How I am curing my Adrenal Fatigue, Burn-Out and Crazies....the All Natural Way!

I often throw around the term adrenal fatigue - it has been such a huge part of my life I  assume everyone is familiar with it. Some of you unfortunately know EXACTLY what I'm referring to. Some have no idea. But you might be surprised to find out you might have it, or have had it in the past. The pace at which we are living our lives and the amount of things we try to squeeze into our days is making us more and more susceptible to it. Some (lots) of us rely too heavily on adrenaline to fuel us. Not to mention caffeine and chocolate.

But it seems, my friends, that once we get a bit older and throw a couple of kids into the mix, the adrenal glands just can't keep up. They burn-out.

Basically adrenal fatigue is BURN OUT. Okay, that's a term that everyone knows.

You might feel exhausted all the time. You might never wake up rested.  You might have a general feeling of unwellness. You might have blood sugar swings (although upon testing they seem normal) and wild cravings for sweets and caffeine. You might feel an overwhelming need to nap in the afternoon. You might not feel like yourself. You might have low blood pressure. Your moods might be all over the place. You might have anxiety or panic attacks. You might feel dull or flat. I had all these and more the first time I got adrenal fatigue. The symptoms can be a bit different for everyone - CLICK HERE to hear about my symptoms in my most recent bout of adrenal fatigue. Plus you might have more than one thing going on so it might be hard to tell where one thing starts and another ends.

I was the classic adrenaline junkie. I thrive ("ed") on stress. No - I didn't jump out of planes or go bungee jumping. I just wore my adrenaline like perfume to get me through a basic day. It kept me going at a pace through my 20's and early 30's that I would never have been able to keep otherwise. I had chronic stomach aches and insomnia but I didn't let that slow me down. I had my constant friend adrenaline to keep me going. If there was a crisis I was your girl. I get super efficient and focused when I'm stressed.

I still don't sit still very often. I'm shaking my foot as I write this - a nervous twitch I have had since I was a child. Someone at work once said to me "you are just one of those people that gives off energy". I laughed to myself and thought "that's called adrenaline honey". But of course I didn't share my little secret.

My endless supply of perfume eventually ran out. I felt dull. Getting through the day was a chore. Playing with/caring for my kids felt like a chore. Sitting outside in the sunshine in the park, my kids laughing and having the time of their life, felt like a chore. And that made me sad. I was so very tired and missing out on the life I always wanted. A life I should have felt blessed to have. A life I was too tired to live. I was just going through the motions. I felt terrible.

This was about 2 1/2 years ago. It was brought on by years of abusing my adrenals. And by having one of "those years" when everything just goes wrong. A bad bad year. A bad year where I desperately tried to keep up the pace I was used to. And to keep up the appearance that everything was great.

I didn't pause to take the time I needed to deal with all the bad that was going on. And it broke me. I was broken. It still makes me tear up to think about it.  I felt horrible. I looked pretty normal so you might not have noticed unless you really looked into my eyes. I wore my "mask" well. No one really knew how badly I was feeling. It was kind of like being a prisoner in my own body. But thankfully I got help. I went to a Naturopath instead of taking a prescription for anti-depressants. And I got better.

Unfortunately this winter it came back. Not as bad as I had it the first time. And this time not induced by stress. That was the confusing part. I had no "stress" but I still got adrenal fatigue.

My adrenals might just never be what they were. I broke them. And now I have to baby them. I'm still super efficient and can go like crazy when I need to - but inevitably I crash. And I crash hard.  And other things can stress your adrenals: lack of sleep, vitamin deficiencies, food sensitivities, Candida, etc, etc, etc. So just because you don't feel stressed out at the moment don't think you can't have adrenal fatigue. It usually hits hardest when the stress is over.

So now you kind of have an idea of what adrenal fatigue is. If you still don't understand then just google it or consider yourself lucky. If you are relating to this little tale. Sorry. But know IT CAN BE FIXED. Because I am proof. I fixed myself once and I am fixing myself again.

So if you are burnt out and feeling desperate, confused and crazy - HAVE HOPE. You will get better. You are not crazy - your body is just out of balance. I would always recommend getting the help of a professional (a Naturopath is a great resource) if you can afford it. But if you can't or don't want to then here is what I did to heal my adrenal fatigue - it might not work for you but you never know.

1) Eat: Clean - Low Carb - Protein - Regularly

When you have adrenal fatigue you need to work hard to stabilize your blood sugar because it gets all out of whack. So how do you do this?

By eating a low carbohydrate/low glycemic index/low sugar diet in which you eat adequate amounts of protein at regular intervals throughout the day. I can't stress this enough - no pun intended! Here are a couple of tips. [Keep in mind that I try and eat a minimum of 60 grams of protein a day. This is based on my body weight and activity level. You can adjust to what you feel is right for you. These are just guidelines for a 115 lb breastfeeding white girl that has severe leaky gut, adrenal fatigue and Candida.]

You need to EAT a high protein breakfast within one hour of waking up. If there is one thing you are going to do to your diet (other than eliminate caffeine - see below) to try and combat your adrenal fatigue this is it. Its harder than it sounds. Work at it. Make it a priority. Let the baby cry for a couple of minutes if you have to. Get your breakfast ready before you go to bed. Just eat.  I try to make my breakfast a minimum of 15 grams of protein.

Try not to go more than 2 - 3 hours without a snack or meal containing protein. Basically I try and have a mid-morning and mid-afternoon snack with at least 6 - 8 grams of protein in it. And don't wait until you are hungry/shaky to have your snack. Be proactive. Pay attention to your body.

Eat an early lunch. If you have severe adrenal fatigue you might want to try and have your lunch by 11 or 11:30. Sometimes hard to do. If you can't make that work then make sure your snack is protein heavy. My lunch and dinner are usually a minimum of 15 grams of protein.

For my adrenal fatigue, I seemed to do best if I kept carbohydrates to less than 10 net grams (grams of carbohydrates less grams of fiber) per meal/snack. At least for the meals early in the day. For dinner I could tolerate a bit more than that.

My final comment on diet is that the cleaner your diet is, the better your overall health. And if one of the triggers of your adrenal fatigue is digestive related you might need to do a lot more with your diet to clean it up like figuring out and eliminating your food sensitivities, getting rid of Candida, healing your leaky gut, etc. But if you have stress induced adrenal fatigue, just altering the ratio of carbs to protein and the timing of your meals can make a huge difference.

2) Sleep
I just did a big post on sleep and basically it is the same advice for adrenal fatigue. Get to bed by 10. No exceptions except for your brothers wedding (just giving myself permission for this weekend). Relax before bed as much as you can. Make sure your room is dark. Try and get AT LEAST 8 hours of sleep a night. When you are in burn out stage you probably need more than that. Leave the dishes dirty, forget about the laundry. Just get to bed by 10.

3) Reduce Stress - Just say NO
You need to SLOW DOWN and that means saying no. Do less than you think you need, you want or are expected to. You probably set those expectations yourself anyway. No one will think less of you. Make sure you are getting a break when you need it. My main problem is that I didn't have enough daycare set up for my children. With no family around to help I was scrambling all the time. Ask for help. Pay for help. Pray for help.

Wearing that "mask" of perfection for everyone else's benefit does nothing to help you in the long run. Unless you are gunning for a promotion at work or more work at work. In which case, you probably won't be able to handle it anyway because you are burnt out.

I have learned that showing your weakness and asking for help makes you a much bigger hero to so many people than trying to pretend to be perfect. At first it hurt my pride. Now I wear my scars with pride. (I think I should be writing the lyrics to a song). I'm not perfect but I am trying to be the happiest healthiest person I can be. Today. For me. And for my family. Not for everyone else. Because who really cares about perfection anyway.............except maybe a Type A Virgo. And even she sees the error in this thinking now.

4) Say Goodbye to Caffeine
Sorry. Hate to break it to you. Coffee and caffeine might seem like its the only thing getting you through the day. I know you are exhausted. I know this scares you. But it is possible to give up caffeine and still have a great life. Drink roasted chicory root (my first choice), decaf coffee or herbal tea. You can do this. I did it.

I don't know the science behind it but caffeine seriously exasperates the symptoms of adrenal fatigue. Even small amounts of caffeine (so even drinking decaf is iffy). Just say Goodbye and don't look back.

5) Good Quality Supplements
I wish the list had ended at 4. My goal in life is to be off supplements entirely. But my leaky gut, poor absorption and predisposition to anxiety is a huge obstacle for me ever getting off them completely. And frankly, the adrenal support pills I am on WORK WONDERS. Really. I can't believe how quickly and effectively they work on my anxiety.

I am personally taking Adrenal Px Balance made by Restorative Formulations. It contains Vitamin C, Eleuthero root extract, Hawthorne berry extract, Alfalfa juice powder, Sarsaparilla root extract, Rhodiola root extract and Holy Basil leaf extract.

I am down to 2 a day (from 4).

My anxiety is gone. I sleep. I feel rested if I follow my rules.

The first step to healing adrenal fatigue is admitting you have it. This sounds silly but I had a really hard time with accepting that I was burnt out. When I first heard the words from my Naturopath I cried like a baby. It was a mix of relief (that I wasn't dying) and tremendous disappointment in myself. In those days I had very high expectations of myself and felt like such a failure that I couldn't handle my own life.

But by accepting it, dealing with it and healing myself I have learned so much.  Don't be disappointed in yourself. Think of this as an opportunity to become better. Here's a little pin I liked that reminded me of my adrenal journey.

And another pin so you don't forget the key points:

Leaky Gut and Food Sensitivities - The lucky Ones

This is my third and final post on my daughter's food sensitivities and leaky gut. Well for a while anyway. Go here and here to catch up on my first two posts on the matter. I will be back in full recipe mode next week if that's all your after.

I am sharing her story in case it can help someone else out there that has a child that they suspect might have a weak digestive system (colicky baby, skin problems, sleep issues, behavioral problems, etc, etc) that is possibly triggered or made worse by certain foods.  And to explain why I'm going to be sharing recipes for foods/meals that are dairy, egg, gluten, soy, cane sugar and peanut free. Some of which I can't even eat but I'm making for my daughter.

Even more so to stop someone from incorrectly and unfairly labeling their child as a poor learner, poor sleeper, BAD, sensitive, mean tempered, etc, etc, etc. Attributing their behavior or characteristics to a personality trait. It could be that their system is being poisoned by the food they are eating. And it can cause havoc in unexpected ways. My daughter never had digestive "problems". She wasn't gassy as a baby, she always had regular bowel movements and never complained of stomach aches. So I didn't originally think any of our "issues" would be linked to her digestion. And I did incorrectly and unfairly give her all sorts of "labels". I can't turn back the clock on that but I would if I could.

Quick recap - my first daughter was colicky, got lots of ear infections and numerous flu's and fevers, has a chemical sensitivity to chlorine, has low tolerance for extreme temperatures, had poor sleep habits as an infant/toddler and has recently had a bout of night terrors. And we have dealt with some pretty severe behavioral issues at times and she gets really super duper hyper sometimes after a meal.

We had IGG food sensitivity panels run which confirmed she has severe leaky gut and as the naturopath  said "a dramatic number of food sensitivities even given her skewed population of people getting tested". This girl has a poor stomach lining.

To see her she looks healthy. She is really TALL for her age. She is gaining weight. She is bright and reading well. And she is happy and funny most of the time.

But looks can be deceiving. I know first hand that you can get used to your own normal and learn to live with it and make a really good show for everyone else that things are great. You can even think things are pretty great because you don't know any different. But things can be better - lots better.

So I know some people could be thinking 1) this chick has been duped/brainwashed by a Naturopath and they are taking her for pile of money and 2) maybe your kid is just bad.

I just don't agree (except for the pile of money part).  And I got proof on Wednesday that my instinct was right and that there is something to all of this.

I got my daughter's blood work back. I cried. Really cried. Because this is real. No more cheating. No more following the diet when it is convenient. No more partly believing the IGG tests are hocus pocus so I can let her have a cupcake at a birthday party. This is our life. Its going to be hard. I have to be "the heavy". I have to take away tons of food that my daughter loves.

And my poor sweet girl will probably have to deal with a weak digestive system her whole life. It sucks. She is just LIKE ME. In ways I don't want her to be. And lots of other ways that I do. We are kinda the same person.

So what did the blood work show.

She has severely low iron. Almost as low as mine when I could barely stay standing straight because I was so dizzy. She has low B12. And she has a Vitamin D insufficiency.

Why would a kid that is growing and appears healthy to 99% of the world (including her pediatrician) have such a significant vitamin deficiency.

Because of her LEAKY GUT AND FOOD SENSITIVITIES. It causes mal-absorption. Just like her MOM. Damn.

We are committing to changing her diet. We are giving her iron and Vitamin D supplements. She is drinking a high dose vitamin shake daily. And she is on a very high quality probiotic. And we are trying to rotate even her non-trigger foods as much as we can. If we overdo it on a non-trigger food her leaky gut will eventually result in it becoming a trigger.

We are going to fix her as best as we can. Its going to be hard. I keep saying that but I need to be realistic about the journey we are starting. This is not going to be a walk in the park.

I will get flack every time I turn around. Many people will think I'm just a health nut pushing my beliefs on my kid.  They will be focused on what I am taking away - an ice cream cone at the beach, a slurpee on a hot day, one of baba's home-made perogies. Not on what I am giving her. The chance to be the best, most healthy, energetic version of herself. One that has a mom that loves to cook and experiment so she will still get lots of tasty whole real foods. Just not the same ones everyone else is eating.

I fluctuate from:
1) Being grateful for having the resources, access and education to be able to have tests run. To afford high quality supplements and real food. To be able to make the changes that need to be made; and
2) Holding a "poor me, poor her, how are we going to do this" pity party. Sorry. I'm not perfect. I cry. I get edgy. I feel sorry for myself. And then I get busy. I get researching. I get cooking. And I get over it.

If you don't have the resources or access to the tests you can try and figure out the food sensitivities using an elimination diet. This would be hard and I'm not sure it would have worked for us given the volume of food sensitivities we are dealing with. But my daughter and I are rare and unique creatures - most people are dealing with less triggers which makes it easier to nail down. And some people see a direct cause and effect relationship with their food triggers. Drink a glass of milk - get congested. Have eggs - get bloated. You might be able to figure things out without the tests if you just listen to your body.

Just know that you do have options out there to help you figure things out. And know that although its not easy to change diets, for adults or kids, it can be done. I have done it for myself and I am thriving. And you can do it for yourself and your kids.


So that is my daughter's story. Not the end of the story by any means. We are just starting a new journey. A journey to heal her gut. A journey of eating good clean, healthful, whole foods.

Have a great weekend! I've gotta get shopping because I have to find something to replace yogurt.........because that girl can not live without a breakfast parfait.

My Daughter's Story - IGG food sensitivity testing - Part 2

If you missed Part 1 to this go - here.

If you are just looking for recipes come back Wednesday.

I'm basically carrying on the discussion about my daughter's leaky gut and food sensitivities. I am sharing this detailed information because I STRONGLY believe that behavior, learning, sleep and immune system problems in children (and parents) are intricately intertwined with their diets and digestive linings. Maybe not for everyone, but for those lucky ones pre-disposed to a weak digestive system.

And I wish someone would have told my Mom some of this many years ago - and saved me many years of flu's, stomach aches, bloating, insomnia, anxiety, etc, etc, etc.

If you are having problems with your child and don't know where to turn you may need to think about looking at their diet. And you might need a Naturopath and some IGG tests to help you sort things out. There isn't always a direct cause and effect relationship between what you eat and how you feel immediately afterwards. It can have a delayed effect or just impact your general well being over time. Or that is my personal experience and the experience I have had with my daughter. In both our cases just watching our diet/symptoms did not/could not pinpoint what the actual food trigger is.

I left off on Friday discussing how my now 5 year old (almost 6) showed significant improvement in her health and behavior when we tweaked her diet based on the results of her first IGG Food Senstivity Panels. We hadn't taken it too far/seriously at that point but we did switch her from drinking cow's milk to soy milk and eliminated egg-based meals from her diet.

We didn't fully eliminate all of her triggers (foods with egg or cow's milk in them as a secondary ingredient or the many other items on the list) and we didn't really follow up her progress. We didn't really feel we needed to.

Her behavior changed significant. She seemed happy.

Her immune system appeared to be working properly. She wasn't getting sick anymore.

Well, for a full year anyway.

But then something strange happened last summer. When she was just about to turn 5.

First - she had a "reaction" to chlorine in a friends pool from swimming with no goggles with her eyes opened. Extreme pain and redness in her eyes and a full on sinus assault. But it cleared up by the next morning. We didn't think too much of it. Same thing happened to me once when I was a child (that should have been my first red flag).

Next - she started daily swimming lessons at the YMCA for 4 weeks.

And we started seeing flashbacks to the 3-year-old unhappy, moody, difficult child we had before. Gone was the happy-go-lucky girl we had grown accustomed to. She was nasty and had numerous wicked temper tantrums. It was stressful and frustrating to be back there.

It took me some time to piece it together. My first thought was something in her diet had changed? But I wracked my brain and could not think of anything. And then I realized - ITS THE CHLORINE.  In addition to her food sensitivities she had developed a sensitivity to chemicals.

Okay - quick fix. Get her goggles, rinse her off, wash her hair quickly after exposure and limit her pool time.

And we were back to normal.  We had an awesome fall. She started Kindergarten. She loved school. She still didn't get sick.

But since Christmas break I started to sense that something was "off". She wasn't and isn't like she was at her worst from a behavior standpoint. She's generally a very good kid that loves school.

But my mama instinct was still saying that something was off. She seems sad once in a while. She started having night terrors for a month or so. She started getting up earlier in the morning. And after eating she sometimes gets SUPER HYPER. Like she can't hear a word I'm saying and seems almost out of control. And she has severe sugar cravings.

It is more subtle than her behavior when she was 3 and the summer she was turning 5. But still, something wasn't/isn't right.

As a parent I constantly question whether any given behavior is:
a) bad - do I just have bad kids? Really?;
b) a result of poor parenting choice - inconsistency, yelling, etc -are they feeding off me (and possibly my Candida temperament which isn't always pleasant);
c) normal - maybe I just have unreasonable expectations; or
d) a result of a trigger - food, heat, chemicals, etc, etc, etc.

And my niggling feeling that d) might still be an issue for our sweet girl finally prompted me to get her IGG sensitivity panels re-run. Which we just got back last week.

And my instinct was apparently right on. This girl has SEVERE leaky gut and her food sensitivities have not improved - THEY ARE WORSE. Insert swear. I was secretly hoping her leaky gut had improved from the many positive changes we had made in her diet as a indirect result of my own clean eating. And that this round of tests would show what her actual food triggers are. But that is not the case.

Maybe (likely) part of the problem is that eggs is one of her worst reactions and we actually re-introduced eggs (dumb, dumb, dumb - I know) around Christmas time. And now that I think about it, once we started on the egg-train, the frequency of having eggs kept increasing. She loves them.

So here we are. June 2013. I'm on the Candida diet AND I have 100% cut out the food sensitivities from my own IGG panel. No fruit (including banana's), no mushrooms, no dairy, no vinegar, no yeast, no pork, no sugar. A crazy restrictive diet.

A diet that is working wonders for me. Its hard but I am feeling incredible. My adrenal fatigue that has been plaguing me since October is suddenly gone -  I feel rested and quite energetic. I have no anxiety. I cut back my adrenal support dosage by half (because I am on way too many supplements) and I still feel fine. And my Candida moodiness is gone. I'm still starving half the time but my cravings are not nearly as bad.

So how do I not do something with the information I got in my daughters IGG tests? How do I not take it seriously? How do I not move heaven and earth scouring the city for ingredients and the internet and Pinterest for egg-free, dairy-free, gluten-free, yeast-free, sugar-free recipes that she can enjoy. I am my own proof that this "hocus-pocus" Naturopath stuff actually works. And I want her to feel incredible. I want her to feel energetic and rested. I want to build her system up so that she can handle the heat or chlorine or a flu bug.

And so this time, I am taking these tests very seriously. And we are going to ELIMINATE eggs. Not just scrambled eggs. But products containing eggs. And we are going to try and ELIMINATE dairy. And we are going gluten-free. Not just for me but for the whole family.

I have no idea how I'm going to pull this off........................................I need to sleep on it. So look for Part 3 to this story soon. I still have a couple more things to say on the matter but I've got to get to bed. Because the key to keeping adrenal fatigue at bay is to bed by 10. And its past that........Goodnight!


Go here if you want to read the next instalment.