Most people have heard of adrenal fatigue and have even tried herbal supplements claiming to heal the adrenals. One problem with this approach is that most are not treating the whole system. Our adrenal glands respond to every kind of stress, whether it’s physical, emotional or physiological, which is why balancing the entire endocrine system is necessary to completely heal the adrenals and reverse symptoms of adrenal fatigue. Symptoms of adrenal fatigue include: fatigue, salt cravings, difficulty waking in the morning, irritability, weight gain, unable to handle stress, low immune function, decreased sex drive, non refreshing sleep, difficulty concentrating, depression/anxiety and low blood pressure. Our adrenals work in close connection with the thyroid and sex hormones, which is why many of the symptoms of adrenal fatigue mimic those of thyroid and sex hormone imbalance. If you have been treated for thyroid and are still experiencing thyroid symptoms, it could be that your adrenals are not functioning well and vice versa.  A major connection exist between the adrenals and thyroid and both should be checked if you have any of the symptoms mentioned above.  There are many ways to support adrenal insufficiency, ranging from biological hydrocortisone to rhodiola, ashwaganda and eleutherococcus. There are also many lifestyle interventions you can do to expedite the healing of the endocrine system. Here are 10 tips to healing your adrenals:

1. Minimize stress
2. Engage in restorative exercise such as yoga
3. Practice meditation
4. Make time to relax everyday
5. Decrease/eliminate caffeine
6. Get plenty of sleep and go to bed at the same time every night – at least 8 hours per night 
7. Eliminate all sugar
8. Eat a whole foods based diet – Mediterranean style diet
9. Get plenty of electrolytes – add electrolytes to your water
10. Ask your physician about testing and treating your entire endocrine system. This can be done via blood and saliva. We suggest a full thyroid panel to include: TSH, Free T3, Free T4, anti TPO, anti Thyroglobulin, Reverse T3 and Iodine. We also suggest a full hormone panel to be completed during the luteal phase of a women’s cycle to include: total estrogen, estradiol, estrone, DHEA-S, progesterone, free and total testosteorne. We also suggest an adrenal panel such as the ASI – this test cortisol at 4 points throughout the day using saliva.