The stimulatory (plus) levels can all be considered, in a sense, adaptive responses by the body to some environmental substance(s). When the body can no longer adapt, it enters the various stages of maladaptation (see Chap. 11). These are the withdrawal reactions, also called hangovers or letdowns. Most people never identify their stimulatory (plus) reactions as symptoms until the bigger picture is pointed out to them. The negative reactions are clearly problems, however, and doctors’ waiting rooms are filled with the victims of such reactions.

Minus-one reactions are those symptoms, mainly physical, which are commonly called allergic reactions. They include running nose, coughing, wheezing, asthma, itching, hives, eczema, excessive gas, diarrhea, constipation, colitis, and other localized physical problems.

Because such reactions are ordinarily considered as allergic in origin and handled by conventional allergists, I have given little detailed attention to them in this book. It can be assumed, however, that they are often caused by allergies to foods and common chemicals.

Minus-one reactions (—) such as these may disappear, only to be replaced by even more troublesome minus-two (- -) reactions. Minus-two reactions are “systemic” allergic symptoms, affecting not just one but many parts of the body. A person in this stage of allergy is typically tired, dopey, sleepy, or mildly depressed. He is frequently plagued by painful syndromes, such as headache, neckache, backache, neuralgia, myalgia, and arthralgia. This is the phase in which chest pains and .cardiovascular effects are noticed. Cardiovascular simptoms can include rapid or irregular pulse or heartbeat, hypertension, phlebitis, anemia, or tendencies toward bleeding and bruising.

Typically these symptoms do not occur alone. That is, by the time a patient has fallen to the minus-two level, he often has many of these problems. Doctors like to deal with anatomically distinct problems: “Where does it hurt?” is a typical opening question. Few doctors like to hear, “It hurts all over,” or some such reply. In fact, as we have mentioned, many doctors are told in medical school to discount the statements of parents with many complaints. For this reason, patients in the minus-two and minus-three categories are often told, condescendingly, that their problems are “all in their head,” or psychosomatic. This may be due to the unfamiliarity of orthodox physicians with the findings of clinical ecology. In actuality, such multiple ‘symptoms are often the end result of a long process of developing allergy. The individual nature of the patient’s problem can usually be demonstrated through the methods of clinical ecology.

Minus-two (- -) is the stage at which we find such common problems as physical fatigue and headache (Chap. 12) and muscle and joint aches and pains, including arthritis (Chap. 13). Fatigue, when related to food allergy, tends to be worse in the morning, because this »s when the patient has been without his addictant for several hours. He needs, and craves, his fix. Fatigue on an allergic basis is usually quite different from physical fatigue resulting from exertion, which is relieved by rest and sleep- Allergic fatigue is seemingly without cause, and is not ordinarily relieved by prolonged periods of rest; it is basically quite unpleasant.

Minus-three (- – -) is the stage I call “brain-fag.” The term “brain-fag” is found in Webster’s dictionary as a synonym for mental exhaustion. It was suggested to me by a patient who suffered from this problem, and I have used it ever since. “Brain-fag” is more than just exhaustion. In this stage, thinking is confused, and people become indecisive, moody, sad, sullen, withdrawn, or apathetic. There is frequently much emotional instability and impaired attention. The “brain-fagged” patient cannot concentrate properly, and his comprehension and thought processes are impaired. This includes aphasia (the inability to speak, or to find words for things), mental lapses, and blackouts. A fuller discussion of “brain-fag,” with case histories, is given in Chapter 14.

As with the minus-two reactions, “brain-fag” is characteristically polysymptomatic. The patient has many symptoms and often has periods of physical illness (minus-one or -two) interspersed with his generalized mental exhaustion (minus-three).

Severe depression, or minus-four (- – - -), can be called the end of the line of this entire problem. This depression can be preceded by a superstimulated (plus-four) phase, as in manic-depressive disease, or by less severe withdrawal symptoms (minus-three).

While depression does occur in the young, it is most commonly found in the middle-aged or elderly, who have had a lifetime to develop to this stage. Such depression is often believed to be the result of unhappy events in the life of the patient, such as bereavement, retirement, or changes of locale. While such life events may contribute to the problem, usually mild depression and “brain-fag” precede them, and provide the underlying mechanism for the development of a crisis. Most often, in my experience, depression is caused by lifelong addictions to common foods, drinks, and environmental chemicals.

The severely depressed person may be unresponsive, lethargic, disoriented, and melancholic. While he may remain rational for long periods of time, he may eventually lapse into paranoid thinking, delusions, hallucinations, and sometimes even amnesia and coma.

*5\110\2*

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