I was talking to a friend recently who suspects she has adrenal fatigue, and in writing her an email outlining the steps I took to get well, I realized I should probably reiterate it on my blog for anyone else looking for similar advice. Here's my attempt at being concise.
1. Figure out if you could have adrenal fatigue, through perusing the website www.adrenalfatigue.org and/or reading Dr. Wilson’s book Adrenal Fatigue: The 21st Century Stress Syndrome. This is the book that helped me the most. It lays out symptoms of adrenal fatigue, why your doctor can’t seem to help you, and exactly what to do, eat, drink, etc. to get well.
2. If most of the symptoms Dr. Wilson talks about match up with yours and everything he says resonates, the next step, as he suggests, is to take a saliva test. This is the best way to measure your cortisol levels throughout the day (my blood tests were completely normal; but my saliva test showed my cortisol levels to be way under the normal range). I recommend my doctor in Atlanta, Dr. Eldred Taylor, who specializes in women’s hormonal issues and wrote the book Are Your Hormones Making You Sick? His office will send you the saliva test in the mail, you take it over the course of a day, send it in to the lab, and three weeks later Dr. Taylor can fax you the results and do a phone consultation (if you don’t live in Atlanta as I didn’t) to interpret the results. His office number is 678.443.4000.
3. No matter whom you go to for your diagnosis, you will end up having to be your own doctor for the most part. By eating healthy, cutting out all sweets/caffeine/alcohol from my diet, exercising to exhilaration but not exhaustion, making lifestyle changes like working part-time and moving out of the city, figuring out that I had low thyroid as well and taking thyroid supplement, and taking excellent nutritional supplements religiously, I have rebuilt my adrenals and feel more “normal” than I have in years. As long as I get plenty of sleep (I still need 10 hours per night), I feel basically normal during the day. This is a LONG way from where I was two and a half years ago. But I had to make my health first priority, be willing to make big changes, spend lots of money on supplements and good food, and be “weak” before my friends.
4. For diet changes, I refer you to Dr. Wilson’s book, which is very thorough. Basically, your diet should be “real” food: whole grains like whole wheat bread and brown rice, unprocessed meat, unprocessed everything!, veggies, fruit later in the day (when I could handle the fruit sugar better because my cortisol was higher), dairy products but milk in moderation because the lactose (milk sugar) would make my head cloudy. For example, for lunch almost every work day I treated myself to salmon and brown rice from my favorite restaurant. For dinner I might make a stir-fry dish on brown rice, with dessert as plain yogurt, toasted almonds, and strawberries. If you’re like me, you can tell immediately when you’ve put something in your mouth that drains rather than supports your energy. Listening to your body is the best way to help it.
5. For supplements, I took a lot of different things at different times (Reliv, JuicePlus, green food, licorice tea at least once a day, vitamins, dessicated liver, whey protein, etc) and it all helped. But to maximize your time and money, here’s what I recommend: I would take Dr. Wilson’s “adrenal rebuilder” and “adrenal C” for longterm repair, Univera’s Ageless Xtra for short-term and longterm energy and repair (use my associate number 1344420 when you order or I'm happy to order it for you), and Univera’s (or somebody’s absorbent) multivitamin for general health.
6. Keep educating yourself on your adrenals, thyroid, hormones, and general health. There are all kinds of good books out there, including the books listed here on my blog, The Metabolic Plan: Stay Younger Longer by Stephen Cherniske, and Jordan Rubin’s “Maker’s Diet” books. This is going to be a long journey back to optimal health: if it took years to get sick, it will probably take years to get better. And once there you're gonna want to take better care of your body than you did before. Hang in there. God has some pretty amazing surprises for you on this journey, if your story is anything like mine!
7. Take the saliva test again six months or a year later and measure the strength of your adrenals. If you are not feeling significantly better, you may have another deficiency like low thyroid that is contributing to the problem. I stumbled on a book about six months after my adrenal fatigue diagnosis that said to treat all your issues simultaneously in order to get better. So that’s when I realized I had low thyroid symptoms, Dr. Taylor confirmed my suspicions based on my previous saliva test, and I started taking natural thyroid supplement from a compounding pharmacy, which as far as I know has greatly contributed to my recovery and overall energy.
That was my attempted nutshell. Hope it's helpful!
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
New website!
In seeking to get the word out to other "addy" sufferers about how Univera products helped to dramatically increase my energy level, I just launched this new website: www.adrenal-fatigue-energy.com. I would love any feedback you have on it. Spread the word!
Sunday, February 15, 2009
The secret to a longer fuller life
I am currently reading a fascinating book (now that I'm fascinated with health stuff, finding out how my body works and what makes it work best--so personal and urgent has that subject become, so interwoven with my every day life). It's called The Metabolic Plan: Stay Younger Longer by Stephen Cherniske.
In it he explains his lifelong scientific search for the causes of aging and his discoveries that have come as a result of turning assumptions on their heads: not "oh you are getting stiff joints because you are getting old," but what about "getting old" contributes to stiff joints, and how to prevent the getting old (and thus the stiff joints).
He explains why free radicals cause cancer and heart disease, and what to do about it (e.g. get LOTS of antioxidants). Why oxygen embodies a profound paradox, being both the source of life, and the cause of death (oxidation), and what to do about that (e.g. don't overcook your food). Why caffeine is so bad, keeping the body in a "stressed" state, and that the caffeine headache when attempting to withdraw is actually the blood rushing back into previously constricted blood vessels in the brain! (That information is enough to keep me off the bean, I hope.)
One of his chapters, as you might imagine, in on stress. And, as you might also imagine, that one was of particular interest to me, since I am one of stress's many victims. I was reading this chapter on the plane next to Steve on our way back from skiing in Salt Lake City.
Sitting on the other side of Steve (he's always so sweet to take the middle seat!) was an older woman who seemed to look about her with alertness, had a gleam in her eye, seemed interested in us, and most surprising, sat for most of the 4-hour flight doing nothing but sitting, seeing, thinking, so contentedly. She struck me as wise, and I finally overcame my reluctance to put down my book and began a short conversation with her (yes, across poor reading Steve). It crossed my mind that here was a specimen of a long full life before my very eyes, exhibit A of the book I was reading, and I half planned to ask her what her secret was.
She had been visiting a niece in sunny Phoenix hoping to kick a cold, but ended up hitting some bad weather and wasn't quite over it, though she'd had a good time. When I suggested she go back soon, she revealed that both the going and the coming involved travel upheavals and missed fights and late nights. "But it doesn't bother me," she said. "I take things in stride." She said that a couple times.
We took a break from our conversation (and leaning), and I contemplated asking her what her secret to longevity was. And then I realized that she had already told me. "I take things in stride." I don't get stressed out. Stresses happen--missed flights, clingy colds--but I don't let them get to me. I put them in their proper place. I take things in stride: I keep walking, allowing for life's craziness but not succumbing to it.
Later when I forget the details of my book and have to refer back to remember terms like glycation and alpha lipoic acid, I can bet I will still remember this Lady of Contentment and her lesson for me.
In it he explains his lifelong scientific search for the causes of aging and his discoveries that have come as a result of turning assumptions on their heads: not "oh you are getting stiff joints because you are getting old," but what about "getting old" contributes to stiff joints, and how to prevent the getting old (and thus the stiff joints).
He explains why free radicals cause cancer and heart disease, and what to do about it (e.g. get LOTS of antioxidants). Why oxygen embodies a profound paradox, being both the source of life, and the cause of death (oxidation), and what to do about that (e.g. don't overcook your food). Why caffeine is so bad, keeping the body in a "stressed" state, and that the caffeine headache when attempting to withdraw is actually the blood rushing back into previously constricted blood vessels in the brain! (That information is enough to keep me off the bean, I hope.)
One of his chapters, as you might imagine, in on stress. And, as you might also imagine, that one was of particular interest to me, since I am one of stress's many victims. I was reading this chapter on the plane next to Steve on our way back from skiing in Salt Lake City.
Sitting on the other side of Steve (he's always so sweet to take the middle seat!) was an older woman who seemed to look about her with alertness, had a gleam in her eye, seemed interested in us, and most surprising, sat for most of the 4-hour flight doing nothing but sitting, seeing, thinking, so contentedly. She struck me as wise, and I finally overcame my reluctance to put down my book and began a short conversation with her (yes, across poor reading Steve). It crossed my mind that here was a specimen of a long full life before my very eyes, exhibit A of the book I was reading, and I half planned to ask her what her secret was.
She had been visiting a niece in sunny Phoenix hoping to kick a cold, but ended up hitting some bad weather and wasn't quite over it, though she'd had a good time. When I suggested she go back soon, she revealed that both the going and the coming involved travel upheavals and missed fights and late nights. "But it doesn't bother me," she said. "I take things in stride." She said that a couple times.
We took a break from our conversation (and leaning), and I contemplated asking her what her secret to longevity was. And then I realized that she had already told me. "I take things in stride." I don't get stressed out. Stresses happen--missed flights, clingy colds--but I don't let them get to me. I put them in their proper place. I take things in stride: I keep walking, allowing for life's craziness but not succumbing to it.
Later when I forget the details of my book and have to refer back to remember terms like glycation and alpha lipoic acid, I can bet I will still remember this Lady of Contentment and her lesson for me.
Thursday, January 15, 2009
More exposure
I was doing a google search on "adrenal fatigue" and it seemed to come up with more stuff than I saw a couple years ago. I think awareness is growing...as those of us who get it realize how horrible it is and that we don't want anyone else to experience it. Also, alternative medicine seems to be doing its part to educate people. For all this I am very grateful. And maybe the mainstream medical community will catch on/up someday.
One website I found to be informative, if a little extreme. Or perhaps not. I don't understand all its terms, but the first sentence, "Adrenal Fatigue is reappearing as a major cultural influence in the 21st century," whether true or not, definitely caught my attention. Anyway, this website raises some interesting questions and possible cause and effect, while also adding new information about treatment, or at least new to me.
One website I found to be informative, if a little extreme. Or perhaps not. I don't understand all its terms, but the first sentence, "Adrenal Fatigue is reappearing as a major cultural influence in the 21st century," whether true or not, definitely caught my attention. Anyway, this website raises some interesting questions and possible cause and effect, while also adding new information about treatment, or at least new to me.
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Great news! for everyone!
I can't believe how much better I'm feeling. In fact, I'm starting to forget how I felt just a few months ago, when I was lying on the floor too tired to look up recipes for the week, and when sweets sent me plunging for the rest of the day, and when I always knew when it was mid-afternoon...slump!
Here's my secret. Yes, it's a nutritional product that claims to change your life, but this one really does. It's called Ageless Xtra, put out by a company called Univera. My chiropractor handed me a CD one day in September, and said, "The guy on here really is as excited about this product as he sounds." Steve and I listened to it that night, but I was like whatever, this is too long, and thinking Steve was bored, I stopped the CD early.
However I did buy a bottle from her the next day, because I'll try anything. And I only wish I'd found this product two years ago.... How different my life would have been. Or at least my quality of life. But God's timing is perfect.
I saw results the very first day I tried it. That night, I couldn't fall asleep until after 2:30 am, because I had so much energy! Uh, that hasn't happened since our wedding, and certainly not on a regular non-psyched up day. And for the month and a half that I've been taking it, I have started using the word "normal" in conjunction with "how I'm feeling"...after two years of severely abnormal. My "miracle juice" is accelerating my healing like no other.
Basically it's a concentrate made of berry juices and lots of herbal extracts from around the world. Univera's motto is "bringing the best of nature to mankind" and studies hundreds of thousands of plants and how they affect the human body on the DNA level (at one of the top genomics labs in the country). In fact, they are so committed to this study, that they did research for five years before coming out with a single product. And they are constantly discovering new things and adding them to their products.
Anyway, they tell you exactly what's in Ageless Xtra and what it does for you. Mainly, it promotes energy, mental clarity, stress management, and joint support, and is excessively high in antioxidants. I now know that this product is helping so many people with fatigue and autoimmune issues.
But I want to help more! I told my chiropractor, Dr. Lisa, that if this product helped me as much as it has, I'd become a distributor and save the world! Well, here I am. If you have any questions about this product, I'm more than happy to chat about it. And by the way, it's a fantastic business opportunity too, so let me know if you're interested! janelrmilleratgmail.com 202.577.3191
Here's my secret. Yes, it's a nutritional product that claims to change your life, but this one really does. It's called Ageless Xtra, put out by a company called Univera. My chiropractor handed me a CD one day in September, and said, "The guy on here really is as excited about this product as he sounds." Steve and I listened to it that night, but I was like whatever, this is too long, and thinking Steve was bored, I stopped the CD early.
However I did buy a bottle from her the next day, because I'll try anything. And I only wish I'd found this product two years ago.... How different my life would have been. Or at least my quality of life. But God's timing is perfect.
I saw results the very first day I tried it. That night, I couldn't fall asleep until after 2:30 am, because I had so much energy! Uh, that hasn't happened since our wedding, and certainly not on a regular non-psyched up day. And for the month and a half that I've been taking it, I have started using the word "normal" in conjunction with "how I'm feeling"...after two years of severely abnormal. My "miracle juice" is accelerating my healing like no other.
Basically it's a concentrate made of berry juices and lots of herbal extracts from around the world. Univera's motto is "bringing the best of nature to mankind" and studies hundreds of thousands of plants and how they affect the human body on the DNA level (at one of the top genomics labs in the country). In fact, they are so committed to this study, that they did research for five years before coming out with a single product. And they are constantly discovering new things and adding them to their products.
Anyway, they tell you exactly what's in Ageless Xtra and what it does for you. Mainly, it promotes energy, mental clarity, stress management, and joint support, and is excessively high in antioxidants. I now know that this product is helping so many people with fatigue and autoimmune issues.
But I want to help more! I told my chiropractor, Dr. Lisa, that if this product helped me as much as it has, I'd become a distributor and save the world! Well, here I am. If you have any questions about this product, I'm more than happy to chat about it. And by the way, it's a fantastic business opportunity too, so let me know if you're interested! janelrmilleratgmail.com 202.577.3191
Saturday, September 27, 2008
Even wine couldn't get me down
I drank a glass of red wine this afternoon at a wedding, a...ahem, full glass of wine, and I can't believe how good I feel five hours later. Oh and a big cupcake with lots of frosting. Yeah, it was at Clyde's and the food was real good. That's what you go to a wedding for anyway, right?
More on why I'm bouncing off the walls, later.
More on why I'm bouncing off the walls, later.
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Upward trend
I'm feeling so much better the last two weeks that I keep forgetting to take my pills (yeah all those bazillion pills I take throughout the day). More on why coming soon!
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