Sleep, Stress, and Adrenal Fatigue

Sleep, Stress, and Adrenal Fatigue 

Adrenal Fatigue is a decrease in the adrenal glands’ ability to carry out normal function. It is commonly caused by chronic stress from any source—emotional, physical, mental, or environmental— that exceeds the body’s capacity to adjust well to the demands placed on it by the stress. This affects our sleep. I’ve heard numerous people say they haven’t been sleeping well.This has been such a stressful year for many Americans. It’s feels like stress and fear are in the air…like you can reach out and touch them. There is a lot that you can do to combat stress and fear and live in a state of peace.

Let’s first take a look at some of the symptoms of stress and then we’ll look at what you can do.

Symptoms include:

• Asthma, allergies or respiratory complaints
• Dark circles under the eyes
• Dizziness
• Dry skin
• Extreme tiredness an hour after exercise
• Frequent urination
• Joint pain
• Lines in your fingertips
• Loss of muscle tone
• Low blood pressure
• Low blood sugar
• Low sex drive
• Lower back pain
• Numbness in your fingers / Poor circulation
• Weight gain
• Difficulty getting up in the morning, even after enough sleep
• Weak immune system
• Feeling fatigued
• Inability to handle stress
• Crave salt
• Higher energy in the evening; get your “second wind” when you should be winding down

Even if you have a few of these symptoms, there’s a good chance you may have stressed out adrenals, unless you have no stress in your life.  Who’s that these days? I know you can recover from adrenal fatigue.  I have recovered more than once. 

Here’s what you can do:

Sleep—it’s one of the most important things you can do to restore your adrenals, but when they are stressed you often can’t sleep well.

Here are some interventions:

• Give yourself permission to sleep.  Even if it means taking a short nap in the middle of the day, you’ve got to sleep to heal.  When you force yourself to power through the groggy afternoon slump, you stress your adrenal glands even more.
• Rest for 15 minutes during the day with your feet up.  Your adrenals know when you’re down and your feet your feet are up.  It makes them happy.  Find a couch or whatever you can and give your body a healthy break—not a coffee break, which stresses the adrenals even more.
• Sleep in.  The best hours of recovery in the morning are between 6 and 9 am. The more you let your body sleep when it wants to, the faster you will heal.
• Go to bed early.  You need to be in bed between 9 and 9:45 pm.  And that’s not reading a novel or answering emails.  It’s sleeping. The sleep you get before midnight is crucial for rebuilding your adrenals.
• Reduce stress. Too much cortisol (pumped out in response to stress) in your system in the evenings keeps you from sleeping deeply, causing you to wake frequently during the night, frequent urination at night, and  to awaken in the morning unrefreshed.
• Avoid coffee.  Caffeine really stresses the adrenals.  A holistic MD that I interned under said coffee was to the adrenals like whipping a poor tired horse and making him keep going when he just wants to lie down and rest.
• Avoid sweets and simple carbs.  They trigger a cortisol release, which is another stressor for the adrenals. Avoid bread, rolls, crackers, noodles, potatoes, or anything made with flour. Completely avoid sweets.
• Avoid anything stressful before going to bed. Wind down and relax so you can actually go to sleep when you go to bed. Stay away from the blue light of electronics in the evening. Power everything down by 8 pm.
• Get off the computer and all other electronics. The light shining in your eyes can cause your body to think it’s morning. You start waking up rather than winding down.
• Eating things you are allergic or sensitive too. This is stressful to your body and can cause stress hindering your sleep.

Cherie’s Morning Blend

Rather than coffee, why not wake up your body with an energizing, delicious juice?

• 4–5 carrots, scrubbed well, tops removed, ends trimmed
• 4 dark green leaves, such as chard, kale, or collards
• 2 ribs of celery with leaves
• 1 large cucumber, peeled if not organic
• 1 lemon peeled, if not organic
• 1-inch-chunk ginger root

Cut produce to fit your juicer’s feed tube. Juice ingredients and stir. Pour into a glass and enjoy. Serves 2.

From The Juice Lady’s Remedies for Stress and Adrenal Fatigue

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