How To Treat Adrenal Fatigue

Adrenal fatigue is a common health syndrome that causes concerning symptoms, but once you recognize adrenal fatigue, it can be treated safely and effectively.

Following are steps using over-the-counter supplements and lifestyle changes that can significantly reduce the symptoms of adrenal fatigue or alleviate them completely in some patients.

1. Get more sleep, rest and relaxation. In today’s fast-paced society, a busy schedule can leave little time for adequate sleep, rest and relaxation. This lack of rest can heighten your stress level and place too much demand on the adrenal glands. Like any organ or gland of the body, the adrenals need time to rest in order to rebuild their reserves and abilities to function at optimal level. The job of these glands is to supply the body with adequate levels of adrenal hormones, but they can only do this if the body in general is allowed to rest and relax for sufficient periods of time. Medical sources state that most people need a minimum of eight hours of sleep per night in order to function at their best level during the daytime and in order for the cells of the body to have adequate time to repair and restore from normal use of the body. Our everyday routines also place a degree of stress upon our minds and emotions. While sleep is very important to get in adequate amounts, so is simple rest and relaxation in general. If you don’t allow for leisure time and time to simply sit or lie down and rest on occasion, you will not be allowing your body and mind to unwind from the stressors of everyday duties and this leads to that feeling of being “stressed out” by the end of the day or even before the end of the day.

    

   People with full time jobs are many times actually required by their employers to provide them two breaks per day, to take a short rest of usually 20 minutes per break. This is due to studies that indicate even short rest periods help workers rejuvenate their energies, in order to continue and complete their work days more efficiently. Rest, sleep and relaxation are also necessary to prevent or recover from adrenal fatigue.

2. Reduce your stress levels. No one living in the world today can escape or be immune to stress. Stress is a fact of life; our goal is to work on reducing its effects and learn coping skills, so that we find ways to eliminate as much of it as we possibly can. The adrenal glands help us to cope with and to recover from stress by providing the body with adequate levels of the stress hormone “cortisol”. This hormone is also considered to be a “fight or flight” hormone, just like adrenaline. But while adrenaline is the more short term energizing hormone needed at times of danger (to escape or fight a situation or enemy), cortisol is the long term fight or flight hormone, giving us the needed flow of energy, throughout the day, to perform our normal tasks.

   Relentless and ongoing stress can eventually use up the reserves of this hormone faster than the adrenals are able to supply it, unless we allow ourselves time to recuperate from stress. Only then can the adrenals rebuild the reserves of this very important stress hormone and the others it also supplies to the body. Stress can be reduced simply by resting and giving ourselves time during each day to unwind for a few minutes at a time. It is also important not to get uptight throughout the day over small problems that arise. We should learn to not take the smaller problems as seriously, because there are potentially too many of them that can arise and this will keep our stress levels peaked too often or for extended periods.

   In addition to taking “timeouts” to unwind during the day, we can also involve ourselves in hobbies or leisure activities that give us pleasure during our times away from work, further helping us to relax and unwind. Involving yourself in enjoyable activities can provide you with much needed enjoyment-of-life that helps you relieve stress and feel more refreshed when the time for work returns.

3. Take supplements that help strengthen the adrenals and the body in general. There are many supplements that can be taken to help keep the body and adrenal glands healthy and strengthened so they can handle the everyday stress life brings upon all of us. A really good multi-vitamin is always a great idea and there are many good ones out there to choose from. Some major vitamin companies actually make vitamins called “stress formulas” or “stress tabs” and these contain the vitamins and minerals that help the body cope with and recover from stress. Additional vitamin supplements in particular that are very helpful to the adrenal glands include “B” vitamins – in particular, B-12, B-5 and B-6. Vitamin “C” is also an important vitamin for healthy adrenal function. Minerals that can help with adrenal function include zinc and magnesium. There are also adrenal herbal formulas that contain helpful supplements, but these should be researched carefully by anyone who is considering taking them and also discussed with your doctor before taking them. Purchase supplements only from reliable, reputable companies.

   Other natural supplements to be taken after observing these precautions include “adrenal glandular” (usually beef source), “licorice root extract” (helps adrenals produce more cortisol) and DHEA (over-the-counter adrenal hormone). All of these supplements can potentially be helpful, but everybody is unique; some supplements work better for some than others and sometimes it simply takes a trial of several of these to find the one that eventually helps you the most.

4. Incorporate regular exercise into your regimen. Exercise is important in strengthening the body in general. Regular exercise also results in strengthened adrenal glands. Doctors know that exercise helps the hormones in our bodies to do their jobs better because it helps to circulate and metabolize them better. Cortisol, the stress hormone produced by the adrenals, also helps to regulate our glucose (blood sugar) and is one reason exercise helps in this process.

   When you begin an exercise routine, it is important that you do so at the pace your body can tolerate. You do not want to overdo on exercise; too much exercise will not increase the benefit from it faster, but can actually have an adverse effect. This is especially true of people who are already experiencing adrenal fatigue. They can have reduced tolerance for exercise and if they do not pace themselves, they can worsen the adrenal fatigue rather than helping resolve it.

   Walking is one of the best exercises to start out with, and just a good everyday exercise for anyone. Some who start with walking can eventually progress to jogging, if that’s what they chose. If you prefer walking as your exercise, many sources state that walking 15 to 20 minutes at least three times a week will give you benefit, and five times or more per week increases that benefit.

A person with adrenal fatigue can incorporate all of these steps into a daily regimen and over time see significant improvement from adrenal fatigue symptoms. Additionally these steps can also help decrease the chances of the adrenal syndrome returning.