Just Tired? Or Something More? Take This Quick Test
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Are you tired all the time–wondering if it is just normal — or if it is something more? Here's an adrenal fatigue test that can help give you a clue to what is going on in your body.
Though it is not discussed much in mainstream medicine circles, adrenal fatigue is on the rise.
In fact, I think that it is now affecting people in our Western societies in epidemic proportions.
Including me.
How can you find out if you have it or not without breaking the bank?
Well, I have for you what is perhaps the best and easiest test of all.
It's a great test, but one that you may wish that you never took because so many of us these days will fail it.
However, knowing you have a problem means you are on the way to a cure.
So while this isn't a true diagnostic test of a medical condition, it's an interesting thing to consider and it will for sure get you thinking about how you keep yourself going.
Adrenal Fatigue Test
Again, this “test” isn't going to lead to a real medical diagnosis, but it is helpful to see the workings of your body and gives clues about what you might want to change.
Here is the test:
Do you rely on stimulants to keep you going? If you feel you really can't exist without stimulants, then you might have an adrenal problem.
That's it.
Oh boy. Stimulants?
“What do you mean”, you ask, “stimulants? I don't take illegal drugs, so what are you talking about?”
Well, how about this list of things that can get your adrenals going — and keep them going.
Stimulant List aka “Adrenal Crutches”
- caffeine (still trying to get off coffee or chocolate? Here's a great coffee substitute recipe that can help.)
- exercise (do you feel that you need to get a run in or you can't make it through the day?)
- sugar (do you keep reaching for sweets for the temporary energy boost that they give you? Check out What is Candida and Why I Went Sugar Free.)
- stress (do you push everything to the last minute, feeding off the adrenaline rush that you get from deadlines?)
- busyness (gotta keep running from one thing to the next to keep life interesting? This post on “Best Autism Therapy” has a tip for you.)
Really anything that “stokes your fire” is a stimulant.
We are not designed to be constantly under stress. Our bodies need rest from all the stimuli in our lives.
Now, that doesn't mean that we shouldn't have any stress in our lives. In fact, we can't live without any stress. But clearly, we have been overdoing it. I have been overdoing it my whole life. How about you?
In the future, I will be (slowly and with as little stress as possible :-)) sharing with you how I have been working both on my own and with practitioners to get my adrenals back in balance. I will also be giving you tips on how I am trying to reduce my dependence on all of the above stimulants — and how you can too!
We all need to be taking better care of ourselves. Body. Soul. Mind.
Other Health Posts You Might Like:
– Could You Have Heavy Metal Poisoning and Not Know It?
– Which Best Essential Oils Company is Best?
– Natural Ear Infection Remedies
How did you do on the test?
Which stimulant do you need to work on giving up first?
I also have adrenal exhaustion and have yet to find the cause. Maybe its my constant running around, lol! As a gemini with adult ADD, stimulation is just necessary…..all joking aside, I really believe its food related and I am having the darnedest time finding what it is. I am gluten free, pasteurized dairy free (raw is okay with me) and had quit caffeine for 2 years without improvement. I had also taken myself off eggs and corn for a while. It is so frustrating!!!!!
Hi Christine. I think you are doing great things for your adrenals. Did you check out Theresa Vernon’s site? I would pull sugar next and watch the stress level. I wouldn’t go off eggs unless you think you have a problem with them. I have an article called Metals and the Mind by Theresa that I could forward to you if you are interested. Take care of your self and rest awhile each day. It’s hard but necessary.
So off taking corn and eggs from your diet is helpful to recover from adrenal fatigue?
Hmmm…I can’t see what comment you are replying to. Did I say something abt corn and eggs? Excess grains are rough on the system. Eggs would only be an issue if you have sensitivities to them that I know of.
Oh I meant for someone else! How you doing with your adrenal fatigue and what helped you .
How is your Hypothyriod and do you take medicine for it.Adrenal will cause thyriod problem among others things but.Thx
OK – so you are not asking me?
I was wondering what protocol you are doing to get rid of metals. I really want to look into this month. I will say that starting progesterone has helped my adrenals significantly. Thanks for your post. K
I have a mass on my adrenal gland and am going tomorrow to get a CAT scan to see if it’s changed. I’m trying to learn a bit about it. Isn’t it funny how we run into things? Thanks for the information I found here.
In my experience, Adrenal Fatigue, hypo-thyroidism, and depression all disappeared when I eliminated modern, hybrid wheat from my diet, and going to whole, vegan foods. Interestingly enough, I can eat the heirloom, organic wheat grown by a farmer local to me, and it feels so, so Good. I have a theory that it’s the genetically modified foods that are doing this to us . . . but I have no studies or control groups, so it’s just a pet theory for now.
The best I’ve EVER felt in my life was when I was raw vegan . . . amazing, that was. I fell off the wagon with my last pregnancy, and am about to jump back on. I’m ready to feel like myself again . . .
Hi Annalea. I know wheat is an issue, but so far for me there have been many more issues. Sugar, metals and stress. Actually, the protocol that I am following recommends not much in the way of raw veggies, but I do eat raw (soaked and dehydrated) nuts and seeds.
The one thing that is odd about what you say is that typically copper toxicity goes hand in hand w/ adrenal issues and zinc (prevalent in animal foods) is helpful in dealing w/ copper toxicity. But I am sure glad that you are better. Just be careful – sometimes veganism can lead to more copper and adrenal issues down the road – so just be careful :-). I was a vegan for many years until my issues got very bad.
I agree with the GMO theory, that’s what I think too, as well as the pesticides. Before those were a part of our food the health issues today weren’t a problem back then like they are now.
It’s so sad that we have to be so vigilant and proactive about everything that we put into our bodies because we are being slowly and methodically poisoned and none of us realizes it until we then have the symptoms, which because it is occurring so slowly, are not noticed until they’re obviously at really high levels in our body?
Thank you for this post. It is the first one I have seen on adrenal fatigue. I have just started writing about it myself also. More people need to know about this terrible condition.
You’re welcome, Sheila. More to come (as long as I am rested enough :-).) It’s such a mess….our hectic lifestyles, toxins, and dietary issues make it a perfect storm for this to happen.
Just a quick note, Adrienne, of the 3 sweeteners you use, Stevia is the safest from what I have read, and mainly if it is the green extract or powder. Better yet, straight from the leaf, since it is less refined. The Stevia plant is quite easy to grow, actually! I grew it (in southwestern OH) and extracted the juice to sweeten stuff. But I have to admit I still mix the white stevia with the green stevia powder since the green does have a strong aftertaste and does not dissolve well by itself.
Since xylitol and erythritol are alcohol sugars, there are other things to be careful of. It was recommended to me to use them sparingly. Just what I have learned. I’ll have to find my research references and back up what I post.
Oh, since I really like posting here on your site, let me quickly and properly introduce myself. I am a happily married kinda middle-aged stay-at-home-mom of two great kids, a 3 y/o boy and 7 yr old girl. I’ve struggled w/ health problems progressively since childhood. I have been interested in nutrition since a young adult continually do health research, as time allows (sometimes losing sleep over it, unfortunately.). My first pregnancy magnified my health issues and I could ignore them no longer. That was the first time in my life that I had health insurance and got some tests done. However, conventional doctors couldn’t find anything to substantiate my symptoms, so began my journey into holistic health. Enough for now.
I’d love to share w/ you and your readers some poems I have written during physically low, yet spiritually inspired times (God has a sense of humor, yes?!). I ask your “permission” since this is your blog and my poems are definitely not w/o the mention of God. W/O God and my faith in Jesus, I’d have no poetical expression to share with others.
Prayers for you for rest, sleep, peace and boundless energy, mental focus and continued health improvements. I know how challenging it can be to get enough sleep and avoid too much stress. I’m blest to be home all day with my 3 y/o sweet little boy who has mostly outgrown his naps and is into everything!
Blessings,
Michele K
Oh, my most offensive food sensitivities are: Dairy, wheat/gluten, nightshades (peppers, potatoes, tomatoes-mildly), mushrooms, onions, pork, beef-mildly, some fruits, some nuts. Thank goodness I can eat eggs, chicken, turkey and most veggies and coconut form!!!
coconut in any form…gosh I’ve been making tons of typos lately.
Michele, Really? Coconut? I crave coconut-I have yet to figure that out. I just bashed one up not even an hour ago (how else can you describe freeing the coconut meat from that hard shell??) 😉
So sorry for not getting back to you – I am so behind! I think stevia is the safest too and likely you read this post https://wholenewmom.com/health-concerns/is-stevia-safe-is-stevia-bad-for-you-stevia-infertility/
I would be interested in maybe reading your poems but likely wouldn’t be publishing them since I don’t know how that would fit in here, but maybe. I am just swamped and it’s hard for me to do things like that.
Thanks for your prayers!!!
Wow, is this a I need to be following. Thanx, Adrienne for sharing info and your journey through Adrenal fatigue. I am very interested in everything you say here and will follow this as closely as I can. Post as you are able, I understand balance in that.
Several yrs ago I was told my adrenals were shot. I was also told by a naturopathic doctor that I was low in progesterone and other hormones, deficient in B-12 and some minerals, low end of normal for thyroid (hypothyroidism runs in the family), have metal toxicities, bad microorganisms, gut imbalance, and have many food sensitivities. It is quite a journey, and I’m still not out of the woods, but am learning lots along the way. I still need to nap, but am no longer an insomniac.
So far, the GAPS healing diet program (from the book, “Gut and Psychology Syndrome” by Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride) is resulting the most improvement. I have very little abdominal pain now. This is based on the Specific Carbohydrate Diet (not particularly a weight-loss diet, but a whole-body diet healing the gut lining. If one goes through it and happens to need to lose weight or gain weight to be healthy, they probably will.) I am taking several supplements alongside a healing diet, while avoiding gluten, grains, refined sugars, most sweeteners, bad fats, anything refined and foods I’m sensitive to. What do I eat? (Sorry, this healing diet is not vegan/vegetarian, don’t intend to offend anyone.) I eat mostly lots of vegies, farm eggs, healthy fats, some healthy grass-fed meats, goodies made with coconut flour.
Any health facts and your experiences on adrenal fatigue will be so appreciated. Sorry for the super long post.
Thanks for sharing! I’m glad you did – and in long length. The adrenal issue is convoluted but I too am healing. Last night is one of the only bad night’s sleep I’ve had in a long time and we’ve had a lot of stress here. Hopefully I’ll get a nap :-). I hope you continue to hang around. Hope to post more on this soon…..probably the next post will be metal toxicity. But I have 2 contributing writer posts due this week so I’m busy, and our car broke down yesterday again and we’re trying to nail down a purchase of a used car off Ebay today…nothing much going on here :-). I’m on the same diet, but I do eat stevia, xylitol and erythritol. May add some grains back in in 2-4 months. Not sure yet. And all vegans are welcome here though I don’t consider it healthy. I used to be one :-).
I have one latte a day made with only 1/2 tablespoon of coffee (read: I have cut my coffee down to half of what I used to drink which at only one latte a day wasn’t ever much anyway) and the other half Dandy Blend and I sweeten it with stevia and erythritol and put Nutiva coconut oil in it. Before I switched to that, I had been using maple syrup and honey and coconut sugar. I’ve been doing the erythritol (NuNaturals, iherb.com sells 5lb bag for $30.00 and it’s delicious!) and stevia (NuNatural) for months now and can’t imagine sweetening with sugar now because I can’t tell the difference between them now, it tastes just as good as the honey and maple syrup did.
Sounds great. And I agree that it tastes just as good!
Wanted to chime in that I also followed GAPS for three months, and found it quite helpful to me too. Though I think I wasn’t careful about getting enough magnesium, and it started getting out of whack at that time. I use GAPS with my spectrum daughter, and see miraculous results. I use GAPS Intro for a gut reset any time someone has to use antibiotics in the house. Its really great. Better if you can stick to it a long time. My daughter has been on it for a year, and she would probably not qualify for her original diagnosis as SPD anymore.
Wow – thanks. I keep thinking about this.
How are you doing with your adrenal fatique? I was diagnosed with hypothyroid back in August. I have suspected my thyroid is not really the problem…..it’s my adrenals that is actually causing the thyroid to not function properly. I’m taking lost of extra vitamins and minerals and working on my digestion, but I’m still completely exausted most days. I’m off all sugar–natural and unnatural. What is your progress? Any recommendations?
I am actually doing great, Areta. It has not been fun getting the minerals balanced and having the metals come out, but I am 10 months into this and I am starting to see so much progress that I am thrilled. I would love to correspond with you more about this. I used to barely be able to make it around the house and I haven’t had to even nap now for more than a week. I feel, honestly, like I am finally alive again. Are you off fruit? Are you a vegetarian? Have you heard about copper toxicity? These are all things that I want and need to post about but I need to pace myself. You may or may not be taking the right things. This is all quite complicated but fascinating. Keep in touch.
Adrienne, This is the first wind I have heard of “balancing minerals” together with “heavy metals”… I have suspected for a year now that i have adrenal fatigue, and possibly hypothyroidism (though Dr. testing says not on that one). I have a mouth full of mercury, that I can’t get rid of (too costly and I’m nearly always pregnant or nursing). I have chronic fatigue, and I can’t function without the coffee in the AM. I am definitely experiencing mineral imbalance, especially calcium, potassium, phosphorous, and magnesium. If its not one of them, its another… I can’t seem to ge them to balance for more than a day or two…. Would you have any further thoughts on this? Anything you can point me to to give me a better understanding of the correlation between metals, adrenals, and minerals?? I’ve read Adrenal Fatigue: 21st century, and Magnesium Miracle…. thanks!
Hi there. This is all tough stuff. I am currently trying to figure out where I am going w/ my care. The nutritional balancing info is there in the post (the links to Theresa Vernon’s site). How are you figuring that you are balancing your minerals? I am still trying to process all of this and don’t really know how to answer you. I haven’t read the books you mentioned – do you recommend them?
Adrienne,
I would highly recommend both books. Along with Nourishing Traditions, The Mood Cure (Julia Ross), and Curing Tooth Decay (Rami Nagel). All of those plus the thyroid madness site really helped me out. I no longer am CHRONICALLY fatigued, as in, can’t get out of bed and do anything without going weak in the limbs (as in I couldn’t empty and then wash the inside of the fridge, and then put the food back all at one time… I had to wait a couple hours between steps, while I rested!) Now I have much more energy, and no weakness in the limbs.
But I’m still having a mineral imbalance. I get symptoms like: muscle cramps, muscle twitching, restless legs, constipation… these are typically related to the calcium, potassium, magnesium (as I learned in Magnesium Miracle). I am also pregnant so that is probably what is messing it up now. I did go through a period of more normal balancing…. I’m just rather annoyed with it at the moment.
Hope those books are helpful to you. I don’t know anything about heavy metals, except that it’s not a good idea to attempt to detox from mercury if you have a mouthful of it. You have to have it removed first, or you actually make yourself sicker.
God bless,
Mrs. Mom of 6
A few weeks ago I stumbled upon Oil Pulling – have you heard of it? It’s very old and simply a matter of swishing a vegetable oil in your mouth 10-20 minutes on an empty stomach. (I use coconut oil as it doesn’t seem so oily to me). According to what I’ve read (online) there are multiple health benefits – one is ridding your body of metals.
I’ve heard about it. I don’t understand the empty stomach part – do you? I did do this for awhile w/ essential oils to heal a problematic root canal and it worked, but I am thinking the oils had more to do w/ it than the coconut oil pulling. I’d love to know your thoughts.
I’m no expert, my thoughts on the empty stomach is why swallow all those toxins, do the oil pulling first thing and get them out of your body. However, I’ve read some more involved explanations. It is Hindu medicine, nothing new, the oils originally used were sunflower and safflower I believe. I’ve been doing it for 12 days now and love the way my mouth/teeth/gums feel, no bad breath-no morning breath. Don’t know what else it may do, but I’m happy so far. Here are two good sites for info –
https://www.earthclinic.com/Remedies/oil_pulling.html and this one has a free ebook on oil pulling (Link deleted by Whole New Mom due to it not working anymore)
BTW, I found your site just a few days ago and I’m truly enjoying it – thanks!
Thanks for the kind words!!! I so appreciate them! I thought you are supposed to spit out the oil, so I wouldn’t be swallowing them anyway. Hmmmm…..
Yes you spit it out. What doing it on an empty stomach means is that you do it first thing in the morning before drinking or eating anything so you don’t swallow all the gunk that’s in your mouth first thing in the morning. Oops…I can read what the next poster just posted and says the same thing…lol
Sorry, I guess I wasn’t clear. If you do the oil pulling on an empty stomach and yes, spit it out, all the toxins are down the drain. But if you eat first, you would swallow all that junk that has been brewing in your mouth. But again, that is just my thoughts. I felt this was fairly harmless so didn’t mind going ahead with it before reading everything in site. Otherwise I’d still be investigating and would have never found all the good stuff here. : ) I’ve never followed a blog before and never commented on one, but the fact the oil pulling is supposed to rid the body of metals, which Mrs.Momof6 is concerned about, I felt I had to share what little I know.
A lot of the stuff they have you do on an empty stomach is to aid the liver in the detoxing process.
I am where you once were. I work 12 hr shifts as a nurse (three a week) and somehow (by the grace of God Himself) I am able to muddle through and do those but when I’m not working, I am telling you, I have no energy, zero, zilch to do anything. I am literally in my pajamas most days, all day (lucky for me I don’t have little ones anymore, I have no idea how I would take care of them?). I haven’t even been diagnosed with anything yet, but I KNOW (as a nurse), this isn’t normal and I’m not supposed to feel like this. My daughter has Hashimoto’s, my sister has hypothyroidism (since she was 9 years old) and my mother has it. I have nodules on my thyroid that have been needle biopsied and I was advised to have thyroid removed but didn’t take their advice because they said needle biopsy was “inconclusive for malignancy” and I didn’t want to be stuck on synthetic thyroid medication for the entire rest of my life for no good reason if the pathology came back negative for malignancy. I am supposed to have ultrasounds done every six months but don’t because I have little faith in the medical establishment (it took me 15 years to get my daughter diagnosed with hypothyroidism and PCOS and you don’t even want to know how many physicians she was taken to before this last one 4 years ago took pity on us because we had been through so much and did every test under God’s Green earth until he found out what was wrong with her). So I would love to be where you are now. Do tell all when you get the chance (I know you need to take it easy and not tax your adrenals!).
Please check out Theresa Vernon’s site. I linked there in this post, I think. I am very skeptical about everything, and I still have a ways to go but I am functioning fairly well now. Let me know what you think.
Areta,
I notice that your post was almost a year ago, so I hope you are recovered by now. However, since I have been working on my CFS for 3 1/2 years, there is the possibility that you are still struggling. If so, may I suggest looking at using your thyroid meds to jumpstart your adrenals? You can read about it here:
Link deleted by Whole New Mom since it doesn’t exist any longer.
I am using it currently and am having good success. The link above will also give you the link to a yahoo group where you can get advice from others trying the same protocol. This is a patient-to-patient group. (One beggar showing another where the bread is!)
Kris
I am so happy to see people spreading the word. I found out I had adrenal fatigue from a saliva test along with VERY low progesterone AND hypothyroid.
It all works together, or should I say doesn’t work together?
I have found the greatest help to be pantothenic acid. There is a very good book titled Adrenal Fatigue, the 21st century disease and it made me well on the road to recovery. It has been a year and literally the past few weeks I am getting better. I have done many things to improve my health from diet, relaxing, exercise, dental care and on and on. But there is hope!
Thanks for sharing your thoughts and spreading the word.
Do you just take pantothenic acid alone not the B complex and how many mg of B5? Which has helped you?.
Any other supplements .I have Hashimoto /Hypothriod and suspect my cause is adrenal fatigue as I get tired after yoga .
Thank you
Hello Adrienne,
I was feeling just like this. I went to the Dr and he did some blood work. I found out that I have hypothroid.
I still am over doing it though! Way too much stress and not enough sleep!
Thanks for sharing this great post!
Blessings,
Jeanie
I had hypothyroid too. I am working on it all. Let’s stay in touch! You might be interested as we get into the metals. They can wreak havoc on your thyroid from what I understand. All of this goes together….candida, thyroid, adrenals, metals. Glad to “meet” you.
Hello there I’m tired all the time too, actually exhausted. I’m hypothyroid and have candida as well. I’ve been hypo for 13 years now. Working on them all but still not feeling much better. blessings to you all
I am not tired all the time anymore. I am not done healing, but am so much better. I am re-evaluating now and hope to have either new direction or verification that I am on the right path. Take care.
You will have to share with us all, what you have done to get to where you are feeling now! Waiting anxiously just like I was with Best Essential Oils Company results LOL!
Planning on it….hang in there :). I am not completely healed for sure…maybe some of this is what you are stuck w/ for good. But I am much better.
Adrienne —
I was just diagnosed with adrenal fatigue along with reverse T3 hypothyroidism. I cried on the way home from the doctor (ND) because finally I had a diagnosis, I was so happy. I felt like a fraud each time I went to the doctors for the past 10+ years complaining of fatigue and lack of energy, not good sleep. They wanted to put me on anti-depressants, and I am the least depressed person I know!
My adrenals are shot. I have been running on adrenaline (my “stimulant” derived from stress and too much responsibility) since I was in high school. College didn’t offer much break, either, working full time and going to school full time.
One of my test results (I did the saliva stress test indicator thingy) showed I had excessive high cortisol levels especially at night when I was trying to sleep. So that disrupted my sleep, and without good sleep, I can’t get my body rested to heal… and another portion of that test showed my immune response levels — normal range is 25 – 60 and borderline low is 20-25. My test results were a 6!!! The cause of very low immunity? Chronic excess cortisol levels. DOH! Makes sense now.
No matter what I do healthy — eat my raw milk kefir, bone broth, coconut oil, no sugar, very little gluten, etc etc… it isn’t going to do anything to help me heal until I QUIT WITH ALL THE STRESS AND WORRYING. I had chicken pox as a kid, and now get shingles outbreaks, sometimes twice a year. It sucks. But these tests explain why — I don’t have the immune system to fight off the viruses. I get a cold when someone coughs 10 feet from me.
On the plus side, my vitamin D levels are through the roof, so I overcome these colds in a matter of a day or two, when everyone else is sick for weeks… but it would be nice to actually be healthy ALL THE TIME. I have a side business that promotes detox and wellness, etc. and here I am sick all the time. That doesn’t bode well! But at least my heavy metal levels are low since detoxing them all out of me. The tests showed I had cadmium, aluminum and mercury… hmmm.
p.s. also I was told strongly to NOT exercise if exercising fatigues you… instead of invigorates you. So I stopped going to the gym as I address these issues. I am only 38 and should have a TON of energy. One of my prescriptions is that we are moving to Panama and living the “simple life”. I hope that helps us. At least I can lay in a hammock or weave a basket there!
Panama….hmmmm…..I don’t like heat but the hammock sounds good.
What did you do to increase your vitamin D levels (which brand of vit D3 did you take, I know they are not all created equal and if they’re inferior can even hurt more than harm)? What did you take to detox from the heavy metals (was it a supplement?). Moving to Panama sounds wonderful, Lucky you!
I just saw this from almost 2 months ago, sorry I didn’t reply sooner.
I just took the 5,000 IU vitamin D3 supplement from Swanson Vitamins. However, I had been taking it for years and my levels were still on the low end of the range… until I started supplementing with Vitamin K2 as well. I have read research where the vitamin D3 cannot be absorbed or utilized (except via sunlight) unless you take Vitamin K2 along with it. So that is what I did. And the next test I took, doing nothing else but add the K2, my levels shot through the roof. So I am a believer in K2 now.
Good luck.
That is really interesting. I had heard Vitamin K was for heart health so I am really intrigued.
What saliva test did you take? I took one but it didn’t have all the things you mentioned.