Woman Claims taking this supplement caused her illness

MADISON HEIGHTS, Mich. (WXYZ) – Since 2004, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has received over 26,000 reports of adverse events and complaints about dietary supplements.  

Jody Higgins of Madison Heights, Michigan created one of the complaints to the FDA, once she states she found out were making her seriously ill.

“I really believed that I was about to die I was becoming really sick,” Higgins said.

Back in 2015, Higgins states her legs started hurting.   She states she did not have great medical insurance, and she was hoping for a more holistic strategy, thus a friend referred her to Far East Ginseng Herbs and Tea in nearby Sterling Heights.

“They indicated that I take something that was known as Linsen Dual Caulis. I hadn’t ever heard of it before, and it seemed to get all herbs about the tag,” Higgins said.

Higgins says for a while, she felt better, and now the leg pain returned, if she stopped taking the Linsen Dual Caulis. She states she kept taking it for a year, although she started discovering symptoms.

“Within four months I had gained 80 pounds,” she said.

She had darkish purple stretch marks all over her body, and suddenly had facial hair growth facial swelling ankles.

“I was not recognizable,” said Higgins.   “I couldn’t stand for more than two minutes. I couldn’t cook. I couldn’t wash my clothes. I could barely get in the shower.”

After visiting a number of doctors, Higgins was finally called University of Michigan Endocrinologist Dr. Ariel Barkan.

“The moment that I said I had been taking a Chinese herbal remedy, he said ‘you’ve been advised. I know it.’ Those were his exact words,” said Higgins.

“Her situation was pretty shaky,” Barkan said.

Barkan sent the Linsin Dual Caulis herbal supplement into the Mayo Clinic for analyzing.  

“They were loaded with Dexamethasone … [which] is a medication.   It is a synthetic steroid, yet very potent, very long acting, and when we choose it for quite a while, we create what’s known as Cushing Syndrome,” said Dr. Barkan.

Higgins was diagnosed with Cushing Syndrome, and Barkan says if she hadn’t sought help, she might have died.

“The mortality for untreated Cushing Syndrome is 50% within five decades,” said Barkan.   ” … immunity is totally suppressed. And when you do not have immunity, the first virus, the first germ could cause [a] fatal infection and you will die.”

Higgins says after she stopped taking the Linsen Dual Caulis, the facial hair went off, but she is still struggling with her own weight.   Barkan says that her health needs to improve, although it will take some time.

Both physician and patient say they have contacted the FDA relating to this, and they have a warning about choosing supplements.

“Please just be very cautious,” Higgins said.

“Do not touch it. Do not touch it, you are playing Russian roulette,” said Barkan.

Jody Higgins says she met by an investigator from the FDA’s criminal division.

An FDA spokesperson would just say that they don’t talk potential or continuing investigations.  

The lawyer for the store at which Higgins says she bought the nutritional supplement advised us the owners won’t be commenting on, but the owner did say they no longer sell the item.

source http://revivelifesupplements.com/woman-claims-taking-this-supplement-caused-her-illness/