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:
