Heal Your Adrenal Glands Naturally

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So You’ve Found Out You Have Adrenal Fatigue Syndrome….

It may have taken a while to get a diagnosis but you’ve just found out that you have adrenal fatigue syndrome.  It’s a relief to finally know the reason for the crashing tiredness you’ve been  experiencing.

Particularly in the afternoons you feel very fatigued and what’s with waking up at 3.15 a.m every morning? Well now you have the reason for your crazy symptoms, but your doctor has been unable to offer much help.

So now you are looking around for alternative therapies and eager to know about how to heal your adrenal glands naturally.

Perhaps you’ve discovered adrenal fatigue is a component of your chronic fatigue syndrome. Or maybe you’ve recently discovered the adrenal connection to existing thyroid issues?

heal your adrenal glands naturally

Whatever the reason, it’s important you learn the necessary information you need to heal your adrenal glands and how to do it naturally. But how do you do it?

Of course there are several herbal and nutrient supplements you can take that help support your adrenals and heal adrenal fatigue naturally.

However, first it’s important to acknowledge there are some diet and lifestyle changes you must make.

Without recognizing that your lifestyle plays a huge role in how you got adrenal fatigue in the first place, you will have great difficulty recovering fully and healing your adrenal glands.

I found this out the hard way, when I continued pushing myself way too hard, not taking holidays, and constantly ignoring the need to take time out to simply relax, switch off from a relentless work schedule and take sufficient rest.

Able to recover for a short while, but without changing my ‘head-space’ and lifestyle habits, I relapsed several times. Each time I relapsed my overall adrenal health became worse, causing a cascade effect on my thyroid function too. My overall health went into a dizzying downward spiral.

What Everyone Should Know About Adrenal Fatigue Syndrome

 

Mindset Is A Huge Part Of Successfully Healing From Adrenal Fatigue

healing adrenal fatigue naturally

There is an imbalance in your lifestyle somewhere, which is the reason you got adrenal fatigue in the first place. Without taking time to acknowledge this, it’s impossible to get well.

Do you recognize any of these attitudes and behaviors?
  • Burning the midnight oil.
  • Working hard/playing hard.
  • Eating a fast food diet.
  • Using alcohol/drugs to de-stress.
  • Not taking holidays/time off.
  • Continually pushing yourself to achieve.
  • Refusing to rest until you complete a task.
  • Taking on too much from people around you emotionally as well as physically.
  • Thinking that you are invincible.
  • Engaging in competitive behavior.
  • Needing to always prove yourself.
  • Eating irregularly.
  • Believing that you are the only person capable of carrying out a task or job correctly.
  • Never taking time to rest and simply do nothing.
  • Always working to beat the clock.
  • Having a long ‘To Do’ list that seems to increase daily.
  • Being in stressful personal and/or professional relationships.
  • Feeling constantly irritated and impatient.

If you recognize your own behavior in the above list, you’ll find it beneficial to your health to work on reducing them. The adrenals recognize stress in different forms, not only from physical sources but from dietary, mental and emotional sources too.

The Secret Of How The Adrenal Glands Work

eal your adrenal glands naturally

Your adrenal glands function to modulate stress to help your body cope with the physical effects. There are two adrenal glands that sit above the kidneys, each about the size of a walnut.

They have two compartments: the adrenal medulla (inner compartment) and the adrenal cortex (outer compartment).

Adrenal medulla. The adrenal medulla regulates the hormones norepinephrine and epinephrine. These control the sympathetic nervous system which causes the flight or fight response you feel when stressed.

  1. Adrenal cortex. The adrenal cortex produces more than 50 steroid hormones and is the largest part of the adrenal gland. These hormones fall into three classes:
    1.  Mineralocorticoids such as Aldosterone that causes the kidney to retain salt and eliminate potassium
    2. Androgens are often regarded as male hormones but they occur in women in lower levels and include testosterone, estrogen and progesterone
    3. Glucocorticoids such as cortisol.

Cortisol is the most important hormone for helping your body deal with stress. Almost all the cells in your body have cortisol receptors so it affects much of how the body functions.

It helps reduce inflammation, control blood sugar levels, assists memory retention and controls the metabolism. Cortisol also affects the balance of water and salt in your body, and helps to keep your blood pressure under control.

When you are in a high state of being stressed, the adrenal glands release high levels of cortisol. When the stress is prolonged they become overworked because they cannot keep up with the demand for cortisol.

Cortisol levels drop so your body does not react properly to high pressure situations which can cause high blood pressure and water retention.

It is a relatively new condition caused by the relentless stress of our lives. Some recognize adrenal fatigue syndrome as a common occurrence. Even though the World health Organization recognizes it, much of the medical profession tend to believe it does not exist.

Symptoms Of Adrenal Fatigue Syndrome

heal your adrenal glands naturallyAdrenal fatigue syndrome can affect men and women alike at any time of life. You are more vulnerable to adrenal fatigue syndrome when you have an infection such as the flu and bronchitis that you cannot shake.

High levels of stress such as financial worries, the death of someone close to you, or lifestyle choices such as minimal exercise and poor diet, substance abuse and poor sleep patterns all make you vulnerable to adrenal fatigue syndrome.

 

 

 

 

The symptoms are not specific and can include a combination of the following:

  • Being over tired every day
  • Dizziness
  • Trouble getting out of bed in the mornings
  • More energy in the early evening
  • Cravings for salty or sweet foods
  • Immune system weakness
  • Cravings for coffee and caffeine
  • A decreased ability to handle stressful situations
  • Anxiety or depression
  • Poor circulation
  • A need to urinate more often
  • Rapid weight gain
  • Difficulty sleeping
  • Pain in the lower back
  • Persistent dark circles under your eyes
  • Allergies or respiratory problems
  • Pain in the joints or lower back
  • Dry skin
  • Low blood pressure or blood sugar
  • Disinterest in sex
  • Muscle weakness
  • Low energy levels
  • Exhaustion after only exercising for an hour

Adrenal Fatigue Crash

Adrenal fatigue syndrome is degenerative if it goes untreated over time and your body responds by trying to keep energy in reserve. The longer you have adrenal fatigue syndrome, the harder it is to recover. The worse adrenal fatigue syndrome gets the less you will be able to functional at normal levels and you may need bed rest.

heal your adrenal glands naturallyNo part of your body is spared as you head for an adrenal fatigue syndrome crash. Your body progressively removes energy from the body’s systems.

It starts with the areas not vital to survival. The reproductive system, libido and thyroid gland are the first areas to lose energy as the body works to conserve it.

Then the gastrointestinal tract slows making it harder to cope with processed foods. This results in poor digestion and can increases episodes of constipation, gas and bloating.

This, in turn, affects the kidneys and liver as it allows toxins to build up in your body causing all sorts of health problems.

As the body slows down more, it breaks down muscle to generate energy. This causes your body to deteriorate further where there is weight and muscle loss.

At this stage you can experience fibromyalgia or chronic fatigue syndrome. When your body comes closer to crashing you lose your appetite. There will be an electrolyte and sugar imbalance, and you become resistant to insulin.

If this decline continues, the adrenal glands react with alarm. They activate the flight or fight state by releasing adrenalin, which further promotes the downward spiral.

heal your adrenal glands naturallyIf degeneration continues, the body crashes from exhaustion. When you hit this level, you will have no choice but to rest up in bed.

People suffering with adrenal fatigue syndrome will be familiar with crashes. In the beginning the crashes may be harmless and only last a short time. There is a quick recovery after a nap, a sugar fix or a coffee.

 

 

But, you may crash again once the effects of these wear off, so you can become trapped in a vicious cycle. Avoid ignoring the warning signs. If you do, the crashes will increase and become more serious.

As adrenal fatigue syndrome gets worse, increased exercise can trigger a crash and recovery takes longer. The severity of crashes varies depending on the seriousness of adrenal fatigue syndrome and how long your body has been dealing with it.

Adrenal Crash Intensity

heal your adrenal glands naturallyYour body will automatically recover after each crash but each crash weakens your body internally. When you do not nurture yourself back to health, small crashes occur more often and with increasing severity each time.

Adrenal fatigue syndrome has five levels of intensity. The first two levels cause minor crashes with a good chance of recovery. The other three levels cause major crashes and it is much harder to recover from them.

The following are the five intensity levels of adrenal fatigue syndrome  crashes.

Level 1 Intensity

During level 1 there is a 10 to 19 percent loss of adrenal function. There is a metabolic imbalance and it affects your emotions causing irritability. You will feel overly tired, be hungrier and need to eat earlier than normal. You can continue functioning normally, go to work but feel really tired by the end of the day. Taking a nap will help you feel recovered.

Level 2 Intensity

When you experience level 2 intensity, your adrenal function decreases by 20 to 29 percent. You will experience the same imbalances as during level 1. But, you will feel tireder than normal and after a 30-minute nap you will recover your energy. You will feel more emotional and on edge, and be hungrier than usual. While you can still function normally, you will need to force yourself to keep going. Normal tasks are harder as your body is feeling the strain. Taking a nap may not restore your energy and you can wake up still feeling low on energy.

Level 3 Intensity

Level 3 intensity involves a 30 to 39 percent loss of normal adrenal gland functionality. You will still have the imbalances of level 1, but they will be more severe. And, your energy levels are low during the day. Resting will not recover your energy levels. You may still be able to function normally at some levels, but will not feel like leaving home at all. You may be quick to anger and have a short fuse. Sugar cravings can be common and you can find sleeping difficult. You may also experience dizziness, cold sweats and palpitations.

Level 4 Intensity

At level 4 intensity there is a 40 to 40 percent loss of normal adrenal gland function. All the symptoms of the previous levels get worse and you experience extreme tiredness all day. You will feel drained of all energy and not be able to continue functioning as normal. You will not be able to go to work or have the energy to do household chores. Depression sets in and you do not have the energy to get angry. And the food that helped sustain you during earlier intensity levels make you feel worse. You will need time off work to spend time in bed to recover.

Level 5 Intensity

During level 5 there is a 50 percent or more loss of energy. Everything gets worse and you may not be able to get out of bed except to go to the toilet. You may also need help to walk, get dressed and to have a shower.

 

How To Avoid Adrenal Fatigue Syndrome

Prevention is better than cure to avoid adrenal fatigue syndrome. It is always more difficult to recover once you are seriously ill. The three parts of avoidance and recovery include lifestyle choices, diet and exercise.

Lifestyle Choices

Dealing with your stress and looking at your health from a holistic perspective are the two most important things.

Stress stalks us every day, in all parts of our lives in a modern fast paced world.

 

 

Stressors can come from:

  • Environmental stress includes pollutants in the air, the workplace, chemicals and pesticides.
  • Emotional stress includes anxiety and depression, relationships, bereavement, financial worries, hardships and pressure.
  • Physical stress includes injury, exercise, substance abuse, alcohol, diet, injuries, illness and not getting enough sleep.

When feeling stressed, stop and take the time to look at what is stressing you out. Identify stress triggers and work out a plan to eliminate, or at least minimize them.

Diet

Diet is the one of the main contributing factors to adrenal fatigue syndrome. The body depends on the food you eat for nourishment to maintain its balance. To treat adrenal fatigue successfully you must take a look at your diet.

Eat whole foods and eliminate processed foods from your diet. Here are the five main foods you should avoid:

  1. Gluten
  2. Caffeine
  3. Alcohol
  4. Refined carbohydrates such as white bread, junk and processed foods, and foods containing trans fats such as fried foods
  5. Sugar and its substitutes.

Just eliminating these as main sources in a diet, will improve your energy levels and overall health.

Supplements And Herbs

heal your adrenals naturallySupplements and herbs help to replace the nutrients missing from your system.

They are a huge help in healing adrenal fatigue naturally.

Supplements that can boost the adrenal gland function include:

Herbs that can help assist you with mild adrenal fatigue symptoms over the short term. Helpful herbs include:

  • Licorice root
  • Korean and Siberian ginseng
  • Ashwagandha root
  • Ginkgo leaf.

This useful supplement has a combination of proven adaptogenic herbs and vitamins in one easy to take capsule.

Exercise

heal your adrenal glands naturallyWhile it can be hard to push yourself to exercise when feeling tired, exercise helps and you feel better afterwards. It is a great stress reliever and has many benefits including reducing depression and increasing the body’s blood flow. Exercise also returns the cortisol levels, growth hormones, blood sugar and insulin to normal.

 

 

The key to exercise when you have adrenal fatigue syndrome is to balance it with what you can comfortably achieve because overdoing it can make adrenal fatigue syndrome worse or cause a crash. The right levels of exercise will leave you feeling rejuvenated rather than tired after each session.

Different types of exercise good for adrenal fatigue syndrome sufferers include:

  • Anaerobic exercises such as sit ups, chin ups, weight lifting and push ups
  • Flexibility such as yoga, tai chi and stretching exercises
  • Aerobics such as swimming, walking and using a treadmill.

The level of exercise you will be able to do, depends on how advanced your adrenal fatigue syndrome is and will be different for everyone. When you have advanced adrenal fatigue syndrome you may only be able to take a slow walk for 5 minutes a couple of times a week. As your health improves, the exercise level and regularity can increase.

It is important to exercise only at an intensity level that does not result in a crash. If you keep pushing your body past its limits you will experience set backs to your complete recovery. For some people with adrenal fatigue syndrome, restorative yoga will be the only type of exercise they can manage.

What Are 10 Simple Things You Can Do To Support Your Adrenals?

There’s a lot of information to get to grips with when attempting to heal your adrenal glands naturally. Not to mention, making so many changes can seem overwhelming.

Breaking any action plan down into easy points can make it better to deal with. Take each of the 10 steps here one at a time and start introducing them into your daily life to fight adrenal fatigue syndrome.

Meditate – Meditation helps you switch off the fight or flight response. Your relaxed mind and body signal your adrenals that you are not in danger and they can stop pumping out cortisol.

Get sufficient rest – Your adrenals need time to recharge and can only do this when you are in a rested state. Take time out to simply do nothing. Lie down, switch off your computer or phone, read a book or listen to some quiet and uplifting music.

Cut out sugar – Your body is craving more energy and wants fast energy you get from a sugar fix. But this is simply placing more strain on your adrenals, whipping them up to work even harder. Cut out sugar to give your adrenals a break so they can rest and recuperate.

Ditch caffeine – Like sugar, caffeine whips your adrenals, driving them to work in a depleted state. Give coffee, tea and cola a break. Can’t go without your coffee? Try using a product like Java Burn with decaffeinated coffee. It contains L-theanine, which is known to lower stress hormone levels.

Add salt to your food – The adrenals need salt to function properly. You might find you are craving salty foods which is your body trying to get your attention. Use Himalayan or Celtic sea salt which both include an array of beneficial minerals. Refined table salt has none of the beneficial minerals and may include unwanted caking agents too.

Take a high quality Vitamin C supplement – When under strain your adrenals use more Vitamin C. Read this article stating the importance of Vitamin C for the health of the adrenal glands.

You need to supply them with this important nutrient in an easily absorbable form, like this high quality vitamin c supplement.

Eat at regular intervals – If food is not supplied to your body at regular intervals, your adrenals understand this as a danger signal, they think you are in starvation mode and pump out stress hormones. Eat 3 meals a day and one or two snacks to calm the adrenal stress response. Eating smaller quantities at each meal and snack puts less stress on your digestive system too.

Take a good quality Vitamin B5/ Pantothenic acid supplement – Vitamin B5 plays an important role in energy metabolism and in the production of sex hormones produced in the adrenal glands. Your adrenals need this vitamin in a relatively high dose which you may not be able to get from your diet.

Stay hydrated – Fluid dysregulation and electrolyte imbalance is common in adrenal fatigue. Maintaining correct fluid balance is important in adrenal fatigue. Your body systems including your adrenals need sufficient filtered water to function optimally.

Eat sufficient protein – Getting enough protein to keep your energy levels consistent without causing spikes in blood sugar levels is critical in healing your adrenal fatigue. Eating organic meat, eggs and poultry as well as wild caught fatty fish like salmon are great choices. Choose protein at breakfast for a great start to the day.

Putting It All Together

Realize that your lifestyle plays a huge part in how you ended up with adrenal fatigue. Review the list of behaviors above and decide which of them you can work on changing. Without making lifestyle changes you will be unable to cure adrenal fatigue syndrome naturally.

Check out the list of 10 simple things you can do to heal your adrenal glands naturally and pick a few of them at first, gradually adding more into your diet and lifestyle as you gain confidence and begin to feel better. Using a high quality supplement containing nutritional support and helpful herbs can assist in reducing symptoms and healing your adrenals.

If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to leave them below.

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comments

  1. What an amazing and informative post. I have been in the fitness industry for 15 years now and was doing research into adrenal fatigue to help and support one of my clients. I love how you have listed the top 10 things to help this. I will be directing her to your post and any other clients who may suffer from this. Its also helped me increase my own knowledge on the subject.

    Reply
    • Hi David

      Thanks for your kind comments. I’m so glad you found the information useful. As I previously suffered with adrenal fatigue, in fact that was the start of a long journey with chronic fatigue, I think it’s important for others to know the importance of helping your adrenals stay healthy. We all live such fast and often stressful lives without realizing it. It all takes its toll on adrenal health. I hope your client finds the information helpful.

      Reply
  2. Great informative post. Reading through your list of attitudes and behaviours, I must admit I have ticked a few off!
    We live in such a hectic way of life nowadays and often push our bodies to the limits – and sadly concern is only imminent when our bodies break down and illness prevails.
    I really like the tips you have mentioned as I already practice a few of these but the first two tips are ones I need to be focussing on. Thanks.

    Reply
    • Hi Teresa

      Thanks so much for taking the time to comment and I’m glad you found the tips useful. I agree, our lives are so fast paced nowadays, it’s often difficult to even acknowledge we need to take time to look after ourselves. 

      Reply
  3. I am really glad that I have read this article about adrenal glands because my mother have a problem with it. She exercise every day and she pay attention on nutrition but it somehow doesn’t help much. I will for sure recommend her this tips written above and hope for the best.

    Reply
    • Hi Daniel thanks for stopping by. Sometimes too much exercise can stress your adrenals, perhaps you’e mother should ease off a bit and see if she feels a difference. 

      Reply
  4. Hey Ann,

    very interesting post Adrenal Fatigue.  Worked many years as  Yoga Teacher, my personal opinion is that the mindset is the most important thing when it comes to healing.

    Most of the recent disorders or illness, are psychosomatic.  So when your mindset is positive, many of the disorders are easy to get cured.

    As you mentioned, meditation helps to calm our minds and as a result helps in healing – physical, mental and emotional.  As most of see meditation mere as a spiritual activity, it is not.  Meditation is to balace our thoughts, mind and emotions.

     Infographic to support adrenal is great, but it’s really hard to read, glad you explained every point below it.

    Regards

    Reply
    • Hi Shubhangi thanks for your comments. I agree a positive mindset is important to help with healing. There is definitely a mental and emotional component to adrenal fatigue as well as the physical stress. 

      Reply
  5. Hi Ann,

    I have long suspected I suffered from this type of Adrenal fatigue, but never knew how to classify it. I can check off most of your reasons why, and I have tried quite a few of the things that help as well. I used meditation off and on, but find it hard for me to stick with that even though I know I should. 

    Sugar is very hard to give up, it is already in so much of our food, I try to always choose the fresh fruits and vegetables to eliminate processed sugar as much as I can. But, we all have those holiday parties, where it is impossible for me to ignore those wonderful goodies! I try

    I could go on and on…but, I just was so excited to find this site, I had to tell you.

    The Lypo Spheric Vitamin C looks like a great product. I have used the liposomal products before and I agree with the part they are hard to mix with water. But, they absorb so much better and more of the product is actually used by our bodies.

     Thank you, finally I know what is wrong! I will enjoy reading your future posts as well. I Bookmarked this site!

    Chas

    Reply
    • Hi Chas thanks for your comments and I’m glad the information in my post was helpful for you. Meditation is great for stress relief and if you try to form a regular practice it does become easier over time. 

      Reply
  6. Hi Ann thank you for your very interesting article on healing your adrenal glands. I have been suffering from fatigue for quite a while now and nothing I did actually helped. But I realise now where I was going wrong, thanks to your blog. There are  three items I there that I need to concentrate on. 1). Meditation. I have never tried it, and I think it’s time I did. 2). Cut down on sugar, I love my sugar and eat far to much of it. 3). Caffeine. I drink far to much coffee and tea, time to stop. 

    Again, I thank you for your blog, it opened up my eyes to where I was going wrong.  Jim

    Reply
    • Hi Jim thanks for stopping by. If you make the three changes you listed, you will start to feel so much better quite quickly. Your adrenals will thanks you too. 

      Reply
  7. Thank you for this informative post, I went through the checklist and I hate to admit that I got half of them ticked at least. Things like house chores and groceries, taking care of a baby and working part time are just hard to find a balance, and I fall into eating fast food and having sugary diet, and super long to do list 🙁 However the 10 points you pointed out are doable! I got to change my mindset and change my actions! Thank you for this post again! Bless you

    Reply
    • Hi Emily thanks for commenting. Yes we all lead busy lives and the to do list seems to get longer and longer. You’ve got the gist of it though i.e., change your mindset and change your actions! Good luck with it all. 

      Reply
  8. Excellent post! You are spot on here and I know because I had to figure this out the hard way. Diet and physical activity are so much more important than we realize! Now that I know this information, it actually makes a lot of sense. The things you put into your body actually affect the way it works.

    I have recently adopted quite a few item that you have on your list. Like cutting out sugar, getting to bed at a set time and waking up at a set time, eating a MUCH healthier diet and excercsing everyday (except for 1 rest day). I don’t cheat at all especially in the beginning of my diet change because for me it is far too easy to get a “taste” for the bad stuff and slip back into unhealthy habits.

    I think your main point of living a balanced life is on point. It is too easy to let one thing get out of hand (like work) and then letting that affect all other areas of your life including your health. It is good to have good work ethic but there is such a thing as too much of a good thing!

    Reply
    • Hi Renton I appreciate your comments. It sounds like you have a pretty good idea of how to get balance in your life, which as you say is so important. Agree with your comments on having a good wok ethic but too much of anything is not good. 

      Reply
  9. This is a very interesting article, and hit close to home on many occasions, as I read through it. I’m not going into specifics – but I have experienced many of the symptoms you list here before…and I believe it’s down to ‘burning the candle both ends’ in my younger days. 

    I’m in my early forties now so I have made an effort to change my mindset on how I handle each day, and therefore how I govern fatigue. Do you believe, like me, that mindset plays a very strong role in how we feel within our bodies?

    Reply
  10. I’m so glad to have come across your site and post as I’ve been feeling tired lately and wondering why?Ok, you list of those attitudes and behaviour are alarming as I do a lot of these.My naturopath has prescribed Adaptum for Nervous Exhaustion, I can see why after reading your article.

    I’ll bookmark your post and work on my mindset too with self-reflection.  Thank you so much!

    Reply
    • Hi John thanks for leaving a comment. I’m glad to hear you you are working with a naturopath. Yes mindset is important. I hope you’l make the changes needed that will see you on the road to health.

      Reply
  11. I also suffer with thyroid disfunction so your article was a fantastic read for me! You are right that lifestyle changes are a absolute must and i must say that re learning how to relax and take a slower pace is something you have to work hard on and it needs to be done consistently.

    Reviewing your list of behaviours has helped me to figure out how I can combat this fatigue I have, im going to tackle one a week as I go. Bookmarking your page for reference. THANKYOU so much for sharing this information, it’s life changing!

    Reply
  12. Very thorough and informative post. While I do not suffer from this myself, the article is an important reminder that balance and moderation are extremely important. Even if a person is not having issues caused by adrenal fatigue, your list of 10 Things That Support Your Adrenals would be good lifestyle changes to make. Thanks for the information. 

    Reply
    • Hi David thanks for your comments and you are correct even without suffering from adrenal fatigue syndrome we all need balance in our lives.

      Reply
  13. In this day and age, there seems to be no off switch. We are told to push harder, faster, more, better and so on without any though as to the effects on our bodies. We are currently rewiring our minds to keep pushing even when they are on the verge of breaking.

    I dont think my symptoms are this extreme but I can relate to a number of them that are described in the post. It makes sense then why certain things are happening right now. In your opinion has this always been a problem with high performers or is this symptomatic of our modern age?

    Rich

    Reply
    • Hi Richard thanks for leaving a comment. I don’t think adrenal fatigue syndrome is new, but nowadays we have a name for it. However, I think it may be on the increase. It has been called the 21st Century Syndrome. Also not everyone will get adrenal fatigue when pushing themselves, but the stress can show up n other ways. 

      Reply
  14. Thank you so much for posting this article! I self diagnosed myself with adrenal fatigue probably about 8 months ago, and immediately gave up most caffeine (coffee, tea, and only occasionally splurge with a bit of chocolate. I am also a very avid meditator. Both of these things have been huge in helping me travel in the right direction healthwise, but I still see myself at stage 3-4. This post has given me so much more understanding of what I need to do to help myself further, and I look forward to getting my diet better again, and starting to take some of the suggested supplements. Thanks again!

    Reply
    • Thanks for stopping by, adrenal fatigue seems to be a bit of an epidemic in our modern busy lives. Glad to hear you learned the benefits of meditation. Even meditating for short periods of time throughout the day can help I found. The adrenals benefit greatly from vitamin c when they are under stress, so you might find this a real help. 

      Reply
  15. This article on the adrenal gland stress relation is very interesting. I had no idea that you can experience fatigue due to stress related with the adrenal gland. Fatigue can be tricky to get around but just like you say diet is very important as well as exercising and getting enough vitamins. I have also noticed that napping when you experience fatigue can be really bad for the symptoms, you are better of getting outside and going for a walk then you are actually having a nap. 

    Thank you for a really interesting article on the subject of how to heal your adrenal glands naturally

    Reply
    • Hi and thanks for stopping by. If you have adrenal fatigue it’s often better to rest rather than pushing yourself to do exercise, even walking when you feel fatigued. 

      Reply
  16. Ok, this article was a wake-up call for me. I pride myself on nutrition and health knowledge, but i have been using coffee as a crutch for a few months to power through my work schedule. I know better, but it’s so easy to just get a coffee and feel like I can keep moving forward. I also noticed when I drink more coffee I drink LESS water, which only makes matters worse. Thank you so much for taking the time to write such a detailed article and reminding me to listen to my body. More water today and less coffee, and more sleep at night will round out everything nicely to let my adrenals rest. Thanks!!

    Reply
    • Thanks for your comment. Yes it’s easy to keep reaching for more and more coffee when you need that extra energy boost. As you say, you’ll further dehydrate yourself if you’re not drinking enough water. Sounds like you’re on the right track anyway. 

      Reply
  17. I have experience of adrenal fatigue, also connected with thyroid issues. Every time I went to the Drs the answer was the same, “lets do a thyroid check…everything is normal continue with thyroxine meds”

    I couldn’t get her to take my concerns about adrenal gland seriously.

    I totally can relate to all the chronic systems and took matters into my own hands, did more research and came up with some of the tips you speak of here in terms of lifestyle and diet.

    This article is wonderful and confirms my longterm suspicions that my problem was adrenal fatigue, I will get some vitamin supplements after reading this and taking a little more salt which I had cut out of my diet. All the beneficial foods you mention I love so I can and do eat those.

    Thank you. 

    Reply
    • Hi there, thanks for leaving a comment. Unfortunately doctors aren’t great with adrenal fatigue because they just don’t believe it exists. I was unable to stabilize my thyroid until I fixed my adrenals, and firmly believe many so called hypothyroid issues are really adrenal fatigue issues. Good on you for doing your own research, you really have to. Sounds like you have the diet part of it down. Good luck with taking some supplements, hope they work for you. 

      Reply
  18. wow! This is a very well-detailed article. A lot of good stuff and useful information here! Actually, My friend has been fighting adrenal fatigue for a very long time. He has been eating low carb and practicing intermittent fasting daily.  For him the biggest take away that might help him is to eat more frequently and add more carbs through the day,  maybe that’s the key for him. I appreciate the value you brought in to this article.
    Thanks again for your awesome tips.❤️

    Reply
    • Hi and thanks for stopping by my site. Generally people with adrenal fatigue don’t do well on either intermittent fasting or very low carb diets. With intermittent fasting your adrenals take it as a stress signal when you go without food for long periods of time. Similarly, from my own experience I am unable to push my carbs too low or it seems to stress my adrenals. As with most things in life, balance seems to be the key. 

      Reply
  19. What a great post!

    I did not know anything about the adrenal glands, i just knew it was somewhere in the body.

    But after reading your post, I realize that I have been having most of the syndrom listed. So, I really need to take better care of myself now. I will try to apply the 10 things you have listed but I know that the one of eating in a regular manner will already be a challenge for me. Let see how it will be.`

    Thanks for this informative post.

    Reply
  20. I definitely agree that lifestyle changes are required when dealing with chronic fatigue. I have lupus, and while I don’t suffer from adrenal fatigue syndrome, I’m no stranger to fatigue. It can be so frustrating. It’s like your going at a normal pace, and all of a sudden you hit a wall. But, I’ve found that modifying my lifestyle and choosing positive habits like eating healthier and exercise have been beneficial. Thanks for the useful information. I’m always looking for ways to combat my symptoms in a natural way. 

    Reply
    • I hear you re going along at normal pace then being hit by fatigue. It is frustrating and so important to pace yourself to avoid crashing. Sounds like you are on the right track with making changes to manage your illness. 

      Reply
  21. I can totally relate to you Ann,

    I too pushed myself to work hard sometimes while constantly ignoring the need for some time off and ending up in relapses. My burnouts are usually in the form of clustered headaches and I’d end up sleeping the whole day, sometimes even up to 5 days for the worst cases and I hated it, because I waste a lot of time which could have been used for work and for growing my business. 

    Time to change my lifestyle habit, starting with your top 10 tips. Out of curiosity, how much protein should I be taking a day? Is eating grilled salmon for breakfast, grilled chicken for lunch, and steak for dinner a bit too much? I usually order food deliveries.

    Reply
    • Thanks for stopping by. Unfortunately in our modern world burn out is all too common. Glad to hear you acknowledge change is needed in your work habits. You can check online for protein recommendations for your weight etc. However, I eat protein at all 3 main meals. 

      Reply
  22. WOW! This is such an informative post. I had no idea i have been suffering from adrenal fatigue. i have experienced some of this symptoms and do practice some of the adrenaline stressors you have identified. I would be more conscious now and try to practice the ten simple steps you listed and i hope to get improvements. Thanks. this was super helpful

    Reply
  23. I have heard of adrenal fatigue syndrome, but I have mostly just read you need to take cortisone medicine for that. It is great you listed natural ways to treat the syndrome, because taking cortisone can have serious side effects. I don’t know if I have the adrenal fatigue syndrome. I have many of those symptoms you mentioned, but I have iron deficiency, which causes similar symptoms. How do you know if you have adrenal fatigue syndrome? Is there any way to test it? 

    Reply
    • Hi and thanks for your comment. Yes a 24 hour saliva test measures your cortisol levels and can be used to gauge any dysregulation. 

      Reply
  24. This was a useful post for me as I read through the many points on how to heal the adrenal glands naturally. I do not like to take a lot of pharmaceuticals that the doctors seem to like to prescribe. I would rather find solutions through herbs, foods, and supplements in some cases.

    My adrenal glands have been extremely taxed over the recent period and it is having a detrimental effect on my daily routine. In reading through the attitudes and behaviors, I can say that many of them apply to me. The symptoms are the same, as many are ones that I am experiencing. 

    This indicates that there is some disruption in the adrenal glands function, so I think I have to start changing some of my habits and lifestyle plus use some of the other suggestions that you have described. Lifestyle, diet, and supplements plus herbs are some of the things I will look at.

    Lastly, the list of 10 suggestions you have added in the infographic are ones I will try one or two at a time. Some habits are going to be harder than others to address, i.e. coffee (I am addicted to 4-6 cups of coffee a day at the moment). I have bookmarked this page and will come back to reread the advice going forward. Thanks for this super informative and helpful post.  

     

    Reply
    • Thanks for taking the time to comment. Today’s coffee culture has a lot to answer for I reckon, we’re all hooked to some degree. I only drink decaf nowadays after going cold turkey on coffee a few years ago. The thumping headache I had for 24 hours as withdrawal kicked in was proof of just how much it affects your body. 

      Reply
  25. This has been the best blog of information on adrenaline fatigue I came across so far. I am struggling with this issue since 2010 and not getting better. With some point I have to get consistent, after awhile I fall of the wagon and I go backwards. One problem I have is finding a quality vitamin C and. Don’t know what to look for when I research. If you could give a pointer that would be great. Thank you for sharing your knowledge with us, looking forward to feel better soon.

    Reply

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