Monday, April 20, 2009

Gluten Sensitivity and Your Stress Gland

Following is an excerpt from our new book, The Gluten Effect. Please let me know if this subject is of interest to you.
CASE STUDY
K. is a lovely, intelligent 37 year old attorney who came to us 2 years ago with severe, chronic migraines which were resistant to even the strongest medication. The migraines could last for a week at times. They first started when she was 5 months pregnant with her second child. She had never had any migraines prior to that time.

Asthma and allergies had also developed during her second pregnancy. She had mood swings associated with her migraines, and she states that she has “never been the same” since her second pregnancy. She is completely exhausted, has little energy, and gets sick “all the time.” She complains of numbness, tingling and burning pain of her big toes. She has gained weight in her mid-section which she dislikes though she is very petite and not overweight. Additional symptoms include abdominal bloating, carpal tunnel symptoms of the hands, acid reflux, and severe premenstrual syndrome.

She came to see us in March and had been sick three times during the past 5 months and was suffering from a continuing illness for the past 6 weeks. She has a stressful job as an attorney for a large corporation and admits to poor dietary habits.

She was on Lipitor, birth control pills, and Zyrtec, but none had helped. She had a strong history of genetic heart disease in the family.

She was found to be gluten intolerant by testing which included positive anti-gliadin antibodies in both blood and saliva. She had a parasitic infections found by testing as well. She reacted to dairy products, rice and corn in addition to gluten.

When she was initially put on the hypoallergenic diet, (which we call the Modified Elimination Diet), she noticed a change in her migraines within a week. After being on the diet for one month, she accidentally ate gluten and diary and suffered a migraine that lasted for 8 days. Also after a month on the modified elimination diet, she started to sleep better and have more energy. Two months into the program, we received the results showing the parasitic infections and began treatment for this as well. Shortly after this, she was able to wean off all regular medications for her premenstrual syndrome and migraine conditions, and the intensity of her now rare headaches were much milder.

Four months into program, she no longer needed even occasional medications for her headaches. The frequency of her headaches was down to twice a month, and her energy level was much improved. Her premenstrual symptoms had also improved. After six months, she had less bloating and after eight months, her headaches were essentially resolved totally. She was exercising three times a week, had good energy, and had very rare acid reflux. Eleven months into HealthNOW program, she checked in and was absolutely amazed at the restoration of health that she had received.

Here’s a question: If you had a part of your body that was responsible for creating great energy levels, maintaining your ideal weight, encouraging restful sleep, balancing your mood, reducing pain and inflammation, preventing allergy symptoms, keeping your immune system strong and promoting anti-aging; would you want it to function properly? Of course, and we are in complete agreement with you. So let’s learn something about our adrenal glands.

I hope you enjoyed this excerpt.


Visit us at www.RootCauseMedicalClinic.com. If you have questions or need any help, I’m here for you! Call 408-733-0400.

I look forward to hearing from you.

To your good health,
Dr Vikki Petersen, DC, CCN, CFMP

IFM Certified Practitioner

Founder of Root Cause Medical Clinic
Co-author of “The Gluten Effect”

Author of the eBook: “Gluten Intolerance – What You Don’t Know May Be Killing You!”

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