Update: This Is A Relatively Old Article And I Have Changed My Mind About Some Things
Brain fog is so frequent, many people dont remember themselves without it.
I havent had brain fog in a while, because
- 1. I have managed to raise my cell hydration to 30% or higher.
- 2. Because I am now following a very enjoyable albeit boring diet of about 8-10 items but I am well. It is worth for me.
- 3. I eat in the style that is my eating style one food per meal no soup, no stew, no side dishes. One food.
- 4. I am taking the supplements my body says I need
- 5. I keep a regular sleep schedule
- 6. I exercise three times a week
- 7. I listen to my Secret Weapon all day and sometimes all night while I sleep.
- 8. I measure and re-measure my health numbers at least every Sunday, so I dont let some issue fester long before I notice.
You can have a consultation with me. But before you do, you need to find out where you are at Its a preliminary test that tells me your numbers relevant to health, and also your attitude. If your attitude tells me you wont follow my instructions, I wont do a consultation with you. Why? Because every time this happened, I felt I took money for something that had no value for the recipient And that makes me feel really bad.
OK, get your Health Measurements done. I may provide a short conversation so we can feel each other out, if you ask for a health consultation. Dont forget, I am offering this special deal for the next 10 days only.
Herbs For Anxiety: My Take As An Herbalist & Doctor
Okay, so what are my alternatives then? When treating anxiety in my clinical practice, I always work with my patients to find their unique set of root causes. To learn to find your root causes and address anxiety in a nourishing way, you can read my article about this right here .
While youre getting a handle on those root causes, or if you just want to take something thats going to help ASAP supportive remedies can help you get by and feel more inner peace, day-to-day.
My go-to for over 35 years of practicing as an herbalist, and even still now as a medical doctor who can prescribe medications, is herbal medicine. In addition to providing us with important phytochemicals that work on resetting pathways within our nervous system, many botanical alternatives work as well as pharmaceuticals and rarely cause side effects unlike their pharmaceutical counterparts. And for you earth-conscious ladies out there like myself, I love that botanicals provide a medicine that doesnt put the undue stress on the planet that pharmaceuticals are causing in natural environments.
So, now youre probably thinking Okay, Dr. Aviva, this all sounds great, but where do I start?
Im so glad you asked
Adrenal Fatigue And Anxiety
- Anxiety is a very common adrenal fatigue symptom
- You can get it under control
In a survey of 89 visitors to this site, 84.3% said theyexperience anxiety.
Page Contents
It is also one of the most bothersomesymptoms of adrenal fatigue.
People often experience extreme anxiety for seemingly no reason at all.
Like most people with adrenal fatigue, I had debilitating anxiety for years.I had periods of anxiety so bad that I would stop breathing.
But there are afew things you can do to get it under control, and eventually eliminate anxiety.
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How Do You Know If Adrenal Fatigue Is Contributing To Your Depression
If you have been depressed for a while and have not responded fully to psychotherapy and/or medication , I would strongly suggest finding an integrative practitioner to help you understand whether Adrenal Fatigue is contributing to your depressive symptoms.
Here are a few databases to find qualified practitioners in your area with knowledge of mental health issues and physical root causes:
In addition, I do phone consults around the world to help you identify and work with the root causes of your depression, including Adrenal Fatigue. To set up an initial phone consult .
My next blog will be on what to do next if you are depressed and find out that you have adrenal fatigue. Stay tuned
If you like this post and want to hear more information about the root cause of depression, . As a bonus, youll get my FREE Nutrition For Mental Health Guidebook.
What Does Adrenal Crisis Mean
Adrenal crisis is a medical emergency. Its the most serious complication of adrenal insufficiency and happens due to a severe lack of cortisol. An adrenal crisis can be life-threatening. Symptoms of adrenal crisis include:
- Severe pain in your lower body that comes on quickly.
- Bouts of vomiting and diarrhea.
- Weakness.
- Confusion and loss of consciousness.
- Low blood glucose,
- Low blood pressure.
If you have adrenal insufficiency, you should always have an injectable form of glucocorticoid medicine with you and you should wear some type of medical alert jewelry with that information. Make sure your family and friends know how to give the injection in the case of an emergency.
Other hormone imbalances and symptoms can occur with adrenal disorders. These include having too much potassium or not enough sodium in your blood.
Read Also: Amino Acids For Adrenal Fatigue
How Are Adrenal Disorders Diagnosed
Your healthcare provider will likely start by asking questions about your symptoms. They will then order tests to determine the levels of hormones in your saliva, blood and urine.
If your provider suspects tumors, they might order imaging tests such as CT scans, MRIs or nuclear imaging tests.
Your regular healthcare provider may refer you to an endocrinologist, a specialist in hormones and diseases of the endocrine system.
Is An Adrenal Fatigue Diet High Enough In Calories To Support A Healthy Pregnancy
Good question. There are several aspects to a diet for AFS are very helpful for healthy pregnancy also. Avoidance of inflammatory foods such as caffeine, alcohol, sugar, trans-fats, processed food, etc. Eating smaller meals to keep blood sugar balanced throughout the day, and should give you enough calories to support a healthy pregnancy.
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A Psychiatric Presentation Of Adrenal Insufficiency: A Case Report
To the Editor: Adrenal insufficiency has been shown to display a wealth of possible psychiatric presentations including psychosis, depression, anxiety, mania, and cognitive impairment, alongside the known vague physical symptoms.1 Adrenal insufficiency is notoriously challenging to diagnose, with up to 60% of patients having been seen by at least 2 clinicians prior to diagnosis and a median duration to diagnosis of up to 2 years.2 These psychiatric symptoms may even present with no physical symptoms.1
There are several known causes of secondary adrenal insufficiency, although it is most commonly associated with an abrupt disruption in prescribed corticosteroid therapy . Another less-often considered and rarer cause for secondary adrenal insufficiency is use of opiate medication, a commonly prescribed class of painkillers in both hospital and general practice settings. Opiates can cause hypothalamic suppression of corticotrophin-release hormone and, therefore, adrenocorticotropic hormone with resultant adrenal atrophy.3
In fact, while opiate endocrinopathy has earned increasing interest in the literature as a potential side effect of long-term or high-dose opiate use,3 only a handful of case reports4,5 describe opiate-induced secondary adrenal insufficiency, and none describe a solely psychiatric presentation.
Brain Fog It Seems Comes From The Gut Not The Brain
It comes from how and what you are eating
I am well now. My body is still suffering from Adrenal overuse, but being an empath, and feeling other peoples misery for a living, there is nothing I can do about that.
Your anxiety and fear keep your Adrenal gland stuck in overuse, and your anxiety and fear, albeit its yours, kills MY Adrenal gland. Doing four sessions over a weekend depleted my adrenal gland And set my recovery back by more than a month.
Getting rest when your adrenals are depleted is not easy it is not a simple I am tired, let me take a break thing. You are running on empty, and unless some fuel is coming, youll stay on empty.
I wrote an article about the topic before. The body says: eat something. Drink something. But the body lies. The only way to fill yourself up is to put in something intellectually and spiritually fulfilling reading, loving, walking, listening to something good Not food, definitely not coffee.
Coffee encourages you to overextend yourself and to rest less than you need.
I dont want to be in the diet business, but I am willing to share my own trials and tribulations. Many of you will find it useful. Why? Because I have no financial interest in duping you. I have nothing to sell. And
and because for me, integrity is more important than money.
Now, returning to the dream I have been getting warnings, but guidance, unfortunately, is non-verbal. I am still not sure what the warnings are about.
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Support Your Body With Supplements
When youre recovering from adrenal fatigue and anxiety, the first thing you need to focus on is feeling calm and relaxed yet energized enough to face the day.
Adaptogenic herbs can help with this by addressing your bodys stress response, anxiety, and cortisol levels.
Check out more adrenal fatigue herbs that you might enjoy!
Adrenal Fatigue And Kidney Vitality
The adrenal glands are most closely related to the Kidney system in Chinese medicine. To have a healthy adrenal and Kidney system, we need a balance in yin and yang, specifically Kidney yin, Kidney yang, and Kidney Qi.
Unfortunately, chronic stress depletes all of these vital energies. Which imbalance you are most susceptible to will depend on your bodys constitution and the other health issues you might be facing.
Adrenal Fatigue and Kidney Yin Deficiency Adrenal fatigue with a root in Kidney yin deficiency is often accompanied by heat or dryness-related symptoms. You may struggle to sleep at night as your mind is reckless and anxious, despite feeling exhausted. You may notice that you feel more irritable and anxious, rather than tired. You may also notice signs like headaches and skin conditions that are worsened when stress and exhaustion are high.
Adrenal Fatigue and Kidney Yang Deficiency Adrenal fatigue related to Kidney yang deficiency tends to come with other cold or yang deficiency symptoms. Along with feeling exhausted, you may also feel cold, lethargic, and just want to curl up and get cozy rather than face the day. You may notice digestive issues like bloating and loose stools.
Adrenal Fatigue and Kidney Qi Deficiency
Recommended Reading: Does Irregular Heartbeat Cause Fatigue
How To Control Adrenaline
Its important to learn techniques to counter your bodys stress response. Experiencing some stress is normal, and sometimes even beneficial for your health.
But over time, persistent surges of adrenaline can damage your blood vessels, increase your blood pressure, and elevate your risk of heart attacks or stroke. It can also result in anxiety, weight gain, headaches, and insomnia.
To help control adrenaline, youll need to activate your parasympathetic nervous system, also known as the rest-and-digest system. The rest-and-digest response is the opposite of the fight-or-flight response. It helps promote equilibrium in the body, and allows your body to rest and repair itself.
Try the following:
Seated Poses To Break Your Fight
Judi Bar, a yoga therapist and yoga program manager at the Cleveland Clinic Wellness Institute in Lyndhurst, Ohio, developed the following sequence to help break the fight-or-flight response. The goal is to relax tension in your muscles, steady your breath, and quiet your mind, she says. This combination slows the release of stress hormones. The best part? Doing this affects all of your bodys systems, allowing them to operate more efficiently and in a healthy way. You can do this sequence all at once , or practice the poses individually throughout the day.
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Adrenaline Rush At Night
While the fight-or-flight response is very useful when it comes to avoiding a car accident or running away from a rabid dog, it can be a problem when its activated in response to everyday stress.
A mind full of thoughts, anxiety, and worry also stimulates your body to release adrenaline and other stress-related hormones, like cortisol .
This is especially true at night when you lie in bed. In a quiet and dark room, some people cant stop focusing about a conflict that happened that day or worrying about whats going to happen tomorrow.
While your brain perceives this as stress, real danger isnt actually present. So this extra boost of energy you get from the adrenaline rush has no use. This can leave you feeling restless and irritable and make it impossible to fall asleep.
Adrenaline may also be released as a response to loud noises, bright lights, and high temperatures. Watching television, using your cellphone or computer, or listening to loud music before bedtime can also contribute to a surge of adrenaline at night.
Extreme Fatigue But Blood Tests Are Normal
When reporting extreme fatigue, a doctor may do blood work to rule out causes including low iron levels/anemia, hypothyroidism, diabetes, vitamin deficiencies, celiac disease, inflammation, liver or kidney function problems, or specific infections. If these tests come back normal, it just means these are not the causes, and more tests may need to be done.
However, chronic fatigue is common and can be caused by myriad issuesmany of them not discoverable through blood work. A doctor will also ask about your sleep habits, diet, exercise regimen, stress levels and medications to consider how these may be contributing to how you feel.
If your extreme fatigue is accompanied by abnormal bleeding severe headache chest pain shortness of breath irregular heartbeat severe abdominal, pelvic or back pain or lightheadedness, seek treatment immediately.
Also consider that errors on lab tests do occur. You are free to ask your doctor how often false-negative or false-positive results occur with your specific tests, or whether a retest could be done under different conditions . You can also get a second opinion.
Consider creating a symptom journal to track how you feel and when. Doing so can help you connect whether specific actions or foods are contributing to a feeling, or whether any changes to your routine are helping.
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Treatment Of Adrenal Gland Disorders
Medical College of Wisconsin endocrinologists and surgeons work as a team to treat disorders of the adrenal glands.
Surgical options include:
- Laparoscopic adrenalectomy, a minimally invasive procedure to remove the adrenal glands
- Adrenal sparing surgery – removal of the tumor in the adrenal gland, while sparing normal adrenal tissue
Medical treatment options, including spironolactone/eplerenone and steroid hormone replacement, may also be prescribed.
Adrenal Fatigue & Anxiety
If adrenal fatigue is the exhausted epidemic, then anxiety is the panic epidemic. As a result of our fast-paced culture and the general stream of negative events worldwide, it can be hard to feel safe, grounded, or in control.
Before adrenal fatigue sets in, youre living in a state of hyperarousal, which then leads your adrenal glands to become overworked. When you experience anxiety, youre in that same state of panic and hyperarousal.
So whats really going on here? Does adrenal fatigue cause anxiety, or is it the other way around?
The connection between adrenal fatigue and anxiety lies in our hormones and stress response.
Lets take a look:
In other words, anxiety and adrenal fatigue go hand-in-hand because of cortisol and our stress response. Every time you feel anxious, your body is kicking the adrenal glands into high gear and releasing cortisol.
Thats precisely why a diagnosis of high cortisol levels and adrenal fatigue have many of the same symptoms:
- Fatigue
- High blood sugar
- Difficulty concentrating
Cortisol plays a vital role in both anxiety and adrenal fatigue. Thats why you need to rely on natural and proven methods of keeping cortisol low if you want to heal.
A badly-functioning HPA axis increases the risk of experiencing anxiety and adrenal fatigue. But, left unchecked, it can go beyond these two conditions.
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Are There Any Exercises That A Person Could Do That Would Give Them A Good Idea If They Have Afs Or Not
If you don’t have advanced stages of AFS, any exercise is good for the body provided they are not extreme. Walking, biking, hiking, yoga and flexibility exercise in moderation are all safe for everyone. If you have advanced stages of AFS, make sure you follow professional guidance before embarking on exercise.
“I would like to extend my heartfelt gratitude to you all for the help and assistance that you have given me this year!”
“Dr Justin – Even though I still have a way to go, you have restored my health to a more comfortable level. Despite my autoimmune diseases, I have been able to return to work and am able to live a reasonable quality of life. You have helped me so much in understanding my health and have given me the tools to maximize my well-being. I have recommended Dr Lam’s site to many over here and will continue to send the message out there. My sincerest of ‘big thank-you’s’ to you for being such a great and caring doctor. Happy Holidays and I looked forward to an exciting year with you guys next year.To the lovely staff – I am blown away by your pleasant and extremely helpful attentiveness to my concerns and health needs. You are very special people.Thank you so much. Bless you and Happy Holidays!”
Seated Supported Childs Pose
From Seated Mountain Pose, lengthen your spine, keeping your navel moving toward your spine and pressing your feet into the ground. With an inhale, lean forward, and rest your elbows and forearms on a table or desk. Gently lower your head, and use either your hands or a folded towel under just your forehead so that your nose and mouth are completely clear. Tilt your head slightly downward so that you feel completely supported. Rest here for a few breaths, then draw your attention to your back and breathe deeply, gently working toward feeling your lungs moving low in your back. Breathe as deeply as you can while staying comfortable.
The benefit: This posture stimulates blood flow to the lumbar area and helps to tone the vagus nerve, a fundamental component of the parasympathetic nervous system.
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