Adrenal Reset & Keto - energy and mental clarity
bananabeannn
Posts: 110 Member
Curious if anyone has tried this? I have been diagnosed with adrenal fatigue before and am again addicted to coffee, hopelessly addicted....I would like to have the choice if I am going to have a coffee or not. I literally get migraines without it. Not cool.
I remember years ago doing Atkins and being shocked how much better I felt. I had clarity and wasn't having cravings. I'm curious if this and/or Keto would help.
Ive been tracking my food, along with caffeine, water, any medications, supplements, my mood, meditation, whether or not I cry, and more...for a month now. I have got a pretty steady baseline.
Now I'm ready to make some changes. Curious what everybody's experience has been.
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No experience here. Just bumping to see if anyone can relate and share.2
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Also no experience with this, but just wanted to say that you can wean yourself off the caffeine so that you don't get migraines. If you do it gradually, you shouldn't have too many side effects.1
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For adrenal fatigue, the main thing for me over the last few years has been to take himalayan pink salt in water and use holy basil and ashwaganda. They help, especially the salt and ashwaganda, but it takes time to reset everything.
As for the coffee, when my adrenal problems were at their worst, I drank a cup of black tea instead. That stopped the headaches and gave me a small dose of caffeine without the (for me) addictive component.0 -
I've never tried this. Though, you really have nothing to lose by giving it a go. There's conflicting information on whether of not keto is good for adrenal fatigue. If you decide to go keto just remember to stay hydrated and keep your electrolytes up to avoid/lessen the keto flu so you can give this way of eating a good shot to see if it helps you.
I had adrenal fatigue and I got better with dropping the amount I exercised and slowly upping the amount of food I ate. This, obviously, led to weight gain while healing but I got better, and within a few months. Now I'm keto to lose weight, I feel amazing on keto but I don't know how I would have felt in the middle of my adrenal fatigue.
As for the coffee, you can just slowly wean off of it. I did that about 5 years ago and managed to completely quit caffeine. I went back to one cup of coffee in the morning though just because I love it. No migraines on days I miss a cup though like I used to get.
I hope you start to feel better soon!0 -
I've been dealing with adrenal issues for the last few years. I couldn't make any lasting progress until I walked away from caffeinated drinks (except for one cup of decaf BPC per day) for good. Dietary changes made a huuuuge difference (LCHF Paleo/Primal), but I never started to get really well until I stopped the caffeine and reduced alcohol to one drink per week or less.
The diet looks reasonable, look forward to hearing how it goes for you.0 -
I second the warning others have issued. I didn't watch the link (can't at work atm), but I was diagnosed with adrenal fatigue back in 2006-2009. I treated it, but never "made" it anywhere specifically with treatment. After having a hormonal blast that somewhat reset my PCOS in 2011, I have just been fighting my hypothyroidism. About 3 months or so after going low carb, the last 2 of that at keto levels, bloodwork revealed that I'd trippled my TSH well out of acceptable range, and haven't lost any weight since (and that was over a year ago, though I'm loosely maintaining my gain)... I'm just now getting back to the same point I was at with my TSH and other levels prior to going low carb... Low carb is the only plan I've ever felt comfortable, safe, and sane with, so I'm having to figure out how to make it work WITH my thyroid dysfunction... So just be careful, because not everything works for each individual person.
My current experiment is BPCocoa for breakfast (fully keto), a mostly keto level lunch, and significantly higher carbs at dinner, but not starchy carbs, so as to take the stress of my thyroid and adrenal system...0 -
@KnitOrMiss Do you have any insight into why keto stresses your adrenals? Also, would you define 'significantly more carbs'? I'm eager to hit my goal weight, of course, but not at the expense of setting my endocrine system back. As I mentioned in another thread I just had my first abnormal thyroid lab results, so I'm trying to tread carefully.0
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Leanne Vogel at healthfulpursuit.com has a number of blogs on the subject, though I'm not following her protocol specifically. I'm making my way through everything myself. I should probably go re-listen again and gain more insight into the whys and suggested fixes. @Majcolorado
As to specifically why, there isn't one stand alone reason. Some people have weaker systems, broken ones, or it could be a bad set of circumstances. For whatever reason, something underlying in my body snapped or was compounded by the stress of keto, which doesn't bother most people, but I've been having hormonal issues as long as i can remember in my life, but especially since the birth of my daughter almost 16 years ago...0 -
In short, it's a lot like a tornado. It could skip 15 people, hop across others, and hit an unexpected one. If there are specific rhyme or reasons, I haven't found them, but I haven't researched that deeply yet, as I've just been working on getting my thyroid back in line again. The risks should be discussed with an endocrinologist before getting on board a plan. My endo put me on low carb, supported me trying keto, but we've only just discovered how much it really created some chaos. However, at that same juncture, I spent 4 days out of doors working direct heat without much water, and really abused my electrolytes too, so that could have been a contributing factor. Be aware that this is a rare side effect, and it might not happen to you or anyone else you ever know, so don't go borrowing trouble without research... Good luck on your results!0
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@KnitOrMiss Thanks for the info - I'll dig into Vogel's stuff. The low thyroid was new and unexpected so I might be getting a little aggressively defensive about things. Thanks for the perspective!0
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Also, @Majcolorado - you can actually have reduced thyroid function for 10-15 YEARS (yes, you read right), before it will show up on a standard test, so it could be a simple point of catching up to you, this WOE may have highlighted underlying nutrient deficiencies, you may have another condition that runs concurrently or compounds the issue. There are literally hundreds, if not thousands, of possible factors and combinations...1
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And no need at all to apologize. I get aggressively defensive when my health acts wacky, too! I think we all do.1
