Adrenal Fatigue Revisited

The adrenal glands sit on top of your kidneys. When your brain perceives some kind of stress, you get a signal from your brain that actually goes right from your spine to your adrenal glands. Other organs and glands have a little different way of getting their signals from the brain. It’s kind of cool and maybe signifies how important the adrenals are that they get a short cut signal from the brain. This signal will tell the adrenal glands to release cortisol after a series of reactions. So this hasn’t changed. 

I mentioned in an earlier podcast that it turns out there is really no such thing as adrenal fatigue. What it actually is is a low output of cortisol. So your adrenal glands are working fine but something is getting in the way of them releasing the hormones your body needs.  There is a ton of information on the internet about adrenal fatigue with books written and websites dedicated to it. This idea of adrenal fatigue is what was known several years ago. Like I have said before, it is what I was taught in my Nutritional Therapy training. The science has changed because scientists have learned more and done more research on the adrenal glands. I think there is rarely a time we can say that the science is settled- maybe that we know vitamin C keeps us from getting scurvy but honestly even that could change at some point. Scientists are still discovering new body parts so I don’t really think the science is settled at all. 

Searching the internet for health advice can be confusing and mind boggling with so many so called experts each telling you that their way is the best way and sometimes the only way. I don’t profess to be an expert in anything but I will try my best to help you walk through the forest of information and in some cases misinformation to figure out what might be correct. My goal has always been to help you get clear about what’s out there.  I don’t want you to suffer like I have - know that in my heart I just want to help. 

So how does cortisol get low?

First of all, you need cholesterol to make cortisol but also sex hormones which are also produced in the adrenal glands. The production of cortisol happens in the mitochondria which are those energy factories in each of our cells. So if you have any type of dysfunction in your mitochondria or in your cells you may struggle with cortisol being low. 

What causes Low Cortisol? 

There can be a communication problem with your hypothalamus and your pituitary gland in your brain. There can be dysfunction at the cellular level, you can have low cholesterol, you can also be dealing with infection, inflammation or too much leptin (appetite hormone that tells you you’re full).  Nutrient deficiency (around 80% of people are deficient in vitamin E- don’t just go supplementing this), intestinal permeability, toxins- big player in all of our health. 

There is no protocol for Adrenal Fatigue in general. There is no specific diet for Adrenal Fatigue. You can try an elimination diet which will lower inflammation or paleo or you know, what works for you.  You have to clean up the toxic chemicals in your life. Organic food when and where you can, clean up your beauty products, your household cleaning products etc. A good resource for learning more about this is ewg.org

My favorite household cleaner is Branch Basics. You can get $10 off your first purchase by going to www.branchbasics.refer.cc/stephanieewalsntp 

My favorite skin care is kind of all over the place but you can get 10% off meizenskincare.com by using the code 10% OFF 

I also love Intelligent Nutrients for skin and hair care and Evan Healy skin care. 

What else can you do if you think you have low cortisol? 

Figure out how to deal with your mental/emotional stress- whatever works for you. Journaling, meditation, whatever you need. 

You can use an adaptogen like Ashwagandha or rhodiola but they will only be a bandaid until you figure out what is going on with your body. That is the biggest thing.  We all need to remember that when something goes wrong in one area of the body there is usually something systemic - system wide going on and that is what you need to figure out. 

If you can’t figure out where things are going wrong in your body, you can use my Nutritional Assessment Questionnaire to get a picture of where your body is out of balance and get headed in the right direction. A one hour initial consultation is $153 right now with 30 minute  follow up visits at $79. 

You will get a personalized protocol which includes diet and supplementation to be used for 3-6 months and then you should recheck where your body is at and what needs to change within your protocol. 

If you want support with diet changes, I am running The RESTART Program from 2/1/2021 until 3/1/2021 via Zoom. That is a wonderful way to get started on feeling better. This program is a five week nutrition education program, a sugar detox and support group all rolled into one wonderful class. People love this class and what it has to offer. The cost is $119 for the five weeks and I supply all the materials via email the day of class. It will be running from 6:30 pm CST until around 8:00 pm CST each Monday from 2/1-3/1. There are only a few spots left so email me at stephanie@outofthewoodsnutrition.com if you want to enroll. 

All my best to you all. Thank you so much for listening. Please always remember to think critically in not only the health arena but all areas of your life. Always ask why. 

I have no plans to join the main social media outlets due to their censorship. I have joined Parler but don’t currently post anything on there. The best way for now to see what’s up is to join my newsletter. 

Until next time. 

How do you push through the fatigue? Episode 13.

Q.  How do you push through the fatigue? I just want to get my life back on track.

Q.  I’ve got hypothyroidism/Hashimotos. Around noon I start getting tired and it can get to the point of dozing off. I've had every thyroid level possible checked and it's within normal range. We've actually checked it numerous times. I've had my b12 and folic acid checked along with my hormone levels, vitamin levels, and had a CBC done. Everything is good. I'm wondering if maybe we are missing something. Could I have something that we haven't checked for yet. I've also got bipolar2, depression/anxiety and ptsd which I take Topamax for. I also take Levothyroxine for my hypothyroidism.

First let’s talk about Topamax. I want you to know what you are on.  Your doctor should be testing your kidney and liver function and your blood should be tested to be sure you are able to process the drug well. They can become toxic very quickly.  

You should not drink alcohol while on this medication as it interferes with the effectiveness and it can make you sleepy as well as slow your heart rate. 

Antacids will keep you from being able to absorb this medication as well as any nutrients from your food. 

Fiber supplements can reduce the effectiveness of this medication. 

This drug will cause you to be low in folate or deficient in it. 

It has not been approved to treat PTSD but is endorsed by the National Alliance on Mental Illness to treat bipolar disorder and other mood disorders. 

Common side effects: 

Diarrhea, Dizziness, Double vision, Fever, Hair loss, Loss of appetite, Mood changes, Nausea, Reduced perspiration, Sinusitis, Stomach upset, Taste changes, Tingling or prickly skin sensations, Tremors, Uncontrollable eye movements, Urinary tract infection, Weakness, Weight loss.

With that being said, let’s move on and talk about fatigue. 

This is a super common issue for those of us dealing with thyroid issues and there are a number of reasons why fatigue could be your issue. 

Anemia.

You can have anemia from a deficiency of B12, Iron or folic acid. Your doctor may check your iron levels but do they check B12, folic acid and ferritin? Any one of these can contribute to fatigue.  And just because your lab says you are in the normal range doesn’t mean you are in the optimal range. j

Normal ferritin levels are between 12 -150 ng/mL. Mine is currently at 17 and I struggle with energy often. Some thyroid experts would say that optimal ferritin levels should be at 90-110 ng/ml for good thyroid function.  If you are still losing your hair- it could be an iron deficiency. 

And B12 values from your doctors lab may include values from people who were deficient in B12 so you can’t always rely on the lab values. “normal” is between 200-900 pg/mL but under 350 can give you neurological symptoms.  

Food sensitivities, not food allergies which is when your immune system reacts to protect you like when someone’s throat closes off in a nut allergy.  This alerts the IgE part of your immune system and happens as soon as a food is ingested. The IgA and IgG sections of the immune system will react to foods in what I would call a sensitivity or intolerance. These can cause us to be fatigued. 

IgA reactions happen in the intestinal tract which can cause inflammation there each time we consume a particular food. This will damage the intestines and can cause us to be unable to absorb nutrients from our diet. You may have symptoms like diarrhea or looser stools, constipation, reflux or you may not have any symptoms at all. You can end up with conditions like IBS, gas, rashes on your skin, acne, asthma, headaches, irritability and fatigue.  Celiac disease is in this category. 

If your T3 is low and you have high Reverse T3, this will affect your energy. T3 helps our cells make more energy. Reverse T3 makes T3 ineffective so that we are slowed down a bit. If Reverse T3 is high, we will not have any energy and one of the biggest reasons this might be high is due to stress. Another problem could be that you are not converting T4 into T3. This can be due to stress, or even nutrient deficiencies either due to low stomach acid or a compromised gut. You might find you need to be on a medication that has T3 in it. 

If your TSH is high, you will not have energy. Not all lab values are created equal here. You need to make sure that you are in a good range. Lab values for TSH are made up from a population of all kinds of people- those who are seemingly healthy and those who have undiagnosed thyroid problems and even the elderly who often have lower functioning thyroids.  The best reference range for most people is to have a TSH around .5-2 uIU/L. Personally,  mine is lower than .5 and I feel pretty good on that.  If you are taking NDT you can have a TSH that might look hyper and if your T3 is in normal range you probably feel pretty good. This can cause alarm with your doctor but try to have a conversation with them about it. 

How is your blood sugar?

This is a really really big one because it affects our adrenal glands which also have a role in energy. The good old blood sugar roller coaster will cause your adrenals to become weaker or cause the signaling between your brain and your adrenals to not work well leading to what is called adrenal fatigue or HPA axis dysfunction. For people like us with Hashimoto’s we may not tolerate those refined carbohydrates very well at all. Sometimes we get a big release of insulin when we consume sugary or refined “white” foods that others might not. So our blood sugar goes up really fast and we may have too much insulin in our blood which causes us to crash with fatigue and even anxiety or nervousness. This stresses our adrenals and leads to more fatigue.

Adrenal health is important for energy. If you are suffering from Adrenal fatigue you likely don’t have much energy to speak of even if this is the only thing you are dealing with. This is such a big deal and it takes some time to bring your adrenal health back in good standing. You need to avoid caffeine, keep your blood sugar balanced, make sure you are sleeping well and resting when you can, managing stress and probably supplementing. You can listen to Episode 7 of this podcast for more on adrenals. 

Having good digestion is key to energy. 

Many of us will be nutrient deficient and usually deficient in those nutrients that help our thyroids to function well. Just having hypothyroidism makes it harder for us to get our nutrients out of the food we are eating. This means the digestive system has to work a little harder to break down our foods and this can cause a lot of fatigue. We often have lower levels of stomach acid and most of us don’t eat when we are relaxed and we certainly don’t take the time to chew our food well. Right there is three strikes against us in the energy department. 

When we are not relaxed when we eat, we are not in “rest and digest” mode or what is called parasympathetic mode. This means we are in fight or flight mode which is not a good environment for good digestion. We already are not making enough stomach acid because we have symptoms of hypothyroidism, then we are not relaxed so we make even less. Then we are not chewing our food well- like 20 chews per bite to break it down. So, we have all this food in our stomach, not enough stomach acid and it is not being broken down. Our digestive system is working extra hard to try to break this stuff down- using all kinds of extra energy and that makes us tired. Then you have undigested food going through your intestines. You have leaky gut or intestinal permeability and these undigested food particles are then getting in to your blood stream causing your immune system to go on alert and inflammation occurs in the body. Fatigue is going to be a factor here. 

If you have low vitamin D, you can have fatigue. Get some sun. Lay in the sun for 10-15 minutes or go for a walk on a sunny day and expose as much skin as possible. Take a supplement of D3 if needed and make sure to have your levels checked by your doctor. Low D is a factor in autoimmune diseases like Hashimoto’s. 

A good diet will go a long way to helping you with your energy problems. High quality proteins and veggies along with a small amount of fruit. The big foods to eliminate for us are going to be gluten, dairy, eggs, nuts and I would try to eliminate nightshades to see if you feel better. This is basically called an elimination diet and is important for you to start to feel better, have more energy and bring your body back in to balance. 

You can find Hydrozyme at www.getbiotics.com use code DFILC163 to access. 

High T3, low T4, recommendations on supplements to feel better. Episode 10.

Welcome to episode 10. I hope this day finds you well and that everyday in every way you are getting better and better. 

Let’s get started. I got a question from Jordan. 

Hello Stephanie,     

    I'm very intrigued by your podcasts and enjoyed the free EBook! I was diagnosed with hashimotos auto-immune 2 years ago I've been on levothyroxine and my t3 remains high my T4 remains low but my tsh is always within normal ranges! My hair is terribly dry, brittle and gray and at the ripe age of 30 I'm heading to being bald! My bowels are Terrible to the point I was believing I had Celiac's or a gluten or wheat allergy until I listen to the podcast! I'm extremely overweight and I'm working hard on that as I'm 60lbs down! I have several of the symptoms of the adrenal fatigue except once I fall asleep I stay asleep and want to sleep hours upon hours! I'm writing to you to see if you could recommend to me some vitamins or suggestions so I can feel better. I'm a single mother on a extremely tight budget!  Thank you for your time! 

        Jordan

In the early stages of hashimoto’s people can have symptoms of both hypothyroidsim and hyperthyroidism. You can have palpitations, tremors, be really thin and have anxiety. You can have the dry brittle hair that is falling out and you can feel like you are going crazy. 

In hashimoto’s, your immune system is attacking the thyroid gland causing bits of thyroid hormone to be released in to the blood stream making you feel like you are experiencing hyperthyroidism. 

So what is happening? What will the issues be that you may have?

• food sensitivities

• nutrient deficiencies

• adrenal fatigue

• possibly an infection in your gut

• poor detoxification- you are not able to clear out toxins

Any or all of these will keep your immune system on high alert and continue the attack on your thyroid. 

The high T3 is probably what is causing your hair to fall out. This can be indicative of high antibodies and since you have a diagnosis of hashimoto’s this could be what is going on here. You can ask to have your thyroglobulin antibodies along with the thyroid peroxidase antibodies tested. This should confirm why T3 is high. 

Low t4 can indicate disease in the thyroid or a problem with the pituitary gland or the signal that tells your thyroid to make more thyroid hormone. Your TSH is in the normal range, you said- I assume that is conventional range. If it is above three, functional medicine would consider that high. So, The pituitary gland would release TSH if t4 is low and a high TSH level would probably mean the thyroid itself isn’t working well and you would have hypothyroidism.  If t4 is low and TSH is not high then the pituitary gland is not signaling correctly. This is something you would want to discuss with your doctor. 

You also need to take a look at all of these things to bring down the inflammation and hopefully put your hashimoto’s in to remission. 

You may have deficiencies in the micro minerals like selenium, zinc, vitamin D, iron, B12 and B vitamins in general. First and foremost though you need to see if you have low stomach acid.     

Let’s start with Selenium: 

Many of us with hashimoto’s are deficient in this micro mineral which can be one of the things that causes us to get hashimoto’s. It helps to break down and make neutral the free radicals made during thyroid hormone production. If we are low on selenium, damage to the thyroid can occur and our ability to convert T4 to the T3 (which is what our cells take in) is affected. Take around 200 micrograms of this one. It has been shown to help reduce thyroid antibodies. 

Vitamin D:  

This helps to regulate our immune system and remember that hashimoto’s is an immune system problem first and foremost.  Your levels should be around 60-80 when you have it tested for optimal immune system regulation. 

D3 is the more absorbable form and you should make sure that it is in a capsule or liquid form with some kind of high quality fat like olive oil or MCT oil (a broken down portion of coconut oil). It is a fat soluble vitamin so you need to take it with fat for your body to use it. 

Good food sources for vitamin D are cod liver oil, fish, eggs and sunlight

B12-

If you have major fatigue, you should have your levels of B12 tested. It plays a role in digestion too so you want to make sure you are, again, making enough stomach acid. Most of us with hashimoto’s and hypothyroidism have low stomach acid. 

When you have low stomach acid, you don’t digest your food well which means your body has to work harder to break it down which requires energy. 

One of the possible causes for the low stomach acid is a B12 deficiency. And a B12 deficiency can cause low stomach acid. Vicious cycle. If you don’t have enough stomach acid you can’t get the nutrients including B12 and iron out of your food. You won’t be breaking down your meals as well and this can lead to food sensitivities. 

Betaine HCl with Pepsin. This is stomach acid in capsule or pill form. I recommend starting out with around 150mg pill to see where you are at. It will help you digest and break down your food better so you can use the nutrients in your food. 

Next, Probiotics. 

Intestinal permeability plays a pretty big role in autoimmune disease. One of the things linked to it is having your gut bacteria out of balance. Having more “bad guys” than “good guys” can cause gut issues and anxiety. You have about 100 trillion bacteria in your gut. 

Start with a 10 billion CFU per capsule and increase every couple of days until you see or feel die off symptoms. The die off is the bad guys dying out and the good guys taking over. The bad bacteria will release toxins that might make you feel bad for a couple of days. This can also exacerbate the inflammation and immune response so make sure  you have good eliminations and are drinking plenty of water. 

One of the best ways to get a lot of good bacteria in to your digestive tract is by consuming fermented foods like sauerkraut- not canned sauerkraut but the raw fermented kind found in the refrigerator sections of stores or find it at farmers markets. Or make it yourself. It is so easy to do and really inexpensive. 

Here is a good explanation of what leaky gut or intestinal permeability is and how it affects the immune system from Sean Croxton: 

“think of a window screen. And I say, “It’s a hot day. You open up the windows. And the good air comes through to cool the place off. And it feels nice and good and what not. But it keeps all the bugs, the flies, the gnats and the mosquitos out of the house. And that’s how the gut works. It’s very selective about what it allows through into the bloodstream or wherever.

“But if some kid came over to your house and started poking big holes in your window screen, then what happens is you open up the window. And gnats might come in. Flies might come in. What do you do? You start grabbing a magazine and like whacking away and stuff. And that’s what your immune system does, right? It says, “Wait. This isn’t supposed to be here. So let’s start whacking away.” And now we’ve got a problem. We’ve got an overactive immune system.”

Glutamine- 

This will help heal your small intestine where intestinal permeability happens. It helps to repair the lining of your small intestine where new cells are made every 3 or so days. 

Zinc can also be helpful in repairing leaky gut and in helping you make enough stomach acid. 

If you are dealing with any kind of adrenal fatigue: 

This would mean your brain is not communicating with the pituitary gland to help your adrenals manage stress. This is called the HPA axis and it also helps to regulate the immune system. When we are stressed, this system doesn’t work well. 

If you are dealing with adrenal fatigue you may feel: 

• overwhelmed

• tired even with 8 hours of sleep

• like staying in bed in the morning

• a craving for salty foods

• daily things are too much to handle

• brain fog

• little to no sex drive

• like you can’t make a decision

Adaptogenic herbs like American Ginseng, ashwagandha, Asian ginseng, Cordyceps and Chaga mushrooms, and/or holy basil and licorice root may be helpful. 

You should work with a practitioner to find out if you are in need of supplementation here. 

Some things that can help you manage your hashimoto’s is your diet. 

• Being gluten free, dairy free or try an elimination diet to help you figure out which foods you are sensitive to. This will also naturally help you balance your blood sugar which will also help give your adrenal glands a break.

• Make sure you are eating protein of some kind at every meal, including breakfast and eat breakfast within an hour of getting up. Don’t skip any meals and don’t do any fasting.

• Eat 4-5 meals per day for a week or so to give your blood sugar regulation system a break.

• Have a snack of protein and fat or a starch before bed. Make sure any carbs you are eating are eaten with protein.

• Avoid caffeine

A word of caution on supplements. Please don’t go buy them at your local big box store or the corner pharmacy store. Don’t buy them on Amazon either. I suggest at the very least to buy from Vitamin Shoppe or from your local food coop or even Whole Foods. You should work with a practitioner that can help you find just what you need though

The reason for this is there is no regulation on supplements. They don’t have rules in manufacturing or labeling. Some supplements won’ t even have the ingredients stated on their label or the dose can be way off. Some might have gluten or dairy in them and you might have a sensitivity to it. This is one case where quality really matters. 

A practitioner should be able to find what is most bioavailable for you since there are multiple chemical formulations of certain nutrients and some work better than others. Some are more expensive than others to manufacture. 

You also need to make sure you start with low doses so as not to over do it.  You just don’t know how your body will react to a new supplement. Starting slowly with lower doses will help you catch a reaction to it before it gets too bad. 

There is no magic supplement that will fix the hashimoto’s or anything for that matter. Some of these will definitely help you on your journey to healing or remission or whatever you want to call it. 

My top picks would be Hydrozyme from Biotics which is a lower dose stomach acid supplement and diet changes first and foremost. You can get that by going to www.getbiotics.com and using my practitioner code DFILC163. 

When starting a dose of stomach acid, remember to take a few bites of your protein based meal, take a pill, take a bite of food, take a pill and you do this until you feel a little burning sensation. Then you know to take one less than what gave you the burning sensation. 

Thanks so much for listening. Please tell anyone you know who has been diagnosed with Hashimoto’s to listen in and if you would be so kind as to leave a review on iTunes so more people can find this podcast that would be great too. My goal is to help as many people as possible to feel better and beat this disease. 

Got a question about your thyroid or hashimoto’s? Please send your questions to helpforhashimotos@gmail.com or head on over to my website and fill out the contact form there. 

You can find me at www.outofthewoodsnutrition.com or www.helpforhashimotos.com  I’m on Instagram at @Stephanieewalsntp which is where I post the most and on facebook at Out of The Woods Nutrition

See you next time. 

Do you have symptoms of worn out Adrenal glands? Episode 7.

Today we are going to be talking about the adrenal glands. I had a question from someone asking me what the adrenal glands were so here you go! 

Adrenal fatigue symptoms: 

Being a night person, hard time falling asleep, slow starter in the morning: 

All signs that your cortisol rhythm is out of balance causing cortisol to be high at night and low in the morning. It should be the opposite. 

Do you tend to be keyed up and have trouble calming down?

This is a sign of increased adrenal output or hyperadrenalism. Having high cortisol with low DHEA can cause this. In the beginning stages of adrenal breakdown, the body’s response to stress is to increase the cortisol output from the adrenal glands. If the stress never stops, this process doesn’t stop and you will eventually have adrenal fatigue. 

Do you get a headache after exercising?

This means your adrenals are slow to put out cortisol. Chronic stress will cause the cortisol levels to drop leading to a decreased ability to control blood sugar and eventually low blood sugar, irritability, headaches and so on. Exercise can cause your blood sugar to drop and if cortisol output isn’t there then blood sugar won’t be regulated properly leading to symptoms of low blood sugar. 

Do you feel wired or jittery after drinking coffee?

This may mean you have issues with high cortisol output, you need liver support or you just have a sensitivity to coffee. Caffeine is an adrenal stimulant though and it can contribute to excess cortisol output. 

Do you clench or grind your teeth? This is a classic sign of increased stress and high stress levels lead to an increase in your sympathetic nervous system or the fight or flight response. This will increase your total cortisol output. If the stress isn’t resolved, adrenals will start to break down and adrenal fatigue comes to visit. 

How about chronic low back pain that gets worse when you are tired? Our pelvic supportive muscles are neurologically related to the adrenal glands. You maybe need some connective tissue support. 

Do you get dizzy when you stand up quickly or feel dizzy in general?

This is a sign of low adrenal function. Our adrenal glands are responsible for keeping blood pressure in the normal range for those few seconds it takes us to go from lying down to standing up. Having a drop in blood pressure by 10 or more indicates a need for adrenal support. 

Do you have arthritic tendencies? Achy joints and there is no sign of arthritis? Consider your adrenal health and your gut health. Both can be responsible. 

Do you crave salty foods or do you salt your food before tasting it?

You may have a possible need for electrolytes. Our adrenal glands help manage stress but they also help keep our minerals balanced. Aldosterone is a mineral corticoid which causes our body to reabsorb sodium and chloride. When aldosterone levels are compromised, we excrete more sodium and chloride than is needed giving us a salt craving. I often tell my clients to salt their water if they are having adrenal issues. 

How about afternoon yawning? This can mean adrenal insufficiency, and slow or hypo functioning adrenals glands. It is also a sign you need B1 or thiamine and an indication of low thyroid function. 

Pain on the inner side of your knee? Tendency to have shin splints or sprained ankles? Adrenal dysfunction causes weak ligaments in the body. Ankles are most affected in a lot of us. 

Do you need to wear sunglasses even when it is cloudy outside? The ability of our pupils to constrict in bright light is partially related to adrenal functioning. When the adrenals are tired, they won’t constrict easily or at all. 

The purpose of the adrenals is to help us cope with all kinds of stress including the stress caused by blood sugar dysregulation.

The hormones secreted by your adrenals affect the way our body uses carbohydrates and fats, the conversion of fats and proteins in to energy and how fat is distributed in our body (especially around our waist and the sides of our face). They play a role in heart health and in digestive function. Adrenal hormones are anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant which helps minimize reactions to things we are allergic to from things in food to our environment.  After menopause they make our sex hormones. 

How is your ability to respond to chronic illness? Adrenals have a hand in that too. 

Again, blood sugar dysregulation/erratic blood sugar levels is closely related with low adrenal function. You might have a tendency towards allergies, that arthritic pain and get sick more often.  You might even find yourself with fears you can’t explain, anxiety and depression, inability to concentrate and tougher time recalling memories.  Find yourself less tolerant of things or get frustrated easily? Insomnia? 

Things that affect the adrenals: 

• Financial problems, loss of job

  1. Death of loved one

  2. Stress, chronic, repeated, psychological, fear

  3. Poor food choices, SAD diet

  4. Perpetual negative thinking loop running in your head

  5. No relaxation time

  6. Lack of sleep

  7. Chronic or acute infections

  8. Allergies, environmental or food (do you eat something you are sensitive to?)

  9. Lack of exercise OR too much of it

  10. Caffeine

More signs and symptoms of adrenal fatigue: 

• Hard time getting up in the morning

  1. Fatigue not relieved by sleep

  2. Lethargy or lack of energy

  3. Everyday tasks take a lot of effort

  4. Low sex drive

  5. Can’t handle stress well

     • road rage, anxiety all the time, yelling at your kids for no reason, compulsive eating, smoking, drug use

  6. Takes you longer to recover from being sick, injured or going through a traumatic event.

  7. Mild depression- seems pointless to make an effort at anything

  8. Less happiness or feelings of enjoyment

     • you don’t feel interested in much, don’t do much for fun

  9. Worse than bad PMS

  10. You cannot skip a meal, need snacks all the time

  11. Less tolerant of others

  12. Slow to wake in the morning- by 10am or so you feel better, slow down around 3pm and feel alive after 6pm

  13. You are not very productive

You have to look at these symptoms together. You probably have more than one which will suggest you are dealing with adrenal dysfunction. Having more than three of these is indicative of a problem. 

How do you recover?

Take a look at these symptoms on my website under this podcast and see where you can make some changes. You absolutely will have to make some changes in your life if you want to recover from adrenal fatigue. Supplements can help and you may need to supplement to kick start your adrenal recovery but they will only be a bandaid if that is all you plan to do. 

We all have stress and those of us with chronic illness have that on top of our every day stress. Remember that chronic illness, autoimmune disease, with an overactive immune system is stressful in and of itself to our adrenals. Then add on the standard American diet and you have more stress in the form of blood sugar dysregulation and digestive distress. Do you have food allergies or sensitivities? Probably if you have autoimmune disease. 

Look at your lifestyle: 

Remove the stressors: 

• What robs you of energy? People in your life, food sensitivities, no sleep

  1. Are you getting fresh air?

  2. Do you drink alcohol? Eat junk food? Smoke? Caffeine/coffee?

  3. Chemicals in your environment?

     • laundry

       1. skin care

       2. household cleaners

       3. clean water

Learn some deep breathing techniques, meditation and just do it. Even one minute a day to start will be helpful. Notice the stories you tell yourself in your head. Are you having an argument with your spouse or friend in your head? Your stress response will be the same whether it is in your head or actually happening. 

Sleep- the big big issue us Hashimoto’s sufferers deal with. We need to sleep to recover our adrenals. If you want to heal your adrenals, you need to go to bed and be asleep before 11:00 hits. Go to bed or start getting ready for bed at 9:00. No joke. Let the dishes go, let everything go and just work on healing your body for a while. If you can, sleep until 8:00 or 9:00. This is not always possible but do the best you can.  Normal adrenal function allows for cortisol to rise from 6:00-8:00 in the morning. With adrenal fatigue the rise isn’t as high and the drop in cortisol is faster. Lower cortisol means it takes longer to really feel awake. 

If you can’t sleep and are waking up between 1:00 and 3:00 in the morning, then you have a blood sugar issue. Your adrenals have kicked in to raise your blood sugar which causes you to wake up and it takes awhile for you to get back to sleep. 

Eating a protein/fat and unrefined carb type snack before bed can help you to stay asleep. You can also include some starchy carbs in your evening meal which should help you to fall asleep and stay asleep. 

Get some exercise. Low intensity to start. Walk for an hour as many days a week as you can. Yoga, especially restorative yoga can be very helpful. Wear the blue blocking glasses at night starting around 7pm. This will block the blue lights from TV and other screens which will aid in melatonin production. 

Eating: You must eat within an hour of waking up in order to prevent the adrenals from getting involved in raising your blood sugar. Even if you don’t feel like eating, eat something. Protein, fat and a small amount of starchy carb will help significantly. Maybe something like some chicken or turkey, a couple slices of avocado and a couple bites of sweet potato and maybe a small pile of veggies like cucumbers or carrots. 

Supplements that might be helpful in recovering your adrenal health. Remember, if you are only doing supplements they will be a band aid. You need to change your diet and lifestyle and use supplementation to help you along the way. 

• Vitamin C- very essential nutrient to the whole adrenal process. Ascorbic acid along with bioflavonoids. Look for a C complex. Go for highest quality of any supplement that you can afford. Buy from a reputable source.

• B Vitamins- A B complex with methylated folate- important in energy production

• Magnesium Glycinate- is like a spark plug for the adrenals. Very helpful with energy production.

• Trace Minerals and Electrolytes

• Essential Fatty Acids- fish and fish oils.

• Adaptogenic herbs and other herbs-

• Licorice Root- anti-stress, increases energy. Very helpful in many ways to the adrenals. Avoid in the late afternoon and evening.

  1. Ashwaganda- a nightshade but a great adaptogen. It will help the body function more in the normal range no matter if you have high cortisol or low cortisol. Can be stimulating for some people.

  2. Korean Ginseng- helps with energy.

  3. Siberian Ginseng- take no later than lunchtime- is stimulating

  4. Rhodiola- prevents stress induced adrenaline activity

  5. Holy Basil- gives us a sense of well being, helps normalize blood sugar

This is not an overnight fix. It didn’t take you overnight to tax your adrenals. Plan on 6 months to 2 years of recovery. You will see improvement over time unless you don’t change things in your life that got you here in the first place. You can get your life back but you have to put in a little work to get there. 

What does all of this have to do with the thyroid?

Chronic immune stimulation as in the case of unmanaged Hashimoto’s causes long term high cortisol (stress). You have to manage the autoimmune disease in order to also manage the adrenal gland stressors.  Low thyroid function or hypothyroidism is often the after affect of adrenal stress. Chronic adrenal stress will affect the communication between the brain and the adrenal glands. They hypothalamus and the pituitary gland are less effective with chronic adrenal stress and therefore cannot communicate with the thyroid as well.  The thyroid hormone also won’t be able to get the cells like they need to to do their job. T4 will not convert to T3 as well. The cells won’t be as sensitive to the thyroid hormone when it reaches them and the immune system cannot regulate itself as well. 

Obviously diet is a big part of this. You have to be eating high quality protein, fat and carbs in the form of veggies and a small amount of fruit. There are blog posts on my website for each of those topics as related to health in general so you can go over there to read more. Just search protein, fat, or carbohydrate. You have to keep your blood sugar stable and eat every 3 hours or so if you need to until your adrenals and blood sugar become more stable. Have protein and fat based snacks and avoid all juices for now. Don’t eat any higher glycemic foods/ food higher in sugar without eating protein or fat with them. Avoid artificial sweeteners, partially hydrogenated fats, any foods you are sensitive to, refined sugar and the other things mentioned earlier like alcohol, smoking/nicotine and caffeine. 

This week, tell yourself each day: “everyday in every way, I am getting better and better”.  You have got this and I have got your back. 

Thank you so much for listening. Your support means a lot. Please share this podcast with anyone you know dealing with thyroid problems, autoimmune issues or chronic illness. Much of the information here can help more than just those of us with Hashimoto’s. 

If you haven’t already, you can get my free ebook, 5 Things Your Doctor Won’t Tell You About Hashimoto’s on my website. You can also find me on Facebook at www.outofthewoodsnutrition.com or helpforhashimotos.com and on instagram at stephaniewalsntp.  

I would love to answer your questions about Hashimoto’s or other chronic conditions. Please send your questions to helpforhashimotos@gmail.com or go to my website and fill out the contact form and put podcast in the subject line. 

Thanks for joining me, see you next week. 

Weight gain with diet changes, exhausted after exercise, nightshades, and AIP. Episode 3.

I have been eating nothing but raw vegetables and water for 6 days. I have gained 3 pounds. I am at a loss. I have taken more D3 and B12. I have added magnesium to my diet. I am exercising even though I am exhausted all the time. I have resorted to taking sudafed because it makes me have energy.......please help. I have been to 2 different endocrinologists and they refuse to help. I have been gluten free for 6 weeks. What else can I do?

1. with raw veggies only for 6 days…. How much were you eating. It could be that you were not eating enough and your body was starving and holding on to weight.

   1. If you were not eating enough it could deplete the adrenals and then you have an issue with cortisol. This is our main stress hormone and when it is working normally it can be anti-inflammatory and key for fat burning. It also helps keep our blood sugar and our blood pressure up. So, if you were not eating enough, your blood sugar would be low and cortisol would be released to save the day. This can be a problem if it is constantly working to help manage your blood sugar whether too high or too low. Cortisol is supposed to be low in the evening to get us ready for sleeping and higher in the morning so when we wake up we feel ready for the day. If this is not you, then you probably have an issue with your cortisol being out of balance. When cortisol is low it can affect your ability to tolerate your workouts, meaning you are exhausted after a work out. Exercising too hard can wear out your adrenals and to work on healing them and getting them working properly again you need to slow down the workouts to basically just walking up to five days a week for an hour.

      1. If you have low cortisol you will have symptoms like:

         1. needing a pick me up in the morning or afternoon to keep you going such as coffee or in your case, sudafed to ramp you up.

         2. cravings for salt in general, or sugar or starches between meals

         3. you feel burnt out or don’t handle stress well

         4. you feel like you need sunglasses even on a cloudy day

         5. Your blood pressure is low or you get dizzy when you stand up quickly from a sitting position

         1. If you have high cortisol

            1. you might have extra fat around your mid section

            2. you feel tired even after sleeping a full night

            3. you have poor digestion

            4. you might wake up tired and achy

            5. you have trouble falling asleep

      2. High cortisol issues and low cortisol issues can happen at the same time. They can sort of wax and wane. It is higher when we are dealing with chronic stress which can be physical or emotional and physical stress can include what is going in internally with your body and thyroid issues. When stress is chronic (and the diet and exercise you describe would be very stressful for you right now) you can get puffy, wired and tired, and you may gain weight.

   2. This could have been detoxifying to your body and released something that your body couldn’t get rid of so you gained weight because we store toxins in our fat tissue.

      1. If your detoxification pathways are not open (liver, skin, lungs, eliminations) and this diet of raw veggies over the last 6 days really cleaned things up internally but those toxins had nowhere to go then your body could have shuttled them in to your fat tissue.

      2. All raw veggies can be hard on our digestive tract too. You might consider starting with some bone broth and cooked veggies before continuing with all raw veggies. You can steam veggies, cook them in broth (the most soothing to our digestive system), roast them, grill them or satue them in some healthy fats like coconut oil or olive oil. Broth will have minerals and collagen that are soothing and even healing to your digestive tract, especially the small intestine.

   3. Were you avoiding fat because you were worried it will make you fatter? This is not always true and consuming a small amount of healthy fats everyday is necessary for our cells to be healthy. Each cell is made of a layer of fat and we need healthy fats to make up the building blocks of our cells. This helps waste be removed from our cells and get nutrition in to our cells.

2. It would be nice to know amounts of D3 and B12 you are taking.

   1. Vitamin D is a fat soluble vitamin with defieciency being a contributor to autoimmune disease. We make vitamin d from cholesterol in our skin cells when we absorb UVB radiation from the sun. We need vitamin d for many processes in the body including the regulation and absorption of calcium, phosphorus and magnesium and for our bones to mineralize and grow. It plays a role in regulating the release of serotonin which we need for our mental/emotional health and for good digestion. It also helps us heal and helps to regulate our immune system but it doesn’t work on it’s own and supplementation with a high dose is not in and of itself a solution. WE need to take it with other fat soluble vitamins (A, E, K —-D protects against A toxicity and A protects against D toxicity and large amounts of A&D increase the need for K—-consuming liver is a great way to get all of these from food.) and we can’t use or assimilate our fat soluble vitamins with out taking them with fat. There was a study done around 1980 with Wheat Bran showing the possibility that it can prevent us from absorbing vitamin d, creating a possible deficiency.

      1. food sources of vitamin d besides liver are:

         1. salmon

         2. sardines

         3. tuna

         4. eggs (if you tolerate them)

         5. shiitake mushrooms

   2. B12

      1. we need this to help with the metabolism of carbs, proteins and fats in our cells and it is really important in making and regulating DNA, making fatty acids and in energy production.

      2. We need good gut bacteria to be able to use most of the B12 we take in so getting it from food is always best. Also, you can only get B12 from animals (unless you supplement) like shellfish, and meat products and it is produced by the animals gut bacteria.

         1. sardines have the highest amount of B12 per serving

         2. then salmon, tuna, cod, lamb, scallops, shrimp, beef

3. Exercise- if you are exhausted, then don’t exercise. Go for a walk. This will help your adrenals heal. Anything you do while working on healing your adrenals should not be debilitating, grueling or super competitive. Yoga, tai chi, kick boxing, swimming, walking, even dancing. Do something enjoyable and start slow and work your way in to it. Most important is to do it at your own pace. You might be overexercising.

   1. Again, when the adrenals are off this can lead to weight gain.

4. You have been gluten free for 6 weeks. This is great. Gluten is not the friend of someone with Hashimoto’s or thyroid issues so staying off it is a good first step. What else can you do, you ask?

   1. you can eat at least one pound of veggies, cooked and raw, remember I said cooked will be gentler on your digestion. Eat a wide variety keeping in mind the autoimmune protocol and nightshades (peppers, potatoes, tomatoes, eggplant, etc) being inflammatory for some of us with thyroid issues.

   2. consume about 25 grams of protein each meal for four meals or work in 100 grams of protein in a day.

      1. one serving of salmon should have around 22 grams of protein and a small chicken breast should have around 28grams

   3. Get some healthy fats in your diet

      1. avocado, avocado oil, olive oil, olives, coconut oil, coconut milk, nuts if you tolerate them, ghee if you tolerate it.

   4. Fruits in small amounts and stick to berries mostly but get a variety.

   5. Spices and herbs are also great. Be mindful of pepper and seed based spices if you are doing the autoimmune protocol.

5. Avoid

   1. gluten and grains

   2. dairy

   3. sugar

   4. alcohol

   5. Coffee won’t help your adrenals

I’m trying to find the limits/dimensions of my food sensitivities and figure out how to navigate eating out and would like to start introducing nightshades but am a little confused because my dietician says if you’re sensitive to one nightshade, you’re sensitive to them all. (I am gluten, dairy and sugar-free. I was full AIP for months, but have started reintroducing foods.)

For context, my three exposures:

1st and 2nd - I ate 1/4 of a fresh tomato and about 20 hours later felt extremely anxious (8 or 9 out of 10) and one of those times I had heart palpitations.
3rd - I took a chance and ate meat marinated with bell peppers. No reaction, which was great. Maybe being in the marinade isn’t enough exposure? Or maybe because the meat was cooked? Curious what is going on. 

1. Nightshades:

   1. contain a couple thousand different species of plants, most are inedible and poisonous. Eating too many of these can kill off our cells and contribute to a leaky gut and really eating too many can actually be poisonous. It is thought that low level exposure can contribute to health problems over time.

   2. Which foods are considered nightshades?

      1. bell peppers, hot peppers and spices made from them

      2. tomatoes

      3. ground cherries/gooseberries

      4. eggplant

      5. goji berries

      6. pimentos

      7. potatoes

      8. tomatillos

      9. ashwaganda (a popular herbal adaptogen for adrenals)

2. Reintroducing foods.

   1. How many months did you do full AIP?

   2. Waiting until you are in feeling your best and your labs look good to do reintroductions is ideal. This gives your gut a chance to heal and bring down any lingering inflammation.

      1. also making sure stress is well managed is important. Don’t do reintroductions during a stressful time in your life. It can likely set your recovery/remission back quite a bit.

      2. If you have been aip for a month or longer you can consider reintroductions if you have good digestion, you are not getting worse rather than better and you can manage your hashi’s/thyroid problems well. You may still need medication and that is okay.

      3. Don’t start with foods you know you have an allergy to.

      4. If you have a reaction to something, it is likely you need to work on healing your gut more.

   3. How to reintroduce a food

      1. Start with one food, you pick it but here is a suggestion of where to start:

         1. egg yolks

         2. legumes (green beans and peas)

         3. spices

         4. oils made from nuts or seeds

         5. ghee

      2. Eat the food you pick 2-3 times in one day and then don’t reintroduce another food for about a week.

         1. start with less than a teaspoon or so of the food you picked and then wait for about 15 minutes. If you notice any symptoms immediately, stop and wait a week or so to try again.

         2. no reaction, have a small bite, wait 15 more minutes, then a slightly bigger bite, wait for a couple of hours and pay close attention to how you feel.

            1. symptoms can be digestive, changes in energy, cravings, sleeping issues, headaches, dizzy feeling, runny nose, more phlegm coughing, clearing your throat, itching, aches, skin rashes, mood issues.

            2. you can eat a bigger portion at a meal on the day you reintroduced it if this reintro went well.

         3. wait 4-7 days before introducing another food if that went well.

         4. If reintroducing a spice, you can reintro it in smaller amounts than I just suggested as it is consumed in small amounts.

      3. You might find that you can tolerate a food on a rotation type basis or just every once in awhile but not everyday. This is okay- it helps ensure you get some variety in your diet.

      4. Keeping a food journal can be very helpful to try and pinpoint where something went wrong.

3. I have not read anywhere about all or nothing with nightshades. Based on the way reintroductions are suggested in the autoimmune protocol community though, it looks like sweet peppers and paprika are introduced in stage three and the rest of them in stage four.