Chronic stress leads to adrenal fatigue which often also underlies hypothyroidism and fertility problems. Luckily there is a lot that you can do to support the healing of your adrenals, reverse hypothyroidism, and restore fertility. In this post, I am giving you the details to 3 steps you can take to reduce chronic stress and start nurturing your adrenals, whether you are trying to conceive or not!
1. Start resting!
If you are stage 3 adrenal fatigue, then you probably can’t do much more besides rest. Know that resting is the best healing you can give yourself. Sleep, sleep, sleep but also do gentle exercises such as swimming, walking in beautiful environments, or cycling.
If you are stage 1 (alarm phase) or 2 (adaptation phase), your cortisol levels will be high which will make resting very hard. During the day you will feel restless but exhausted, while at night the cortisol prevents you from having quality sleep. You get up even more tired which is stressful which further brings up cortisol. The only solution is to FORCE REST.
You need to honor your circadian rhythm; it is your body clock.
We produce cortisol in the morning to get us going, while in the evening it drops and we produce melatonin to fall asleep. Activities at night, coffee, alcohol, and screen time (phone, computer, tablet, TV) raise cortisol which inhibits melatonin production.
So set a nighttime ritual:
- Stop using your screens 1-2 hours before you want to fall asleep
- DON’T drink caffeinated drinks or alcohol
- DO drink teas like chamomile, rose, lavender, or any evening/nighttime blends
- Dim the lights
After doing this for a few days, you will start to notice you get tired at night naturally and get better sleep. It may take longer than that to also start to feel refreshed waking up. Watch: How to unwind when you are overtired & over-busy.
If you mean business, you can also incorporate:
- Calming essential oils such as lavender, vetiver, rose, bergamot or chamomile
- Magnesium spray
- Warm (foot)baths with Epsom salts
- Gentle music
- Candlelight
- Heat packs on your belly, neck or back to relax muscles to reduce physical stress
- Massaging your feet or have someone massage your back (professional, lover or family member)
- Get osteopathic treatment to set you straight every now and then
- The exercise in this video I did on how to reduce cortisol and raise DHEA instantly
2. Feeding your body & adrenals
It starts with what you should not be feeding your adrenals!
Stimulants encourage adrenals to fire cortisol which indeed keeps you going, but depletes your adrenals and gets you too wired for rest at night.
If you want to go cold turkey, great! However, it will already help if you stop using stimulants in the afternoon and evening. Yes, you will feel tired, but that is the thing.. you ARE tired, and you NEED rest. The most common stimulants:
- Coffee and caffeinated tea
- Alcohol
- Cigarettes
- Sugar
- Orange juice
- Chocolate
If caffeine no longer picks up your energy, that’s an indication that you are already stage 3 adrenal fatigue, in which case you should stop stimulants altogether.
Now that you stopped pestering your adrenals, you can start feeding them!
In my experience, a tincture combination of ginseng, gingko, and Glycyrrhiza (licorice) is the very best. It feeds your adrenals but also works as a pick-me-up when needed (eg afternoon dip). Any supplement containing these herbs is useful and will often be sold as ‘adrenal support’. Take such supplements for at least 2-3 months to assess their effect.
Magnesium is a big one too.
During stress you use up Magnesium quicker and a lack of it makes you nervous and restless. So supplementing with it should absolutely make you feel better!
Top up on magnesium during stressful times with Epsom salt baths, supplements or a magnesium spray that you can use before bedtime.
Vitamin C is an antioxidant so supplementing with that supports your immune system, reduces inflammations and helps you get rid of toxins that cause also stress in your body.
If you are not on a good quality multivitamin, essential fatty acids, and probiotics already… that’s where you really need to start. Any good natural store or homeopathic pharmacy can advise you on those. Finding a nutritionist can also be a really good idea.
3. Homeopathic treatment
Lifestyle changes will make a significant difference, but when you suffer from adrenal fatigue or stress-induced hypothyroidism, you will need more to get you back onto your feet. Homeopathic remedies can help your adrenals recover quicker, restore hormone balance, reduce inflammations and address chronic stress that started it in the first place. I am a testimony to how homeopathy can accelerate healing of adrenal fatigue! I wouldn’t wish anything less for you.
If you are trying to conceive, then homeopathic treatment is especially important to address the effects of adrenal fatigue on your hormone balance.