Are You In The "Symptom Spiral"?

Do you, or a woman you care about, experience a constellation of female and other symptoms that seem to spiral out of control?

Gallstones? Difficulty digesting fats? Other digestive tract issues? Pain in the right shoulder, upper right side of your back, and/or right thigh or knee? Stress or mood issues? Brain fog? Thyroid symptoms? Weight gain? Frequently tired, wired, or both? Anxiety? Moodiness? Irritability? Insomnia? Allergies? Cyclical headaches or migraines? Recurrent yeast infections? Hot flashes? Very high or very low libido? Irregular periods? Fertility issues? Fibroids? Cysts? Endometriosis?  

And you've tried things like digestive enzymes, probiotics, liver cleanses, colon cleanses, thyroid medications, antidepressants or anxiety medications, adrenal support formulations or other "energy" supplements, female hormones, sleep aids, different types of diets, and more ... but nothing works well enough (if at all)? You, or people around, might even feel like you're going crazy.

You're Not Crazy

All of these symptoms are interrelated, but you've been guided to see them and treat as separate. It's all linked via relationships between estrogen, the liver and gallbladder, the gastrointestinal tract, the thyroid and adrenal glands, the brain, and various parts of the nervous system, like the vagus nerve.

These systems (and others in addition) are inseparable, and just one or two root causes can make the whole system go haywire. That could be hard to imagine until you understand some of the interrelationships. So let's take a look.

Estrogen, Xenoestrogens, Progesterone, and the Liver and Gallbladder

Women are more prone than men to gallstones and related issues with liver/gallbladder function because of estrogen's effects on bile, the substance produced by the liver that helps to emulsify fats in our food so that we can digest and absorb them.. The level of estrogen in a woman's body is not only higher than in a man's body, the estrogen level fluctuates a lot throughout the mentrual cycle. And factors like those described below in this post can cause abnormally high or low levels of estrogen. 

If estrogen gets too high or low, this can cause "sludgy" bile that is more prone to forming gallstones, either by increasing the cholesterol in bile or decreasing the phosphatydylcholine in bile. When estrogen is too high, the amount of cholesterol in bile increases, which causes bile to become less fluid and more "sludgy".

When estrogen is too low, production of phosphatidylcholine decreases. Phosphatidylcholine is an emulsifier of lipids, including cholesterol, that keeps bile fluid and flowing. Reduced phosphatidylcholine production leads to less fluid, more sludgy bile.

Another factor influencing the production of phosphatidylcholine is the version of the PEMT gene that you have. If you have one of the variants of this gene that results in a less efficient PEMT enzyme, you will not produce as much phosphatidylcholine. 

Sludgy bile can occur when the ratio of estrogen to progesterone is higher than normal, even if estrogen is within the normal range. Progesterone has a balancing influence on estrogen, so when the ratio of estrogen to progesterone is high (e.g. if progesterone is lower than normal), this increases net estrogenic activity because there is less progesterone to counteract estrogen. Whenever the ratio of estrogen to progesterone is high, it is called "estrogen dominance".

Sludgy bile can also be generated when the total amount of estrogenic activity is higher than normal due to factors like exposure to estrogenic chemicals, which are referred as "xenoestrogens", a specific type of "endocrine disruptor" because they disrupt the endocrine system, which is our system of hormones.

Examples of xenoestrogens include chemicals as diverse as mycotoxins (produced by mold), pesticides, industrial toxins, and the "everywhere chemicals" called phthalates (in cosmetics, personal care products, fragrances, air fresheners, and plastics, including those used in food packaging and medical care). Even the heavy metal mercury has some estrogenic effects.

Sludgy bile can also be produced if the phase 1 detoxification enzymes in your liver produce more of the highly estrogenic metabolites of estrogen than the less estrogenic metabolies of estrogen as it is trying to eliminate estrogen from the body.. This can happen if certain toxins or drugs (e.g. Tylenol and certain antibiotics) overstimulate the phase 1 detoxification enzymes that produce the more estrogenic metabolites of estrogen. 

Estrogen, Digestion, the Microbiome, and Gut Function

After phase 1 enzymes in the liver have begun to metabolize excess estrogen, phase 2 enzymes attach a carrier molecule to the estrogen metabolites produced by the phase 1 enzymes. These estrogen metabolites bound to carrier molecules are excreted by the liver in the bile bile, thereby transfering estrogen metabolites to the digestive tract so they can be carried out of the body in the feces.

However, if you have an imbalance in your gut bacterial microbiome, some types of bacteria can interfere with your body's attempt to excrete estrogen metabolites by producing an enzyne called beta glucuronidase that detaches estrogen metabolites from their carrier molecules. Once the metabolites are detached from the carrier molecules, the estrogen metabolites can be reabsorbed from the gut into the body. This increases total estrogenic activity in the body and contributes to estrogen dominance.

Estrogen dominance promotes sludgy bile and gallstone formation. Once gallstones start to interfere with bile flow, the digestion of fats becomes more difficult because bile is necessary to emulsify fats so that they can be digested by enzymes secreted by the pancreas.

Reduced bile flow also slows the movement of food through the small intestine, which can cause symptoms of bloating and lead to imbalances in the bacteria of the small intestine and even the large intestine. And as just described, some imbalances in gut bacteria can lead to estrogen metabolites being reabsorbed instead of passed ot of the body in the stool. When the gut bacteria are imbalanced it is called "dysbiosis".

Dysbiosis can include an elevated number of a type of bacteria called gram-negative bacteria that coat themselves with "lipopolysaccharide" (LPS), which is extremely inflammatory to the liver. Inflammation in the liver leads to reduced bile flow, reduced attachment of carrier molecules to estrogen metabolites, and reduced excretion of estrogen metabolites and toxins in general. 

And as you can probably imagine, there are many other causes of dysbiosis that could be driving this process. And many other factors that influence liver/gallbladder function could also be driving this process. So there are many entry points into the Symptom Spiral that involve these interactions between sex hormones, the liver, the gallbladder, and gut function.

The Liver-Thyroid Axis

Liver and thyroid function have important, two-way, reciprocal interactions.

First, the "inactive" form of thyroid hormone, T4, is converted to the "active" form of thyroid hormone, T3, mostly in the liver. So impaired liver function can reduce conversion of T4 to T3 thyroid hormones. T4 is considered the "inactive" form of thyroid hormone, but it does have a small amount of activity at the thyroid receptor. Low T4 and low T3 contribute to low thyroid function (hypothyroidism). So impaired liver function can be a cause of hypothyroidism via lower conversion of T4 to T3.

And any form of low thyroid function impairs the cytochrome P450 phase 1 liver enzymes, thereby impairing overall detoxification processes in the liver. So it can become a vicious cycle with poor liver function reducing thyroid function, and reduced thyroid functoni further reducing liver function. Or it could start with low thyroid function reducing liver function, and then reduced liver function further reducing thyroid function.

And as liver detoxification processes decline, toxins accumulate, such as xenoestrogens, which add to overall estrogenic activity, as described earlier. As estrogenic toxins accumulate, this potentially promotes sludgy bile, gallstones, impaired detoxification, impaired digestion, imbalances in gut bacteria, etc. And the spiral spins on.

The Gut-Brain-Adrenal Connection

As described previously, excess gram-negative bacteria produce lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and dybiosis can also lead to intestinal hyperpeability (aka "leaky gut"), which causes more of the LPS to be absorbed into the body.

In addition to causing inflammation in the liver, LPS is also very inflammatory to the brain, nervous system, and the membranes of your cells and the mitochondra within them. In the brain, inflammation causes brain fog, imbalances your mood-regulating neurotransmitters, and begins processes that can result in forms of demential like Alzheimer's disease.

In the mitochondria, inflammation reduces the production of energy, hormones, and other compounds. In the nervous system, inflammation alters the function of your vagus nerve, which is supposed to keep you calm and your gut and other internal organs happy and doing their jobs.

And when your moods are off, and your mitochondria are not producing your usual amount of energy, and you can't relax, then your adrenal glands are working overtime. This can lead to elevated cortisol (the stress hormone), which increases estrogen and estrogenic activity in the body, thereby promoting estrogen dominance.

Inflammation also weakens your adrenal glands, which can contribute to dysbiosis and reduced thyroid function. The adrenal glands influence the production of an antibody called secretory IgA (SIgA) in the gut. SIgA helps to maintain a healthy balance of gut bacteria. So reduced adrenal function can lead to dysbiosis.

And reduced adrenal gland function causes the body to reduce overall metabolism by lowering thyroid function so that the body will not metabolize away adrenal hormones that are in short supply when adrenal gland function is low.

Gut-derived inflammation makes you a hot mess in many ways. This is why in functional medicine they say that "all disease begins in the gut". It's a little more complex than that, but there is much truth in that statement.

Sex Hormones Chaos

So what does all of this mean for your sex hormones? It could mean hormone deficiencies, excesses, imbalance ratios, or chaos.

If you are in your reproductive years, your body is trying to precisely orchestrate rises and falls of the hormones throughout your menstrual cycle. If you have stress, or interference from xenoestrogens, or elevated levels of highly estrogenic metabolites of estrogen, or dysbiosis, it's probably just about impossible to have normal sex hormone balance. 

Usually, the result of everything described above is estrogen dominance, which can lead to fibroids, cyts, PCOS, endometriosis, infertility,, elevated risk of "hormone-sensitive" cancers (e.g. in the breasts, ovaries, uterus, etc), and symptoms like very high or very low libido, hot flashes, moodiness, liver-gallbladder congestion, gallstones, digestive problems, and more.

Is It All Starting to Make More Sense Now?

Do you see how you almost can't have only one of these issues once things get started in the wrong direction due to all of the feedback loops and vicious cycles? 

As a woman, having higher and more variable levels of estrogen than men, as well as having female organs that have a high density of estrogen receptors, makes you far more likely than men to develop the chaotic Symptom Spiral. And then the medical system (and men) have the ignorance, arrogance, and audacity to think that you're crazy when the metabolic sh_t hits the fan, often largely because of chemical pollutants that they invented and unleashed on the world untested!

On top of that, your bio-individuality might play a role in what you are experiencing. For example, certain genetic variations can make it harder to detoxify certain toxins, or harder to control the oxidative stress and inflammation caused by toxins, or harder to fight infections that might arise as a result of toxins and hormonal chaos, or harder to tolerate eletromagnetic frequences (EMFs) once the Symptom Spiral gets going, etc.

Perhaps You Feel Like Nothing You're Doing Is Working

Despite all of your research, the thousands of dollars you've spent on health practitioners ... and the shopping bags full of supplements filling your cupboards, pantry, or closet ... you might feel like you're not getting anywhere.

It might seem like some of the supplements you're taking are backfiring. Some worsen your symptoms, and some give you new symptoms. Hopefully now you have some ideas of why this could be happening.

Without a deeper analysis of your root causes and your bio-individuality, supplements that ,might work for other people might not work for you. For example, N-acetyl-cyteine (NAC) can cause problems for people that already have high levels of cysteine due to having the CBS gene variant for a fast CBS enzyme, especially if it is combined with a slow SUOX enzyme and/or a molybdenum deficiency.  Molybdenum is the cofactor for the SUOX enzyme.

Or if you are have mycotoxins (mold toxins) in your body, they could be dysregulating your neuroimmune system and making you reactive to everything. And one particular mycotoxin that contains sulfur can cause you to react to virtually all sulfur-containing compounds. 

Under complex circumstances, it can be hazardous to engage in DIY (do-it-yourself) diagnosis and supplementation, or to work with practitioners that don't perform sufficiently detailed analysis of your root causes and bio-individuality. You can waste a lot of time and money this way. For some people it adds up to many years and tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of dollars in expenditures and/or lost productivity and income.

What Should You Do?

You might think that you should balance your hormones by taking bioidentical hormones. And sometimes this is an OK strategy, especially for menopausal or postmenopausal women. But if you are in your reproductive years and have the issues described above, trying to manage hormones by adding more of them into the system can just add to the chaos. And it does not get at the root cause(s). 

Instead, it would be far more productive to focus on identifying the root causes that are generating the Symptom Spiral so that you can take more targeted, prioritized steps to bring everything back into balance. 

That's where the Bio-Individual Blueprint can help. It is a systematic process for identifying root causes. analyzing your bio-individuality, and creating a customized "map" to guide you out of the Symptom Spiral and back to a balanced and peaceful body and more fulfilling experience of life. To learn more, download the Bio-Individual Blueprint Roadmap.