Fatigue, Pain, and Depression
Standard pharmaceutically-oriented medical training teaches doctors only to recognize extreme
disorders of metabolism, physiology, and hormonal balance. They are taught to think that either
the gland is working or it is not; either the hormone levels are within the range of 95% of the
tests done by that lab, or they are in the bottom 2.5%--allowing the physician to diagnose a
deficiency. However, hormones don't work like that. Their effects run a continuum from the
lowest to the highest levels. Many persons with levels within the reference range have
inadequate hormone effects for optimal health and quality of life; especially those with levels in
the lower third of the reference ranges.
Therefore one can see how many persons with hormonal disorders can go undiagnosed and
untreated—or be given non-specific labels like “chronic fatigue syndrome”, “fibromyalgia”,
"depression", "anxiety disorder", "PMDD", etc. Such diagnoses are not diseases--they have no
known specific genetic/biochemical cause. They are symptom complexes that can result from a
large number of biochemical, vitanutrient, or hormonal disorders. These disorders produce
different symptoms in persons depending on their genetics and physiology. Just about any
disorder or deficiency that disrupts normal physiology and brain function can produce these
kinds of symptoms. Since their cause is usually not sought for or found, these symptom-
complexes provide pharmaceutical corporations with a tremendous opportunity for diagnose-
and-drug schemes employing anti-depressants, anti-psychotics, muscle-relaxants, stimulants,
anti-epileptics, and other products. These drugs do not correct the problem. They interfere with
normal brain function producing alterations feelings, thought and mood that may be viewed as
an improvement by the patient, parent, or authorities. On the contrary, medical science
requires doctors to seek the cause and correct the underlying physiological deficit or
imbalance whenever possible!
Mild depression, fatigue, and pain can be caused by or worsened by insufficient sex hormone
and vitanutrient levels, but severe fatigue, aches, and depression are often due to mild-to-
moderate thyroid and/or adrenal insufficiency. Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder with severe
fatigue, aches, irritability, etc. is often due to inadequate adrenal function. The high estradiol
and progesterone levels in the latter part of a menstrual cycle counteract cortisol and
aldosterone, producing a temporary state of adrenal insufficiency. The thyroid and adrenal
glands produce hormones that are essential to our mental and physical functioning, and thus
our ability to live productive, active lives. Even mild deficiencies can produce a hypometabolic
syndrome that manifests as depression, fatigue and pain along with many other more specific
signs and symptoms. When doctors do suspect a problem with these hormones, they make
the mistake of relying upon insensitive tests that can detect only some kinds of thyroid and
adrenal disorders. They rely on the the TSH test, AM serum cortisol values, or ACTH stimulation
tests which can only detect severe failure of the glands themselves. Such tests cannot detect
mild-to-moderate gland failure or hypothalamic-pituitary dysfunction--where the glands are
simply not receiving enough stimulation from the brain. In fact, even the best serum or saliva
tests do not tell us what is actually occurring in various tissues throughout the body. When
doctors do identify mild thyroid gland failure with an elevated TSH, they use inadequate doses
of levothyroxine to just "normalize" the TSH level. This frequently brings no improvements
because the TSH responds differently to once-daily oral thyroid replacement than it does to the
constant hormone production of the thyroid gland. They falsely conclude that since their
inadequate treatment does not help, therefore mild thyroid failure must not be the cause of the
symptoms and should not be treated at all. Mild-to-moderate thyroid and adrenal insufficiency
are thus frequently undiagnosed or undertreated and sufferers are instead given
pharmaceutical products to treat their various symptoms. These help only partially and often
produce side effects that may be treated with additional medications. This is all very good for
pharmaceutical corporations--which is why this unsatisfactory state of affairs persists.
Identifying and correcting vitanutrient, thyroid, adrenal, and sex-hormone deficiencies
brings significant relief to those with chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, depression, and other
"psychiatric" disorders. This natural-scientific approach should certainly be applied first
before resorting to pharmaceuticals.
Standard pharmaceutically-oriented medical training teaches doctors only to recognize extreme
disorders of metabolism, physiology, and hormonal balance. They are taught to think that either
the gland is working or it is not; either the hormone levels are within the range of 95% of the
tests done by that lab, or they are in the bottom 2.5%--allowing the physician to diagnose a
deficiency. However, hormones don't work like that. Their effects run a continuum from the
lowest to the highest levels. Many persons with levels within the reference range have
inadequate hormone effects for optimal health and quality of life; especially those with levels in
the lower third of the reference ranges.
Therefore one can see how many persons with hormonal disorders can go undiagnosed and
untreated—or be given non-specific labels like “chronic fatigue syndrome”, “fibromyalgia”,
"depression", "anxiety disorder", "PMDD", etc. Such diagnoses are not diseases--they have no
known specific genetic/biochemical cause. They are symptom complexes that can result from a
large number of biochemical, vitanutrient, or hormonal disorders. These disorders produce
different symptoms in persons depending on their genetics and physiology. Just about any
disorder or deficiency that disrupts normal physiology and brain function can produce these
kinds of symptoms. Since their cause is usually not sought for or found, these symptom-
complexes provide pharmaceutical corporations with a tremendous opportunity for diagnose-
and-drug schemes employing anti-depressants, anti-psychotics, muscle-relaxants, stimulants,
anti-epileptics, and other products. These drugs do not correct the problem. They interfere with
normal brain function producing alterations feelings, thought and mood that may be viewed as
an improvement by the patient, parent, or authorities. On the contrary, medical science
requires doctors to seek the cause and correct the underlying physiological deficit or
imbalance whenever possible!
Mild depression, fatigue, and pain can be caused by or worsened by insufficient sex hormone
and vitanutrient levels, but severe fatigue, aches, and depression are often due to mild-to-
moderate thyroid and/or adrenal insufficiency. Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder with severe
fatigue, aches, irritability, etc. is often due to inadequate adrenal function. The high estradiol
and progesterone levels in the latter part of a menstrual cycle counteract cortisol and
aldosterone, producing a temporary state of adrenal insufficiency. The thyroid and adrenal
glands produce hormones that are essential to our mental and physical functioning, and thus
our ability to live productive, active lives. Even mild deficiencies can produce a hypometabolic
syndrome that manifests as depression, fatigue and pain along with many other more specific
signs and symptoms. When doctors do suspect a problem with these hormones, they make
the mistake of relying upon insensitive tests that can detect only some kinds of thyroid and
adrenal disorders. They rely on the the TSH test, AM serum cortisol values, or ACTH stimulation
tests which can only detect severe failure of the glands themselves. Such tests cannot detect
mild-to-moderate gland failure or hypothalamic-pituitary dysfunction--where the glands are
simply not receiving enough stimulation from the brain. In fact, even the best serum or saliva
tests do not tell us what is actually occurring in various tissues throughout the body. When
doctors do identify mild thyroid gland failure with an elevated TSH, they use inadequate doses
of levothyroxine to just "normalize" the TSH level. This frequently brings no improvements
because the TSH responds differently to once-daily oral thyroid replacement than it does to the
constant hormone production of the thyroid gland. They falsely conclude that since their
inadequate treatment does not help, therefore mild thyroid failure must not be the cause of the
symptoms and should not be treated at all. Mild-to-moderate thyroid and adrenal insufficiency
are thus frequently undiagnosed or undertreated and sufferers are instead given
pharmaceutical products to treat their various symptoms. These help only partially and often
produce side effects that may be treated with additional medications. This is all very good for
pharmaceutical corporations--which is why this unsatisfactory state of affairs persists.
Identifying and correcting vitanutrient, thyroid, adrenal, and sex-hormone deficiencies
brings significant relief to those with chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, depression, and other
"psychiatric" disorders. This natural-scientific approach should certainly be applied first
before resorting to pharmaceuticals.
For Health and Quality of Life
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