Adrenal Fatigue

[Cookie]

Got asked a question about this the other day by a guy who`s been told he`s suffering from it because of pushing the boat out too often via the usual body-building lifestyle hang ups & blinkered balls to the walls approach to everything. GP has suggested tapering off everything & anything that causes any form of CNS stimulation & excitability. So all the usual stuff right down to caffeine has to go over a period of 4-6 weeks so he does not crash & stress his body out even more. He`s to introduce more natural foods & increase the variety of foods he eats to make sure he`s getting all the nutrients he needs from solid natural foods.

Question he asked me was there anything else he could do/take to help with helping his adrenal glands etc recovery?

TBH I was a little stuck on this one because its not something I`ve had to deal with myself & I could only reinforce what the GP had said about lots of natural foods, plenty of rest & to come off all the offending things that are pushing him over the edge.

Anyone else got any other ideas I could pass on?

Cheers.

[samurai69]

no

[Cookie]

no

I suggested he switch the coffee/caffeine tabs/pre workout supplements for a few cups of green tea each day to help with anti oxidant intake & help wean him off the caffeine a lot easier. I find GT to be less of CNS stimulant compared to coffee so get quite relaxed with it but still have a sense of focus if used pre training.

[samurai69]

no

I suggested he switch the coffee/caffeine tabs/pre workout supplements for a few cups of green tea each day to help with anti oxidant intake & help wean him off the caffeine a lot easier. I find GT to be less of CNS stimulant compared to coffee so get quite relaxed with it but still have a sense of focus if used pre training.

did you see that post i put up today

[samurai69]

http://www.sportsinjurybulletin.com/arc ... lysis.html

[Cookie]

did you see that post i put up today

Going to read later

[Melas Zomos]

The GP's recommendation is right on. Anything more than green tea will just prolong the condition, even if he just uses something else twice a week. I would say the upper limit of caffeine a day would be about 150g and that is probably too high. <100 would be best.
Workouts too must be monitored closely. This is really hard, cause you may just have to end a session only halfway through. Resistance work seemed to be the most effected, at least for me.

If he uses regular table salt, have him switch to sea salt.
Kelp also seems to help. Can not find the real stuff so I got a kelp supplement. The recommendation was for 1 pill a day, but I found that ineffective. 3 appears to work better, but care must be taken if he has thyroid issues.

5-8grams of a quality BCAA throughout the day, in addition to regular protein consumption, seem to help too. I use one from Ajinomoto labs.

I have noticed cortisol levels and free testosterone levels seem to be effected too.

Hope this helps, basically you need to approach it like you would overtraining issues as noted in that thread.

[Cookie]

The GP's recommendation is right on. Anything more than green tea will just prolong the condition, even if he just uses something else twice a week. I would say the upper limit of caffeine a day would be about 150g and that is probably too high. <100 would be best.
Workouts too must be monitored closely. This is really hard, cause you may just have to end a session only halfway through. Resistance work seemed to be the most effected, at least for me.

If he uses regular table salt, have him switch to sea salt.
Kelp also seems to help. Can not find the real stuff so I got a kelp supplement. The recommendation was for 1 pill a day, but I found that ineffective. 3 appears to work better, but care must be taken if he has thyroid issues.

5-8grams of a quality BCAA throughout the day, in addition to regular protein consumption, seem to help too. I use one from Ajinomoto labs.

I have noticed cortisol levels and free testosterone levels seem to be effected too.

Hope this helps, basically you need to approach it like you would overtraining issues as noted in that thread.

Forgotten all about the kelp

I might suggest he try cutting his weights workload back by 50% for 2-4 weeks whilst his body adjusts to the lack of "stimulants" & can catch up on itself again.

[Melas Zomos]

just out of curiosity did your friend get a blood test done, and if so what stood out that made the determination it was adrenal fatigue?

[Cookie]

just out of curiosity did your friend get a blood test done, and if so what stood out that made the determination it was adrenal fatigue?

I will ask him. He did say he had been suffering badly with sleep issues, lethargy & a lot of physical & mental stress recently.

[Melas Zomos]

just out of curiosity did your friend get a blood test done, and if so what stood out that made the determination it was adrenal fatigue?

I will ask him. He did say he had been suffering badly with sleep issues, lethargy & a lot of physical & mental stress recently.

Cool, get as much info as you can.

[Cookie]

Cool, get as much info as you can.

Spoke with him again & he said it was something to do with his cortisol levels being out of whack & another hormone I`ve forgotten the name off All new to me.

Doctor said he had classic symptoms (before tests) of someone who was completely & utterly shattered, high stress levels, next to no quality sleep & nearing a nervous breakdown because of it all. Not to mention all the reoccurring illnesses that kept coming back (colds etc) within very short spaces of time after getting over one.