Yes, that sounds like my situation as well. Now that I recognize the signs I realize that I have been adrenal exhausted for years. Poor nutrition, high stress, little sleep, excess exercise, hard partying, unhappy direction in life, excess worry over the future, culminated into my present condition.

In the beginning I would have days of feeling burned out, which I would quickly remedy with massive amounts of expresso. I would also have trouble sleeping, I would be quick to anger and I got sick very easily whenever there was something going around at work. All of this eventually gave way to sudden panic attacks that at first were infrequent. I simply dealt with them by smoking a cigarette and drinking some booze. I went to 2 different allopathic doctors and all they could recommend was Zoloft and a psychiatrist! I even made two trips to the ER only to get looked like I was crazy after all of my tests came back "normal"! Here I was, sitting in the waiting room feeling like I was having a heart attack, like I wanted to peel my skin off and run out into the night screaming and the nurse says to me, "everything checks out fine honey, just go home and have some chamomile tea." Yeah, right lady!

As time went on the panic attacks got worse and more frequent, leading to periodic bouts of insomnia. The only way I could catch a few hours of sleep was to watch late night infomercials! Eventually I started to develop blood Sugar imbalances and I got weak, panicky and nauseous if I didn't eat every 2-3 hours. My anxiety got so bad at work that I would go into the washroom and dry heave over the toilet. The only thing that got through that time was taking NOW Kava Kava a couple of times throughout the day.

I eventually had to quit my job as the panic attacks got worse, along with brutal brain fog, blood Sugar imbalances, dizziness and nausea. I then cleaned up my diet and lifestyle, started juicing, did colonics (as I was severely constipated) and learned how to relax by taking long walks in nature. The panic attacks slowly subsided but they gave way to extreme fatigue, depression, joint and muscle pain, brain fog, low level nervousness, more blood Sugar problems, low libido, food intolerance's and general weakness. I know now that this just signaled that my adrenal glands had atrophied and were now talking a much needed break.

It's been 1.5 years now and for the past 4 months I have been working with a really great ND who diagnosed me with AF and has me on many of the same supplements that you are on as well as weekly vitamin injections because of my compromised digestive system, which is often present in AF sufferers. I have definitely improved from where I was and each week sees it's ups and downs, but I am more optimistic about the future. My ND said that it would probably take me anywhere from 6 months to 1 year before I fully recover, but I am more at peace now, even when I feel poorly because I realize what is actually going on in my body. So yes, definitely go with the ND that does the saliva testing so you can get a working knowledge of what is happening to you.

stay in touch through this forum as it can be very encouraging during your darkest hours to know that there are others out there going through the same things and who are willing to lend there knowledge, experience or simply a shoulder to cry on.

Take care,

James

Megan, thankyou so much for responding. It means more than you can know. I am so tired of people looking at me funny when i tell them I am sick and they ask what is wrong. When I say adrenal exhaustion they usually have never heard of such a thing. I feel like it is one of the worst things to go through because it is such a hard cycle to break, you need rest but can't sleep. The anxiety part is really the worst for me though as it leaves me feeling so desperate. It is also depresssing because I get scared wondering when I will recover. To hear you say you feel so much better makes me happy. I am going to an RET Therapist next week. I am not educated as to what this means except that my iridologist highly recommends her as she releases pent up emotions that can cause illnes by staying in the body. She said the adrenals hold a lot of stress. It is certainly worth trying. As for the drugs you went on I wondered if I could ask you a couple of things. I did see a regular Dr. who prescribed ativan to cut the anxiety, but her first choice was zoloft. However I was scared to take it as I was on Lexapro 2 years ago and I hated it and got off it within a very short time. My sister was on paxil and had a hard time getting off. So antidepressants scare me. Your experience with Zoloft seems positive. I was wondering if you had any side effects from it and if you were able to get off it with any trouble? Is xanax like ativan? Does it just relax you? And as for sleeping pills my Dr seems hesitant even though I would have liked them. She said the ativan should help me sleep as it is relaxing. Sometimes it helps and other times it does not. I just don't want to get addicted to anything, but at the same time I will do whatever it takes to give my poor adrenals the rest they need to heal. I again thank you so much for taking the time to write. by the way did you see any natural drs in your recovery? And also did you ever get a saliva test showing your hormone levels like cortisol, etc? Leslie

Thankyou so much for your encouraging letter. I have a fantastic naturopath and am recovering from Stage 3 adrenal fatigue. Am doing much better since almost 2 years ago when there was no one to really help me. I am keeping my faith alive and strong. Thankyou again and so happy for your recovery.

Lusty22,

Got your e-mail. Yes, I love the blue light therapy. I highly recommend it. It really helped peel the layers off this illness. After a few---3, days of using it, I felt much better. It is amazing1

Now that it is summer, I don't use it much, but will use it as daily therapy in the fall or as soon as the days get shorter. A friend uses hers whenever it is overcast outside. I used it daily in the winter/spring and my brother was able to go off anti-depressants when he started using it.

I bought my blue light at Costco. It was in the pharmacy dept. It is called,
Golite. Here's their website: http://www.apollohealth.com Take their quiz. Interesting information.

They list it at 249.00 on the website, but Costco was 1/2 the price. It may be an item they only stock seasonally. Worth looking into.


Just so you know, I don't sell these, just want you to have good information!

JMMA

Hi Everyone, I'm actually writing this at 1.48am because I can't sleep. My story is oh so familiar to all of yours: I'm a Type A personality who has been working in a stressful industry for the last 8 years. It all started with getting ill with 'viruses' (low grade fever, exhaustion, nausea, aching etc) that would not go away even after a couple of weeks. These 'viruses' increased with regularity over the years and took longer to go away. My anxiety only grew from worrying about the time I was taking off work! Alongside the viruses, I'd been suffering insomnia and was put on something called Dothiapin. This definitely helped with the sleep and I even weaned myself off!

Then 3 years ago my brother was killed and I went through the most stressful year at work. Needless to say, my ability to cope with stress after this has been much worse. Everything peaked when I was, once again, in a stressful job, running on adrenaline every day. My husband and I were planning to go travelling for 6 months so we just pushed this forward and I quit my job. Little did I know my troubles were only just beginning. As soon as I quit I was soooo ill. Nothing specific but day after day, the most incredible headaches and fatigue. And then the irregular heartbeats began. At this point I was ready to wean myself back off the Dothiapin but my anxiety about my heart meant I had to stay on them! By the time we got on the plane, I can see now that my body, having relaxed for the first time in YEARS, was already shutting down.

Our 6 months away was incredibly tough. I was ill more days than I was well and I contracted horrific food poisoning on several occasions that saw me laid up in bed for days at a time. We planned to end our travels in New Zealand (I'm from the UK) and working there for a few months to see if we liked it. By the time we arrived, my body was spent. BUT, the one symptom that had not plagued me was the insomnia. After 3 more weeks of lying in bed, I finally went to a naturopath who diagnosed the AF. Like all of you, I've completely changed my eating habits, have cut out all stimulants including Sugar and have reduced the wheat and dairy. My guts are a constant issue having taken such a battering while we were away and the last few months have been some of the hardest of my life. I've dealt with so much anger and depression: anger at having finally got my life back and not being able to lead one (I'm too ill to work, really have a social life or get pregnant like we planned this year). Many times, I've just wanted to end my life because this feels like a prison. This is my second month of being on the AF supplement program and I have to say, the difference has been huge. However, a week ago, me and my husband decided to cross a wire bridge over a gorge and I totally freaked out. My heart went into overdrive and I was shaking from adrenal overload afterwards. Since then, the general feeling of malaise is back again and my sleeping has got lighter until 2 nights ago, I got just 1 hour's sleep. Yesterday, I took a Nytol to avoid starting a pattern but tonight, here I am again! I feel for anyone who has insomnia because, like you say, if you can't sleep, your body can't heal. I know that my lack of sleep over the years has attributed to my ill health now. Having slept better in the last few months than I have in a long time, I'm absolutely devastated to be back in this familiar place again. I've been telling myself that its going to be one step forward and two back but with one income, there's only so many treatments we can afford! I know this is only a few nights but I don't want to go down this path again and like you, am debating the prescription drugs route. Camomile tea, rescue remedy, herbal anti-anxiety tablets don't touch me when I'm like this (in years gone by, if I wasn't asleep by about 2am, I'd knock back a shot of vodka and that was the only thing that worked)! Also, because we're not residents here, every trip to the doctor costs us a lot of money, I feel like I'm a constant drain on our money.

A question I wanted to ask you women out there was whether your menstrual cycle had been affected? This has def happened with me and I just wondered how long it takes to get back to normal.

Thanks to everyone for all the advice you've given and the experiences you've shared. Its a great comfort to know I'm not the only one. One piece of advice I will give (and will probably try once I'm off the computer) is the affect that yoga has had on me. My husband has been bugging me to try it for years but I never had the time because I worked late to often. I've been doing Yoga every week (bar the last week which may be adding to the lack of sleep) and its really helped both phyiscally and mentally. I feel so clear-headed yet calm afterwards. And you can do it at home once you know a few moves. Please please give it a go. I promise you won't be disappointed. I think the only thing stopping me doing some right now is that I'm scared of it not working. But you have to try everything, right?

Night, guys.

Can you share some of the things you learnt from the book to help you recover?

I've had palpitations and high resting heart rate of upwards of 160, they gave me a beta blocker to keep it lower, now it doesn't usually get over 130 or so, and it's not qiite as troublesome, but I frequently get insomnia. Usually I wake-up as I am almost asleep.

I'm new in my adrenal journey. I have also been suffering severe insomnia, typically 3 days, then sleep the 4th for a few hours, arising by a racing heart and perspiration. And I know that's not healing, but I don't feel tired, generally until the 3rd/4th night. I tried lifting weight at the gym, figuring this always has wiped me out in the past. I felt more wired that day and the next. Long story short...part intuition/part medical I wondered if a lack of cortisol is being compensated by adrenaline. I do not have the sites that recognized this, but it could be googled. You are not going crazy! You will feel better! The adrenaline is the cause and/or exacerbator of you anxiety(ies). Just finding this info helped me a great deal. But yoga, meditation, gentle exercise, etc. can only help more. The original poster seemed quite anxious...I was attempting to gather curing info under that mindset, up until the other day. You need to remain calm to help yourself. Our bodies have finally made it necessary to be all about self love and healing.