The underlying cause of certain areas of back pain can also cause other issues in the body. In other words, what causes lower back pain can also cause pain in the gut. The specific area can change or remain the same. Often only one area will hurt at a time with one or the other causing more and longer term pain. This is true in most cases, but of course there can be a lot of variation. There is an issue that can cause both problems, and it is becoming more common all the time.

The good news is that a remedy with a very high success rate is easily available. The bad news is that it takes a long time for the system to break down to this point. The condition may start out as a little back pain, or some cramping in the gut that clears up after a relatively short time, but without clearing up for good. Things can get worse and worse until the person is completely debilitated.

But, what could cause both pain in the stomach pain and back pain? These are completely unrelated areas other than one being in front and one on the other side. And, the pain is completely different too.

The underlying issue is adrenal fatigue. The adrenal glands provide the base line energy for the body, and they help us deal with stress. Most people are under a lot of stress these days, and adrenal fatigue is becoming all the more common.

First, the adrenal glands, since they are more important, will use up many of the same nutrients that the ligaments and tendons need to stay strong. The ligament strength in the lower back tends to give out first because it holds the entire weight of the upper body. Which leave you with lower back pain. This can be good in a way as your stress levels usually reduce if you’re not as active.

The gut gets strength from the adrenal glands too. Acupuncturists know this well, they explain that the gut needs energy to “cook” the food that is put into it, and that the needed “heat” is generated from the adrenal glands or “kidney yang.”

Therefore, you end up with gut pain and back pain, both from adrenal fatigue. You may need more treatment for either area depending on how much damage may have been caused. Of course, the place to start is the adrenal glands. Back pain may need more help, but the gut issues heal in all but the most extreme case.

A Little Preliminary Biochemical Info (Simplified)

Cell walls are a bit like soap bubbles only made from fat. If that were all there was to them they would be way to fluid for the body to stay upright, we’d be more of a puddle than a firm body. Cholesterol is used to give the cell walls more substance.

Trans fats are very bad for the body. One reason is that they don’t have the same structure as healthy fats. When they go into the cell walls they cause more stiffening as they replace the healthy fats. This causes the cell walls to become more stiff and firm. As a result, the body pulls the cholesterol out of the cell to try to maintain the correct cellular structure. The released cholesterol goes into the blood stream causing high serum cholesterol levels.

Taking fish oils gives the body the right building blocks for for cell walls. They will naturally replace the trans fats in the cell walls. As the good fats move in the cell structure is weakened and in need of cholesterol to stiffen the walls. So, cholesterol is moved from the blood stream to the cell walls which results in lowering its content in the blood.

Of course, there are other things that omega-3s do for the body. This is just one of them.

The problem with plant source omega-3s is that they need to go through a lot more steps before they become the usable form DHA and EPA. As a result they are almost all used as fuel before they reach the final step. Fish oils on the other hand only have a very few steps to take for the conversion. Additionally, other fats compete for this chemical reaction which pushes the omega-3s out of the process.

A good combination of fats is essential for good health. Taking fish oils and limiting plant oils in food are enough for most people. There are many good sources of fish oils, the key is purity. In todays toxic environment we need to check to see if toxins have been filtered out of the final product or that the oils come from small fish from deep and relatively unpolluted waters.

I have been looking at different fish oils, and found a decent looking one. I have to be honest and say that I only researched the oils themselves which are of excellent quality. I have no experience with this company, and I don’t know how they handle their customer service, but they are reputable. They offer a free sample if you’d like to try this brand out. There may be an automatic re-billing and shipping of future supplements, so be sure to cancel if there is and you’re not interested. You can get them here. There is a limited quantity available, I’ll try to find another similar offer and replace it when it runs out. Let me know if you can’t get in!

A great way to have lower back pain releif.

Let me know what you think in the comments. Would you like to see a Psoas massage release where it attaches to at the upper inner thigh?

One of the most amazing healings I ever had a hand in involved an amazing young woman who has been a friend of mine for a long time. I met her when she was just 16 at a yoga class I was teaching. We had an instant connection that was really sweet. I didn’t know at the time that she had a deep distrust of men because of a traumatic event that had happened some time before. It really is amazing that she opened so much to me.

We ended up spending some time together, and eventually I learned her story, which is a pretty traumatic one. One thing is that she has a lot of health issues that are all pretty serious. At her age though, they were well managed. I have always known her as a strong and vibrant spirit. Truly an amazing person who has already accomplished a lot more than most people ever do.

One of the issues she had was a faulty heart that caused her to require a transplant which she received at age 6. It didn’t take, and it was redone at age 7.

When she was 20 her doctor put her on the list to receive another transplant because there was something going on that would cause her to need another heart by the time she reached the top of the list two and a half years later. As you can imagine, she really didn’t want to go through that again!

I had her talk to her doctor and get the technical info about what was going on so I could see what I might be able to do for her.

I had been studying and practicing holistic healing for a couple of years or so, so I consulted with one of my teachers. He gave me a list of supplements that could have an effect on my friends condition. I was able to muscle test her for the supplements and found four that had a positive indication. These are supplements from Standard Process, one of the most amazing whole food supplements in the world.

At the time she was seeing her cardiologist twice a week as he was very concerned for her condition. But, for some reason it was ten days after she started the supplements before she saw him again.

After that examination he took her off the transplant list. It has been about eight years since, and her heart is still doing fine! In fact, she is now a medic in the army serving in Afghanistan.

Of course, I am concerned for her safety in that war. I don’t know what her situation is, weather she is behind the lines or in the thick of it. I still think of my young friend often, and pray for her safety.

When doing healing work there are several imbalances that almost everyone has. Of course, there are specific items that people need to have treated, but there are generalities.

The first systemic issue that I look at with every client is sugar handling, which I call the sugar circuit. Due to stress, diet and other factors, the sugar circuit is out of balance in almost everyone.

One of the most stressful things for the body to do is to deal with excess sugar. While the body is designed to handle sugar, the constant input of refined foods, sugar and even emotions causes problems. Eventually, the body’s ability to deal with sugar becomes compromised.

One reason the sugar circuit is important is because blood sugar balance is incredibly important. Powerful hormones are used to keep this balance, hormones that have other effects on the body besides just changing the how much sugar is in the blood. Many of these hormones come from the adrenal glands, a topic that I write a lot about.

Almost every organ and gland is involved in sugar handling, especially when there is an overwhelming increase in blood sugar. Certain hormones are released if blood sugar is too low (adrenal hormones), and others if it is too high (insulin from the pancreas).

Another problem is simple wear and tear on the body. Both insulin and sugar cause damage to the artery walls, little nicks that can leak. This is the damage that plaque on the artery walls patch. A build up of this plaque is what leads to a narrowing of the arteries and heart disease.

One of the main problems excess adrenal hormones cause is inflammation. Inflammation is the beginning of most major disease like cancer and heart disease. In general, the less inflammation the longer the life, and a higher quality life too.

I can go on and on as to what happens to the body when there is too much or too little sugar in the blood. Suffice to say, that both sides of that coin cause changes that lead to most major illnesses.

Sugar levels can be too high and too low at the same time, a real problem that causes many problems. There can be too much sugar in the blood and too little in the muscle, or visa versa.

I use applied kinesiology to balance the sugar circuit. This can be done in a number of ways. Over the years I have learned several different techniques. There has been an evolution that has led to dealing with the fight or flight response that comes with an out of balance sugar circuit.

I know, I have written a lot on the importance of a low glycemic diet, a diet that is low in sugar and processed foods. But, it is emotions that keep the body in a state of flight or flight.

Some of the same hormones used in keeping the blood sugar balance are stress hormones that are released when in the flight flight response that causes the body to go into overdrive. The only way to amp down is to release the emotions that caused the body to go into overdrive. I use applied kinesiology to do this.

The adrenal glands are the main glands that become overwhelmed when the sugar circuit is out of balance. Adrenal fatigue is one of he most common conditions there is.

Be sure to download the free adrenal healing information by clicking on the tab above. It will get you started on the path of healing your adrenal glands which are directly connected to the sugar circuit. And, there will be more information coming soon.

In this article I covered how excess sugar causes biochemical problems that involve the adrenal glands. And, some of the issues of excess sugar were addressed, inflammation and damage to the arteries. The emotional connection and the technique used to clear it were also discussed. I’ll continue from there next time.

I really like doing healing work, but I don’t do so much these days since I’m not settled anywhere. Right now I am in Texas near where I grew up. Most of my family isn’t interested in having me work on them, probably because they remember me as that brat kid. At least I can do something for my mother and cousin.

Peggy is pretty interested in the work I do, so I talked about natural healing, one of my favorite subjects. She thought it would be a good idea if I were to write up some of the things I talked about with her. She said that people would be interested in that kind of story.

So, I will try a couple and see what the response is. Let me know in the comments if you’d like stories about healing, the interesting ones, some of which are really amazing.

Here it is, the day after Christmas, the day of more adrenal fatigue than pretty much any other day of the year. After the New Year there is a lot too. Basically, holistic healers in the know about adrenal fatigue symptoms are stocked up with adrenal supplements for their clients next week.

It’s all the partying and sugar that causes the problem for many this time of year. Alcohol plays a big part as does the stress of staying up late and playing hard.

A hang over has a component of adrenal stress involved, as does most fatigue and generally feeling like s*** that comes from drug use.

There was this young woman who took my yoga classes for a few years. She would walk over from work and was usually early, so we would talk. Eventually she started asking me about how she felt after a party weekend. I won’t talk about the drug preferred, but it took a pretty serious toll.

That was when I was using a lot of whole desiccated adrenal to kick start clients adrenal glands. Still do, but not all the time, only for the most intense cases of adrenal fatigue. But, I gave her a bottle one time. After that, she would often ask for a refill before one of her monthly or so party nights, and show up for Tuesdays class feeling just fine.

Of course, I don’t recommend this type of lifestyle. She knew better too, and only played like that for a short time. She was young after all.

Anyway, if you’re feeling it this weekend, whether it was from overeating like me, or partying a little too heartily, there are things you can do to help yourself out.

You might have a bottle of B vitamins lying around somewhere, they are some of your best little helpers for that hangover. Plenty of water helps just about everything. A nice sweat can help too, a sauna or a very hot bath for 20 or 30 minutes. Exercise is one of the better things you can do for yourself.

One of the most important B vitamins for dealing with the day after is B12. A shot of it can really help, either a double dose under the tongue, or an intramuscular shot in the hip if you happen to know a doctor.

There are other things too, vitamin C can help. Herbs for the adrenal glands are good as well, and there are many of those that usually have a noticeable effect. Astragalus, Tribulus, just a little bit of Korean ginseng (it doesn’t take much) or licorice root, just to name a few.

The problem with herbs is quality. That is why I recommend only MediHerb, they have tinctures and tablets. Kroeger Herbs also have an excellent reputation. If you get the little bottles of tincture at the health food store, you probably need between a half and a full bottle to get any benefit at all. Whole ground herbs like you might find in capsules are usually much better. Making a tea is okay for some herbs, but boiling damages a lot of the useful components.

So, if you find yourself dealing with adrenal fatigue symptoms the day after, either today or next week, check the cabinets and see what you have that might help. Of course, I highly recommend that you take care of yourself year round, but we are human after all, and what is life if we don’t have a little fun?

My friend is Paul Yeager, a really brilliant one. He’s a violin virtuoso, acknowledged as one of the best in the world. He recently graduated from the San Francisco Music Conservatory with a masters degree in music. He’s been programing most of his life, and taught himself two or three new program languages during his time off during his last year of school. And, he knows a LOT about natural healing and biochemistry.

We got to know each other when he came to me as a client a few years back. It got to be fun hanging out with him as I enjoyed his intelligence. We stayed in touch while I was traveling and visited when I was in town. I’ve learned a lot from him as well as enjoyed his playing immensely.

I was talking with Paul awhile back telling him of my dilemma. I told him about the survey form I had used with great success in the past, and how I wished I could find a way to offer this service for my readers and subscribers. He said that he could code that for me if I wanted. But, I still had a few reservations, mostly because I wasn’t always available to evaluate the forms. But, he said that he would be glad to run the whole thing if I wanted!

As I mentioned, Paul is quite knowledgeable about natural healing, but he doesn’t have the experience I have with that survey form, or the brands of supplements that we both use, specifically Standard Process and MediHerb — there are others too. But, that’s a minor issue for someone as sharp as Paul.

The conclusion to this is that I am going to work with Paul to help him become as proficient as I have been with the survey form. He’s learned a lot of my other methods already, so this should not be a problem.

He coded the survey so we can send it to people that wish to purchase a personal evaluation. We’ve tested it, but of course, there could be problems. Now we need some help testing the system out with a few people before we launch.

We have a page up with a video that explains what the deal is, but I’ll give you the run down now.

First, we are going to send that link to people that are subscribed to my list — I’ve mentioned this in previous articles. They will be offered a greatly reduced price compared to what the final price will be. But, we are only going to offer the greatly reduced rate to 10 people, then there will be a prelaunch price, then the final price which we still haven’t settled on.

Furthermore, we will offer the supplements, some of the best in the world, at a rate that you will not be able to find anywhere else, unless you happen to know someone with a wholesale account. You can find the supplements online though it is against the company’s terms of service to offer their supplements without a consultation with a trained practitioner. The survey is such a consultation.

Satisfaction guaranteed! This is something I always offer. If you do what we suggest, and don’t feel like your condition is improving, then you can have your money back. This is what I always offered to my clients, I just can’t imagine being paid for something that doesn’t work! Unfortunately, we can’t guarantee the supplements themselves because we really aren’t making any money from them.

This works out really well for you as we won’t be pushing supplements just to make a few more bucks because we don’t make money from them. All we will make is the consultation fee. We’ll tell you the supplements that we recommend, and you then order what you want, either from us at a ridiculous price that we will disclose, or from some other source, it won’t mater to us at all.

I’ve gotten long again, apologies, so I’ll stop now. Watch your email for the link later this evening if you’re a subscriber. If not, then subscribe by getting the free book in the link above, even if you don’t need the back pain information, I just haven’t set up another link yet.

There were some great questions from Amber in the email yesterday.

“I recently happened upon your website when I was researching adrenal fatigue
symptoms. I was recently diagnosed with Adrenal fatigue through saliva testing.
I have been seeing an MD who is very knowledgeable in natural therapies as well.
He has me on licorice root drops, 5-6 drops in the am and 4-5 @ noon. Also,
DHEA and Pregnenalone and I have started some liquid bioidentical progesterone
for my hormonal imbalance as well. After reading about the woman who took dhea
and developed breast cancer I became a little alarmed. Any recommendations to
take along with the licorice root rather than DHEA? I do see a difference since
I started it the licorice. I do have some allergies to chamomile, anything in
the ragweed family, fish & shellfish and nuts. I also have been seeing my
chiropractor and he tells me that even though I have been having symptoms like a
hiatal hernia I am having a pyloric spasm. I am not sure what is causing this
or if I have a hiatal hernia or not for sure. Any suggestions on supplements to
help this? I am too afraid to go have the barium swallow done to find out. I
don’t like to ingest things that may be harmful to me. Any information you
might have on this would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for your time and
consideration.”

First of all, Amber, the reason you are feeling better is most likely because of the DHEA. DHEA can really give a boost as the adrenal glands don’t have to work so hard making it. It isn’t always going to cause a problem, but because it can it is best to avoid it. And, if someone insists on taking it then the 7-keto DHEA is far less dangerous. Remember, my friend is elderly, and dealing with several other issues.

There are a few different factors that are generally involved with cancer. Briefly, the factors that are almost always involved with cancer are: low body ph — an acidic body, parasites, chemical toxicity and heavy metal toxicity. Obviously there is a lot more to say about each of these issues, but realize that a diet of processed foods will almost always bring most of these factors with it.

The licorice you are taking is probably not doing much at all for you. The dosage isn’t close to therapeutic, and the quality of herbs is always a question. I only know of two brands that are of good quality: MediHerb and Kroeger. The tinctures you get at the health food store are almost always too poor of a quality to do any good at all. If taking MediHerb licorice, a therapeutic dosage is four ml a day, or a little less than a teaspoon.

The herb that I almost always give with licorice is Siberian Ginseng botanical name Eleuthero. I recommend 11 ml along with the 4 ml of licorice. It is best to split that into two doses, morning and noon.

There are contraindications to this protocol though. Licorice can raise blood pressure though 4 ml isn’t likely to do that. And, even though Siberian Ginseng isn’t nearly as ‘hot’ as other types Ginseng it can still be an issue for some people.

There are other supplements that help as well, I outline very general possibilities in this article on adrenal fatigue.

A note here, a friend of mine and I are working on a system that will allow us to offer supplement suggestions for a reasonable price. We are also going to offer Standard Process and MediHerb supplements at nearly wholesale prices. Sign up for the free book in the tab above, and you will receive advance notification and a limited time discount.

The pyloric spasm is a bit more complicated. I have had really good success at treating hiatal hernias and similar conditions like your spasm and GERD. Unfortunately, I probably need to do a one-on-one session for complete success. I still haven’t worked out how to do part of this without individual consultations, but I do have a couple of ideas in the works. And, a phone session will usually suffice.

One self test you can do is to take a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar in some water to see if that settles it. Avoid doing this on an empty stomach though as most people have an h. pylori infection in the stomach. If the bacteria is very strong the vinegar can cause severe discomfort. If the symptoms go away with the vinegar, then you are like most people and don’t produce enough hydrochloric acid. This is another complex issue that I need to write about sometime soon.

The hormone imbalance isn’t normal. Very common, yes, but not normal. I don’t usually find that hormone replacement therapy is necessary. Adrenal fatigue is usually a contributing factor these cases, but liver dysfunction is often the main factor, I talk about it in this article on liver detoxification. Basically, it isn’t a deficiency of prednisone, but rather an excess of estrogens due to the liver not breaking them down. The imbalance is what causes the symptoms.

I realize I created a number of questions with these answers. I’ll try to write more on these subjects in the future.

Karen asked a good question about adrenal fatigue and DHEA today. I thought I’d write about it as this can be a serious issue.

“I drink Yogi brand tea everyday with many of these herbs (mentioned in an article on this site) – especially KAVA and CHAMOMILE. Is this method as effective as taking supplements assuming the same levels for each? If my DHEA levels are low, do you endorse taking DHEA to get back to a normal level?”

The most important part of this question has to do with adrenal fatigue, but the most serious part is concerning DHEA, so I’ll cover that first.

DHEA is a precursor to the sex hormones. It is often recommended for people with adrenal fatigue symptoms since the adrenal glands produce it. Supplementing with DHEA will take the pressure off the adrenal glands, but there are problems.

Because of the problems with DHEA, many practitioners will recommend 7-keto DHEA instead. 7-keto DHEA is thought to be less of an issue because it isn’t supposed to be metabolized to the the male or female hormones. Unfortunately, they are basing this on ideas rather than hard scientific evidence. Lately, there is more evidence that this is not the case.

I have a friend who is a medical doctor. We have a great deal of respect for each other as healers in our particular fields. She knows a great deal more than I do, yet she appreciates my approach to healing. We have a great time discussing various issues, especially where it concerns our health issues. She is pretty old at this point, I’m not sure how old, but I’m pretty sure she is in her 70’s.

Anyway, she has been dealing with age related issues. Unfortunately, her medical training didn’t address many of the things that I have been studying for the last bunch of years. As a result, she has had issues that have cropped up from ill informed choices. A few years ago she decided to take 7-keto DHEA to help with her adrenal fatigue symptoms and other issues that this product is supposed to help with. The result of this was that she developed breast cancer.

After researching this form of DHEA subsequent to her developing cancer, she determined that it was the 7-keto DHEA that was the direct cause of her cancer. There are other factors involved with most cancers, but the DHEA was the final straw.

There are many other ways to deal with adrenal fatigue symptoms, so taking this dangerous supplement should not be considered.

Yogi tea that Karen mentions does have herbs in it that can help with adrenal fatigue. However, you would have to drink a LOT of that tea to obtain a therapeutic dose. And, I have no idea about the quality of the herbs in the product.

Quality is very important when choosing herbs and supplements. I recommend only the highest quality products for my clients, family and friends. It really is worth a little more money, just a couple of dollars more can increase the effectiveness many fold.

A friend of mine and I are working on a program that will allow us to offer such recommendations to people. I will be announcing this soon to people that are subscribed to my blog through the link on back pain relief. Sorry, I haven’t set up the system for you to subscribe without getting the back pain information.

Sign up anyway, it’s good information, and you can always ignore it. Then, watch out for the email announcing our new product, we will be offering a significant discount for subscribers.

My doctor friend? She was able to skate through the breast cancer using a combination of medical and holistic therapies. She’s doing fine in that area now.