewer crashes and feeling better. It took a month for her to be able to tolerate one capsule of Allithiamine. She was sleeping more but not the whole night. That is when our functional doctor suggested supporting adrenals. That really helped but then she began having stomach pain and nausea after eating beef and developed frequent diarrhea. Chicken always increased her hunger and reduced her energy compared to beef and but now she was afraid of having beef. She stopped all sources of beef and phospholipids.

We consulted a very good functional doctor. She did Nutraeval and confirmed that all her B vitamins were low or deficient and recommended TUDCA and Calcium D Glucarate along with trying lamb and bison first. Both helped in reducing bloating/nausea and she was able to start eating lamb and bison along with reintroducing a minimal amount of carbs. Soon after, she was eating beef again with no pain.  After starting TUDCA, her bilirubin levels were normal for the first time in her life. We continued to work with the functional doctor to fix other deficiencies.

Recovery from Multiple Nutrient Deficiencies and the Prospect of a Normal Life

After Allithiamine and vitamin B2, we worked with our functional doctor to balance the remaining B vitamins. She is now able to go out in the sun without bothering her eyes and without passing out. She gained weight after starting the B vitamins and began looking healthier, compared to how skinny and underdeveloped she looked before. She also learned how to manage electrolytes. She sometimes needs more sodium, but other times needs more potassium. She feels sick when electrolytes get out of balance. Although she still had some continuous pressure in her head, she no longer needs any amitriptyline, aspirin, or Excedrin for pain. One thing that remained problematic was folate deficiency. She still became depressed with folinic acid, so she tried methylfolate instead. She felt so unmotivated that preferred not to have it, but she realized that it was key to something that she struggled with all her life: anxiety. She figured that she could have methylfolate every other day, so that she could have less anxiety.

Now, for the first time, she began to have a normal life. She can now exercise daily without dizziness and her heart rate skyrocketing.  Her heart rate in general is more normal, doesn’t go down to 29 or up to 205. She had not had any asthma requiring albuterol.  She started driving without having to deal with anxiety and panic attacks.  She was able to walk to her office without fainting.  She now can now live alone dealing with the stress of having a full-time job, graduate classes, cooking her food, and exercise every day! She is not cured completely but for a person that once thought she couldn’t have a future, she is doing pretty darned good!

We Need Your Help

More people than ever are reading Hormones Matter, a testament to the need for independent voices in health and medicine. We are not funded and accept limited advertising. Unlike many health sites, we don’t force you to purchase a subscription. We believe health information should be open to all. If you read Hormones Matter, and like it, please help support it. Contribute now.

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This article was published originally on July 22, 2021. 

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Thiamine, Vaccines, and Heavy Periods

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Life Long Health Issues

I am one of life’s medical mysteries, although it is not at all mysterious when it is all broken down. I became sick at 37 after an unprotected mercury filling removal. I developed jaundice, my stomach fell apart, and I looked and felt grim. Every morning I woke up feeling like I had flu. I had no energy. I saw a few doctors that did blood tests. The labs showed I had elevated bilirubin and I was diagnosed with Gilbert’s Syndrome. It was considered symptomless though. I was also hypothyroid and prescribed Levothyroxine. Otherwise, I was just sent on my way.

Long story short, I removed the remaining mercury fillings safely and went through a chelation protocol. I was put on hydrocortisone for adrenal insufficiency and I developed POTS and gastroparesis. This left me pretty much housebound. After seeing a hormone specialist and a cardiologist, I slowly regained some ground and had a few good years until perimenopause. I spent many years searching on the internet about the causes of my chronic fatigue. After one too many horrible consultations with a doctor and given my family history, I self-diagnosed MTHFR, mild EDS, histamine intolerance, an underperforming gallbladder, and dysfunctional Sphincter of Oddi. This was in addition to the POTS diagnosis and B12 deficiency. It was overwhelming.

Since the beginning of my illness, I have been taking many vitamins and supplements and made real progress on some symptoms. Here, I found B vitamins to be key. I have been taking them separately, some at high doses. I have been taking thiamine in the forms of benfotiamine and TTFD, as well as B2, B3, B6, B9, and B12 along with various co-factors including zinc, magnesium, iodine, potassium, and selenium daily for a couple of years now. In terms of energy, folate and B12 were biggies, the addition of B2 did not seem a gamechanger but it was necessary, and thiamine gave me the biggest energy lift of all. It was like night and day.

I crawled all over hormonesmatter.com to read case studies of people whose POTS had improved with thiamine, and worked my way up to a high dose of 900 mg of benfotiamine, or 300mg TTFD. I had some paradox early on, but was ready with the potassium, having learned THAT lesson with B12. To be honest, the paradox wasn’t as bad as I expected.

Perimenopause

And then I pitched into perimenopause. Falling hormone levels uncovered a host of other symptoms, and so I fell headlong into histamine intolerance, leaving me with five foods I could safely eat. I became very thin and had no appetite. My POTS got worse and was especially noticeable with falling estrogen. My feet became cold and numb and anxiety went through the roof. The Sphincter of Oddi problems became daily instead of sporadic. My gallbladder had to come out. I was put on HRT and I daresay things would have been worse without it, but it was still pretty bad with it.

Covid Vaccine and Menstrual Flooding

With Covid-19 and the need for vaccines, I worried I would once again lose my health. Having read on hormonesmatter.com about a young woman who had had the HPV vaccine, and developed POTS, salt-wasting, and hypersomnia, I was nervous about what a vaccine would do to all my medical issues. Luckily, because of her experience, I was aware of what could happen to a human body after vaccination and was prepared.

So when I was invited to make an appointment for the first vaccine, I didn’t think twice. I was pretty scared of Covid. I had the jab, and 5 weeks later the second. A sore arm and a headache were the worst side effects, and they were gone the next day. Just a reminder that for years before the vaccine, during the vaccination period, and after, I had continued my daily regimen of vitamins, including high-dose thiamine, as well as magnesium and potassium every day. I thought I had covered all bases against any vaccine side-effects.

A few months after the second vaccination, I had a very heavy period, unlike anything I had ever had before, with flooding and not being able to leave the house for a day. My thought then was, well, ‘perimenopause’ and ‘last hurrah’. About 6 weeks later I had another very heavy period, worse than the previous one, with the heavy bleeding going on for at least 3 days.

A Hypothesis

After my booster, a blood test that I had around that time showed that my potassium, which had been around 5, had dropped down to 3.5, which is where it had been when I began taking thiamine. My ferritin had also dropped from 50 to 30. I was feeling incredibly fatigued and breathless when I walked and needed to sleep every day.

Seeing my blood results, the low potassium in particular, made me wonder what had happened to make it drop so quickly. By then I was also getting irregular heartbeats. I realized I needed to take a higher dose of potassium, and then I remembered the case of the woman who had become ill after the HPV vaccine. I wondered if the vaccination had wiped out my thiamine, despite already being on a high dose, and so I increased it, taking 1.5 grams of thiamine HCL the first day. I took thiamine HCL because it was lying around, it came in a 500mg dose, and I hadn’t tried it before.

By the end of the day, I realized I was in paradox, my heart was racing, and I needed potassium to slow it down. The next day I took the same amount and was fine. The day after I upped it to 2 grams, and had the heart racing again. The other day I took 2.5 grams and again had heart racing. My energy has gone through the roof, the breathlessness has gone, and my brain feels sharp and alert, although it is not constant.

My hypothesis is that despite taking high dose thiamine, the vaccinations put me back into a deficient state, and many of my old symptoms came back. After reading medical studies on the relation between thiamine and estrogen, I learned that thiamine and riboflavin are required to deactivate estradiol in the liver. I believe this function was knocked out by the vaccines, and estradiol was able to build up to give me these two very heavy periods, which were completely out of the ordinary for me.

I have read that many women reported heavy bleeding after the vaccines, and some menopausal women got their periods back around the time of vaccination.

I merely pass this on as a plausible attempt to join up the dots – the heavy periods, the low potassium, the severe fatigue, and the vaccines – and this at what is already considered high dose thiamine. My conclusion is that if you have been very deficient for a long time like me, and had the vaccinations, it could take a very high dose of thiamine to restore what the vaccine may have wiped out.

We Need Your Help

More people than ever are reading Hormones Matter, a testament to the need for independent voices in health and medicine. We are not funded and accept limited advertising. Unlike many health sites, we don’t force you to purchase a subscription. We believe health information should be open to all. If you read Hormones Matter, like it, please help support it. Contribute now.

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This article was published originally on February 28, 2022. 

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Severe Gut Dysmotility, Dysautonomia, and Malnutrition

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History of Gut Pain and Epigenetic Malnutrition

I am 32 years old and have suffered from ill health all of my life. From as long as I can remember, I’ve experienced gut pain, fatigue, and hyper-sensitivity. If there was something to catch, I would catch it. I react to everything and suffer chronic gut and nerve pain.

As a young child, I had chronic abdominal pain in the lower right quadrant and would often be buckled over in pain. Doctors thought it was appendicitis so removed my appendix but the pain continued. I was chronically tired and sensitive to the cold. I would struggle to get up in the morning to go to school and would stand in the shower dousing myself in hot water for as long as I could to warm up my body. Cold hands and feet has continued into adulthood.

I was born into a family that struggled with spine, neck, head, and gut issues. I was raised on cow’s milk and barley formula as my mother was unable to breastfeed. My mother and aunt had Ehlers Danlos Syndrome. I was diagnosed with it 8 years ago. My mother has Arnold Chiari malformation, my aunt scoliosis. They were post-war children. My grandmother had spinal issues and likely was very deficient in the B Vitamins. My grandfather, aunt and mother all suffered from gut issues, my grandfather eventually dying from bowel cancer. He was sensitive to many foods, particularly FODMAP rich ones.

I had many allergies – dust mite, grass, cow’s milk etc. I suffered an adverse reaction to the MMR vaccine when I was eight – with an intense full body rash. I was bedridden with intense fatigue for two weeks. Around the same time, tests found huge numbers of the parasite dientamoeba fragilis (D fragilis) in my stool. Dientamoeba fragilis together with Blasto hominis, another intestinal parasite, have been found in large numbers in my stool ever since. Despite trying many things, I’ve never been able to get rid of them.

Increasing Food Sensitivities, Weight Loss, Amenorrhea, and Osteoporosis

By the age of ten, I was struggling with depression and increasing sensitivities to many foods – particularly gluten and dairy. The only thing that seemed to help was exercise. I played competitive soccer, did cross-country and athletics and rode my bicycle everywhere. At this time, I started becoming vegetarian, in response to my growing concern about the state of the world, animal cruelty and the environment. This meant consuming a lot of gluten and dairy based foods. As I entered puberty, my body couldn’t keep up with the energy demands of this stage of development and I began losing weight rapidly, despite eating a ton of carbs.

I was working hard at school, and have always pushed myself to succeed, but as my body became more and more unwell, I struggled with focus and concentration. My depression became worse and the world felt very bleak. Everything I ate caused pain, bloating, and fatigue. I was eating lots of pasta and cheese to try to fuel my sports but I continued to lose more and more weight. Throughout my parents had been doing everything to investigate and treat the cause of the illness, but I just kept getting more and more unwell. My weight dropped dangerously low, I developed bradycardia and I struggled to think clearly.

The years passed through adolescence and into early adulthood. Through sheer willpower and making myself eat, despite the intense pain it caused, including severe abdominal cramping, sulfur gas, burning, over-heating, swelling, headaches and more, I could get some extra weight on for a while, but it would quickly fall off again. My growth and development suffered. My bones froze in time – a bone age at 19 showed the bones thought they were 13. I had amenorrhea. I developed osteoporosis. An endoscopy showed an inflamed caecum and inflammatory spots in my sigmoid colon.

Through my teenage years and twenties, I had to follow extremely restrictive diets. I had to quit being vegetarian, as it didn’t leave anything to eat and my body clearly needed nutrients from animal foods to survive. I reacted to FODMAPs, histamines, too much fat, too many carbs – there was so little I could eat without feeling extremely unwell.

I would often experience intense nausea attacks, severe bouts of sudden pelvic pain, stomach bugs, and caught giardia several times. I got shingles at the age of 21, a strange fever induced by tick bites at 22, and viral meningitis at the age of 26.

Gut Dysmotility, Progressive Neuropathy, and Migraine

My gut was becoming lazier and lazier. At the age of 23, I wound up in emergency in extreme abdominal pain after it stopped moving altogether and my intestines became fully impacted. The pain was excruciating. Eight sachets of heavy duty laxatives did nothing to the situation. I was started on prucalopride (an enterokinetic drug) to help get it moving again. I cannot function without this drug now. When I stop taking it, my gut ceases to move altogether.

Through my twenties, I also started suffering from tingling in my arms and legs and increasing peripheral neuropathy. By the age of 27, I would experience episodes where an entire arm or leg was completely numb. Blood work showed my B12 had dropped very low. I went on B12 injections and increased food sources of B12. Things improved for a while but then the neuropathy returned. I subsequently developed Reynaud’s syndrome.

Around the same time, I started developing worsening headaches and a few years later migraines. The migraines were so bad I couldn’t move without intense vertigo and extreme nausea. I had to lie in a pitch dark room and wait it out. Some migraines were preceded by a confusional aura where I couldn’t tell what anyone was saying to me. I could understand the individual words but not when they were strung together in sentences. The vertigo continued for about 6 months.

Exercise became more painful too. Despite being fit, I would suffer from intense DOMS, headaches and nausea after running. Muscles started becoming more and more sore and painful despite taking electrolytes, being careful about my nutrition and warming up and down.

I woke up every morning feeling exhausted and sleep studies revealed I had developed sleep apnea – something I had thought wasn’t so common in women of my age and build.

Stress Fractures, Worsening Neuropathy, and Hypoxia

Earlier this year, I wound up with a bad stress injury in my hip – several stress fractures in my femoral neck despite no blow to the area and no fall – which doctors thought quite unusual for someone of my age who was running low mileage recreationally. The injury brought with it chronic nerve pain along my right side on top of worsening neuropathy.

I would wake up in the middle of the night with numb limbs. Nerves would fire spontaneously in my legs and arms. Nerves in my jaw felt constantly stimulated and my tongue would swirl uncontrollably around in my mouth. My gut stopped moving more and more frequently and I would have to take laxatives regularly to clear it out.

I had severe GI burning and was unable to eat anything other than clear broth and coconut water without pain. An endoscopy found bleeding in my sigmoid colon. My hemoglobin dropped 17 points and I struggled with breathlessness, unable to get up a flight of stairs or even walk a few hundred meters without feeling deeply exhausted.

To date, I have been diagnosed with POTS, Ehlers Danlos Syndrome, dysautonomia, gastroparesis,  severe osteoporosis of the lumbar spine, and peripheral neuropathy. This comes against the backdrop of  the gut problems experienced since childhood. These other health issues were, to no small degree if not caused, then significantly worsened by my gut issues. I have had long periods of time where I couldn’t absorb food or eat very much due to my gut problems, so I have been underweight for most of my life. As a result, I am likely deficient in many nutrients.

Current Diet, Activity, and Recent Testing

Diet

  • Breakfast: steamed greens (e.g. some combo of broccoli, beans, spinach, asparagus, etc.), 1-1.5 scrambled organic egg, 1 cup bone broth with 1 desert spoon collagen peptides + 1 desert spoon seaweed.
  • Lunch: 1 cup bone broth with 1 desert spoon collagen peptides + 1 desert spoon seaweed with 1 egg yolk stirred through OR some homemade chicken liver pate on carrot sticks instead of the egg yolk; 1 raw carrot and/or raw cucumber sticks; sometimes 1 packet of roasted nori.
  • Snacks: 1 glass homemade carrot, celery and ginger juice; some blueberries and/or a kiwi fruit.
  • Dinner: some protein (e.g. half a single piece of salmon, 8 prawns, small amount of red meat), green veggies (e.g. steamed beans, asparagus, spinach, broccoli), a starchy veggie (e.g. pumpkin, sweet potato, beetroot), sometimes some green salad.
  • After dinner: a few blueberries and/or pieces of mandarin, 30-40g vegan carob (cocoa butter, carob powder, no sugar), a cup of herbal tea.

Activity and Exercise

  • Daily: walking – approx. 12-13km over the course of a day including daily activities, as measured on Fitbit.
  • Running: 3x per week – currently at 9km total over the week; very slow 6’20” pace.
  • Yoga: 2x per week 1hr classes – beginner.
  • Physio: 3x 20-25min per week – core exercises for lower back, hips, shoulders etc as set by exercise physiologist.

Recent Testing

These tests were conducted by RN Labs and Great Plains Laboratory before I began thiamine.

Stool – GI-360

  • Klebsiella pneumoniae – very high
  • Proteobacteria – very high
  • Akkermansia muciniphila – very high
  • Escherichia spp. – very high
  • Bacteroides spp. – very high
  • Endolimax nana – very high
  • Eubacterium siraeum – very high
  • Enterobacter cloacae – high
  • Elastase – low
  • Butyrate – low
  • Clostridia – very low
  • Faecalibacterium prausnitzii – very low
  • Veillonella spp. – very low
  • Secretory IgA – very low

Urine – Organic Acid Test

Yeast and fungal markers:

  • 3-Oxoglutaric – 0.69 (<0.33) – Elevated levels of 2-Oxoglutaric suggest dietary vitamin deficiencies or supplementation with 2-ketoglutaric acid. Coenzyme A (derived from pantothenic acid), flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD) (derived from riboflavin), and thiamine are required for conversion of 2-oxoglutaric acid to succinyl-CoA.
  • Arabinose – 70 (<29) – Urinary levels higher than the reference range may simply reflect a high dietary intake of these fruits. However, arabinitol (which converts to arabinose) is also documented to be produced by the Candida genus of yeast. When elevated in body tissues, it can link with lysine and arginine. In theory, this may block some binding sites for coenzyme pyridoxal phosphate, biotin or lipoic acid at the lysyl residue in apoenzyme proteins. This would impair enzymatic processes, such as transamination of amino acids (in spite of “normal” intake of vitamin B6). A finding of high arabinose, without dietary intake of the above-mentioned fruits, suggests a stool analysis or other tests/examinations for Candida overgrowth.
  • Tricarballylic – 2.3 (<0.44) – Tricarballylic acid is a chemical by-product released from fumonisins during passage through the GI tract. Fumonisins are fungal toxins produced primarily by F. verticillioides. Tricarballylic acid is an inhibitor of the enzyme aconitase and therefore interferes with the Krebs cycle.

Bacterial markers:

Oxalate metabolites:

  • Glyceric – 16 (0.77-7) – High glyceric levels on an organic acids test usually relates to primary hyperoxaluria type 2.
  • Oxalic – 389 (range = 6.8-101) – High oxalic with or without elevated glyceric or glycolic acids may be associated with the genetic hyperoxalurias, autism, women with vulvar pain, fibromyalgia, and may also be due to high vitamin C intake.

Glycolytic Cycle Metabolites:

  • Lactic – 51 (<48) – Elevated by a number of nonspecific influences, such as vigorous exercise, bacterial overgrowth of the GI tract, shock, poor perfusion, B-vitamin defciency, mitochondrial dysfunction or damage, and anemia, among others.

Mitochondrial Markers – Krebs Cycle Metabolites:

  • Succinic – 24 (<9.3) – The most common cause of elevated succinic acid is exposure to toxic chemicals which impairs mitochondria function.
  • Malic – 2.7 (0.06-1.8) – Higher levels of malic acid in urine indicates inefficiencies in energy production. Elevated malic acid values suggest increased need for niacin and CoQ10. When malic acid is simultaneously elevated with citric, fumaric, and alpha-ketoglutaric acids, it strongly suggests cytochrome C oxidase deficiency, indicating dysfunction in the mitochondrial energy pathways.
  • Aconitic – 6.6 (6.8-28) – Elevated in mitochondrial disorders. Aconitase metabolizes citric and aconitic acids, and is dependent on glutathione. Increased levels may indicate additional requirement for reduced glutathione.

Neurotransmitter Metabolites:

  • HVA / VMA Ratio  – 2.3 (0.16-1.8) – An elevated ratio is often the result of decreased conversion of dopamine to norepinephrine by the enzyme, dopamine beta-hydroxylase. This inhibition is commonly caused by Clostridia by-products, including HPHPA, 4-cresol, and 4-hydroxyphenylacetic acid, which are also measured in the OAT.
  • Dihydroxyphenylacetic (DOPAC) – 3.9 (0.08-3.5) – DOPAC levels may be elevated due to inhibition of dopamine beta hydroxylase (DBH) from Clostridia metabolites, the mold metabolite fusaric acid, pharmaceuticals such as disulfiram, food additives like aspartame, or to deficiencies of the DBH enzyme due to copper deficiency, vitamin C deficiency, or malic acid deficiency.
  • Quinolinic – 0.58 (0.85-3.9)

Ketone and Fatty Acid Oxidation:

  • 3-Hydroxybutyric – 5.7 (<3.1) – A moderate urinary increase in 4-hydroxybutyric acid may be due to intake of dietary supplements containing 4-hydroxybutyric acid, also known as gamma-hydroxybutyric acid. Very high levels may indicate the genetic disorder 3-methylglutaconic aciduria involving succinic semialdehyde dehydrogenase deficiency.
  • Acetoacetic – 32 (<10) – High levels of acetoacetate in blood may result from decreased availability of carbohydrates (eg, starvation, alcoholism) and/or abnormal use of carbohydrates storage (eg, uncontrolled diabetes, glycogen storage diseases).
  • Methylsuccinic – 5.7 (0.1-2.2) – Very elevated values may indicate a genetic disorder. Fatty acid oxidation defects are associated with hypoglycemia, and lethargy. Regardless of cause, intake of dietary supplements containing L- carnitine, or acetyl-L-carnitine may improve clinical symptoms.
  • Sebacic – 0.39 (<0.24) – Sebacic acid is a breakdown product of fatty acids. Higher levels can be seen when the breakdown of fats is impaired or blocked. May be associated with Vitamin B2 (aka Riboflavin) deficiency. Riboflavin is needed for fatty acid breakdown.

Nutritional Markers:

  • Vitamin B2 – 0.38 (0.04-0.36)
  • Vitamin C – 598 (10-200)

Discovering Thiamine

During this time, I was fortunate enough to learn about the work of Dr. Lonsdale and Dr. Marrs and have started talking high dose Lipothiamine. After several months, the chronic nerve pain is reducing and my gut has improved somewhat however I still struggle with pain and am very sensitive to a lot of foods.

I also have been learning more about the role of genetics and epigenetics in my condition. I am compound heterozygous for the MTHFR mutations and also have SNPs of the PEMT, NOS3, COMT, MOAB, GST genes alongside a number of other SNPs (including CYP, PONI, GAD, GGH, HTR2A, MMAB, NAT2, SLC, SULT, ALD, CBS, DHFR, MTR, TCN1, CBS, DDC, DRD and more).

I am currently taking 1000mg of Lipothiamine orally per day. If IV was possible, I would do that given my gut problems, but we have not been able to find anyone able to administer that here in Australia. In addition to the Lipothiamine, I take magnesium (800mg), liposomal Vitamin C (6000mg), glutathione (450mg), probiotics, a multivitamin, cod liver oil, B-complex, Alpha Lipoic Acid, zeolite, zinc and methylated b12 (shots occasionally and drops in between).

I follow the Auto-immune Protocol diet (including all fresh, unprocessed food, no sugar, lots of veggies and fruits, organic fish, meat, eggs, etc.), walk daily, practice yoga, meditation, daily stretching and gentle jogging a few times a week.

Improvement with Thiamine and Outstanding Questions

In recent weeks, I’ve been finding the nerve pain has significantly improved on this high dose (1000mg) of Lipothiamine however my gut symptoms are quite bad – with a lot of GI burning. I experienced this when I first started taking the Lipothiamine but it subsequently subsided so I am unsure if this is something I need to just push through or if I am on too high a dose.

I would love to hear others experience and hope that sharing mine is of use to others. I am deeply grateful to Dr. Lonsdale and Dr. Marrs for their groundbreaking work in this area and hope to do whatever I can to spread the word about this vital information so that more people can experience full health and happiness in their lives.

We Need Your Help

More people than ever are reading Hormones Matter, a testament to the need for independent voices in health and medicine. We are not funded and accept limited advertising. Unlike many health sites, we don’t force you to purchase a subscription. We believe health information should be open to all. If you read Hormones Matter, like it, please help support it. Contribute now.

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This story was published originally on December 14, 2020.

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Progressive Deterioration of Health With Severe Nutrient Deficiency

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This is the story of my wife’s decline in health following the surgical reconstruction of a torn left hip labrum. I am writing this for my wife because her health has declined so significantly over the past 5 years that she has become medically homebound and bedridden. She is too weak and unbalanced to walk, has become intolerant to light, to foods (she can only eat 10 different foods without having a reaction), to smells, and is in constant and extreme pain. She has also developed severe skin reactions that are destroying her lower extremities. After seeing more than 50 doctors with little to offer, we are posting her story here in the hope that someone will be able to help.

Post-surgical Development of Complex Regional Pain Syndrome

Megan is a 44 year old female who was athletic, very active, and physically fit her whole life. Prior to left hip labral reconstruction on 6/20/2017, Megan did not take a single prescription. She led a very healthy lifestyle, in which she enjoyed playing tennis, doing yoga, swimming, biking, snowboarding, running, hiking, camping, and backpacking regularly. Postoperatively, she developed left foot edema, redness, allodynia, hyperalgesia, diminished proprioception, and balance, and burning pain in her left foot. Despite diligently participating in physical therapy 3 times weekly, she was not able to fade off of her crutches. She continued to have severe lower extremity pain and was diagnosed with Complex Reginal Pain Syndrome (CRPS) on 11/1/2017. In December 2017, Megan participated in an FDA-approved clinical trial of neridronic acid (bisphosphonate) infusions for CRPS without relief. She developed flu-like symptoms, which got progressively worse after each infusion, but eventually resolved.

Skin Manifestations

By January 2018, Megan started to develop lesions on her left foot. Initially, they were pinpoint to large flat lesions. Some of them were extremely itchy. Overtime, the lesions and rash spread up her ankle and shin on her left leg.

Skin and vascular manifestations of nutrient deficiency
Left foot edema and skin lesions May 2018 (left), June 2018 (right)

Over the next several months, while still attending physical therapy, Megan noted a lack of hair growth on her lower left leg, temperature discrepancies, in which the left foot was subjectively hot but objectively cooler than the right foot, blood pooling, and skin discoloration in her feet (dark red/purple) when standing, nail changes, and bilateral lower leg flushing following a warm shower. During this time, food sensitivities were also first observed – initially with beef and shrimp.

More Diagnoses But Little Help

In October 2018, Megan was evaluated by a physician at Brown Medical School, who is an expert with CRPS. He confirmed the diagnosis of CRPS (bilateral lower extremities) and in his provisional assessment of Megan, also diagnosed her with bilateral common peroneal neuralgia and bilateral foot drop. He also suspected Megan has mast cell activation syndrome (MCAS), orthostatic intolerance/dysautonomia (POTS), and hypermobile type Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (hEDS) and was able to delineate which symptoms were consistent with CRPS and which were not. He did not attribute the blood pooling, the footdrop, flushing, lesions, rash, food intolerances and allergic-like reactions, dermographia, and other skin manifestations to CRPS. He recommended she be evaluated by another physician at the Steadman Clinic to assess for common peroneal nerve entrapment.

In October 2018, the Steadman doctor concluded that Megan did not have a common peroneal nerve entrapment. Instead, he noted irritations in the saphenous and obturator nerve distributions and diagnosed her with “bad luck”. He recommended Megan have an MRI of her lower back to ensure there is no central based pathology contributing to her bilateral symptoms. A lumbar MRI was conducted, which yielded no significant results.

Catastrophic Progression of Symptoms

All symptoms started after an orthopedic surgery on the left hip. Prior to the surgery on June 20th, 2017, there is no significant medical history. She had a clean bill of health prior to surgery – no prescriptions were taken, no known allergies. In April 2018, we learned the hospital that performed the surgery was not properly sterilizing the surgical instruments and operating rooms between surgeries, which resulted in numerous infections, injuries, and illnesses, per an investigation.

New symptoms, which have appeared in the last 24-36 months include: heavy sweating, bladder incontinence (especially after eating and some while sleeping), sudden urge to urinate, sudden urge to drink water, decreased vision, extremely dizzy, and feeling lightheaded when standing. Brain fog has been getting progressively worse. Food reactions and extreme sensitivity to stimuli have been getting progressively worse and more frequent. Menstrual cycles have been getting progressively worse – worst symptoms and highest pain are observed during the cycle. Food reactivity is more likely and worse while menstruating.

Current treatment approaches have not resulted in any lasting or significant improvement. Despite intervention, symptoms have gotten progressively worse. Megan has been medically homebound since 2019.

Large patches of skin peel, turn white, and flake off ankles, shins, and legs below the knees. Clusters of tiny “pin prick” lesions appear on tops of both feet and on legs, including thighs. There is a lace-like pattern of purple/brownish skin discoloration above the knees (Livedo Reticularis), which continues up the thighs. The lesions, rash, and discoloration have been progressing up both legs. Skin/tissue on feet appear purple, blue, red, pink, orange, discolored, and shiny in places. There is no hair growth on both legs below the knees. Toenails on both feet are thick, crumbly, extremely brittle, and yellowish/brown. There is little to no growth of toenails.

Progression of skin symptoms over time. Left- April 2022; middle and right – December 2022

Feet and legs appear less reddish and flushed when elevated, however, they quickly turn purple upon standing. The purple discoloration fades when feet are elevated. Flushing is also present after showering and with temperature changes. Edema is present in both feet, ankles, shins, calves, and knees. An extremely painful, deep “itch” is felt in both feet and lower legs. Tremors are present throughout both legs. Standing upright elicits dizziness, tachycardia, presyncope/syncope, heart palpitations, and blurry vision (especially after eating).

Bilateral footdrop is present without a known cause. As a result, walking is exceedingly difficult, and assistance is required to move throughout the house. Balance, motor planning, proprioception, coordination, and gait have all been dramatically impacted. A wheelchair/transport chair is currently being utilized for community access.

Excruciating 9/10 pain in feet and lower legs. Hyperalgesia and allodynia observed. Socks, shoes, and any other clothing/materials are no longer tolerated below the knees due to pain. Severe 8/10 “deep bone pain” in lower legs and shins. Severe 8/10 joint pain in shoulders, hips, knees, hands, fingers, ankles, and wrists. Muscle spasms and tremors (lower back/body), stiffness, and weakness in legs and arms. It is now difficult to type and to write due to pain in wrists, hands, and fingers. Lights, sounds, touch, and weather/pressure changes cause significant 7/10 pain.

Diet is currently limited to about 10 foods (has decreased over time) due to allergic-like reactions that occur immediately after and while eating foods. The severe reactions have resulted in 3 trips to the emergency room. Foods frequently cause swelling to the face, eyes, and lips, dizziness, nausea, excessive eye dripping and tearing, excessive post-nasal drip, and an extremely painful deep itch with a rash and “pinpoint” lesions to appear on legs and feet. Eating also evokes sweating, extreme fatigue, and tachycardia. Only fresh food is consumed. Leftovers are frozen immediately. The family has not been able to cook inside for over 3 years due to serious respiratory distress, reactions, and irritations to eyes, ears, and throat caused by smoke, scents, and odors. In addition to scents, there is an extremely heightened sensitivity to light and sound. Socks, shoes, and any other clothing/materials are no longer tolerated below the knees.

Nutrient Deficiencies

Over the last year, we have learned that Megan suffers from several nutrient deficiencies, including thiamine, which was measured at only <6 nmols/L in December. After stumbling upon a case story about thiamine deficiency here, it is difficult not to wonder if low thiamine was responsible for her rapid decline in health following the surgery. Many of the symptoms she developed immediately following the surgery, the muscle weakness, edema, foot drop, proprioceptive difficulties are indicative of low thiamine. Over time, she developed an intolerance to most foods, which, from what I understand, is also common with thiamine deficiency. This then spiraled into other sensitivities (light, sound, and scent, etc.) and other sets of bizarre symptoms. In fact, as I do the research, I am learning that many of her ‘diagnoses’ are not independent diseases but could actually be manifestations of the low thiamine.

Of course, as her health declined and her ability to safely tolerate foods also declined, other deficiencies likely came into play. The skin issues may be related to deficiencies in vitamin A, which we have tested, and vitamins D and K, which we have not yet tested. She is also severely deficient in vitamins B12, C, and has low iron, copper, and zinc. Each of these can contribute to a wide variety of symptoms and compound her already poor health.

  • Copper Deficiency 2/16/22
  • Ferritin Deficiency 3/8/22, 8/12/22
  • Zinc Deficiency 8/12/22
  • Vitamin C Deficiency 8/12/22
  • Vitamin A (Retinal) Deficiency 12/9/2022
  • Vitamin B1 (Thiamine) Deficiency 12/9/2022
  • Vitamin B12 (Cobalamin) Deficiency 12/9/2022

Current Symptoms

  • General: heavy fatigue, migraines, low-grade fever, flushing, swollen lymph nodes, night waking, early waking, difficulty falling asleep, and daytime sleepiness
  • Eyes: droopy eye lids, blurry vision, eye dripping, and excessive tearing
  • Ears/Nose/Throat: hoarseness, stuffiness, sore throat, postnasal drip, heightened sense of smell, sinus pressure, ear ringing and buzzing, headache, migraines, sensitivity to loud noises, sores/ulcers on the roof of mouth and tongue, swelling of face/lips/throat, and lips/throat feeling “tingly”
  • Heart: tachycardia, palpitations, swollen ankles/feet, edema, and blood “pooling” in legs
  • Respiratory: shortness of breath/breathlessness, coughing, and wheezing
  • Gastrointestinal Tract: bloating, cramping, acid reflux, alternating diarrhea and constipation, excess flatulence/gas, indigestion, nausea, and poor appetite
  • Urinary Tract: the sudden urge to urinate, and mild bladder leakage/incontinence
  • Musculoskeletal: muscle spasms, tremors, cramps, joint pain, joint stiffness, and muscle weakness
  • Skin: rashes, hives/welts, hair loss, itching, swelling, skin peeling and flaking, livedo reticularis, excessive sweating, “pinpoint” lesions, flat-reddish lesions, and dermatographia
  • Endocrine: cold intolerance, heat intolerance, urge to drink water, abnormally heavy/difficult menstrual periods, chills, and shaking
  • Neurology: difficulty concentrating, difficulty thinking, difficulty balancing, brain fog, dizziness, light-headedness, tingling, and tremors

Previous Medical History

  • Infected with Epstein-Barr/mononucleosis: 1993
  • Pityriasis Rosea in 2011
  • Infected with antibiotic resistant strep throat in 2012
  • Left hip labral tear in 2016
  • Right hip labral tear in 2016
  • Erythema ab igne (due to heating pad) in 2017
  • Left hip arthroscopy on 6/20/2017
    • Femoral osteoplasty
    • Mild acetabular rim trimming
    • Minor shaving chondroplasty
    • Acetabular labral reconstruction – transplanted labrum made from 11cm graft (cadaver tissue)
    • Capsular closure
    • Arthroscopic greater trochanteric bursectomy
    • Windowing of IT band
    • PRP injection
  • FDA Clinical Trial of Neridronic Acid for CRPS 12/2017

Current Diagnoses

  • Right hip labral tear, FAI/CAM Impingement, Bursitis, 2016
  • Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS) 11/1/2017
  • Suspected Ehlers-Danlos Hypermobile Type (hEDS) 10/1/2018
  • Suspected Histamine Intolerance/Mast Cell Activation Syndrome (MCAS) 10/1/2018
  • Bilateral Footdrop 10/1/2018
  • Bilateral Common Perineal Neuralgia 10/1/2018
  • Orthostatic Intolerance/Dysautonomia (POTS) 10/1/2018
  • Alternaria Alternata allergy 11/13/19
  • Secondary Polycythemia 1/5/2020
  • Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis 9/14/2021
  • Tinea Pedis Onychomycosis 12/2/2021 (misdiagnosed and overlooked for at least 2 years)
  • Elevated Leukotriene 2/16/22
  • Dysautonomia/Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS) 9/6/2022

Current Medications

(updated 1/15/23)

Morning

(Before breakfast)

Evening

(Before dinner)

Late Evening

(Before bed)

Naltrexone (LDN) 4.5 mg Vitamin C 1000 mg Metoprolol 12.5 mg
Singulair (Montelukast) 10 mg Zinc (sulfate) 25 mg Neurontin (Gabapentin) 300 mg
Aspirin (NSAID) 81 mg Copper 2 mg Vitamin B1 (Thiamine) 100 mg*
Tagamet (Cimetidine) 200 mg Iron 50 mg Topical Terbinafine Cream (PRN)
Zrytec (Cetirizine) 10 mg Tagamet (Cimetidine) 200 mg  
Synthroid (Levothyroxine) 50 mcg Zrytec (Cetirizine) 10 mg  
Quercetin 500 mg Quercetin 500 mg
Neurontin (Gabapentin) 300 mg Vitamin B1 (Thiamine) 100 mg*  
Vitamin B1 (Thiamine) 100 mg*  

*Vitamin B1 (Thiamine) started 12/23/22

Previous Medications

Short-term Prednisone (following ER Trip) provided significant relief of pain, skin rash, lesions, reduced swelling, and allowed more foods to be tolerated. Produced significant improvement of symptoms.

  • Ketotifen – This medication was introduced and then discontinued due to potential side effects and lack of progress. Megan was taking 1 mg
  • Cromolyn – This medication caused mouth ulcers (white spots) to occur, and it was discontinued. A nebulized form was prescribed but given without instructions as to how to introduce.
  • Xifaxan – 10-day antibiotic course completed on 7/18/22 without improvement

We Need Your Help

More people than ever are reading Hormones Matter, a testament to the need for independent voices in health and medicine. We are not funded and accept limited advertising. Unlike many health sites, we don’t force you to purchase a subscription. We believe health information should be open to all. If you read Hormones Matter, like it, please help support it. Contribute now.

Yes, I would like to support Hormones Matter.

Photo by Sydney Rae on Unsplash.

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