The UltraMind Solution

Kaki's Story

My problems began in 1997 as I finished graduate school and began my professional life. It was supposed to be an exciting beginning–that time in life when all your hard work finally pays off and you are able to join the ranks of successful people.

For me, it was almost exactly the opposite ...

At first I tried to tell myself that I was just exhausted from grad school and the stress of my new position. And, there's no doubt, the profession I work in is very demanding. I fly all over the country and work long hours for too little pay. But what I began going through that year can't be explained by stress and exhaustion alone.

It started with a series of vague, flulike symptoms. I had a low-grade fever off and on. I gained weight though I could barely eat. I had absolutely no energy. It was all I could do to just get up and make it through my day.

Then I began having chronic sinus infections. After every flight I took, I ended up with another infection that gave me terrible headaches and perpetual postnasal drip and made my fevers even worse.

All this was very strange for me, because I'm not the type to get sick. I'm not a fragile person. But now I was regularly taking time off work to cope with ceaseless flulike symptoms and chronic sinus infections.

I went to just about every doctor within my insurance policy looking for answers, but they did little to help. They just threw antibiotics at me without investigating the cause of the problem. One nasal specialist recommended surgery. That seemed completely outrageous, so I didn't do that. I just didn't know what to do.

"That's when I dipped into a major depression and disappeared from my life."

I don't think many of my friends noticed, because I hid it from them for a long time. But I stopped keeping up with my social life. I never went out for drinks with clients or friends after work. I lost at least one boyfriend because my mood was so low and I refused to go out anywhere. I never smiled. I lost my sense of humor–nothing was funny to me anymore. My personality just sort of flattened out.

Eventually I became so depressed that I had a hard time leaving the house. I would get on the subway and go to work and the whole time I would think, "I can't wait until I am on the subway coming back home and can lay down on my couch and just rest."

I had bills to pay, and I'm ambitious enough that I made myself continue working, even though a lot of the time I felt like I wasn't doing the job I could ...or should. Even when I did go to work it took incredible focus to make it through the day; the small scraps of energy I had were poured into that.

I tried to convince myself that "this is just how people feel," but no one else at work seemed to be struggling the way I was. Realizing that fed into my mental health issues. I felt defective–like there was something wrong with me in this generic and debilitating way. It made my depression even worse.

Eventually, I went to a psychiatrist and began taking Prozac just to help me cope and make it through day to day. It's not what I wanted to do, but I didn't feel like I had any choice.

I went on that way for four or five years–taking medication just to make it through every day, forcing myself to get up and go to work, avoiding my social life, and coming home in the evenings to sit on the sofa and watch TV.

The situation finally came to a head one 4th of July at my parents' house. I stayed in bed the whole weekend, telling them there was no way for me to get up and celebrate. Clearly they were worried ...

"When my parents finally came in and asked me what was wrong, I fell apart. 'I don't know, but I'm miserable,' I said."

My mother was a patient of Dr. Hyman at the time, and she recommended that I look into his work. One thing that intrigued me about Dr. Hyman was his explanation of how imbalances in the body often affect mental health.

Another intrigue was thyroid function and the relationship to depression ...

You see, my core body temperature has always been low, and I've been telling doctors about it since I was a teenager. I was always told that I was too young to have a thyroid problem. My tests consistently showed my thyroid levels were low, but they were always just above the level that would indicate a clinical diagnosis of hypothyroidism.

There is an epidemic of hypothyroidism in this country, and most borderline cases like mine go undiagnosed, often contributing to depression that for me was a critical piece of the puzzle.

The other thing that blew my mind was mercury poisoning. In his book The UltraMind Solution Dr. Hyman explained how amalgam dental fillings can deteriorate in your mouth and the mercury in them can leech into your blood and poison you. This can lead to all kinds of brain disorders, including depression.

Now right before I got sick, I had a whole bunch of dental work done and had a number of amalgam fillings put in my mouth. Within months I got ill. This was another piece of the puzzle.

"As I learned all this, it was like a stack of bricks was taken off my shoulders."

I had been waiting so long to find out what was wrong with me, and Dr. Hyman finally helped me locate an answer. It makes me very emotional just to speak about it, because for the first time I had hope. For the first time I believed there was a way for me to get better.

My path to recovery is kind of a tale in and of itself. I followed Dr. Hyman's program step-by-step. After changing my diet, including supplements, and taking some of the other steps he recommends, it became clear that I would have to aggressively look into my toxicity levels and the function of my thyroid.

I got some toxicity tests done and it turned out that my mercury levels were completely off the charts. They were over 260. Normal is under 3. It was clear that I was poisoned with heavy metals and this was contributing to my problems.

I also got my thyroid retested and it was right on the borderline, just as it had been when I was young. Since it was so close and I had every other symptom in the book, it was pretty clear my thyroid wasn't functioning properly.

Both of these problems required medical intervention to resolve. I had to go on special medications to help my body expel the mercury and I had to take thyroid replacement to support my hormone levels. I also had to have my dental fillings replaced with more benign alternatives.

It took time and patience, but eventually my mercury levels came down. And my thyroid function improved.

"When I got the mercury out, rebalanced my thyroid, and changed my diet, everything in my life changed."

My depression is now completely resolved. I no longer take antidepressants and I'm happy to be alive now and not wishing I wasn't. I spent years feeling incredibly miserable–questioning why I was even alive. Now I feel grateful for life.

I'm turning 40 next week and I feel wonderful! My sense of humor has come back and my whole view of the world and of life has completely changed. I feel like me again.

But it's not just my emotional life that's undergone an evolution; other things–funny little things you wouldn't normally notice–have changed as well. My hair is back to the way it used to be. My skin looks different. I look better. I feel better.

Every once in a while someone will say something about it. They will comment on my hair or skin. I guess that may be a little vain, but it feels good. People can see the difference. They can see I'm back to being me.

My family has been pretty emotional about the changes in me as well. Since I hid my illness from my friends, my family was always much more tuned in to how sick I was. They are stunned at the difference.

My experience has been incredible in every way, and if I had one thing to tell people who are depressed or as ill as I was, it's this:

"You don't have to feel sick.
It's not your life sentence."

Looking back now I can see that it was because my body was out of balance that I became ill and depressed. I didn't understand that at the time. I wasn't educated enough. I wasn't able to make the connections. So I spent years living with a mouthful of mercury, eating foods that didn't support me, and all the while my poor body was struggling to keep up with a thyroid that was out of balance.

You don't have to go through this. You can heal your body and it will heal your brain. That's what I learned from Dr. Hyman, and I am thankful for it every day of my life.

Kaki Martin
Cambridge, MA