best remedy for tired adrenals is rest? ?

[Guest guest]

1 more conceptual question: if a person's adrenals are severely taxed,

isn't resting, sleep, the best remedy? Isn't the addition of

adrenal " helpers " tantamount to kicking a dead horse?

That's an extreme example but my gut feeling the past 20 years of CFS

has been to " try " my best to rest and nourish and " fan the coals " of

the adrenals rather than " stoke the fire " with things like astragalus

or HC or ACE.. I'm still having trouble groking that part of the

protocol...

Aren't the adrenals tired for a reason? I have no idea of how this

stuff works but would love to know the basic concepts behind the

instructions if you'd be so kind.

thanks,

~robin

[Guest guest]

>

> 1 more conceptual question: if a person's adrenals are severely

> taxed, isn't resting, sleep, the best remedy? Isn't the addition

> of adrenal " helpers " tantamount to kicking a dead horse?

I think it depends somewhat on which helpers you take. Some things do

seem to force the adrenals to work more than they can, which is not

good, especially not for long term. I tried a ginseng based herbal

that I think was in this category. I really liked it because I could

get more done, but when I ran out of it and couldn't get more I found

that I was really more worn out overall.

Other things tend to be more supportive. Licorice, for example, seems

to conserve the cortisol that you do have, which seems to make it last

longer. I find licorice tea helps steady my day but doesn't make me

more worn out afterward. If it weren't for the blood pressure raising

effect, I'd take it more often. I *think* HC is in this category

because it gives the adrenals time off, which is supportive, but it

doesn't actually give them any nourishment. I haven't found a dr to

prescribe HC yet, so I can't offer any more info on it.

And then, presumably, other things are actually nourishing. I'm still

trying to find things in this category. Today is my 4th day on ACE

(25mg). I will say that yesterday I didn't need a nap, and didn't

even notice that I hadn't needed one until bedtime, which came earlier

than my so-called normal. So, we'll see.

> That's an extreme example but my gut feeling the past 20 years of

> CFS has been to " try " my best to rest and nourish and " fan the

> coals " of the adrenals rather than " stoke the fire " with things

> like astragalus or HC or ACE.. I'm still having trouble groking

> that part of the protocol...

Well, I do think you can get to the point where you can't get enough

rest to recover. That's where I'm at. My life is as simple and

low-key as it can be without being comatose. And it hasn't been

enough for my adrenals to recover.

As for stoking the fire... there is a difference in the effects that

the various things have. It's kind of like the difference between

using sugar or protein for energy--sugar stokes the fire rapidly and

damagingly, but protein feeds the fire. You've lumped all of the

adrenal supports into one group and think they all stoke the fire.

It's going to be very hard to grok the process if all of the options

are pre-classified as undesirable. I think you need to step back and

look at them individually, and assess whether they stoke or feed.

> Aren't the adrenals tired for a reason? I have no idea of how this

> stuff works but would love to know the basic concepts behind the

> instructions if you'd be so kind.

>

> thanks,

> ~robin

>

There is a lot of information out there, but I found the link at

Dean's site to be a good starting point:

http://www.livingnetwork.co.za/healingnetwork/adrenals_thyroid.html