Transcript of Innovative Healing - Adrenal Fatigue - Part II
Aired - 4/21/2008
More info - Innovative Healing
LIZ: Hi, I’m Dr. Liz Lipski, director of doctoral studies at Hawthorn University and the author of DIGESTIVE WELLNESS. Today is Part II in our podcast on Adrenal Fatigue. In Part I, I talked about what the adrenals did, what were some of the causes of adrenal fatigue and what contributed to it, and what the adrenals are anyway and how they contribute to keeping us well, and also resilient and hearty and strong and feeling like we’ve got lots of energy. Because I know that most of my clients that come in to see me don’t have as much energy as they’d like to have. They feel wiped-out and feel like they’re pulling themselves through their lives, rather than just having exuberance and having vitality every day of their lives.
We talked last time about how to do testing and about how it feels when you have adrenal fatigue. And today we’re going to talk about how we can really recover from adrenal fatigue. The main thing that the adrenals need to recover from adrenal fatigue is rest. One of the main experts on this area, James Wilson, who has a book called ADRENAL FATIGUE, recommends this - that we get into bed and get to sleep before 10pm every night. For many people who have adrenal fatigue this is no problem at all because they’re so pooped out, they’re in bed long before that. But for another subset of people with adrenal fatigue, 10 o’clock is when they’re just starting to kick in to their second burst, second wind energy and they’re just starting to feel like “go” instead of “stop”. This is a mistake. For all of us who have adrenal fatigue, or even those of us who don’t, you know that feeling of “wired tired” feeling, where you just kind of pushed yourself a little too far, and you get that second wind. It’s really important if you are adrenal fatigued to make sure you get into bed early. And don’t wait for that second wind because it’s blocking that effect and getting into bed early that helps the adrenals relax, recover and their ability to gain that elasticity and resilience again.
Another thing that I find very, very important when I’m working with clients who have adrenal fatigue is spending time in nature. I think being outdoors is so nurturing to us. Wherever we are, breathing in that fresh air and having the ability to just connect with what’s real and what’s outdoors. I don’t care if you’re just sitting watching squirrels at your birdfeeder, which is aggravating you, or whether you’re watching birds at your birdfeeder, or whether you’re walking around a lake, or sitting in a desert, or meditating outside, or watching squirrels run around your yard. It’s just really important to be outdoors every single day. And it’s not for the exercise necessarily. It’s for the nurture that being in nature gives us.
Because when we have adrenal fatigue, our body is in fight or flight mood all the time. It’s saying, “Oh, I don’t live in a safe world.” So many of the things that I’m telling you are things that are calming to your nervous immune system, calming to your endocrine system, calming to you as a person. And what they do is they tell you, “Ah, I live in a safe world. Everything is well in my world and everything is well in my life.” So sitting outdoors, or walking outdoors are very important.
Also, spending time with people who are fun is also very important. Because laughing and doing things that are fun and relaxing to you also says, “Ah, I live in a safe world.” So things like hobbies can be very, very important. Whether you’re painting or beading or working on a junky, old car that you decided needed restoration, all these things are very soothing to your neuro-immune system and say, “I live in a safe place. I’m not running. I’m not working. Everything’s cool. I’m actually enjoying myself right now.”
Keeping your blood sugar levels even can also be really important. So with adrenal fatigue, making sure you eat something every two to three hours can be very, very helpful. And it may be exhausting when you first get off of caffeine, but I think another thing that is very important is decaffeinating yourself. Caffeine temporarily gives you energy, but it’s robbing yourself and you pay later. And where you pay is your adrenals. So I find that many of my clients are using caffeine all day long to keep themselves stimulated and awake and able to function. Or sugar, or both. And that at the end of the day they’re using wine and beer and alcohol to bring themselves down, to numb themselves. And again, I find it’s just great to run on my own energy. If I’m tired, I like to relax. If I’m not tired, then I go. But it’s important not to push. And caffeine and sugar really push us to do things that we don’t really have the energy to do.
Also, it’s important for people with adrenal fatigue to start relaxing somewhere around 9pm at night. It means turning off computers, stopping watching TV, getting away from electronics and just making sure that you stop having that kind of buzz in your life, because it stimulates you more. So it’s a time to read a magazine, to meditate, to do some stretching, to take a hot bath. It’s time to read a book, to just start settling down, settling in. To say again, “I live in a safe world and I’m not going to disrupt it with electromagnetics. I’m just going to start mellowing out for the day.”
Gentle exercise is also really important. Doing things like walking, getting a mini-rebound trampoline, is very, very useful. Doing exercise like Tai-chi and chi-gong, again very, very useful. Yoga and pilates, things that are rhythmic and slow. Again, relax your immune system and your nervous system and your hormonal system and tell you, “Ah, I live in a safe world.”
Also, there are some nutritional supplements that can be very useful for helping to balance the adrenals and get them back into recovery. The adrenals are loaded with vitamin C, so taking 1,000 or 2,000 milligrams of vitamin C every day can be very useful. I prefer ascorbate, mineral ascorbates. There are a couple of herbs that are very useful like licorice, rhodiola and schizandra that are adaptagenic herbs which support the adrenals. One caveat there is licorice, licorice can raise blood pressure. So if you have high blood pressure you may not want to use licorice. But many people with adrenal fatigue have very low blood pressure. Sometimes 60/45 or 70/50. If you have very low pressure, taking licorice could be very useful, either as a tea or eating black licorice or even taking it as a supplement or a tincture.
Also glandular, adrenal glandular can be very useful. I find that I often use a combination remedy with many of my clients. I use Perque Adrenal Distress Guard. I also sometimes use Transformation TTP Adrenal. I found both of those products to be really great and I also use a slew of other adrenal products and try to pick the right product for the right person.
The other thing that’s really important is to start thinking about stress management and start having some clear boundaries. One of the reasons we get so fried in the first place is that we just don’t say no. And we keep pushing beyond our limits. Starting to have good boundaries and make sure you start taking care of yourself instead and saying, “You know, I’m really tired tonight and don’t feel like going out.” Or, “You know, I’m at work and I really can’t work overtime today because I’m too tired to do that.” It’s really important to start setting boundaries.
I hope this has been some useful information for you. There’s so much more you can learn about adrenals. But if you just don’t feel like you have resiliency in your life and energy, start looking at how you can start balancing your adrenals. And again, do listen to Part I of this podcast on what the adrenals are and what they do in your body and why they get so wiped out.
This is Liz Lipski and I hope this has been useful for you. Until I talk with you next time, be well.
END TRANSCRIPT
###
This podcast content has been made accessible thanks to transcription provided by The Transcript Library.
Back to HEALTH
|