As you know, adrenal fatigue is a hot topic these days. With so many of us overstressed and underplayed, we are finding less and less time to put ourselves on the calendar. Some days it feels like the hectic pace of our lives is speeding up. Not only with us, but our children and everyone around us too!
When you feel stressed, your nervous system responds by releasing a flood of stress hormones, including adrenaline and cortisol, which rouse the body for emergency action. Your heart pounds faster, muscles tighten, blood pressure rises, breath quickens, and your senses become sharper. This is perfect for fight-or-flight situations, but chronically not so good. The adrenal glands are responsible for pumping these hormones into the blood, and sometimes they just get plain out exhausted!
Today I give the blog over to coach Travis Richardson to talk about how he has addressed stress and the resulting adrenal fatigue for a client of his. His suggestions may or may not apply to you, and that is why it’s always important to reach out to a health care provider or knowledgeable health coach to see what fits your specific condition.
Here is Travis in his own words:
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Hey team!!!!
So let’s get into this…
I recently did a 15-minute call with “Amy T” (fictitious name to hide identity).
On this call, we went very quickly through what was up for her and what we could do to give her some ideas to move forward.
Here were my notes on that call:
Case Study – Female “Amy T.” – Age 60
Presenting Symptoms:
Tired, exhausted, feels like she’s hit a brick wall. Not enough energy to get through work, complete projects around the home. Tired all the time. Weight gain. Hard to lose weight. Never had a problem before.
Previous Diagnosis:
Sluggish thyroid. No adrenal tests completed. No other tests ordered by physicians.Current Regimen:
Currently following a clean diet. Has removed most grains. Some improvement. Tried a few natural health things like Maca root. Exercises regularly.
Discussion:
The fact that Amy is experiencing such severe fatigue and her thyroid is only “sluggish”, combined with the difficulty in losing weight despite a decent diet and exercise leads me to believe there could be a connection with the adrenals. I wanted to devise a quick plan to restore lost energy, balance hormones, and support both the adrenals and thyroid at the same time…
Suggestions:
Natural health, and doing things the right way requires a multi-faceted approach. Here were my recommendations… Keep in mind, this was all done in one, 15-minute strategy call…
- Suggestion #1: Assume a partial liquid diet
3. Add bone broth for minerals.
- Suggestion #2: Slow transition to increased raw foods
Raw foods contain the necessary enzymes to break each food down, cooked food does not. This again is a net gain energy wise. To restore the body’s energy, everything we do needs to result in a net “gain” as opposed to a net “loss”. Slowly over time the additional raw foods in the diet will “burn” much more efficiently and create enhanced cellular repair and recovery.
- Suggestion #3: Rethink MACA root
Amy tried a very small amount of MACA but didn’t really give it a shot. I suggested a gradual approach,adding first a 1/2 tsp, then 1 tsp, then multiple teaspoons, eventually going up to 1-2 TBSP, 1-3 times per day, within tolerance. This approach will truly give maca, a very powerful hormone regulator, a chance… Trust me, I’ve seen great things with maca root and have had good success with it.
- Suggestion #4: Consider an adrenal function test
This goes without saying.. Finding out your cortisol and DHEA are critical as a minimum. Then, if things are off, and based on the level of adrenal dysfunction present, you can supplements, nutrients, or even pharmaceuticals if needed, to rebalance the adrenals. Herbs like Licorice root also do nicely here. Talk to Dr. Teggatz for more information on if you are a good candidate for testing. Thyroid and other tests are good ideas if you suspect adrenal fatigue.
- Suggestion #5: Try a “Sleep-cation”
The recommendation here is to leave home, get a hotel and for 3 days, go to sleep at 10 PM and stay IN BED until NOON… No exertion during these 3 days… Sounds radical? It is… Try it… It works… Absolute reset for the adrenals…
- Suggestion #6: Consider L-Tyrosine
L-Tyrosine is an amino acid which supports the adrenal glands and indirectly supports the thyroid. It is also an energizer and can be used as a coffee replacement. Care must be taken with this and other supplements. Their effect can be quite dramatic! If someone has high blood pressure, anxiety, or any heart issues, L-Tyrosine can be a contraindication. One would definitely not want to add L-Tyrosine and caffeine together for instance. Talk to a SKILLED and KNOWLEDGEABLE health care provider (or coach )who knows about L-Tyrosine for guidance!
- Suggestion #7: Back off the exercise
Yoga or meditation only. With adrenal fatigue, depending on how severe it is, exercise might worsen the condition… The suggestion here is to give the body rest and not put additional “stress” or “load” on the body. It sounds counter-intuitive, but exercise can in some cases be very detrimental to the healing of exhausted adrenal glands.
- Suggestion #8: Ditch the Sugar and Caffeine
You MUST ditch the sugar and coffee! Both sugar and caffeine exacerbate adrenal fatigue by stimulating the adrenal glands artificially. If anything, drink chamomile and relaxing drinks. What you might actually find after a few days is a NEW increase in energy, and you feel much more balanced. Find a good sugar replacement and don’t look back!
- Suggestion #9: Go on VACATION (without the kids!)
This goes without saying! Sometimes you simply need some time for you to completely unplug and unwind. Leave the kiddos with the grandparents ideally! We love those kiddos, but to honor what we need, sometimes we just need to think of one person and one person only-US
Thank you for taking the time for YOU!!
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