So last week I had an appointment with a new naturopath, after visiting the ER and having an EKG and a complete blood panel done (all very completely normal) and the ER doctor suggested that I was having anxiety attacks. I was waking up in the middle of the night or sometimes just quietly sitting watching TV, with rapid heart rate and my palms and feet were very sweaty. Then I would get chills. My heart rate would go to 100-105 sometimes (normal resting HR for me is around 80-85). Eight months ago my husband died and I have had an ongoing series of problems with my car breaking down several times, roof leaking and then in November I was given 2 weeks notice that my job was being eliminated. My stress level was through the roof. Around mid-December amidst all the holiday media assault, I started having these attacks. I then re-vamped my low carb eating to include NO grains.

Well, the attacks stopped until about a month ago, so I thought I better check it out. I completely like this naturopath and he gave me a detoxification eating plan which is no starches or sugars or glutens or caffeine BUT said to add .5 cup of brown rice and a small apple or pear each day. He said to withdraw all dairy for 2 weeks then eat some again to make sure I don't also have an lactaid issues. He gave me three vitamin/herb compounds by Metagenics for glucose control, estrogen/testosterone balancing and a calming agent for the adrenals. I have to take them several times a day along with my 4000IU of D3, 400mg magnesium glycinate, 2000mg of C and 600mg of Calcium carbonate. He said it would take about 1-2 months to be symptom free, but that I am also dealing with low estrogen/testosterone due to my radical hysterectomy 5 years ago. That imbalance also causes these same symptoms.

SO, does anyone else have any stories of adrenal failure/fatigue and what they did to feel better. I am very interested.

Purcy, your post just makes me want to send you a big hug. I hope you get some good replies on your inquiry.

My ND prescribed astralgus (an herb) for my adrenal issues. Is it possible you're getting heart palpitations? I had them for a while with my premenopausal symptoms. They've gone away now though. Yay!

I'm sorry you lost your husband. It sounds like an incredibly stressful year for you.

Michelle, thank you so much for your kindness in posting.

Nancy, I was also getting palpitations along with the rapid heart rate, in december, but now it is just the rapid heart rate. I am 5 years into menopause due to a radical hysterectomy, I now have no ovaries (so no estrogen production). This is the herbal compount my ND prescribed, I take it 3 times a day. I do feel a lot calmer these past 4 days.

http://www.metagenics.com/products/...-list/Serenagen

I have one One Adrenal Gland,, the fatigue, well when I stress alot, I get very blu and sad and fatigue. I am sure its the fatigued Adrenal Gland.

I had a tumor of my adrenal gland, and had sweating symptoms, rapid heart rate. It came on out of no where. But it took me from 1986 til 1998 after 6 dr, and er visits and miss diagnoses. I begged a Dr to run some tests, and I am glad I finally did that. I was near death they said. So if I were you, if the symptoms keep going on, have then give you a CT and take a look at your Adrenal Glands. It sure can't hurt to rule that out.

I am so sorry about the loss of your Husband, I can't even know how it feels, but I do care, and if you need to talk, I have a Journal and can drop in there any time

I hope and pray you get to feeling better, and life sends you a BIG Smile and Good things start happening for you hugs Debbie

Oh boy, maybe I shouldn't have started this thread That's very scary to hear about, at this point I can't handle too much more bad news. I'm sorry you had so many years of trouble Debbie. I hope you are recovering though and thank you for posting.

purcy, please don't take this as fear or worry. I just was sharing my side of the symptoms of adrenal problems. And please know to those Tumors grow very very slowly. So its not like you get symptoms and there it is big and bad tumor..they think mine had been growing for 14 yrs.

I had this back in 1998.

I think you should just take this as knowledge and not fear, and don't worry, if your Dr has given you stuff to take, that may be all it is..

I hope you feel better Debbie

Hi Debbie, thanks again. I am fine, I appreciate your information. This really just started in december for maybe 3 episodes around the holidays, then stopped until about 3 or 4 weeks ago when I was again dealing with some very stressful issues. I am already experiencing a lot of relief from anxiety just from one week on these vitamin/herb compounds and the removal of caffeine. I will give them a few months trial and see where I am at then. I really appreciate your kind thoughts.

I was recently diagnosed with adrenal fatigue. I take two products from AOR. One is called Ortho-Adapt. It has porcine adrenal tissue, porcine adrenal cortex, vitamin c, licorice root, siberian ginseng, rhodiola, ashwagandha and pantethine.

I also take Thyro 100 from the same company because its been trying to make up for the loss of adrenal support. Try to kill two birds with one stone, so to speak. It has L-Tyrosine as its main component, potassium iodide, coleus forskohlii, bacopa monniera, commiphora mukul, guggul ez100, kaempferol, copper, zinc, selenium & myricetin.


Some info on some of these ingredients...



Bacopa is for cognitive memory function and ability.

Anyway, worth looking into. I've only been on this stuff one week as of today and I'm starting to feel less zombie like during the day.

These products are all corrective in nature, so no need to be on them for life.

Although there are lifestyle changes that need to be made, removing major stressors (or dealing with them aka talking about it), food diet... they recommended a paleo type low pufa diet, so I'm researching that out right now, its kinda new but not so new to me

Best wishes on your journey through this!

I was getting the same night time attacks you describe.... the Low Carbing sorted it, (someone suggested it was adrenaline release as low cortisol and overnight hypoglycaemia meant my body was struggling to get enough glucose from my liver, so was relying on Adrenaline to stimulate things!) Horrendous experience, like "flight or fight" but the effect would go ON an ON :-(

Blood testing showed I was VERY low Testosterone (probably as a result of opiates for chronic pain) and VERY low Cortisol.... treatment in the UK is VERY backward in these respects, so I had to do most of the researching myself as my Endocrinologist seemed to be satisfied I was OK as I wasn't actually near death!

Once on TRT, I moved on to supplementing Cortisol with low PHYSIOLOGIC doses of Hydrocortisone, in a protocol which seems to be rare in the UK, but widely followed in the US. I went from WHOLE DAYS in a stressed condition, as the result of say, just a slight fright or a slight daily problem - then eventually got back to having normal reactions to stress...

After some months on this, I was ready to stop the HC until just before Xmas, I got Swine flu, and had to rely very heavily on HC, it knocked me very hard! So that has set my plans back some months, and am waiting until I get back to the same state as I was in November! Getting better, but not as good as it was.

I still have hypothyroidism, and have never managed to get that under optimal control, it's an area in the UK that is even harder to get treated!

I have to admit being a bit too heavy on caffeine though, it's a vice I have still clung to!

Wow, that is so interesting, thanks for sharing. I was wondering if I might be having very low glucose in the middle of the night becuase I was eating very low carb. When I had my blood test I had not eaten for almost 18 hrs and my glucose was 112. I thought that was high for fasting but the doctor said I may have just released some glucose from my liver. My naturopath said I was low on estrogen and testosterone but I am going to check to see if he does the saliva testing for hormones, I'd like to get an actual level on these. Thank you again and I hope you feel great soon. You give me hope.

James Wilson's book "Adrenal Fatigue" is a good one to go through also if you can wade through the ads and horrible editing Dr Lam's site has a wealth of information about adrenal fatigue and how it's treated.

my sympathies on the death of your husband and all the other nasty stuff!

Hi purcy55,

It's a great idea you started this thread - lots of interesting stuff coming in!!!

I am so sorry for your loss and I do hope that life stops throwing you such bad stuff for a while.

Stress is the worst possible thing for the adrenals, but sometimes it just comes right at you, there's nothing you can do about it but try and get through it. When life gets like that these days, I just try to prioritize the absolute basics and put the rest on hold.

Sounds like your naturopath has you on a good protocol: I'm sure you'll feel better soon!

amanda

Even before I got my Testosterone replacement (and my E3 was high then, being fat and male, it means the opposite of your problem!) the Low carb sorted the problem, almost overnight! Although I wonder what would have happened if I had sorted my adrenals first!
(I have reactive Hypoglycaemia, so once I was not over-stimulating Insulin production by missing out the carbs, my blood glucose level improved dramatically)

I had wondered WHY I wasn't having hypoglycaemia overnight after eating carbs, when during the day I would be dreadful low say 3 hours after eating... overnight it seems other mechanisms were kicking in when blood glucose got VERY low, but they were pretty scary!... a nightmare without any nightmare happening.

I doubt very much your dietary supplements could be affecting your health like that. I don't have much experience with estrogen, but I have a lot of experience with anxiety attacks. I think you might be experiencing an anxiety disorder due to the massive amounts of stress you're under. You also have to remember that panic attacks don't have to make ANY SENSE. They happen somewhat randomly. You might have stressed yourself out in the MORNING, and then in the AFTERNOON, you get a panic attack.