Root cause chronicles: A tale of a client with unexplained “adrenal fatigue” + “gut issues” and a closer look at the risk of root canals.
I have been working with a certain client for about 9 months now and peeling back layers of health issues she has been having. When we first started, she came to me because she was dealing with a lot of anxiety, fatigue, burn out, and concerned about her hormones.
She had gone to a naturopath who put her on some supplements and felt the needle move a little bit, but she had a conviction that something deeper was going on. She had also gone to a conventional doctor who told her that her labs were fine.
During our time together, after I invited her to share her story with me, we determined her starting place. I approach health like an onion, peeling back one layer of compensation at a time. We began her journey by optimizing her capacity to peel. We started with minerals, sleep, stress support, + gut health.
We also discussed ways she could support herself emotionally + spiritually, to deal with a major family stressor she was experiencing.
After a few weeks, I received her results from her hair test and found her body was under chronic stress and she had significant mineral depletion and so I started her on a new supportive protocol and we adjusted it as needed.
Each month we continued to peel back layers of what was potentially going on. She was extra motivated, so I invited her to start doing some body work because she was holding on to a lot of chronic tension (which often happens when we experience stress). When she began doing certain fascial massages, she started experiencing numbness and tingling in her face.
When you do fascia work it helps bring your senses back to areas that were previously numb, so knowing this, I viewed it as a message her body was sending and I referred her to her doctor to rule out neurological issues, etc.
She came back to me and told me her doctor said her labs were normal and it was likely stress related.
So next, I asked her when her last dental appointment was and referred her to the dentist just to be safe because our teeth have nerves that are interconnected to muscles and nerves in our face.
She went to her dentist and they found she had an infected root canal! And they ended up pulling it and she was placed on antibiotics. After this, she started experiencing worsening anxiety + fatigue, dizziness when standing and said the last time she felt this was when she had an episode where her doctor told her so had adrenal fatigue.
To me, it sounded as if she was experiencing some gut issues (antibiotics can be great but they kill off good bacteria needed for optimal mental and physical health). Serotonin for example, is mostly made in your gut. It also sounded like she potentially had iron or anemia issues at play.
And I had some suspicion that she may be dumping heavy metals.
Dumping heavy metals often happens when you begin replacing minerals, because our body in its wisdom, will hold on to certain metals when we are deficient, so when we replenish them, we give it support to do it’s job. For example, if we are deficient in zinc (from say, chronic gut issues), our can hold on to metals like cadmium.
Her labs came back “normal” according to her doctor, but she did have a low iron saturation which can often be an indication the body is not using iron well.
So I started her on some short term, natural iron support and her symptoms improved in 48 hours.
Then I started asking the question, “why is her iron saturation low?”
During this time, I did a second hair test on her, and uncovered that she is was dumping cadmium (which is used often used in root canals) + displacing copper.
When copper is being dumped or displaced, it impacts how the body is able to use + recycle iron, and can lead to low iron. Iron can also get stuck in our tissues, unable to be used optimally.
Cadmium has an interconnected relationship + impact on other minerals. For example, she was low in zinc + zinc helps to displace cadmium, so a deficiency makes the body retain it rather than excrete it. Zinc helps balance copper, and impacts progesterone in the body.
Cadmium also raises sodium because it is a stressor on the body, and her hair test was showing significant stress.
Excess cadmium also lowers manganese and her hair test is showing she is losing a ton of manganese. Manganese impacts the nervous system so it can impact memory loss, muscle rigidity and also lead to anemia. It turns out, European reports have attempted to point out that the cadmium used in root canals could potentially be toxic.
In conjunction with sealants and cements, gutta percha is the most popular choice for solid core root filling, which very often contains cadmium (depending on the manufacturer). Despite concerns, the FDA has determined cadmium in gutta percha not to be an issue, but I personally think her case shines light of the danger of it.
In addition, endodontic sealers can cause a microleakage, which can lead to an infection of the root canals. Infections cause extreme stress on the body, which also explains her mineral pattern.
In addition, endodontic sealers can cause a microleakage, which can lead to an infection of the root canals. Infections cause extreme stress on the body, which also explains her mineral pattern. Am I saying all root canals are bad and will lead to illness? No. Everyone differs in what their body’s can and cannot tolerate. What I am saying is when our body sends messages via symptoms, it is SO important to get curious and consider how interconnected our dental health is with the rest of our body.
So I started her on a new protocol to support her body’s natural process of detoxing and releasing the metal and her symptoms have improved + many have resolved completely.
I share this to shine light on the fact that our bodies are interconnected, and very often when we look at them with curiosity, rather than fear, we are able to peel back layers and resolve certain symptoms.
I pray for my clients and for clarity in regard to their health so when this happens I am always so blown away. Our bodies are incredibly designed. This thing is though, this client took radical responsibility for her health and met me half way. She took the brave step of asking for support and then had the grit to continue putting that support into action. These are the clients that inspire me the most!
Sources:
https://doi.org/10.1016/S0099-2399(84)80261-7
