Are Supplements Holding You Back From Recovering from Adrenal Fatigue?

When it comes to all the puzzle pieces that go together when taking a holistic approach to addressing adrenal fatigue I always say that supplements are the easy part.

I don’t mean they are easy in the sense that they are easy to pick out or necessarily easy to afford, that part can be tricky sometimes—- but when I say easy, I mean it in the sense that they are something that you can just ADD to you current lifestyle without much interruption to business as usual.

After working on the floor in a busy supplement shop when I was studying nutrition, I saw the pattern of people coming in looking for that one silver bullet— that one supplement that was going to make all the difference in the world— to help them lose weight, to help them balance their hormones, clear up their skin, improve their sleep or all of these things put together and the some.

The truth is, I used to be like this too…spending whatever I had to on things I had heard were really effective for certain things. I was right there with ya, I wanted it to be that easy too.

Perhaps you can relate to the disappointment that crept in when you were done a bottle and you literally didn’t notice anything different.. or maybe a bit, but you still didn’t feel fully fixed… and this is something we see ALL THE TIME in this community and with the clients we work with.

Here are 3 common mistakes that can actually sabotage your results

MISTaKE 1: You think a supplement alone is going to be that silver bullet that heals you.

• If it were ONLY that easy… and yes, in some cases we HAVE seen that a supplement can be enough to bring someone back into balance simply and easily. For instance, this is commonly seen in cases where someone is deficient in a certain nutrient and starts supplementing it, but there is almost always more to the picture.

• When it comes to adrenal fatigue, there is more often than not, a lifestyle behind the fatigue that has been supporting the burnout for sometime. Supplements can be supportive and help us feel better day to day— but dealing with the lifestyle and the way the body is perceiving stress on an ongoing basis MUST be addressed if you really want to address this long term. Click here to learn our 7 step system to adrenal fatigue recovery!

KEY THING: DON’T FORGET ABOUT THE LIFESTYLE CHANGES NEEDED!

Mistake 2: You are using supplements to put a band-aid on an issue that is not the root cause

• This is another really common situation and with adrenal fatigue, there are 2 layers to this mindset we want to shine a light on.

  • Layer 1: You are using supplements to support your adrenals but there is another, deeper and larger root cause to your adrenal issues that is being looked over. This is common because for many, adrenal fatigue is much more complicated then simple fatigue and simple burn-out—there is often mineral imbalance, heavy metal toxicity, underlying infections or bacterial overgrowth, auto-immune conditions, etc. In these cases, if you aren’t sure, when it comes to supplements- there is likely a lot of guessing going on. This can draw out the process for a long time in an expensive and frustrating way. We recommend working with a professional who can run the appropriate tests and help you target the right root cause so that all your supplement efforts can be more targeted and more effective.

  • Layer 2: You jump straight to adrenal formulas or adaptogens without addressing an anxious, wound up nervous system that needs calming. You can support and stimulate the adrenals all you want, but if you neglect to address the overdriven nervous system that is keeping the demands on the adrenals high, then you’ll be supporting the adrenals forever. This requires lifestyle adjustments (more deep breathing, more meditating, more sleep) and when it comes to using supplements, think about supplements that are calming and rejuvenating to the nervous system—instead of stimulating or energy producing.

kEY THING: FIGURE OUT THE ROOT CAUSE and ADDRESS iT FIRST!

mISTAKE 3: LACKING PATIENCE

• Patience is a virtue, but when we are burnt-out, exhausted and tired, sometimes we don’t want to wait. We wanted results yesterday! However, we have to remember (especially with hormones) things take time and a supplement may be providing tremendous benefit but the results won’t really be seen or felt for a good few weeks or even months. For this reason, it’s common to see people jumping from one supplement to the next month after month, bottle after bottle, because they aren’t seeing the desired result quick enough.

• We encourage you to think about how you can gauge small and subtle changes that might be showing up along the way—sometimes we are so focused on going from 0 to 100, that it’s easy to discredit or disregard the progress being made along the way.

  KEY THING: Consider how can you track your progress more objectively and less emotionally?

When it comes to using supplements to support your adrenal fatigue, think about what’s causing the imbalance in your body carefully and intuitively. If you aren’t sure, working with a professional who can help make this clear for you can make a huge difference and can really help get you our of a rut if you have felt stuck with the progress you have made up to this point.

Supplement Hacks for Common Adrenal Fatigue Complaints

Adrenal Fatigue is complicated, many of us know this to be true all to well.

The effects of HPA (hypothalmus-piuitary-adrenal) Axis Dysfunction can be vast and varied— so many different symptoms that affect so many different areas of our life. This is part of the reason it can be hard to pinpoint adrenal issues as a root cause and address them properly.

Some of the symptoms are often so common that we come to see them as normal— fatigue, feeling tired in the morning, anxiety, sleep disturbancess etc. While others are less common and a bit more worrying— the heart palpitations, excessive urination, restless legs and on going insomnia.

Today, we want to address some of the most common complaints we hear about in our Adrenal Fatigue Community on Facebook and give you a few supplement tips that you can use to help with them.

Before I dive in, I want to remind you that supplements are just one piece of the puzzle. Without taking holistic action on the dietary, lifestyle and mindset part of things, your supplement efforts may be undermined. For best results, you need to address this from ALL angles.

DISCLAIMER: WE ARE NOT MEDICAL DOCTORS AND NONE OF THE INFORMATION PROVIDED ON THIS BLOG SHOULD BE TAKEN AS MEDICAL ADVICE.
These are basic examples of common supplements known to help support adrenal issues caused by mineral imbalances. Before you start taking any new supplements we strongly encourage you to discuss with your doctor and ideally, work with one of our adrenal recovery coaches to ensure you are taking appropriate steps for the unique needs of your body. Click here to read full website disclaimer.

Supplement Support for Four Common Adrenal Fatigue Complaints

SLEEP

Sleep is one of the main complaints we hear about in our community.
Unfortunately, the irregular hormonal fluctuations that go along with adrenal fatigue can make sleep a real challenge for many of us. Our number one recommendation for addressing this head on is getting advanced hormone testing. Honestly, it’s an investment but the clarity you will receive from understanding exactly what is going on with your hormones and how they fluctuate throughout the day is invaluable. From there you can target your symptoms head on with specific lifestyle and supplements and a good practitioner can help you fine tune a plan for your needs.

Testing a side, when it comes to supportive supplements for sleep here are our top 3 recommendations:

• 200-600mg of Magnesium Glycinate or Threonate before bed to help support deeper sleeps and relaxation.

• .5mg-3mg of Melatonin taken after dinner when it starts to get dark out for those who wake up frequently throughout the night or early morning.

• some sort of nervine tonic— something to calm down your nervous system— you can follow the dosing on the bottle based on what you get, here are some of our favorites: CBD oil, lemon balm, milky oat straw, magnolia bark, passion flower, chamomile, and valerian.

You can try one of the above or a combination of all three.

HEART PALPITATIONS

There can be many causes behind heart palpitations and if you are experiencing this symptom, we highly encourage you to discuss with your doctor. Many adrenal fatigue sufferers experience this symptom and it can be caused by low blood pressure, low blood sugar, anxiety, thyroid issues, diet and caffeine.

These are some supplements you can consider to help support:

• 400-600mg of Magnesium Glycinate or Magnesium Malate to help relax the body and help to stabilize the electrical activity of the heart.

• A daily dose of a quality B-Complex to provide nutrients needed for a healthy nervous system and healthy heart function

• 200mg of CoQ10 (Ubiquinone or Ubiquinol), an important nutrient for heart health and potent antixoidant— great for energy.

FREQUENT URINATION

Frequent urination can go along with having depleted adrenals. One of the hormones implicated with a fatigued endocrine system is aldosterone which controls the amounts of sodium and water in the body, along with our blood pressure. Imbalanced levels of this hormone can contribute to frequent urination.

When it comes to supplements, things like this can help:

• a glass of coconut water daily

• an electrolyte supplement

RESTLESS LEG/ EYE TWITCHES/Leg cramps

When we are stressed, our nutrient need increases. We use up minerals and vitamins more quickly— sometimes we eat foods like sugar and caffeine that also further deplete our minerals and when we are low in certain minerals it can show itself in the form of leg cramps, eye twitches or restless legs at night— all of which are uncomfortable in their own way. Thankfully, rebalancing our minerals can really help calm these symptoms. Here’s where you can start:

• A daily dose of a quality B-Complex to support the nervous

• A daily glass of coconut water

• an electrolyte supplement

• 200-600mg of Magnesium Glycinate or Threonate

You will notice that many of these supplement recommendations are similar across the board for many of these symptoms. Sometimes, just taking something a simple as magnesium can have far reaching effects on different levels of your health in one fell swoop, however, these suggestions will work much better when you combined with a nice clean diet, good self-care and stress management.

Click here to read our post about tailoring your supplement plan based on your stage of adrenal fatigue. 

Do you struggle with these symptoms? If so, let us know what has helped you in the comments below!

All our best,
Danielle + the HYAF Team

Got Sleep Issues? Stop Doing This.

Sleep issues and insomnia are prominent issues for those with adrenal dysfunction or HPA dysregulation.

Waking up throughout the night is common and it can be hard to fall back asleep.
It’s easy in those moments to feel frustrated..especially because we often know how difficult these sleep disruptions can make the following morning.

When it comes to improving our sleep, it’s obvious we want to notice results quickly (overnight if you will), but sometimes when we are addressing our hormones and correcting imbalances with the hormone fluctuations in our sleep/wake cycle, the results don’t present themselves this way… especially when using natural supplements and when shifting our habits.

For this reason, I recommend tracking things in an objective way— so that you can actually SEE and CELEBRATE the small improvements. So often, I see people jumping ship on supplements or bedtime habits they are trying because they aren’t seeing results fast enough. When you check in regularly and take note of the subtle changes, it can help encourage you to press on with the natural solutions.

DOWNLOAD THE FREE RECOVERY STARTER GUIDE

The success and results we get are often the cumulative sum of our habits, but I often see this one bad habit sabotaging our efforts on all levels.

.. can you guess what it is?
**hint — it has to do with your phone

Yes, friend. Oogling your phone before bed and in the night if you can’t sleep is sabotaging your sleep (and your health).

Our brains need time to relax and wind down to prepare our body for sleep. Our brains need to distinguish the difference between day time and night time, unfortunately— the light from our phones can trick our brains into thinking it’s still day time and we need to remain alert.

Whether you’re reading e-mails, scrolling through social media or watching videos, I want to ask you if what you if it’s worth it? ESPECIALLY, if you struggle with insomnia.

For many of us, it’s an addiction we need to break.

I find a helpful way to start is setting a firm boundary.
“I use my phone as an alarm clock” — this is the number one reason I hear people using justifying why they keep their phones beside their bed. If this is the case for you, I recommend buying an “old school” alarm clock and keeping your phone in a completely separate room after a certain hour in the night can be a good way to start.

If you have work to do late into the evening, I recommend investing in some blue glasses to help protect your eyes and support a regular sleep/wake cycle—- because as we know—when we have adrenal issues, this cycle is often times already dealing with some irregularities.

Sorry for tough love, but I SEE how impactful this can be… and I just want the best for you. :)

Let me know in the comments below if this is an issue for you— what are you going to about it, starting tonight!?

xo
Danielle

A Quick Morning Routine for Burnt-Out People

We see all this talk about the perfect morning routine and how to super fuel are mornings to super charge our day.

What an awesome concept, right?

Wait.

If you have adrenal fatigue, mornings can be really difficult.
It is really common to struggle with insomnia through the night, waking up and then feeling too wired to fall back asleep. When you finally do fall back asleep (usually in the early morning hours) it’s often just in time for your alarm to jostle you out of a sleep that feels as deep as the deepest sea.

Trust me, I know how hard it can be to shake yourself out of that when your alarm starts going off.

When I was struggling with stage 3 adrenal fatigue, I used to think not even an icy bucket of water thrown on me would have helped. In those days, I’d grumble to my boyfriend to “ START THE ENGINE” (coffee machine) and you can imagine how the morning went from there.

The experts on social media kept telling me to do stuff like this:

• Get up an hour before my alarm and meditate

• Get some exercise in

• Do something for you

• Spend time in quiet, journaling and feeling gratitude

HECK, I’m pretty sure we even tell you to do this sort of stuff from time to time.
I KNOW in theory a morning filled with self-care would be incredible and soul nourishing and that it would totally make me a more calm and happy person. I totally get it the concept.

But guys, if a bucket of ice water wasn’t going to get me out of bed, neither was the potential idea of feeling more blissed out in my day if it meant sacrificing an hour of sweet, sweet morning sleep (which according to Dr. James Wilson has been said to be some of the most adrenal nourishing sleep for burnt-out people).

Nowadays, things are different and I have become a morning person once again, but I remember the struggle. When I speak to clients, they can relate to this too.

Today, I want to share my 5 minute morning adrenal care routine— it’s the same routine I use these days if I have to be up really early for coaching calls or don’t have a lot of time or space to myself.

It’s the way I capitalized on sleep while STILL taking measures to implement some self-care into my morning.

Check out my walk-through video of my 10 Minute Morning Routine for Burnt-out People here.

WHY YOUR GUT HEALING STRATEGY ISN’T WORKING - 3 Common Misconceptions & 3 Great Solutions

We’ve been getting email after email from our community and question after question popping up in our membership group from people struggling with gut issues. They are experiencing symptoms like bloating, constipation, acid reflux, food sensitivities, blood sugar issues and so much more.

And the sad thing is, many have eliminated so much already, so restricted in their diet (some down to just meat and vegetables) and they still haven’t seen much progress. They don’t know where to go next.

It’s so unbelievably frustrating isn’t it? You put so much effort in for what feels like nothing in return.

So today, I’m going to share 3 common misconceptions that people have about digestion and gut issues and offer 3 proven solutions.

3 COMMON MISCONCEPTIONS

1.PROBIOTICS ARE THE ANSWER

Probiotics have been all the buzz lately, which is understandable. Probiotics make perfect sense to help your gut flora, right? Our guts need more support than ever. They are getting quite the workout these days.

1) Our diets consist of so many different ingredients and types of foods

2) Many of us take (or have history of) antibiotics, killing all the bacteria in the gut, good and bad

3) Many of us take (or have history of ) NSAIDs, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs like aspirin and Aleve for the aches and pains

4) There are plenty of chemicals in our food, air, and water

5) Lack of nutrients in the soil or people not eating from the soil at all

All these factors affect our gut flora. The gut flora is the environment inside our gut made up by trillions of microorganisms.

Probiotics are something that can certainly help with creating a healthy gut flora (in some situations) but they aren’t always the answer or the end-all. Too many people jump to probiotics because it’s easy to pop a pill. (not always easy on the pocket book though).

What you need to know is probiotics can - not only be a waste of money if you have deeper gut issues going on, but they can actually be detrimental too, particularly if you have Intestinal Permeability aka Leaky Gut or Small Intestinal Bacteria Overgrowth (SIBO)

In these cases, there is some balancing/repairing that we recommend happen first before throwing probiotics into the mix, this is why adding probiotic supplements are one of the last steps of our 5-step gut healing protocol. These are taken once you’ve taken measures to address issues like SIBO and repair the gut lining.

Probiotics are not just a one sized fits all either. Many issues do better with certain strains in certain doses. Quality products can be quite expensive and it is not uncommon to see people throwing their money into cheap products when they could be investing in something better that is more likely to help get them the results they’re looking for. We recommend you get advice from a professional if probiotics are best for you at this particular stage of your gut healing and let them give you some suggestions on the best one for your condition.

2. ELIMINATING COMMON ALLERGIC FOODS

Yes, eliminating common allergens like dairy, gluten, eggs, nuts and soy is a popular step in the adrenal recovery process for many and we’ve given this advice to many of our clients. In many cases, eliminating common allergens like these can be helpful and even transformative for some. However, we find with many of our clients they find themselves at a sticking point where their diet is limited and they are still struggling with symptoms— they feel stuck.

In these cases, the root of the problem must be addressed. Eliminating these problem foods is just the first step in a deeper exploration and trial and error process for gut healing.. but it doesn’t STOP there.

We believe getting testing or having a professional analyze your situation to determine which gut issues you are most likely dealing with (different gut issues listed below). Getting this clarity first will save you money, time and a bit more sanity. There will always be a bit of trial and error involved, but working with a professional will help you streamline the process…and your dollars.

For many it takes time and a more thorough protocol that lasts about 2-3 months to get to the deeper issue and heal the gut.

3. JUST DO A WEEK LONG JUICE FAST OR GUT CLEANSE

We know these short cleanses are popular these days and seem a bit more doable, right?

They can help the body a bit depending on what you’re struggling with. However, for most a week long juice or gut cleanse is not an adequate gut repairing protocol and won’t have lasting results. Why, because most likely the wear and tear on the gut has been years in the making and it will take some time.

For example if you have a parasite, you will need longer than a week or two to kill those bugs.

So if you’ve been approaching gut healing from any of these angles only…

• Taking Probiotics

• Eliminating so many common allergens without understanding the root issue

• Not following an extensive gut healing protocol

...and you haven’t had much improvement, you’re not doing anything wrong. It just means you haven’t quite got to the root of it all. Don’t worry because it hasn’t all been a waste of your time and energy. This process takes a lot of trial and error and it just means you’re closer to figuring this all out. Yay!!!

So, to wrap this up here are 3 solutions to take your gut healing to the next level and support great digestion.

1.GET CLARITY WITH HELP OF A HEALTH PROFESSIONAL OR TESTING AS TO WHICH GUT ISSUES OR DEFICIENCY YOU MIGHT BE DEALING WITH

Before you stress yourself out by doing too much, get clarity on the very root of the symptoms with the help of a professional.

There could be other things going on besides a basic gut imbalance issue like; mineral or nutrient deficiency, gut infections, heavy metal toxicity or fungal or bacterial overgrowth. The symptoms of these conditions can often look very similar to adrenal, hormone and other gut related issues and you want support to figure it all out.

Here are the various gut related conditions people are commonly dealing with:

1. Leaky gut

2. Fungal overgrowth, Candida

3. Dysbiosis

4. Parasites

5. Bacterial overgrowth, SIBO

6. Food allergies

The recovery approach you take will be slightly different for each of these conditions so that’s why you want to work with a professional and/or get tested. They can get clarity based on your symptoms or get further confirmation through testing.  

2. TAKE DIGESTIVE ENZYMES

Many of the gut related symptoms we experience are because we don’t have enough stomach acid (HCL) or digestive enzymes in our gut. These acids and enzymes break down the fats, proteins and carbs in food, properly.

When the body can’t break down our foods properly that’s when we experience all the symptoms and reactions like irregular bowel movements, constipation, diarrhea, gas, bloating, acid flux and more.

Adding digestive enzymes help you tolerate more foods and stop the ongoing stress happening every time you eat, meaning less inflammation, which allows more healing to occur.

Just like probiotics, it’s important that you get a quality formula and do a little trial and error to get the right dosage.

If you can’t afford digestive enzymes, you can see if taking a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar in a bit of water before a meal helps you. It has been known to do the trick for many.

When taken at the beginning of a meal, enzymes help ensures that foods are fully digested. This decreases the chance that partially digested foods particles and proteins are damaging your gut wall. They also help to relieve digestive discomfort like bloating and gas.

A few of our favorite brand suggestions are Digestive Enzymes SAP by NFH or BioGest by Thorne

3. FOLLOW AT THE VERY LEAST A 6 WEEK GUT HEALING PROTOCOL

Don’t expect everything to change overnight. Follow a proven system for AT LEAST 6 weeks and see the process through until you get the results you seek.