Women’s stories
“Finding calm in the eye of the storm”
Elise was on a slow slide into adrenal dysfunction when a sudden health crisis in
her family ramped up her stress levels — and her symptoms of adrenal imbalance and
insulin resistance. The realization that she was on the cusp of her own major health
crisis led her to our Personal Program for Adrenal Imbalance, where she found relief
almost immediately, as she told us...
“At 43 years old, I’ve really worked hard to “live the dream” with my family. My
husband Tom, a carpenter, and I have worked our tails off to build a horse farm
in Maine where we could raise our kids away from the concrete jungle. We really
went flat out making it happen — spent three years living on my salary alone so
my husband could build the house, often living long stretches apart, with me as
“single Mom” to my two step-kids, who were in middle school, and my toddler son
Matthew. We made a lot of sacrifices, and it was very, very stressful. I wasn’t
completely blind to what the stress was doing to my health — I was irritable, and
had trouble sleeping, and I gained a lot of weight even though I was getting regular
exercise and trying hard to eat well. To a certain extent I knew that the stress
was taking a toll on my health, but I kept telling myself that things would get
better once we moved and my husband was able to start working again.
Well, not everything went as planned. Just before the move, I found out I was pregnant
again, which was exciting, but totally unexpected — we hadn’t factored a new baby
into our plans! Then, just after we moved, the economy tanked and my husband couldn’t
find any work — no one was building houses at that point. I had planned on leaving
my job when we moved but realized that I couldn’t, even though it meant commuting
100 miles across two states — while pregnant! Everyone thought I was crazy, and
maybe I was — but I was determined that this move was going to work come hell or
high water. It probably took a greater toll on me than I realized, because while
pregnant, I developed hypothyroidism and had to start taking Synthroid. But to my
mind, that’s just what I had to do to keep things going.
After Jeremy was born, I started gaining more weight, and couldn’t seem to get it
under control despite trying hard to exercise regularly — and I was also tired all
the time. Eventually I got a job locally, and a friend told me about the Women to
Women Clinic here in Maine. I found your web site, read about adrenal fatigue, and
thought, yep, that’s me! I also read about insulin resistance and recognized the
signs that I was also probably in danger of developing prediabetes. But I didn’t
do much about it. I was “too busy” to worry about my health—ha!
Last fall, though, something happened to really shake things up. Jeremy, now 18
months old, developed Type 1 diabetes and had to be hospitalized for a week while
they got his blood sugar under control and trained my husband and me how to take
care of him. And to make matters much worse, our prize filly broke her leg and had
to be put down the day before I took Jeremy to the doctor! I was devastated on both
counts, but Jeremy’s condition left me no time to take it all in. It was a week
from hell — and that was before we found out just how little of Jeremy’s medical
expenses would be covered by our health insurance, and how expensive his insulin
and other supplies would be, month after month. The financial worry of how to pay
for it all just about sent me over the edge. Seemingly overnight, I gained another
15 pounds (most of it in my tummy), was basically unable to sleep at all, and became
a nervous wreck. Needless to say, the progress I’d made in terms of managing my
diet and exercise went totally out the window!
After we got Jeremy’s diabetes under control, I slowly started thinking about my
own health again. With glucose meters now part of my daily routine, it wasn’t much
of a stretch to see myself joining Jeremy as another diabetic in the family. I even
started taking my fasting blood glucose levels just to reassure myself — but it
wasn’t a pleasant picture. In the six months after Jeremy’s diagnosis, I went from
the normal, non-diabetic level of 85 up into the high 90s and low 100s, which is
definitely prediabetes territory.
Last spring, I found out about The Core Balance Diet and tried it for a month. It
did bring my blood sugar down a little and I felt better overall — but I didn’t
lose much weight, and the eating plan was awfully hard to stick with given how limited
my time is, between working full-time and helping to care for two small boys (one
diabetic), a couple of teenagers, and a farm full of animals. But the quizzes in
the book were really helpful, and pointed to adrenal imbalance as far and away my
biggest problem — the main reason I wasn’t losing weight (and it was contributing
to my insulin resistance). When I saw that Women to Women had developed a Program
specifically for adrenal imbalance, it seemed worth trying — I knew it would be
less expensive than taking care of myself if I became diabetic, and at that point
I would have tried anything to help me lose weight, stop craving sugar, and get
my blood sugar levels back in line.
Within a couple of days of using the Adaptisol, I noticed a huge difference in my
energy levels. Normally, if I don’t get at least 9 hours of sleep, I’m a zombie
— and since Jeremy’s diagnosis, anything more than 6 has been a rare luxury. On
this Program, I’m still pretty tired if I have less than 8 hours, but I’m functional,
and I can think straight and be coherent, which is amazing.
And another thing, the monstrous sugar cravings I have always fought have gone down
to manageable levels — they didn’t go away completely, but I could resist the urge
to eat sweets, which wasn’t the case at all before. All my usual PMS symptoms completely
vanished — I’ve never been taken by surprise by my period before, but now I actually
have to pay attention. That’s far better than being crabby, crampy, and a complete
sugar fiend for a week beforehand. Best of all, after I’d been taking the Adaptisol
for about a week, I tested my blood sugar and found it was back within normal range!
I was completely floored — I had hoped that my blood sugar would improve, but not
that quickly!
Looking back, the signs of an adrenal problem were there all along — the fatigue,
the weight gain, the bouts of acne, the sugar cravings, even my long-standing intolerance
to cold (not such a good thing when you live in Maine!). These are all symptoms
I’ve had lurking in the background for years, decades even, and I never recognized
what they meant. My body really was sending me a message, but it just took me a
while to listen! I’ve started taking qi gong classes now, and that helps me exercise
without overdoing. I’m still fighting to get sugar out of my life, but overall my
ability to stick to the dietary recommendations is getting better. I know it’s just
a matter of time till the excess weight comes off. It’s funny, but the best thing
about this Program has been that it has shown me that you can change your health
yourself. So now I’m really convinced—your Program is helping me fend off diabetes
and adrenal fatigue, and I’m going to stick with it till I’m healthy again!”
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Last Modified:
08/27/2009