ADRENAL What?? No Way...

If you, or someone you know experience chronic fatigue, sleep disturbances, cravings, stress sensitivity, mood swings, craving salty foods, difficulty concentrating, brain fog, severe anxiety, chronic low energy, menstrual irregularities, decreased libido, weight gain, poor digestion, hair changes, chronic low immunity, reduced fertility, unexplained mid-lower back pain (often mistaken for kidney pain) and skin changes, this blog might be for you. If you or someone you know have experienced periods of extreme stress, or a period of time with prolonged back-to-back stress episodes, this blog will explain the mechanism and offer insight to natural interventions.

Extreme stress can be caused by many things... things that we sometimes don't even equate with stress. The process of debilitating the adrenal glands is a slow one that often goes undiagnosed or misdiagnosed.

This topic is very personal to me, as my own life almost came to a very early close at the age of forty-five. Without going into too many details, my entire life has literally been a series of back-to-back episodes of extreme stress, separated by minimal time, beginning around five months of age.

The first eight years of our lives create our body systems and the defence/fight/flight mechanisms needed to survive the environment(s) that we are exposed to. The first eight years of our lives set the stage for who we truly are.

My parents were deeply scarred by WWII and new immigrants to Canada, not equipped to be parents nor raise children, I had an extremely abusive schizophrenic older brother, a sick and abusive schizophrenic uncle and no support. The first eight years of my life were a living hell... at five months old my five year older brother changed how my face looked forever by beating me unconscious with a stainless steel thermos bottle. The next eighteen years were constant extreme stress and sick abuse. For the next twenty-seven years I stumbled from one extreme episode of stress to another. In 2007, I met Mia, by far the very best thing that ever happened in my life since the birth of my four beautiful children. I was experiencing a very difficult divorce, doing my best to hang onto my failing company, 'Off The Wall Rock Climbing', no home (sleeping on the floor at my place of business), working two other jobs, and eating what customers left or gave to me. Mia took me to a naturopathic doctor. I was diagnosed with extreme celiac disease and dangerously 'extreme adrenal fatigue' (hypoadrenia), among other things. I remember the resulting conversation with the Dr. about my blood panel and other test results... without immediate intervention and a bunch of serious lifestyle changes I was going to die. That's sobering to hear! What did I do?

Most will recognize the word, adrenaline: "Adrenaline, also known as epinephrine, is a hormone created and released by the adrenal glands when you're in a stressful, exciting, or dangerous situation. It's part of the body's 'flight or fight' response. This hormone causes your heart to beat faster, increases energy, and makes you more alert, among other things." (NIH.gov) Adrenaline is only one of the hormones produced and released by the adrenal glands. The adrenal glands are positioned one above each kidney and are composed of two main parts, the cortex and medulla, each producing a variety of hormones essential for optimal and healthy body system functions:

• Androgens & estrogens (control sexual function);

• Aldosterone (controls salt balance in blood);

• Cortisol (controls sugar balance and counters the release of histamines and inflammation);

• Epinephrine and norepinephrine (control fight/flight response);

• Dehydroepiandrosterone DHEA (slows ageing, increases energy/muscle strength, boosts immunity, decreases body weight);

• After menopause in women the adrenal glands become the major source of sex hormones (level of sex drive, mood swings, tendency to gain weight);

"The immune weakness that results from altered adrenal function sets the stage for easier infections or greater debilitation." (Adrenal Fatigue, The 21st Century Stress Syndrome - JL Wilson, 2001 - pg48) I have read this book several times since 2007 and have acted on the information. I truly believe that doing so enabled me to continue living. Essentially, healthy adrenals will promote and enable the following body processes:

• Promote proper, healthy cardiovascular function;

• Enable the body to both respond to stress and calm down from stress;

• Properly utilizing carbohydrates and fats;

• Facilitate distribution of stored fat;

• Give you body odour (good or bad depending on health) and pubic hair;

• Promotes healthy gastrointestinal functions. (endocrine.org);

• Healthy sexual response and libido.

So, what's the challenge? If we know this, if we have proven natural products and methods to heal and support the adrenal glands and their vital functions, why are so many suffering from various stages of 'adrenal fatigue'? Quite simply, western medicine does not acknowledge 'Adrenal Fatigue' or 'Hypoadrenia' to be a 'medical condition' and classifies this as a myth. If you completely believe and trust 'Western Medicine', please avoid wasting your time reading this (thanks for reading this far). If you are open to world-wide 'alternative' medicine you may indeed get something useful out of reading on.

There is much online info available on this topic. Please validate authenticity of source. This book is by far the best source of real, true, useable information I have encountered.

Referencing the above book, part two, chapters eight, nine, ten offer a step-by-step exploration of your life and may enable you to determine if you suffer from Hypoadrenia or Adrenal Fatigue. This is by no means a substitute for visiting a reputable Naturopathic Dr., or Dr. of Chinese Medicine. Get your facts. Get a complete blood panel and other tests like a saliva hormone test. Western medicine will inform that 'Hypoadrenia' is a myth and maybe do a test for Addison's disease... one in 100,000 will test positive. Most with Hypoadrenia will not test positive and may be referred to pharma drugs they don't need or even to a psychologist because they believe they may be suffering from Hypoadrenia. I found this discrepancy between diagnoses to be very disturbing in 2007. I chose my own path to healing that did not involve the use of pharmaceutical drugs (my own personal choice). What did that involve?

Most people want to feel better and be healthy. The first step is admitting that something is wrong. The next step is reaching out for help in determining what needs attention. After that comes the truly difficult part where most will abort... making the necessary lifestyle changes and doing the hard work to facilitate healing. Please keep in mind that the beautiful thing about humans is we are all different and unique. Each person will experience illness differently and subsequently there is no 'one-for-all' easy cure! The hard work comes when we choose to learn about ourselves, admit things, admit that we need to make changes in order to move towards a healthier existence... and then actually do the work to make those changes! If you're anything like me, you may even find it very difficult just to reach out and ask for help. Ask! Ask people who are qualified to give you good direction. What might that direction look like? Here's what worked for me.

My first task was to alter my diet, eliminate foods that had become allergens in my body, and replace those with foods that worked for me. Remember that Hypoadrenia and a compromised immune function often go hand-in-hand. Dr. Wilson's book was a fantastic resource for this, as well as other sources that enabled me to tailor a diet unique to my personal challenges. This was a very tedious process of trial and error, keeping a food journal (described very well in the book with useful templates) and sourcing healthy, real foods to eat and drink. Remember, this is unique to you and absolutely requires you to do the work! There is no easy solution. The challenge with food/drink allergens is they encourage the body to produce histamine and other pro-inflammatory responses. Weak adrenal function inhibits the production and release of cortisol which is a major anti-inflammatory that counters the release of histamine. Those with weak immune function often experience some form of hypoadrenia as the adrenals are working overtime to mitigate the release of histamine through the attempted production and release of cortisol. Fatigued adrenals have a very difficult time producing sufficient cortisol, therefore the bodies inflammatory response to allergens increases. Eliminating the allergens is critical to allowing the adrenals to recover and heal. It is not a surprise that I was diagnosed with stage four Crohn's disease in 2019. I have been in remission since Aug 2020 without the use of pharmaceuticals, chemotherapy, surgery, or radiation. That's a whole additional healing journey that folds into this one!

My second task was to identify and mitigate the major stressors in my life. This was by far the most difficult challenge as it meant literally changing my vocation, my location, my friends... completely reinventing my life. Without this step, there would be minimal to no healing as I would still be immersed in all of the things that were generating extreme stress in my life. Not all stress is bad. When suffering from extreme hypoadrenia, ALL stress is bad until healing is well underway! Attempting to navigate life alone is stressful... this was extremely difficult for me to accomplish and has been responsible for a few relapses since 2007. Perseverance is key. Find someone who truly believes in you, anyone... borrow that belief until you establish your own! Allow that person to hold you accountable, no matter what.

My third task was to find and use natural medicines to help heal and continue to support function of my adrenal glands. With my very limited financial resources at the time, this was extremely difficult. Natural health products have been, are, and will continue to be difficult to source and afford in Canada. New laws and rules are unfortunately fuelling this fire (Visit NHPPA.org to find out more about what's currently happening to natural health products in Canada). With the financial inability to source natural medicines, Mia and I turned to nature and books, learning to properly and safely formulate our own medicines. Now we are very happy to be able to offer several tisanes that are blended specifically to assist in the healing and support of healthy adrenal function:

• Adrenal What? Tisane (will be up on our website soon)

This tisane was recently blended for those who consistently feel drained and may experience patterns of dizziness, mood swings, shaky muscles, restless sleep, night sweats, brain fog, stressed/overstimulated in situations that feel pretty safe for others, those who have experienced some kind of abuse and are actively working to heal and repair. This, in addition to our Vitamin C tisane, is a great tisane to begin the healing process once food/drink allergens and stressors have been addressed.

• ADHD Adrenal Support Tisane

This tisane was blended to avoid having a stimulating effect, yet provide nourishment for adrenal function as well as digestive support as many suffering from hypoadrenia also suffer from some form of digestive disorder (Celiac, IBD, Crohn's). A great adrenal nourishment tisane for ongoing support.

• Vitamin C Tisane

Of all the vitamins and minerals involved in adrenal metabolism, vitamin C is probably the most important! The more cortisol produced, the more vitamin C is used! The blood level of Vitamin C is one of the markers for hypoadrenia.

*Warning: Vitamin C supplements that consist of 'ascorbic acid' alone are sadly lacking in the bioflavinoids essential for the ascorbic acid to become bioavailable and fully metabolized by the body. Source natural vitamin C supplements like this tisane that are rich in natural bioflavenoids (not synthetic). A good standard is 2mg of bioflavenoids to 1mg of ascorbic acid. (Wilson. 2001-pg193) Be aware that increasing use of vitamin C may be followed by a gradual decrease. If the decrease in vitamin C is too abrupt, the body will quickly become seriously deficient. Bleeding gums are a simple indicator of lack of Vit C.

These tisanes can be found on our website together with more information. Unfortunately our website POS has been shut down (ongoing controversy with new Can Gov't regulations). If you wish to purchase online, please reach out and send us an e-mail stating what you wish to purchase. We will get back to you with an alternate payment method and ship your purchase out to you, or hand deliver it if you're on the South Island. If you are local on Vancouver Island, you can also purchase our tisanes at Farmers Markets listed on our website.

As always, much love and thank you for checking out our blog. If you have more questions, please reach out, send us an e-mail, and we will reply to the best of our ability. Mia and I have gone through a lot, worked through a lot, and can offer real-life experience for all of the products we create. Happy, 'Healing By Nature'!

Pete