"Adrenal Fatigue is a term applied to a collection of nonspecific symptoms which include: body aches, fatigue, nervousness, sleep disturbances and digestive problems...it isn't an accepted medical diagnosis....Proponents of the adrenal fatigue diagnosis claim this is a mild form of adrenal insufficiency caused by chronic stress. The unproven theory behind adrenal fatigue is that your adrenal glands are unable to keep pace with the demands of perpetual fight-or-flight arousal. As a result, they can't produce enough of the hormones you need to feel good"
After experiences all the above mentioned symptoms, and after treatment...am improving and all my lab results are improving, how could this be made up? He says the symptoms are "nonspecific," but I think the more I have read about adrenal fatigue...we are all in the same boat! What this doctor was proposing about stress and fight-or-flight..I believe whole-heartily. It is exactly what Adrenal Stress is..and is not Chronic Fatigue or Fibromyalga, like he is proposing...maybe related...YES, but Adrenal Fatigue is real and is certainly overwhelming and frustrating, when you don't know what to do and when you can't figue out what is wrong with you!
I think a lot of doctors don't accept Adrenal Fatigue as a real thing, because it isn't something they are taught in med school. They learn about Addison's Disease, which is an underlying disease that causes an insufficient adrenal gland. There is no money to be made in Adrenal Fatigue. After counseling with my nurse practitioner and reading about Adrenal Fatigue, by doctors that accept it and are helping people recover ever day, I know that I must do the following to be healthy and continue to recover (program taken from "Adrenal Fatigue: by Dr. James Wilson). Although I choose to buy my vitamins and supplements from James Wilson, there are many doctors now that understand Adrenal Fatigue and how serious it is and will help you on your road to recovery. Hopefully, they will tell you the following:
1.Be in bed by 10 at the latest and asleep no later than 11 p.m.
2. Try to sleep in until 7...9 is ideal. I laugh at this, because being a mom, I don't often get this luxury..but I have a supportive husband who will let me sleep in when I get the chance. Your adrenals like to sleep in...remember that.
3. Awake with a glass of water and add 1/2 t. salt
4. Have a balanced breakfast of proteins, fats, and small starchy carbs (unrefined)
5. eat a snack around 10:15 of protein/fats/carbs and rest for a few minutes with your feet off the ground. Also practice deep breathing.
6. Eat an early lunch, before noon..You don't want your body to get too tired or your adrenals will always be playing catch up. Getting too hungry, is like your body being too tired. always make sure you eat throughout the day. lunch should be a balance of protein, small amount of carbs and fat and three different colored veggies. Make sure to chew slowly.
7. 2:00-afternoon snack of protein/fat/carbs and rest for a few minutes.
8. Eat an early dinner..before 6 pm and have protein, unrefined carbs and three different colored vegetables!
9. 7:00-relax and practice deep breathing
10. Small snack before bed
11. in bed by 10 and asleep by 11.
So what kind of snacks are you doing that fulfil the bill??
ReplyDeleteI'd love to hear what snacks you do as well. Right now I am in bed before 11:00 pm , so I can be asleep by 11:00 pm. I get up at 6 and get straight in the shower to be ready for my day! I exercise after I drop kids off at school or at night before bed.
ReplyDeleteI'm ready to move my wake up time to 5:00 am, because I want to get my regular workout in before I get in the shower at 6:00 am, that way I can do other "active" things the rest of my day as a "bonus".
I make sure to get 7 hours of sleep, no less!
So, I am going to update my routine to in bed by 9:40pm asleep by 10pm and up at 5am. If my body is waking up on it's own, do I really need more sleep? And do you know if an afternoon nap counts as rest for the adrenals? Great info Leanna!! What is the deal with salt in the am water?
Ideally, if you can actually sleep soundly between the hours of 10:00 pm and 3:00 am (and later:) you will sleep during the most ideal rest and recovery periods. Getting to bed just a bit earlier will also help with the fact you must get up earlier as a mother. Best!
ReplyDeleteAnother simple thing you can do each day to help combat the flight, fight, or freeze stressors is a "triple warmer flush". This is an energy medicine 10 sec exercise that you can do to yourself anytime you feel that kind of stress. Simply take your hand to the top of your opposite ear, brush your hand down around the back of your ear, down your shoulder, and off your middle fingertips. Take some deep breathes, do 3 times per side. Try it on your kids when they come in freaking out about something or wake up with a night terror. If your spouse has a high pressure job, chances are this thing is in overdrive. Give him a brush down when he walks through the door. A spinal flush is also great for dispelling negative energies. Kids need this as soon as they get home from school. Simply take two fingers and brush down the spine off the tailbone, three times. Breathe. My kids love this. If my spouse comes home angry he gets a hug and a flush too.
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