Recovering from Adrenal Fatigue: The Art of Listening to the Body

My body is smarter than the rest of me, at least when it comes to healing from adrenal fatigue. It tells me when to rest and when I have plenty of energy. The problem is that most of the time, I tend to ignore these signals from my body because I have "deadlines" and "stuff to do." This is all well and good until my batteries run out of juice and I literally crash!

The Beach and the Art of Listening to My Body
Luckily, even though I am usually quite deaf to my body's requests to rest, I spend five weeks each year in Cancun, Mexico (where I am right now). During these five weeks, I do very little work, focusing instead on recharging my batteries, relaxing, and rejuvenating.

Having recently discovered that I've run down my batteries so much that I now have adrenal fatigue, this latest trip down to Mexico has been most interesting. Adrenal fatigue occurs when we push ourselves to "keep going," no matter how tired or stressed we feel. Our bodies compensate for this by producing more adrenaline, cortisol, and other hormones so that we can keep going. The problem is, after a few years of living in overdrive, the adrenal system burns out because it is one of the most sensitive organ systems in the body. Then we have symptoms like constant tiredness, burnout, weight gain or loss, or depression.

That sounds like me to a tee. I recently started on an adrenal support supplement, Eleviv, and the results are quite interesting. Eleviv not only supports the adrenal system and other bodily systems so that I sleep more restfully and awaken more refreshed, but it also seems to enhance my body's requests for rest.

Adrenal Fatigue Recovery on the Beach
Down here I spend whole days lying on a beach chair under a palapa, reading a book or just staring at the ocean. Usually, being a very active zen cowgirl, I can't stand this level of inactivity, but having cleared my calendar and taken my Eleviv faithfully, I am beginning to "hear" the messages from my body. And I can honor those messages with very little trouble. I can sit quietly for hours at a time without feeling the need to be a human "doing" instead of a human "being."

With other people, adrenal support supplements like Eleviv tend to have the opposite effect. People who are often depressed or low-energy feel vibrant and energized, and are more willing to engage in activity instead of being inactive because of depression. It's pretty interesting how our bodies are each wired differently, and how adrenal support creates different effects in each of us.

Three Things You Can Do to Prevent Adrenal Fatigue
So there you have it. The beach report on adrenal fatigue. And in case you can't take five weeks to rejuvenate your body, don't worry. You can still alleviate the symptoms of adrenal fatigue in many ways.

1. Support your adrenal system with herbs like Eleviv.

2. Listen to your body.
If your body is sending messages that you are tired, don't override the message with artificial stimulants like caffeine. Instead, try to muddle though as best you can until you can take a break. Even a 10 minute power nap is better than slamming a few cups of coffee.

3. Regulate your schedule as much as you can.
The more you can get your body on a regular schedule, the less you will need to call on your adrenal system to go into "overdrive" to accommodate unexpected emergencies. Try to get up and go to sleep at the same time each day. Leave work at the same time each day if possible. A regular routine keeps us from overworking the adrenal system.

I hope that helps. Adrenal fatigue isn't fun, and it can take up to two years for your body to recover if you have a severe case. Lying on the beach and staring at waves for a few weeks is my recovery method of choice.

Care to join me? I'd love to show you how. Eleviv is only part of the equation ... drop me a line to learn more.

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Adrenal Fatigue -- An Explanation of Yin and Yang for the Rest of Us

So adrenal fatigue is big news these days: 80% of people in the U.S. have adrenal fatigue. Adrenal fatigue symptoms include:

• mild depression
• low energy and the inability to get "caught up" on sleep
• allergies and food sensitivities
• muscle fatigue
• poor sex drive
• inability to handle stress
• dark circles under the eyes that won't go away
• cravings for sweet or salty foods

Do any of these sound familiar? It does to a lot of workaday people who have to "get up and go" whether they feel like it or not. I've certainly had many of these symptoms, as have my friends, so I decided to do a little research about the "Yin and Yang" of adrenal fatigue. In other words, I interviewed my acupuncturist to get the skinny on this condition from the Chinese Medicine point of view.

The Yin and Yang of Adrenal Fatigue in Layman's Terms
So after wading through a ton of Chinese Medicine words which flew right over my head, I finally got the layman's explanation about adrenal fatigue. Ready? Here goes.

In order for us to be healthy and feel good, our Yin and Yang energies need to be balanced. Yang energy is radiative, and is the energy that allows us to "get up and go." We are using Yang energy when we are active during the day, whether we are working at the office, exercising at the gym, or thinking our way through a sticky math problem. When we expend too much Yang energy, we get burnout, which happens to a lot of people.

Here's where Yin comes in. Yin energy is supposed to balance the outgoing Yang energy, to "embrace and anchor the Yang," as my acupuncturist put it. Roughly translated, Yin energy is internal and keeps our energies contained. The Yin is what prevents us from expending too much Yang, and what keeps us from burnout. The Yin is responsible for telling us when we need to rest, and for allowing us have restful down time. Yin energy is the quiet little voice that says, "A nap would feel great right about now."

What Happens When Yin and Yang Energies Are Out of Balance
If our Yin and Yang energies were balanced, we would be active during much of the day, but rest when we were close to over-expending our Yang energy. Plus, we would be able to shut down and rest at night, instead of feeling too wired to sleep.

Unfortunately, that kind of balance doesn't really fit our modern lives. Most of us live with too little sleep, too few nutrients and micronutrients, and way too much stimulation. Our schedules dictate that we have to "get up and go," even though our Yin energy is telling us that we are not fully rested and our fuel tank is running on empty. Instead of listening to the Yin message to rest, we override that message by using artificial stimulants. We use caffeine, nicotine, and sugar to push our bodies beyond its limits. This is called stress.

Here's where the adrenal glands kick in. The adrenal glands are responsible for our stress response, and regulate over 50 hormones (including cortisol, adrenaline, testosterone, epinephrine, and estrogen, to name just a few) to do its job. When we stress our bodies by using artificial stimulants, the adrenals respond by kicking the body into overdrive. In overdrive, which is the same as the "fight or flight" response, we are running on sheer Yang energy, energy that we don't really have in reserve. And then at night, we are so wired we can't go to sleep so we take sleep medications to shut our systems down. This artificial shutdown is just as harmful to our body's natural rhythms as drinking coffee all day long.

The Yin Deficiency
After a while our bodies start paying the price, and we start getting some or all of the symptoms listed above … all because we refuse to listen to the quiet small voice that is our Yin telling us to rest. After a longer period of time, our bodies no longer have the ability to balance Yin and Yang energies. We've reached a new internal "set point" that is too Yang and not enough Yin.

In Chinese Medicine, this is called a Yin deficiency. Most Americans are running around with a Yin deficiency, expending energy they don't have, thinking they'll catch up later. Sound familiar? The bad news is that unless you correct the Yin deficiency, you may or may not ever catch up. Worse, the energy you are expending today is being borrowed from the end of your life … you are literally using up your life force from tomorrow so you can keep running today. Yikes!

What to Do About a Yin Deficiency
When I heard this little tidbit about the life-shortening effects of a Yin deficiency, I immediately wanted to know what to do about it. The Chinese Medicine answer is simple: rebalance.

How do you rebalance? You have to do two things:

1. Restore the Yin and Support Adrenals
Acupuncture works well to restore the Yin, though you may need to go for a series of treatments. Herbal support helps restore the Yin on a daily basis. Formulas that work well include Eleviv, which offers most users noticeable effects within about a week. Other herbs that support the adrenals include licorice root, bupleurum, wild yam, Siberian Ginseng, and sarsaparilla.

2. Listen to Your Yin
Slow down and smell the roses, really. Rest more, enjoy life more, laugh more. These are literally prescriptions that both Eastern and Western physicians are giving to their patients with adrenal fatigue. At the end of the day, your lifestyle choices have more effect on your overall Yin and Yang balance than anything else.

So … enjoy and rebalance!

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Adrenal Fatigue Tests - Three Self Tests

Dark circles under your eyes, morning fatigue, chronic tiredness, the inability to handle stress, cravings for sweet or salty foods, increased allergy symptoms, mild depression ...

Do any of these symptoms sound familiar to you? If so then you may be suffering from adrenal fatigue, which doctors estimate affects 80% of the U.S. population. I hadn't a clue about adrenal fatigue until I realized that I suffered from many of these symptoms, including dark circles under my eyes that would not go away, regardless of how much sleep I got. That's when I got interested in adrenal fatigue tests and further educating myself about this condition.

What is Adrenal Fatigue?
Adrenal fatigue is a strangely paradoxical health problem. The adrenal glands, which are tiny pea-sized glands that rest atop the kidneys, do a mighty job in the body. They control and regulate more than 50 hormones in the body, and are primarily responsible for our "stress response." When we are under stress, the adrenal glands release hormones like cortisol to help us deal with the stress. As you may know, cortisol controls the strength of the immune system, normalizes blood sugar, and regulates blood pressure, among other things. Too much cortisol can trigger autoimmune responses in the body, as well as cause weight gain. Cortisol is also related to our body's primitive "fight or flight" response.

So we rely on our adrenal glands to help us deal with and handle stress, which is a good thing. The bad news is that when we are subject to prolonged stress, the adrenal glands are the first to fail. The adrenal glands can function at high capacity for only so long before they break down. In fact, what most people call a "nervous breakdown" is really adrenal fatigue.

Since about 80% of the current population has adrenal fatigue, it's clear that most of us are subject to prolonged stress. These stressors come from too little sleep, too much caffeine, multi-tasking, poor nutrition, and too much work. Sound familiar?

Adrenal Fatigue Tests - Three Self Tests
So how do you know if you are among the 80% who have adrenal fatigue? Well, examining your lifestyle is one easy way to tell. Plus, if you seem to be unable to catch up on your sleep or are chronically tired and grumpy, you're likely to have this problem. But there are three adrenal fatigue tests you can administer to see if your adrenal glands are screaming for help.

1. Ragland's Test
You'll need a home blood pressure machine for this test (you can buy one for around $10 at any drug store). First, take your blood pressure while sitting down. Then, stand up and take your blood pressure again, right away. Your systolic number (the first or top number) should have increased by 8 or 10 points. If the number dropped, then you probably have adrenal fatigue.

2. Pupil Dilation
For this test you need a flashlight and a mirror. Look into the mirror and shine the flashlight into the pupil of one eye. Your pupil should contract pretty quickly. If your pupil does not contract after 30 seconds, or even dilates, then your adrenals need some help.

3. Pain and Sensitivity
Your adrenal glands sit right on top of your kidneys. If you palpate that area and feel pain, then your adrenal glands are fatigued. You can also try pressing on the reflexology point for the adrenal glands, which is located at the top inside edge of your foot arch. If that area is sensitive, then so are your adrenal glands.

Adrenal Fatigue Treatment
My physician recommended several approaches to dealing with this situation, and I've found three of them help me the most:

1. Herbal Support
I'm taking an herbal formula called Eleviv that works well. It contains four main ingredients that offer adrenal support: citrus sinensis, eurycoma longifolia suntheanine, and camellia sinensis.

2. Order My Life
By focusing on a routine and sticking to it, I reduce the level of over stimulation in my life. I try to check email and voice mail less often, and have more "quiet time" to myself.

3. Rest at 10, 2 and 4
Apparently the adrenal glands tend to become most fatigued at these times, so I stop for short 15-minute power naps at these times. Lying down is recommended, if at all possible, so I do for my power naps.

It can take time to help your adrenals recover -- anywhere from 6 to 24 months, depending on how stressed they are. The good news is that recovery can be taken in baby steps, not radical changes. I like that, don't you?

Learn more about Eleviv here.

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Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/paalb/ / CC BY 2.0

Adrenal Fatigue -- What's That Nasty Smell?

Believe it or not, a heightened awareness of nasty smells is one of the symptoms of adrenal fatigue. I discovered that little tidbit recently when I found out that I was suffering from adrenal exhaustion ... along with an estimated 80% of the American population. Now you might think it strange that a cowgirl like me might notice more icky smells, being surrounded as I am by horse poop, dirt, male goats, and cows, but I did notice. So it all made sense when I was told by my physician that I had adrenal fatigue.

So what is adrenal fatigue? It's just what it sounds like: it is what happens when your adrenal glands get over-worked and under-nourished, so they become fatigued. Why are adrenal glands important? Well, these little pea-sized glands that sit atop the kidneys secrete hormones that allow us to deal with immediate and long-term stress. The adrenals secrete over 50 different hormones, including adrenaline, estrogen, progesterone, cortisol, and DHEA. You've probably heard of most of these hormones. These hormones are what give us the ability to "get up and go," providing the energy we need to deal with our hectic and over stimulated lives.

Adrenal Fatigue Symptoms
Unfortunately, these glands, when over-stressed, eventually stop working, and then we end up with adrenal fatigue symptoms, which include:

- chronic fatigue and tiredness
- depression
- inability to think clearly
- chronic anxiety
- low blood sugar
- decreased metabolism
- changes in skin color
- craving for sweet or salty foods
- joint pain
- decreased immune function
- low body temperature
- allergies and food sensitivities
- dark circles under the eyes

There are other symptoms of adrenal fatigue that could be added to the list, but you get the general idea. Our adrenal glands do a lot for our bodies and when we overuse them, they burnout.

Causes of Adrenal Fatigue
In general, our modern lifestyle is a recipe for adrenal exhaustion and burnout. Our adrenal glands suffer when we demand too much of them. Our minds are active and full of ideas, but our bodies can't keep up. Specifically, lifestyle habits that overstress the adrenals include:

- too little sleep
- poor diet
- use of caffeine or other stimulants
- use of medication to get to sleep at night
- use of medication to treat anxiety or depression
- perfectionism
- constant physical, mental, or emotional stress
- over stimulation from cell phones, music, traffic, pagers, and email

You get the picture ... it's nothing out of the ordinary in our modern lives. For most people, it's just a snapshot of everyday life. But it's hell on the adrenal glands. In fact, modern life has such a strong negative effect on the adrenals that some women suffering from adrenal fatigue are showing signs of menopause as early as their mid-30s. Yikes! You read it right: adrenal burnout can cause early aging.

Adrenal Fatigue Treatment
Luckily, treatment is possible for this condition. The treatments fall into three basic categories:

1) Herbal and nutritional support (I like Eleviv)
2) Lifestyle changes
3) Reenergizing practices

This article is the first in a series on regaining health after adrenal fatigue, and future articles will cover specific strategies for doing so. The prognosis for coming out of adrenal fatigue is generally quite positive, and many physicians offer the following time frame for recovery:

- 6 to 9 months for minor fatigue
- 12 to 18 months for moderate fatigue
- Up to 24 months for severe fatigue

As you can see, the road back to energetic and vital health isn't a short one ... but then again, most people don't achieve adrenal fatigue overnight either! Stay tuned for more information on adrenal fatigue treatment, or browse the Zen Cowgirl blog to read more.

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