Re: adrenal exhaustion and insomnia

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
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