1.4 Sleep, Caffeine & The Adrenal

1.4 Sleep, Caffeine & The Adrenal

I was being told by a Naturopath many years ago that the Adrenal Gland compensates for the Thyroid gland.  This was something that I always kept in the back of my mind.

The first thing that made me think that I was going through Adrenal Fatigue was that my skin had become less elastic and I developed a skin tear.  The skin tear did not heal for over a month, I also noticed that a paper cut did not heal for about two months.  I began searching on the internet for "skin tears not healing" and "the Thyroid" then I started adding the word "Adrenal".  Eventually, I stumbled across a quiz from Dr. Jill, MD, that talked about the symptom of Adrenal Fatigue.  I found that I had the majority of the symptoms.

These symptoms were different than the symptoms that were due to my thyroid.  I suspected that my Adrenal Function was giving out and could no longer compensate for my Thyroid.  After all, I had a lifestyle where I had more than 10 years of staying up late and waking up early.  Then forcing the Adrenal to wake up with coffee in the morning.  Eventually, it was taking considerably more coffee to wake up my body and brain.

How to Heal an exhausted Adrenal

There are three steps to recovering from Adrenal exhaustion.  Essentially, they are all lifestyle steps.  Unfortunately, it takes over two years for your Adrenals to recover.  I am almost at the two year mark.

1. Stop stimulating your Adrenals, that means no caffeine
2. Find your circadian rhythms, that means go to bed early
3. Feed your Endocrine system with nutritious food, I'll explain below

No Coffee, Tea or Pop

No caffeine was a tough one to get used to.  It took over a month to get used to life without coffee.  I had brain fog, head aches and general tiredness.  I started drinking caffeine free tea and more water.  I didn't bother with Pop that had caffeine, plus the sugar really isn't that good for you, so I backed away from Pop altogether.  I added carbonated water as a way to get more water in.


Find a bedtime before 11pm

I was going to bed early, and waking up at odd times.  It took quite a while before a new rhythm set in.  This was the hardest one to stick with and I still struggle with it.  I eventually got it, but I had to implement something else to stick to the sleep schedule.  (I'll talk about that in another post)  Initially, I was going to bed early, waking up late, and not feeling very rested.  I was determined though, since I was pretty sure that I had brought my Adrenal to the edge of collapse with the sleep pattern that I had previously.  Eventually, I had to say that I was going to bed by 10pm and it was acceptable to stretch it to 11pm.  This became a hard rule.  It is really important to be consistent with the bed time.  Our bodies are designed to be nocturnal.  Our natural rhythms are to rest at night and let the body heal and purge all the toxins from the body.

Feed the Endocrine System

I was lucky one day, when I came across a Doctor Oz episode that talked about a substitute mixture of spices instead of caffeine that was more effective than coffee and it did not have that 3pm crash.  I decided to try the tonic.  Wow, did it ever work!  I had more than enough energy, it lasted from morning till about 7pm without it feeling like it was gone.

It was a simple mixture of Tumeric, Ginger, Cayenne Pepper and Lemon Juice.  Once I understood what it was doing, I modified the recipe and reduced the overall quantity to make it easier to drink.

Energy Elixir (My Version)

     2 Parts Turmeric - Anti-inflammatory

     2 Parts Ground Ginger - Anti-inflammatory and contains properties that fuel the Adrenal

     2 Parts Cayenne Pepper - Positive effects for Gut health and properties that fuel the Thyroid

     3 Parts Crystalized Vitamin C or Lemonade Crystals - Bolsters Immune health

     1 Part Black Pepper - Helps absorption of Turmeric

     1 Part Cinnamon - Treats infections and improves blood

Mix 1 tsp of the Elixir with about 12 ounces of water and 2 ounces of bone broth (optional).  I chose to add the bone broth to this mixture as it became one less thing to do in the day.  I also reduced the quantity of the spices overall as the pepper is tough on the system and can be hard to get down.  Overall, 1 tsp of the Elixir mixed with water is manageable.

I have followed these steps as my morning and night time routine for nearly two years.  A lot of my symptoms are going away.  I no longer take pain medication, or at least very rarely.  I have lost weight and generally feel a lot better.

Take a look at what I did to heal my Thyroid for a full picture of my story.