{"id":3400,"date":"2014-02-28T12:31:17","date_gmt":"2014-02-28T01:31:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ascensionkitchen.com\/?p=3400"},"modified":"2019-01-21T11:20:08","modified_gmt":"2019-01-20T22:20:08","slug":"how-i-healed-from-adrenal-fatigue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ascensionkitchen.com\/how-i-healed-from-adrenal-fatigue\/","title":{"rendered":"How I Healed from Adrenal Fatigue"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A bit of a happy dance for me today! Last year was incredibly hairy. I actually did a bit of a number on myself and hit total burn out. Not fun, at all. The positive is, that after a fair bit of work, the adrenal fatigue I was diagnosed with is now a thing of the past. I thought I would share some of what I did to get on top of things.<\/p>\n
First of all, adrenal fatigue is the curse of the A-type personality. The perfectionist who seems to think they can do it all, always stressed, always full of (borrowed) energy, until eventually, things catch up, and you crash and burn. Your body simply can’t sustain the long-term stress and the adrenals start to protest. Cue a whole host of awful symptoms:<\/p>\n
So, the first thing I did was partner with a great Integrative Doctor who also worked with herbs, and got a whole heap of blood tests to confirm where I was at. From there, we made a plan, involving dietary and lifestyle changes, herbal support, supplements, and a short course of hormones. I did a lot of things, because I was quite severely burnt out.<\/p>\n
These were given via a drip in the arm, and contained a concentrated mixture of vitamin C, magnesium, the B vitamin group, and glutathione (an antioxidant). Vitamin C is extremely nourishing to the adrenals, and stimulates the immune system. When it is given intravenously, you can receive a much higher does than if you take it orally. The B group vitamins are important for energy production. Magnesium ignites your adrenals, and is essential for enzyme and energy production.<\/p>\n
In the butt. Yep. B12 injections are absorbed straight into the bloodstream for an energy boost.<\/p>\n
I took a three month course of herbs specially formulated to heal the adrenals. The group of herbs that nourish the adrenals and help the body adapt to stress are called adaptogens or tonic herbs. A few of the herbs I took included:<\/p>\n
Siberian ginseng:<\/strong> physical strength, endurance, promote healing, ability to adapt to stress, immune modulator, regulate metabolism.<\/p>\n Panax ginseng:<\/strong> anti-fatigue, supports the adrenals<\/p>\n Licorice root:<\/strong> the ‘Great Harmoniser’, increases vital energy, digestive and metabolic support<\/p>\n Ashwaganda (Withania somnifera):<\/strong> an Ayurvedic herb to help recover from stress and insomnia, restore libido, increase energy and stamina, normalise cortisol levels<\/p>\n Rhodiola:<\/strong> improve energy, support the immune system, strengthen the nervous system<\/p>\n <\/p>\n A big part of burnout (and the resulting adrenal fatigue) is not getting enough sleep. I was tired, but wired, and spent hours tossing and turning throughout the night, only to drag myself out of bed in the mornings feeling like the tank was empty. Getting quality sleep is essential as this is the time when your body repairs itself. There are a few things I did to get a good sleep pattern back. The first, was take some beautiful herbs to quieten the nervous system and allow the mind to shush before bed. These included:<\/p>\n Bupleurum:<\/strong> helps to harmonise the body and stabilise the emotions, detoxifying<\/p>\n Chinese peony:<\/strong> anti-inflammatory, helps promote sleep<\/p>\n Dong quai:<\/strong> the ultimate herb for women, relaxes muscles, promotes sleep<\/p>\n The other thing I did to get my sleep groove back, was to create a new sleep ritual. It went like this:<\/p>\n This was an important step. I am usually quite comfortable with a green smoothie in the mornings, but including some protein with breakfast helped to balance the blood sugars and prevent the tiredness. I added raw, sprouted brown rice protein to my smoothies when I had them, and other days, mixed the protein into a bowl of organic overnight oats (which are fabulous for the nervous system).<\/p>\n I replaced the exhaustive running and dance classes with some leisurely walking in fresh air.<\/p>\n I made a conscious effort to cut back on sugars, even fruit sugars. I cut out all caffeine, and increased the amount of plant based protein in my diet.<\/p>\n The blood tests were quite revealing. Very low progesterone (sex hormone), DHEA, and hydrocortisol. I took a low dose, short course (three months) of these to kick-start the healing, but not until I had tried a month of the herbs and supplements. I always like to try and treat things as naturally as possible, first. <\/p>\n I started a practice of self-love. Something I had deprived myself of all year, because I was so preoccupied with study and business-brainstorming. Self-love puts gas in the tank. For me, it was simply setting aside one whole day to myself a week, to do whatever it is I felt like, without feeling guilty. Beach walks, reading non-work or study related books, and getting the odd massage.<\/p>\n I know I was a monster for a few months there, but, thank you…couldn’t have done it without you!<\/p>\n Adrenal fatigue and burnout are not something you can recover from overnight. After four months of diligently following the programme above, I am finally feeling normal again. I still have my moments of not sleeping, but this has been a bit of a thing for me even before adrenal fatigue.<\/p>\n There is nothing worse then that total feeling of overwhelm, and that nothing you do is working or getting you better. But hopefully by sharing some of this, you may be able to get your own groove back, too, if you are going through something similar.<\/p>\n Adrenal Fatigue, The 21st<\/sup> Century Stress Syndrome,<\/strong> by James L. Wilson, N.D., D.C., Ph.D. <\/a><\/p>\nHerbal supplements to encourage restful sleep:<\/h4>\n
Slumber-mojo:<\/h3>\n
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Eat a protein filled breakfast:<\/h4>\n
Exercise:<\/h4>\n
Diet:<\/h4>\n
Hormones:<\/h4>\n
Self-love:<\/h4>\n
Extra-support-from-loving-partner:<\/h4>\n
Result:<\/h4>\n
Finally, here are a few useful resources that will be helpful in healing:<\/h3>\n