Adrenal Fatigue

[momofcha]

Originally Posted by SuzieC

I can only provide you with my experience. I hope it helps. A few ago, I was in pretty good shape, not overweight, and I exercised with weights and did cardio. Not super duper heavy training, but I did the Firm, Jillian Michaels, workouts like that. I used 5 lb weights for tricep work, and up to 10 lbs for bicep and other arms. Lots of lunges and squats as is normal in these workouts.
Fast forward a few years. The weight piled on. I'm not talking 5 lbs, I'm talking about 50 lbs! Yet I was eating pretty clean, growing my own sprouts, dehydrating stuff, etc. And exercising!

I got to the point where these types of workouts would just fatigue my muscles SO much. I don't even get DOMS anymore. But I would be really really fatigued. So I couldn't do these workouts more than 1 or 2 times a week. I could do light cardio. But my body obviously needs a lot more to shed some of this weight.

I started doing Tracy Anderson. I started with Meta. It was SO super challenging for me, at 200 lbs (trust me, it was not a pretty scene), but I persevered. Why? Because of the way it works the muscles, you are not overworking any large muscle groups. I know there might not be any "science" to support what she says, but for me, her claim of working more smaller muscles and not overworking any one repeatedly is so true.
I could work out 4-5 times a week without feeling so fatigued. Yet don't get me wrong, I was sweating up a storm. For the first time in a very long time, I actually felt GOOD after a workout and not so fatigued I wanted to cry.

If I ever meet Tracy, I'm going to give her a big hug and squeeze her teeny tiny body and I'm going to tell her she saved my life! I was able to lose 50 lbs. I've put some weight back on (other stuff happened in my life) but have maintained about a 37 lb weight loss. I look slimmer than I am, because Tracy's work really pulls everything in.

The bonus about Meta is that even the muscular structure work has a cardio effect. When I did Meta I also did 15-20 minutes of her cardio, but never the entire 30 minutes. It was too much for my fatigued body. And I usually did the Teen Meta cardio, which has less jumping.

i think supplementing Meta with other low-impact cardio would be a good thing (don't tell Tracy I said that ), like Jessica Smith's walking workouts.

If anyone wants any Tracy recommendations or wants more detail on how to start when "adrenally fatigued", feel free to PM me. You have all helped me tremendously on this forum, I hope I can give a little back to someone.

Oh and one more thing - Kundalini yoga really helps the glandular system. A few minutes of breath of fire for me, can make the difference between crawling back into bed in the middle of the day, and getting enough energy to pull through the day.

Originally Posted by ddj

SuzieC, I've been struggling with iron as well. My iron dropped quite a bit, and suddenly, in 2011. I've been on iron ever since and I am seven years post-menopausal. I've had lots of test looking for internal bleeding but there's no evidence of that so it's an absorption thing.

Thyroid meds have never helped me feel better, but my labs are all okay (except I think my last doctor kept my TSH too low). I've gained about 45 pounds and can't get it off no matter what I do.

I've heard functional med doctors say that if you have a thyroid issue, you have an adrenal issue. I'm not sure why.

Sue, I mostly do heavy weight training these days with some walk dvds and easy spins on the bike. I completely lost my ability to do high intensity cardio. I used to do tuck jumps and air jacks fairly frequently and easily but my body just won't do them anymore. The amount of fitness I've lost is depressing. I tried TA but just couldn't do it. Too repetitive and too painful.

Suzie - congrats on your weight loss! When I was in the best shape of my life just 2 years ago I was doing TA but I got bored. I did get results so I am thinking about doing it again.

Ddj - that's where I struggle. My labs are fine but I have all the symptoms. The only thing that was off at all were my antibodies

[withpopcorn]

Momofcha - I was advised by multiple people (nutritionist/chiropractor) to NOT exercise. Very discouraging. I was told that I could do tai chi and gentle yoga.

I have a very strict nutritionist plan. If I veer from it at all I feel it. I haven't been strict with it for a while and it is really making my symptoms return. As I struggle with the food, I just plain miss working out.

I am planning to do gentle yoga, tai chi, TTAPP, and classical stretch. My days of cardio and hard working out are probably over. I also work on mindfulness, deep breathing, and occasionally meditation.

[SuzieC]

Originally Posted by bzar

suzy, thanks for sharing your story. did you have to change your eating habits (no need to provide the details- yes/no answer is fine) ?

Yes, slightly. However, for me, changing eating habits is not enough. For me, the stars have to align just right and the following has to be well balanced. When these 3 things are balanced, I was able to lose 1-3 pounds a month max (3 lbs on a really good month). It took me about 2 years to lose the 50 lbs.

1) medication
2) food
3) exercise

[rosepetals]

I had a Dr. diagnose me with it. She put me on some herbs. They work really well.

[bzar]

Originally Posted by SuzieC

Yes, slightly. However, for me, changing eating habits is not enough. For me, the stars have to align just right and the following has to be well balanced. When these 3 things are balanced, I was able to lose 1-3 pounds a month max (3 lbs on a really good month). It took me about 2 years to lose the 50 lbs.

1) medication
2) food
3) exercise

congrats on how far you have succeeded!

I have never gone for a diagnosis for adrenal fatigue, but after feeling pretty much beat-up, something had to change. for me, getting my markers under control (e.g., blood pressure) involved a long-term iterative process of the alignment of:

1) sleep
2) meditation & breath awareness
3) food

...in that order of importance.

doc gave me prescription meds before, but it made me too loopy. I got good results from neurofeedback therapy, though.

[bee]

Sue, I know I've told you some of my experience, but maybe important bits are missing. I am super tired right now, so I won't do this justice, but I was definitely told not to work out at all -- just walks in the sunshine. In that time, I did learn how to focus on things other than my next workout, which was really good for me (not judging anyone who may be there -- just saying I needed a little perspective). I did do some kundalini yoga in that time, and once in a while I'd "cheat" and do a workout here and there, but mostly I made myself sleep more, which I needed. I was working with an integrative doctor. She had me on a bunch of supplements that were working on a variety of things, and she also had me change my nutrition. Over a fairly long period of time, I did get better. I've had a setback recently, so I'm trying to get back to much stricter nutrition, better life balance, etc., without going into all the supplements. I hope that'll help this time around. If you want more details on all of this -- supplements I was on, dietary stuff she had me do, all of that, I can give you more details -- just let me know.

[NoraKate]

http://forum.videofitness.com/showth...drenal+fatigue

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