Adrenal Fatigue and Hypoglycemia

Hi Leah! Yep, I have been in treatment for late stage 3 adrenal fatigue (the stage just before developing Addison's) for 2 years as of May of this year. It's been interesting to say the least!

I started off by taking an adrenal cortex/whole adrenal supplement for the first 18 (or so) months, but I felt like I wasn't making any progress after the first year on it, but my doc refused to change my treatments - she recently got herself fired for this and other reasons. So I started treating on my own (not so brilliant, and yet, what was I to do?) and went back to the only other med that I've had help me and I have been making wonderful progress - or at least holding my own when hit with other things. It's a Homeopathic remedy called "NatraBio Adrenal" - I also take NatraBio thyroid.

I also started using ashwagandha, but I have to use it only during the early part of the day, or I can't sleep, even with taking several other things to help me sleep! So I take it first thing in the am and then around 2 pm to get me through the rest of the day. It's an awesome supplement if you can use it! Trial it on a day that you can take a nap if it helps you to sleep.

The hypoglycemia can be caused by the Lyme and you may not be able to do anything other than treat it until the Lyme is successfully treated or at least under control.

Let us know what you decide and how things go!!

I've suffered on and off from hypoglycemia most of my life, but it hits me harder and with more frequency with Lyme of late. My adrenals are doing pretty good but this symptom just isn't going away. I will tell you to help your hypoglycemia, eat at least five small meals per day, preferably with protein in each meal, keep your carbs to a minimum and make sure you're drinking enough water. Try to keep on a pattern of eating every 3-4 hours and this will help you quite a bit. If I am going going out and don't know when I will be back to have my snack, say if I'm shopping on the weekends or something, I carry a little zippy of baby carrots and raw cashews in my purse, an apple and a nut butter pack (like those sample packs they sell), or if it's closer to time to eat, I'll make a smoothie with a protein powder and take it with me. The repercussions of not having something to eat with me are too great to not plan ahead. Dried fruits are a too high in sugar to really do the job, so fresh is better in this case.

I hope this helps! That hypoglycemia is bad stuff....

Jenny

Needing to eat every couple of hours is what happened to me as well as my adrenals were crashing - if I didn't, I would start shaking, sometimes violently enough that I couldn't walk, got very weak when I tried to move and more. Do you have adrenal supplements to start?

As for the Babesia, Buhner suggests Sida acuta/ Cryptolepis/ Alchornea cordifolia - which I will be starting as soon as I feel stable again (from other things, not adrenals). And as you said, it's a good idea to start off very slowly due to your adrenals being so taxed.

How long have you been taking it and do you feel any more stable? That will tell us a lot more than my opinion of those things.

I haven't taken anything like that, but I've only had access to one doctor that would even consider treating my adrenals, and she put me on desiccated adrenal immediately and kept me on it for what I now know was too long. So I took myself off of it and started taking a homeopathic remedy.

I could notice if it was helping or not in a few days, but it sometimes took a higher dose of things.

I knew I couldn't take the ashwagandha at night after taking just one pill - it kept me from sleeping more than 4 hours that night - down from my 7. After evaluating my previous day (for most of the night), I could confirm that nothing else had changed. There was no extra stress in my life, I wasn't worried about anything, no new foods, no other med changes - nothing of that sort.

But, once I started taking it during the day, it took 2 doses of 2 each time for me to feel much improvement. So watch for a downturn first, as that will be you more dangerous situation. Pay close attention to your need to eat, salt cravings, and the quality and quantity of your sleep.

When your body is run down to this point, be very careful to avoid any foods that appear to be giving you issues - your body simply doesn't need yet another thing to deal with. It puts more stress/strain on your adrenals.

I really don't like sharing food lists for most anything with those that are fighting Lyme and company, as we have our own limitations with leaky gut and other things, but this is a fairly good one that I kind of follow - except I have leaky gut, so no raw foods or nuts: /www.drlam.com/protocol/diet/adrenal_fatigue_diet.asp

This is also a good list of recommendations for healing adrenals, but it doesn't give a food list, it talks of food groups and other things: www.mindbodygreen.com/0-17502/9-steps-to-heal-adrenal-fatigue-naturally.html

That pretty much describes what I do, not necessarily daily any more, more like as needed, since I'm finally healing again. Things I don't always do: bedtime snacks; I don't do well eating 6 times a day, I'm lucky to squeeze in eating 3 times a day; I've gone to using apple cider vinegar instead of digestive enzymes; carefully supplementing the B vitamins, in methylated form (be careful with this as it can affect your detoxing); and as I mentioned earlier, no raw nuts for me - of course, you won't be eating any for now at least. Healing your gut could go a long way towards allowing you to reintroducing those back into your diet at some point though!

I do eat a ton of veggies! Most of my evening meals contain about 1/2 - 2/3rds veggies, and then any that I can get in during the day.

When you feel tired, it's past time to quit whatever it is. I felt like a bump on a log for a long time, but I knew it was what was necessary in order to survive this and heal.

Since I was free of these infections when I first had my adrenals crash, then was reinfected, I was able to feel just how much my adrenals and the infections each took out of me. It's a very careful balancing act when you have to heal your adrenals and push through treatments for these infections. Too aggressive with your treatments and it puts too much stress on your adrenals and those meds will have to be adjusted. Not enough detoxing will also work against your adrenals in the same manner. It's all about the amount of stress on your body, not where it comes from.

I would encourage you to work as much as you can on your detoxing, that's the one thing you have the most control over and will lighten the load on your adrenals. Treatment is what treatment is, and you will have to move slowly through it. It's definitely no fun, but who's here for fun? We are just trying to heal.

It's frustrating and very maddening for me at times, but if I can be of any help, post here or email me directly. I'll be happy to help all I can.

Thanks Traveler :) I wi definitely look into these foods :). That's where I feel stuck is in between the adrenals and then the infections. I don't ever know if it's babesia or Lyme overwhelming me, or if it's my body not having enough support.

Love you Traveler! Lol thank you!

Leah

Thank you Flowergal! I am going to definitely work on the adrenals. I think the IV glutathione caused my adrenals to crash like this. Because before then I was at least feeling like crap but functioning. And now my palms and feet get so sweaty and my body shakey. I haven't felt this bad. I am literally in bed most of the day and I get dizzy and icky feeling at times. Have to eat all the time. I also heat up and start sweating(which I think might be babs) But, I know I need to support my body more. I also wasn't sure if using green clay would help with the detox of everything the glutathione stirred up. When I take charcoal I feel completely depleted even when I take it away from food. This is a crazy disease!

Leah