What’s Adrenal Fatigue?
I spent years unknowingly in late stages of adrenal fatigue and each year got worse. I would go to the doctor for repeated thyroid and autoimmune tests that always came back with the same normal results. Though I was glad there wasn’t anything to diagnose, it was frustrating to have chronic symptoms that no doctor could explain. I still couldn’t sleep, stay asleep, or if I did sleep why I felt like I didn’t sleep at all! I was tired all the time and any amount of stress would burn me out to the point of complete exhaustion. If this is true for you, you may be battling adrenal fatigue too.
I did some reading about adrenal fatigue after seeing a video about the symptoms. After consulting with a naturopath, we decided to try the adrenal protocol to see if my symptoms would improve, and boy did they!
Your adrenal glands produce a variety of hormones that are essential to life. When Adrenals are taxed by stress, inflammation, and poor self care it creates a cortisol imbalance. This imbalance becomes a multi-phase decline in your health and wellbeing that is difficult to diagnose.
If you suffer from insomnia, insulin resistance, restless legs, dark circles under the eyes, and weight gain in the belly due to craving of carbs and sweets your cortisol levels may be high resulting in the early stages of adrenal fatigue.
Maybe you fall asleep fine, but wake up during the night or a few hours before your alarm and you can’t go back to sleep. This makes for many days where your mood is affected, your libido is low, and you experience more unexplained aches and pains. If you experience this on a regular basis, it may be advanced adrenal fatigue.
When the first two stages of adrenal fatigue continue untreated, it progresses into a place of complete exhaustion regardless of the hours slept. It can also affect your DHEA and thyroid levels putting you at higher risk for autoimmune disease, chronic bacterial, viral, and yeast infections.
Natural Ways To Heal
- Change your diet.
Chances are, you know certain foods cause you to feel badly, but you eat them anyway. When this happens, there is inflammation in the body which can wear down your immune system. Keeping these foods out of your diet and choosing foods that are lean clean proteins, whole grain gluten free, and packed with veggies can help keep the stress on the adrenals low. Several in my family are also sensitive to dairy so we’ve had to eliminate that as well. Be aware of how your body responds to each meal and keep a journal to help you figure out foods that may be stressing your body.
2. Go to bed early
Getting plenty of sleep is going to play a major role in recovering from adrenal fatigue. Staying up too late can cause a late cortisol surge and will disrupt your sleep pattern. We also use an adrenal fatigue serum as part of our nightly routine. It helps us to fall asleep, stay asleep, and wake up feeling refreshed as sleep was intended to do! We don’t go to sleep without it, and if we do, we remember why we use it in the first place after a bad night sleep.
3. Replace lost nutrients
The third thing that has helped me overcome adrenal fatigue is Super B by Young Living. I take it at lunch to get me through the afternoon slump I tend to get from having adrenal fatigue and it carries me through until bed time. B vitamins are food for the adrenals, help give energy, and uplift mood. Krill oil helps reduce inflammation and maintain a healthier functioning immune system and less stress on the adrenals.
This one is tough for me. I HATE drinking water! I’ve learned to put a few drops of lemon or orange vitality oil in my water to give it a boost of flavor and prompts me to want to drink it a little more.
If you’ve been diagnosed with adrenal fatigue or think you may have it, rebalancing your body by taking some of the steps below. Changing your diet, getting better sleep, taking supplements, and hydrating can make a world of difference. Don’t let it get worse and slip into an autoimmune disorder. Let your body heal naturally and see how much better you start to feel in no time!