Adrenal Fatigue

I'm very surprised to find out that I haven't actually blogged about adrenal fatigue yet, as it's something I'm constantly contending with. This time, however, I won't write much. I came across this article that describes me perfectly, especially the part that describes the symptoms:

Symptoms of adrenal fatigue:

• Morning fatigue -- You don't really seem to "wake up" until 10 a.m., even if you've been awake since 7 a.m.
• Afternoon "low" (feelings of sleepiness or clouded thinking) from 2 to 4 p.m.
• Burst of energy at 6 p.m. -- You finally feel better from your afternoon lull.
• Sleepiness at 9 to 10 p.m. -- However, you resist going to sleep.
• "Second wind" at 11 p.m. that lasts until about 1 a.m., when you finally go to sleep.
• Cravings for foods high in salt and fat
• Increased PMS or menopausal symptoms
• Mild depression
• Lack of energy
• Decreased ability to handle stress
• Muscular weakness
• Increased allergies
• Lightheadedness when getting up from a sitting or laying down position
• Decreased sex drive
• Frequent sighing
• Inability to handle foods high in potassium or carbohydrates unless they're combined with fats and protein

Yes, this is me - especially the frequent sighing part. :) It also explains my low blood pressure and low blood sugar, digestive issues, and menstrual issues. The adrenal glands produce and regulate hormones, and when the adrenals can't properly work with hormones, naturally our hormones will act up.

Adrenal fatigue and chronic fatigue syndrome tend to go hand-in-hand in my experience, and yet they are not the same thing. While I believe that adrenal fatigue does feed my chronic fatigue, do I believe that there are other causes to my chronic fatigue for reasons I've stated throughout this blog.

This article explains that "nervous breakdowns" are symptomatic of or cause adrenal fatigue. Yes, I did have a "nervous breakdown" that occurred right before I became chronically ill. It was actually on the incredibly overwhelmingly stressful move from Idaho to North Dakota, when my truck was breaking down from carrying too much weight. I was stuck, all alone, in the middle of western Montana, scared to death, not wanting to even do the move. I completely broke down. Ever since then I've been unable to recover my energy.

What do I do for my adrenal fatigue? I have a great naturopathic doctor. Sure, you can buy all sorts of herbal adrenal supplements at your local health food store, many of them even contain the same herbs that I take, but I'm not a doctor or a physician. I'm not going to give advice on what herbs or remedies to take. Now that said, 2 years of healing with my doctor and I still have a lot of these symptoms. Do not expect to heal quickly. This article says that for severe cases it can take up to 2 years to heal from adrenal fatigue. I definitely need more time, but I've made a lot of progress.

http://foodmatters.tv/articles-1/treating-chronic-fatigue-and-adrenal-fatigue-naturally




I can suggest lifestyle changes that have helped me a ton:

- Avoid caffeine!
- Avoid sugar!
- Avoid all stress, even if that means quitting your job. Stress will keep attacking your adrenal glands, preventing them from healing and possibly making them even worse. I couldn't work for almost 2 years. If I would have kept working, I couldn't heave healed. Getting away from all stress is an investment in your ability to work in the future.
- Get as much rest as possible. I have no shame in the fact that I've laid in bed for hours watching Hulu, playing my Nintendo DS, or reading. It makes me feel a lot better.
- Exercise enough to keep your circulation strong and to feel good, not enough to wear you out. I like to go for a 2.5 mile walk most days.
- Get acupuncture, chiropractic adjustments, and massages. These are very healing therapies, but they also are very relaxing. They will help eliminate stress.
- Spend time in the sun, which is very relaxing and invigorating.
- Do not ever "beat yourself up." It isn't your fault that you're sick.
- Pray. Let God heal you. Let him take your stress from you. Let him relax you and comfort you. Do not push him away. Do not get angry at him. If you resist him, you're holding onto stress unnecessarily. Even if you don't believe in God, try giving up your stress to him anyway - just the "letting go" will help.

Admitting the Problems

I want to write, but I'm not feeling focused at all. I've decided to let this post be my outlet of complaints about my struggles, but I don't want it to just be about me. Leave me comments, either here, Facebook, or Google+. Let's all pitch in and share our struggles. Sometimes what we need more than anything else is affirmations from others that what we are going through is horrible - that chronic illness and poor health is miserable and we all struggle with it uniquely. So please, join with me. Let's vent. I want to hear your struggles too!


1. Tea/ Caffeine. I LOVE green tea. I would drink it exclusively throughout the day if I could. The problem is, I'm very sensitive to caffeine. One mug of green tea is all I need to carry me through a 4-5 hour shift at work as if I'm a normal human being without chronic fatigue. If I drank a cup every day, like I want to, my adrenals would never heal, I'd never be able to truly rest, and I'd probably struggle even more with sleep. So I have to drink Yogi's organic decaf green tea on days that I don't work. It tastes half as good, and I know it's not as good for me. :(


2. PMS. I've rarely had mood problems with PMS my whole life. I would get horrible acne, bloating, sugar cravings, and inflammation, but my mood wasn't affected much outside of making me tired. The last two months have been totally opposite for me. It was PMS from hell both months. I found myself so angry for no reason that I couldn't hold a light conversation with people. I was raging in my dreams to the point that my anger woke me up in tears. I couldn't enjoy doing anything. Everything I did, even things I normally love, irritated the heck out of me. It wasn't possible to be me. I've had very little acne on my face, but weirdly, I've been getting it on my arms and legs. I was bloating a lot, but mostly in my breasts and not my gut - ouch! Last month my sugar cravings were really hard to combat, but this month I didn't have cravings at all. My body has become horribly unpredictable. Hormones! I never used to respect them since I didn't understand them, now I have a ton of respect for them since I understand their power.


3. Money. Yes, money. If we had enough, my problems could be solved. I wouldn't have to work, I could spend a lot more on treatments, I wouldn't feel constant suppressing damaging stress, we could buy a house without any MCS triggers, I could get away from the city and order all of my groceries online to be delivered, I could build a garden and raise a couple of cows for my meat, I could... wait. I'm just dreaming now. But seriously, MONEY. It's the reason I have to work, which definitely is ruining my ability to heal. It's the reason for 90% of my stress, which preventing me from healing. But what can I do when I don't qualify for disability (it's way too expensive to even try anyway)?


4. Responsibility. Responsibility outside of making money, that is. I'm really struggling to keep up. For instance, I failed to remember to renew my truck's registration and I was expired for about a month. I can hardly keep up with house cleaning. My poor birds didn't have clean cages for about 2 weeks. It's just too much for me! I'm not joking when I tell people I need a few days of doing nothing. I just can't create the energy to spend on everything that needs work. I give about 80% of my energy to my job, and the rest of my energy I need for cooking and buying food.

Staying on this topic, I just want to lament a bit. When I was in college I had no trouble at all staying on top of homework and classes, even as a full time student with a part time job. I even had the energy to survive all of this and go through a very rough and depressing break-up. I had the energy to get married and be a full time student with a part time job. And hang out with friends. And play video games. I was normal, and I thought nothing of it. Today, this would be impossible. I'd be in the hospital from being overspent after just one day. My life is behind me - what I'm experiencing now hardly feels like "me" at all.


5. The realization that I still don't fit in with the world. When I started working again a few months ago, I had the strong attitude of "I will do this on my terms." I didn't really have a choice, it was either on my terms or not at all, because I would get very sick if I did it any other way. I've never been like this before. Those of you who have worked with me before I broke down and got sick will remember that I was always flexible, open to change, responded very well to rules and orders, and willing to do whatever it took. My natural personality says to still be this way, but I can't be. I must protect my health at all costs. So getting "my way" means clashing with others. It means being demanding, controlling, and resistant. I hate being this way. It's not "me." I create a lot of stress from trying to always stay in control of every situation.


6. The realization that I'm not in control of my situation. I really need control in order to protect my health, but the truth is that I have very little. Customers reeking of perfume or cigarette smoke still walk in the door at work. The smoke in the air from the wild fires out west are hard on my health, but it also traps perfumes and laundry fragrances in the air, making the air quality outside especially hazardous for me. I don't always have access to the food I need, and my needs are specific. My body does what it wants to even when I do everything right. I can get hit with fatigue even after lots of rest and eating and supplementing perfectly. My PMS can be out of control even when I didn't change anything. My legs can cramp up without provocation. I'm not in control at all. I'm constantly responding to every situation to make it as good as possible.


7. I don't even know what I love to do anymore. If I had energy, I would love to sew my own clothes again. If I had energy, I would love to finish writing a novel I've started. If I had energy, I would work out every day and create a rockin' body. If I had energy, I'd probably become a Faith Formation teacher at church. If I had energy, I'd love to maintain a big garden. If I had energy, I'd probably go back to school to become a health coach. If I had energy, I'd work more so my husband could work less. If I had money and energy, I'd travel a lot more often with my husband. But since I don't have energy and money, what do I love to do? I know that I love to lose myself in a great story, whether it's a book, manga, video game, TV show, movie... whatever. But that's not exactly doing. What do I love to do with the energy I do have? I don't know. I'm bored pretty often, but I just accept it and play video games, because frankly, I'm struggling to change it. I'm struggling to find the energy to actually do. I've already given up on my great life goal: having and raising children. When will this ever happen? My husband and I are getting older, and I see years of recovery ahead of me.


Okay, your turn!

How to sleep through the night with mosquito bites

I think I broke... again. My blood sugar and pressure have been too low all week, and now that a storm is coming in I'm getting worse. I cannot see straight unless I sit still. The dizziness is strong with me. I figured I might as well write a post if I'm going to sit still at my computer for a while. :)



The night before last I hardly slept at all because my mosquito bites were way too itchy - painfully itchy! Every time I moved the sheets rubbed a bite and the pain woke me back up. I tried aloe vera, vinegar, and peppermint essential oils throughout the night to calm the itching. They all worked... until I moved and rubbed the bite against the sheet again. I did, however, sleep really well last night. I figured out a great solution!

You will need:
- As many bandages as bites.
- Raw organic apple cider vinegar.
- Calcium Clay (I used this one.)

Mix the vinegar with the clay in a non-metal container (metal weakens the clay.) I used 1/4th the amount of vinegar to clay, which created a thick paste. I dabbed this paste on to the bandage in a heap, then applied the bandage over the bite.

The vinegar calms the bite and the clay draws the toxins out of it. It's a beautiful combo!

Take Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Seriously, Becuase it is Serious.

If you have chronic fatigue, you may hear responses like this from others who don't understand:

"Oh, you're tired? You should try to get more sleep."

"You shouldn't be tired since you slept all night."

"Oh come on, drink some coffee and let's get to work!"

"Can't you work on something that doesn't take much energy? You're wasting your life just laying there."

"Are you ever going to not be tired?"

"Why are you so lazy?"

"You should go to a doctor and fix the problem. Go get your health back."

"You know what your problem is? You don't eat sugar. How do you expect to have energy if you don't eat sugar?"

...and I could keep going. I've heard all of these, and more. And explaining myself so often makes me more and more exhausted.


So I want to clear this up. I don't expect those of you without chronic fatigue syndrome to understand the condition after reading this, but I hope it helps you learn compassion and patience with those of us who suffer it.

From my personal experience, I've determined that...


...Being tired is not the same thing as being fatigued.
Feeling tired means you need rest and sleep. It can mean you're hungry, it can mean you didn't get enough sleep, it can also mean you've spend all your energy already and need to rest to make more. Everyone feels tired. It's a normal, healthy human thing. If you've never felt tried, you're probably not human.

Fatigue means a loss of strength, a loss of mental energy, and a loss of physical energy. A tired person can still function normally, just more slowly and lazily. A fatigued person cannot function normally. It may be impossible for a person with severe fatigue to even walk on their own. A moderately fatigued person might be able to walk, but not far and probably can't think about what they're doing while walking. Rest isn't usually enough to recover from fatigue.

Feeling tired is like your battery being at 50% power. You have to recharge to recover energy so you can get back to work for hours upon hours. Recharging is all you need to get better.

Feeling fatigued is like your battery being at critically low power and you must recharge now or shut down completely. When fatigued, it's impossible to keep going - there's no battery power left to work with. The problem is, recharging isn't enough. It will help you gain back maybe 10-20% power, because you can't hold very much power anymore. You're like an old cell phone that has to be recharged after every phone call. A fatigued person has to be very picky about what he or she spends limited energy on, and then spend the rest of the day recharging so that they can spend limited energy on something new later on.

Chronic fatigue syndrome is extremely debilitating. In fact, it's so debilitating that this Danish study suggests that it affects quality of life more than any other chronic illness.





...And there's more to Chronic Fatigue than just the fatigue.
Fatigue affects the entire body, not just energy levels. It means blurred vision, poor circulation, ringing in the ears or loss of hearing, poor memory and concentration, aches and pains, slurred speech, and more. Organs, glands, and all your body parts require energy to function properly. If the brain can't get enough energy, of course it'll work poorly. If the stomach can't get enough energy, it's not going to digest very well. If the muscles can't get enough energy, they're not going to move well.

Friday evening, after working 3 long hard days in a row, I seriously considered going to the hospital. My throat and tongue were swollen up and I had a hard time talking and eating. My vision was very bad and my muscle tension was extreme. I had terrible insomnia the last two nights because my body was desperate for energy to keep me alive. I had to take 3x the amount of herbal sleeping pills that I normally take, and it still took me hours to fall asleep.





So next time someone complains about having chronic fatigue, don't offer them a cup of coffee. It won't help - it gives a boost now, but actually causes worse fatigue later from the crash. Help them accomplish their task so they don't have to spend all of their limited energy on it.

I have spent my whole weekend at the mercy of my fatigue. I overspent myself on Thursday and Friday at work, and now I have to spend my days doing as little as possible so that all my energy can go to healing my body. I nearly fainted at church this morning, and I actually regret going because it made me more fatigued. I need to recover so I can make it through work this week. I've discovered my limit of how many hours I can handle at work. If it wasn't super ridiculously busy on Thursday I probably would have been okay and wouldn't be so fatigued now, but I can't know how busy we'll get.




...But wait, I have chronic fatigue and I'm working? How is that possible? Yes. If you read my previous post about working with MCS, you'll see that I actually didn't work for 2 years. It would have been impossible, as my fatigue was too strong all of the time. I've recovered enough where I have enough energy to work for 12-15 hours a week. It has depleted me on occasion, but I can do it. My fear is that I won't be able to regain much more energy than I already have. 2 years of full-time healing has only brought me to this level. Which is incredible, as I started out totally bed-ridden. I've made a ton of progress with my health, and yet I'm still very weak compared to the average healthy person. Sigh. But I hold on to hope, and I'll do whatever I need to in order to continue healing.

So please. Take Chronic Fatigue seriously. Don't assume they're over exaggerating. Don't assume they're simply not taking care of themselves. Don't assume that they're lazy. Don't assume that they're supposed to be able to function as well as you. Chronic fatigue steals a person's energy, and makes living very difficult. Don't be one of the difficulties.




I also want to point out the possibility that Chronic Fatigue Syndrome is an auto-immune disease. The medical communities haven't agreed on this, but there's enough research showing that it acts like an auto-immune disease. If someone told you they have an auto-immune disease making them weak, would you take them more seriously than if they told you they have Chronic Fatigue Syndrome?