I just found this site today after searching for "adrenal fatigue and fasting". Ive suffered with what Ive been told is adrenal fatigue / fibromyalgia for a good few years. Im male and 40. It has been severe at times and occasionally quite mild. I have dedicated much of the last few years to getting well and seen many doctors, alternative therapists, read tons of stuff and tried many things and spent a small fortune in search of a cure.

I just did a 3.5 day fast/detox under guidance at a detox clinic. It wasnt a water fast, we had coconut water, potato water, carrot juice and some special shakes and colonics every day. I felt ok during the fast, not great but ok. I had my bad moments. The day I finished I felt great, full of energy and buzzing but yesterday (day 2 after finishing) I felt a little tired and then this morning I did a very hard yoga class, sweated loads and afterwards had a total crash. I haven't had a fatigue crash like this for months.

I also suffer with lower back issues which seem to be down to tight hamstrings and hip flexors that dont seem to want to let go. Ive noticed that when the fatigue is bad so is the tightness in these muscles and thus the back too. I read somewhere that adrenal fatigue affects the kidneys which in turn affect these muscles. Its interesting to know that if I can sort out the adrenals my back pain might go too

Im pleased to have found this site and the website but I can't work out half of whats being said by Dr Jack. Ive got qualifications in anatomy and physiology, I'm fairly intelligent and I've been reading about all this stuff for years but I'm really struggling with the amount of words I dont understand and the technical jargon.

I dont need convincing that Dr Jack has the solution to my issues and I get what he's saying about it being an issue in the brain. I was told this a couple of years ago by someone who said it was a dysfunction/signal issue of the hypothalamus. I would just appreciate some simple instructions step by step in layman's terms of what action to take please.

I live in the UK.

Any help would be MASSIVELY appreciated

With thanks

Charles

 

Just a suggestion to have your thyroid checked. I've seen many with fibro type pain find out they are hypothyroid and once they start on meds it can almost, if not completely, eliminate the pain.

Get a TSH, FT3, FT4, and rT3 (if you can in UK). Also check TPO and TGAB antibodies for the auto-immune version of hypothyroidism. After you get the lab results post them here for further help.

 

http://www.jackkruse.com/brain-gut-16-adrenal-fatigue-rx/

 

EMF and fake light at issues number one and two to eliminate.......and test for. In the UK that is a pain in the ass. Ask for help from our UK members on how they did it.

 

Its my understanding as someone that once had severe adrenal fatigue and debilitating fibromyalgia that you should not do any kind of prolonged exercise/activity until the problem is resolved. In the past I exercised at intervals of 2 mins on and 3 mins resting for a total of 15-20 mins high intensity exercise, but strictly adhered to the timing as not to exhaust the adrenals further.

My favorite adrenal supplement is Researched Nutritionals Energy Multi-plex.

I no longer suffer from either of these so it is great to know you are not going to be stuck with that crap

The thyroid point is huge as well, look into that.

Jacks stuff is not an easy read, but read and re-read and you will take from it enough to propel you forward

 

Thanks but what is

What is EMF?

 

UK Members

also.. how do i specifically communicate with UK members?

Thanks

 

Thanks Patty Cakes but this is my point.. what do all those letters and numbers mean.. I dont know what they are let alone who or where to ask for them from? I had my thyroid checked along with bloods and everything else the G.P. at my local medical practise would check for.. Everything comes back clear.

 

EMF = electric magnetic field. cellphones, wifi, flat screen tv's etc. etc.
If someone from the UK sees your post they will respond.
All of this stuff isn't easy but you at least have some background - you will start putting it together. Dr Kruse has been trying to teach us to be responsible for our own health - so keep reading and re reading and it will start to come together.

Keep asking questions - there are lots of smart people here that are more than willing to help.

Have you seen the easy start guide on the home page? Have you read the leptin reset protocol? and the C/T guide?
Maybe start there and keep coming back and asking questions.

As Dr.K. said - avoiding fake light is huge - for alot of us it is one of the most important things along with avoiding EMF's'

There are blogs about circadian cycles and EMF's ... have a look at the blog index ... and jump in!

 

Thanks for the tips Caroline. I hear what you're saying but that wouldn't explain my latest relapse. Ive been in Thailand for the last 6 weeks living a healthy life, eating well, loads of natural sunlight, hardly any EMF, yoga twice a day and the day after completing a 3 day fast I had a massive adrenal crash... any thoughts on that?
Thanks again for your support

 

I am pretty sure Dr. K. would say not to fast and no exercise except for maybe light walking.
Please read the leptin R/X and implement that - that is pretty easy to do - but please follow it to the letter. Dr. K. explains the no exercise etc.
Next - read the C/T blog and slowly start implementing that - just baby steps at first.
Are you still eating wheat? sugar?
You need to be eating epi-paleo ....lots and lots of seafood - with raw oysters at the top of the list.

As far as testing .... see what your Docs can do for you as far as what Pattycakes suggested above. Here in Australia - I can get a lot of them but have to pay for a few such as rT3 and IGF-1. I order a saliva panel from ZRT labs in the U.S. to get hormones levels and 4xdiurnal cortisol and DHEA. I have no idea what you can get in the UK.
Once you have that done you can see where you are at and then go from there.

I would say that the fast you did was really bad as evidenced by your crash. A 4x cortisol saliva test will tell you so much about your adrenals and you want to protect them at all cost.

I think if you read the leptin R/X it will explain alot to you. Definitely don't underestimate the fake lite situation - that was the biggest piece of the puzzle for me and of course EMF's.
After sunset - I don't turn any lights on at all. About EMF's - alot of us have found that turning the breaker off to the bedroom has helped and get rid of your electric alarm clock ....mine was next to my head while I slept!

Sorry - I think this is sounding pretty disjointed! Alot of us have been following Dr. K. for about 2 years and I can see how it is so difficult for new people. Once you get some labs done - it gives you a starting point and a direction to go in as far as reading goes. I find now when I re read something from a year ago - I take much more of it on board - and as I have said - you at least have some background knowledge ....I don't have a scientific bone in my body..LOL

Just ask away - we have all been there. JK encourages questions and loves people that want to learn. This is a life long journey to wellness and it isn't always straightforward ...lots of twists and turns but you need to be fully engaged and 100% all in if you want results. There are some amazing posts here - I am thinking in particular some by Ivan Drago recently. If you have been lurking for awhile maybe you have seen them?
I will look up the thread heading if you want ... don't hesitate to ask......

 

I just want to say Caroline that you have a great gift of enthusiasm and support for new members! I really appreciate it too.

Charles...something that made a lot of sense to me as I deal with adrenal fatigue is thinking about the time frame that you are working with. If you've had issues for years...six weeks in Thailand isn't going to turn the ship around despite being a good thing. Fasting can release a lot of toxins that then can stress you out further. Have you heard of the Herxheimer reaction that occurs with toxin release? Are you sure you are hydrated properly? That is a huge factor when detoxing and my understanding of hydration was pretty pathetic until a few months ago. The Iodine thread would be useful to look at too.


The epi-paleo diet is nourishing...it will feed your brain what it craves. Protect your brain from EMF, start regulating with natural light, rest your adrenals, really dive into CT and things will come back in line. I've spent the last year being very careful with exerting myself physically and I'm stronger have more stamina and have better body comp. than I've had for thirty years. I'll be testing my adrenals soon to compare with last years test...I'm confident things are moving in the right direction.

Sending all the best wishes for your recovery.

 

Very caring and informative messages thank you. Yes Ive been drinking lots of water but Ive been losing lots too so maybe I am dehydrated. I wouldn't be surprised. Im back in the UK later this week and will take the time to study the responses, the forum and the site in detail. You'll be hearing more from me
Thanks ever so much

 

Charles, the thing that helped the most for me with adrenal fatigue was fake light at night and meal timing. Try to eat at least 4 hours before bed time, and turn out all artificial light once the sun goes down. I also use blue blocking glasses as in the city it's hard to get away totally from artificial light. Also, following the leptin reset and eating breakfast within 30 minutes of rising. All of this helped me, even before I started to work on my thyroid.

And Caroline's advice is excellent!

 

Thailand has more WiFI and more EMF than you care to know.....plus most of their electrical system is ungrounded due to poor construction codes......same old true for places like Mexico. Never assume.........

 

Hello Charles
I'm in the UK too. You might want to take a look at Cold Thermogenesis 6 blog - the doc talks about how in the cold our hormone receptors upregulate so that even low levels of hormones are more effective. Take is slowly if you do Cold thermogenesis.

 

Dealing with severe ‘adrenal fatigue syndrome’ symptoms for about 8 months and recently having a relapse (heavy brain fog atm) I find the information here interesting. E.g. I feel an out of balance circadian rhytm (working at pc till 1-2 a.m. then 6 hours sleep) has attributed to the onset of my crash. Things like cutting back exposure to artificial (screen) light in the evening and getting more direct sunlight has eased symptoms for me. By reducing stress as much as possible, lots of rest, good food and supplements for months I recovered slowly, then had a (for me rather surprising)full relapse a couple weeks ago following relatively little stress .

I have no idea what this condition exactly is, If it would be mainly brain/signaling related instead of being primarily physical damage to the adrenal glands then I have some question.

Why does ‘overtraing syndrome’ (which afaict has large parallels with adrenal fatigue and also shows lowered cortisol levels) occur in athletes that train too hard/rest or eat too little?
Why do I crash hard after stimulating my adrenals with caffeine for a few days?
Wilson describes in his book that during autopsies in a flu epidemic in 1918 they observed physically damaged glands.

However I find it hard to visualize that these 5 gram glands hold any ‘reserve’ , and that after proper rest and nutrition to optimally support them (atleast what is consideredoptimal atm) for 6 months they get ‘depleted’ in days. Or would this be considered normal behavior for overtaxed/damaged organs?

I’m very interested in experiences of others who have experienced relapses of adrenal insufficiency/fatigue symptoms, how much stress was required, how long they rested and if recovery was faster than after initial onset.

Also I wonder if people have had any experiences of trying to balance neurotransmitter levels (according to their individual need) by ‘natural’ supplementation or by taking e.g. SSRI’s and what kind of effects this had on their stress response and symptoms.

 

Welcome Peter! Glad to have you with us.

I was suffering from some adrenal fatigue last year, to the point where I would be walking and with just a slight misstep, I would not be able to react fast enough catch myself. I would almost hit my nose on the ground, strangely enough. I remember thinking during the fall that it was too late to recover using my feet, so I just concentrated on not wiping out totally. This happened twice. I can't tell you which of Dr. K's protocols made the most difference, but now I can recover from a misstep without the knees, elbows, and hands getting involved. I can tell you that I never miss a sunrise, and if it is cloudy I just stare at the clouds in the morning.

It took me a year to get this improvement, but Dr. K was periodically introducing new protocols. I ran a lot of tests also. Perhaps progress would have been faster if I had access to all the protocols at one time. But that would have been a lot of changes to make in one step.

 

Hi Charles - Welcome! I'm in the process of healing adrenals as well. Fasting and any kind of exercise stress adrenals that in your case are already overloaded, so I'm not surprised you crashed. I agree with the suggestions you already received re checking your thyroid. A wonderful website for thyroid and related issues including adrenals is http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com - Jack even mentions this site in his ep-paleo RX book - by the way I highly recommend the book as a more organized way in to the information that can feel so massively overwhelming at first when you find the website (we've all been there) - the kindle version is $10. Lots in there re chronic fatigue and fibromyalgia - I was formerly diagnosed with CF but healing thyroid and adrenals plus leptin reset have improved my health VASTLY in just a few months. Good luck and don't let the information overload scare you away - you'll get real help here.

 

Peter...it might be helpful to read some of Dr. Kruse's blogs about how adrenal fatigue is not so much about the damage to the glands as it is a brain signalling issue. We can get really healthy and still mess up our signalling pretty quick with stressors like EMF, etc. I've had lots of improvement over the past year or so, but I've also had crashes that were tied to seasonal changes, exposure to toxins, gradually depleting stores of vit D, etc. Overall I know my adrenals are recovering and the crashes have been of much shorter duration. My stamina is vastly improved.

I've also spent a lot of time learning about neurotransmitters, medications, natural supplements etc. due to years of dealing with depression. All I can say is that by following the protocols outlined here, finding and pursuing my passions in life and learning to be curious instead of resentful about who I am has changed my neurotransmitters so profoundly that I don't really feel like the same person. I can remember what deep depression was like and I have had dips back down into mild depression, but my brain is so different now, it's like becoming somebody new. I can feel when my thinking starts to revert to old patterns and I know what I need to do to support myself towards a better path.

Adrenals are part of the whole picture that is shifting and changing all the time. Patience