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!
Showing posts with label testing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label testing. Show all posts
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Friday, April 25, 2008
Good news
In March I took another saliva test, one year after the first, to check my progess in rebuilding my adrenal glands, etc. And I recently had the phone consultation follow-up with my doctor in Atlanta (Dr. Taylor). He said that my cortisol levels (stress hormone produced by adrenal glands) are rising! And whereas a year ago I was way below normal levels throughtout the day, I am now mostly within the threshold of "normal"!
Of course, I'm not nearly out of the woods yet, as I'm just barely within the threshold on the low end, but that's progress for sure! It means that what I'm doing (rest/nutrition/supplements/low stress) is working, and I just need to keep doing it. Yea! Praise God! Of course, this all corresponds exactly to how I'm feeling (better, but not 100 percent yet), so that's confirming as well.
Please let me know if you would like to take this test. I can tell you all about it! And point you in the right direction (toward my cutting-edge doctor).
Of course, I'm not nearly out of the woods yet, as I'm just barely within the threshold on the low end, but that's progress for sure! It means that what I'm doing (rest/nutrition/supplements/low stress) is working, and I just need to keep doing it. Yea! Praise God! Of course, this all corresponds exactly to how I'm feeling (better, but not 100 percent yet), so that's confirming as well.
Please let me know if you would like to take this test. I can tell you all about it! And point you in the right direction (toward my cutting-edge doctor).
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
Cut 'er off at the Pass
If you "or someone you know is suffering from these symptoms...." Am I starting to sound like a public service announcement? Well, so be it.
I wish I'd caught Addy earlier in her treacherous downward spiral. But thank God I caught her when I did. For some of my friends it took years to recover their health, or they are still working on it. After not catching their adrenal fatigue until they couldn't get out of bed or open their eyelids or were prescribed bed rest for six months.
If you have several of the symptoms or want to learn more, I recommend reading the excellent books out there on the subject. They helped me more than anything:
Adrenal Fatigue: The 21st Century Stress Syndrome by Dr. James L. Wilson is hands down the best resource on the subject that I have found. He seems to be the foremost doctor on adrenal fatigue and even formulated the herbal supplement my doctor prescribed. The book goes into detail on symptoms, how the body works, and exactly how to recover (what lifestyle changes to make, what to eat/drink and what not to, how much rest to get and when, etc.). His website is www.adrenalfatigue.org.
The Hidden Link Between Adrenaline and Stress by Dr. Archibald Hart is written from a Christian perspective and is very helpful in tracing contributing factors, learning to slow down, and seeing type A personality and our fast-paced culture from a new perspective.
Tired of Being Tired by Jesse Hanley gives lots of testimonials of people who "hit the wall" (as do the other books) and 10 lifestyle changes to get your energy back and live a healthy life. She goes into detail about nutrition. Have you found it helpful, Case? Hehe, shoutout.
Are Your Hormones Making You Sick? by Dr. Eldred Taylor (my doctor!) goes into great detail about how all the hormones of the body work and the delicate balance the body must maintain or else weird symptoms begin to emerge. He goes into great detail about estrogen and progesterone balance, as well as cortisol and thyroid. It's a good resource for women I think. (And now I feel embarassed for talking about estrogen...)
So #1, read these books, or at least the first one. If you feel as crappy as I did, you will devour whatever information you can find on the subject.
#2, get as much sleep and rest as you possibly can. 10-12 hours per night, no joke. Go to bed before 10 PM (before you get your second wind) and sleep as late as you can (7-9:00 AM offers the most restorative sleep for Addy sufferers...that's why I'm always late for work, Glenn...sorry).
#3, cut back on everything you possibly can: work, social life, activities, even exercise (don't push yourself). Be sensitive to your body and don't extend yourself beyond your limits if at all possible. If a panhandler is asking you for money and you feel stressed and suffocated, walk away. If you're at a crowded party and you can't hear yourself talk and nobody else can and it's driving you crazy, leave. If you don't feel like going out, stay home and watch a movie. This will be the hardest thing you've ever done, because the very things you love--being active and driven and conscientious and social--have put you in this state of fatigue. Your friends may not understand (mine have been great), and you may not be able to explain it to them. But you have to do this to get better, to be your true self again someday.
#4, cut out all sweets, caffeine, and alcohol from your diet. And avoid as much refined sugar, white flour, and processed food as you can. This is not as hard as you think if you feel like you have the flu all the time. These things are only dragging your body down and will greatly prolong the recovery process. Plus, if you don't have a life anymore, like me, it's not so hard to avoid them. And you can have fun with creative alternatives like Postum (coffee drink with no caffeine), green tea, treating yourself at your fav healthy restaurant every day for lunch even though it's expensive (that would be Teaism! and salmon ochazuke!), popcorn from your roomie's nifty hot air popper, brightly colored fruits (which aid in recovery) when you crave sweets, and dessert alternatives like yummy homemade yogurt parfaits. It's not so bad, nor is it forever. And if you fudge, you pay (as I did for 2.5 days last weekend).
#5, call my doctor in Atlanta and make a phone appointment. He's an alternative doctor, so insurance probably won't cover it. He's $250/hour on the phone, but if you've done your homework, you can just say these are my symptoms, I think I have adrenal fatigue, send me the saliva test...like I did, and save yourself some money. The saliva test (spit test my friends called it) is another $200 but totally worth the clear direction and peace of mind at nailing down a diagnosis. Sounds gross, and it is. You spit into one of four vials every 6 hours during the course of one full day (yes, vile). It's hard to work up that much spit. But...it could be a LOT worse. Then you stick the box in the mail, that simple. Adrenal fatigue does not show up on blood tests except in the most extreme cases (where your adrenal glands have completely shut down). A saliva test is the most effective way to measure cortisol, and taking it several times during the course of a typical day is also helpful in seeing trends. My cortisol level was way below the normal range in the morning and early afternoon, then rose in late afternoon and evening into the normal range. That is exactly on point with adrenal fatigue, and corresponded to how I felt during the day (unable to get out of bed in the morning, crash in mid-morning, crash in mid-afternoon, and then feeling better around 5:00...at the end of the work day, how convenient).
So Dr. Taylor's number is 678.443.4000, and he and his staff are super friendly and helpful. Of course they are, they're in Atlanta.
Also, please don't hesitate to contact me with questions or fears or whatever. janelDOTreidATgmailDOTcom
I wish I'd caught Addy earlier in her treacherous downward spiral. But thank God I caught her when I did. For some of my friends it took years to recover their health, or they are still working on it. After not catching their adrenal fatigue until they couldn't get out of bed or open their eyelids or were prescribed bed rest for six months.
If you have several of the symptoms or want to learn more, I recommend reading the excellent books out there on the subject. They helped me more than anything:
Adrenal Fatigue: The 21st Century Stress Syndrome by Dr. James L. Wilson is hands down the best resource on the subject that I have found. He seems to be the foremost doctor on adrenal fatigue and even formulated the herbal supplement my doctor prescribed. The book goes into detail on symptoms, how the body works, and exactly how to recover (what lifestyle changes to make, what to eat/drink and what not to, how much rest to get and when, etc.). His website is www.adrenalfatigue.org.
The Hidden Link Between Adrenaline and Stress by Dr. Archibald Hart is written from a Christian perspective and is very helpful in tracing contributing factors, learning to slow down, and seeing type A personality and our fast-paced culture from a new perspective.
Tired of Being Tired by Jesse Hanley gives lots of testimonials of people who "hit the wall" (as do the other books) and 10 lifestyle changes to get your energy back and live a healthy life. She goes into detail about nutrition. Have you found it helpful, Case? Hehe, shoutout.
Are Your Hormones Making You Sick? by Dr. Eldred Taylor (my doctor!) goes into great detail about how all the hormones of the body work and the delicate balance the body must maintain or else weird symptoms begin to emerge. He goes into great detail about estrogen and progesterone balance, as well as cortisol and thyroid. It's a good resource for women I think. (And now I feel embarassed for talking about estrogen...)So #1, read these books, or at least the first one. If you feel as crappy as I did, you will devour whatever information you can find on the subject.
#2, get as much sleep and rest as you possibly can. 10-12 hours per night, no joke. Go to bed before 10 PM (before you get your second wind) and sleep as late as you can (7-9:00 AM offers the most restorative sleep for Addy sufferers...that's why I'm always late for work, Glenn...sorry).
#3, cut back on everything you possibly can: work, social life, activities, even exercise (don't push yourself). Be sensitive to your body and don't extend yourself beyond your limits if at all possible. If a panhandler is asking you for money and you feel stressed and suffocated, walk away. If you're at a crowded party and you can't hear yourself talk and nobody else can and it's driving you crazy, leave. If you don't feel like going out, stay home and watch a movie. This will be the hardest thing you've ever done, because the very things you love--being active and driven and conscientious and social--have put you in this state of fatigue. Your friends may not understand (mine have been great), and you may not be able to explain it to them. But you have to do this to get better, to be your true self again someday.
#4, cut out all sweets, caffeine, and alcohol from your diet. And avoid as much refined sugar, white flour, and processed food as you can. This is not as hard as you think if you feel like you have the flu all the time. These things are only dragging your body down and will greatly prolong the recovery process. Plus, if you don't have a life anymore, like me, it's not so hard to avoid them. And you can have fun with creative alternatives like Postum (coffee drink with no caffeine), green tea, treating yourself at your fav healthy restaurant every day for lunch even though it's expensive (that would be Teaism! and salmon ochazuke!), popcorn from your roomie's nifty hot air popper, brightly colored fruits (which aid in recovery) when you crave sweets, and dessert alternatives like yummy homemade yogurt parfaits. It's not so bad, nor is it forever. And if you fudge, you pay (as I did for 2.5 days last weekend).
#5, call my doctor in Atlanta and make a phone appointment. He's an alternative doctor, so insurance probably won't cover it. He's $250/hour on the phone, but if you've done your homework, you can just say these are my symptoms, I think I have adrenal fatigue, send me the saliva test...like I did, and save yourself some money. The saliva test (spit test my friends called it) is another $200 but totally worth the clear direction and peace of mind at nailing down a diagnosis. Sounds gross, and it is. You spit into one of four vials every 6 hours during the course of one full day (yes, vile). It's hard to work up that much spit. But...it could be a LOT worse. Then you stick the box in the mail, that simple. Adrenal fatigue does not show up on blood tests except in the most extreme cases (where your adrenal glands have completely shut down). A saliva test is the most effective way to measure cortisol, and taking it several times during the course of a typical day is also helpful in seeing trends. My cortisol level was way below the normal range in the morning and early afternoon, then rose in late afternoon and evening into the normal range. That is exactly on point with adrenal fatigue, and corresponded to how I felt during the day (unable to get out of bed in the morning, crash in mid-morning, crash in mid-afternoon, and then feeling better around 5:00...at the end of the work day, how convenient).
So Dr. Taylor's number is 678.443.4000, and he and his staff are super friendly and helpful. Of course they are, they're in Atlanta.
Also, please don't hesitate to contact me with questions or fears or whatever. janelDOTreidATgmailDOTcom
Thursday, April 26, 2007
The Signs of Addy's Arrival
These are the symptoms of adrenal fatigue:
• Extreme and continual tiredness, not relieved by sleep
• Weakness, a feeling of depletion
• Inability to get out of bed in the morning
• Wanting to lie down all the time, which helps, but not really
• Low blood sugar
• Light-headedness, feeling faint
• Low immunity, achiness, feeling slightly sick all the time, sore throat
• Being overwhelmed by small tasks or the thought of walking from here to there (because you don't have the strength to do it)
• Increased effort needed to do everyday tasks; decreased ability to handle stress (even small stresses like the copier not working)
• Irritability, impatience, decreased tolerance
• Discouragement, depression
• Increased PMS
• Decreased productivity and motivation
• Memory loss, fuzzy thoughts, confusion
• Losing your balance while standing
There are some others I didn't experience, like craving salt, decreased sex drive, and increased time to recover from illness or injury.
Looking back, I started to realize something was wrong around the beginning of 2006, but I wouldn't admit it even to myself. I was supposed to be strong and keep the whole world running. By spring however I took the gargantuan step of admitting my tiredness in staff meeting and asked for prayer. I found a general practitioner in May and paid her a visit, and she suggested more snacks to conquer fatigue.
It was getting harder and harder to get out of bed as the year progressed. In July I had a party at my apartment, and Holly and I cleaned all day and entertained that night. For some reason I didn't enjoy myself as much as usual and realized it was because I was so tired. Two days later I had to take a sick day and "recover" from the party. This was odd.
I took August slow. But September hit the ground running jobwise, and as we moved into our office in October, I felt myself switch over to running on adrenaline exclusively. Somehow I got an A in my Spanish class, though I was "mucho muy cansada" to every "como estas?" I was happily dating and that kept me going, but when it ended, so did my high. In December I went to the doctor again (and all my blood tests were normal), started talking to friends and asking for help, and sitting on my couch every weekend night unless I forced myself to go out.
The New Year brought a new low of energy and motivation at work, and a new desperation to find answers and a cure. Gosh, it's a blur now. How did I get through that time? I finally told my boss I needed help, and he graciously let me take my sick leave in the form of two weeks part-time. That was a significant season, but by no means a cure.
In February I started taking Reliv, my "magic potion," which is a nutritional supplement shake, and felt better from day one. Oh how I love that stuff! and highly recommend it to everyone well or sick. It's like gold dust to me. You can read more at www.reliv.com or email me for the address of my distributor friend Joy.
In March my Mom found an alternative doctor in Atlanta who'd written a book called "Are Your Hormones Making You Sick?" which explained the delicate balance in our bodies and how one imbalance affects everything else. I got a phone appointment with him, and voila, all my symptoms pointed to adrenal fatigue, as I'd suspected, through reading books and talking to friends. I took a saliva test (spitting into four vials at four different times during the day...yes, vile, but not as bad as it could have been), the best test for hormone levels and adrenal function. My corisol levels (the stress hormone produced by the adrenal glands) were way low for the morning and the afternoon, and the doctor congratulated me for correctly diagnosing myself while I wimpered over my poor body and little depleted adrenals.
Thank God for alternative doctors, and a free country! He sent me some all-natural supplements that would help my body repair itself, "adrenal rebuilder" and a thyroid booster, and said I'd feel much better in a few weeks, and all better in six months (though it's taken some of my friends much longer to recover). After four weeks, I think the "much better" is starting to happen, although last week I was cryingly telling my boss I didn't know if I could recover in DC and was desperate enough to move home to Atlanta if that's what it took. Thankfully I felt much better the next day (maybe God wanted me to step off the cliff of faith) and then spring arrived in DC...the cure for all ills!
Right now I'm taking life one day at a time, rejoicing in the good days, enduring the bad, submitting to Addy's dominance of my life (and God's dominance over all things), and learning...oh...learning so, so much. So much that begs to be written. Thanks for reading. Thanks for being my outlet.
• Extreme and continual tiredness, not relieved by sleep
• Weakness, a feeling of depletion
• Inability to get out of bed in the morning
• Wanting to lie down all the time, which helps, but not really
• Low blood sugar
• Light-headedness, feeling faint
• Low immunity, achiness, feeling slightly sick all the time, sore throat
• Being overwhelmed by small tasks or the thought of walking from here to there (because you don't have the strength to do it)
• Increased effort needed to do everyday tasks; decreased ability to handle stress (even small stresses like the copier not working)
• Irritability, impatience, decreased tolerance
• Discouragement, depression
• Increased PMS
• Decreased productivity and motivation
• Memory loss, fuzzy thoughts, confusion
• Losing your balance while standing
There are some others I didn't experience, like craving salt, decreased sex drive, and increased time to recover from illness or injury.
Looking back, I started to realize something was wrong around the beginning of 2006, but I wouldn't admit it even to myself. I was supposed to be strong and keep the whole world running. By spring however I took the gargantuan step of admitting my tiredness in staff meeting and asked for prayer. I found a general practitioner in May and paid her a visit, and she suggested more snacks to conquer fatigue.
It was getting harder and harder to get out of bed as the year progressed. In July I had a party at my apartment, and Holly and I cleaned all day and entertained that night. For some reason I didn't enjoy myself as much as usual and realized it was because I was so tired. Two days later I had to take a sick day and "recover" from the party. This was odd.
I took August slow. But September hit the ground running jobwise, and as we moved into our office in October, I felt myself switch over to running on adrenaline exclusively. Somehow I got an A in my Spanish class, though I was "mucho muy cansada" to every "como estas?" I was happily dating and that kept me going, but when it ended, so did my high. In December I went to the doctor again (and all my blood tests were normal), started talking to friends and asking for help, and sitting on my couch every weekend night unless I forced myself to go out.
The New Year brought a new low of energy and motivation at work, and a new desperation to find answers and a cure. Gosh, it's a blur now. How did I get through that time? I finally told my boss I needed help, and he graciously let me take my sick leave in the form of two weeks part-time. That was a significant season, but by no means a cure.
In February I started taking Reliv, my "magic potion," which is a nutritional supplement shake, and felt better from day one. Oh how I love that stuff! and highly recommend it to everyone well or sick. It's like gold dust to me. You can read more at www.reliv.com or email me for the address of my distributor friend Joy.
In March my Mom found an alternative doctor in Atlanta who'd written a book called "Are Your Hormones Making You Sick?" which explained the delicate balance in our bodies and how one imbalance affects everything else. I got a phone appointment with him, and voila, all my symptoms pointed to adrenal fatigue, as I'd suspected, through reading books and talking to friends. I took a saliva test (spitting into four vials at four different times during the day...yes, vile, but not as bad as it could have been), the best test for hormone levels and adrenal function. My corisol levels (the stress hormone produced by the adrenal glands) were way low for the morning and the afternoon, and the doctor congratulated me for correctly diagnosing myself while I wimpered over my poor body and little depleted adrenals.
Thank God for alternative doctors, and a free country! He sent me some all-natural supplements that would help my body repair itself, "adrenal rebuilder" and a thyroid booster, and said I'd feel much better in a few weeks, and all better in six months (though it's taken some of my friends much longer to recover). After four weeks, I think the "much better" is starting to happen, although last week I was cryingly telling my boss I didn't know if I could recover in DC and was desperate enough to move home to Atlanta if that's what it took. Thankfully I felt much better the next day (maybe God wanted me to step off the cliff of faith) and then spring arrived in DC...the cure for all ills!
Right now I'm taking life one day at a time, rejoicing in the good days, enduring the bad, submitting to Addy's dominance of my life (and God's dominance over all things), and learning...oh...learning so, so much. So much that begs to be written. Thanks for reading. Thanks for being my outlet.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)