Adrenal Exhaustion - Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

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> Tired? Feeling that your mind is half a century ahead of your body? Too

much energy in your head and not enough in your feet? Starting to doubt

that you will ever again have pep and vigor?

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> These symptoms are epidemic among well educated, urban people,

particularly those with Yuppie proclivities.

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> I named the syndrome " adrenal exhaustion " because the adrenals are charged

with providing the oomph needed to get us from A to Z. It is these little

Brazil nut size glands that must pull us out of near miss accidents with

palpitating heart, help us to adjust to chilling winds when leaving the

warmth of our homes, and provide us the endurance to survive the stress of

existence on this enchanting but exploited Planet.

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> I associate the adrenal glands with the survival center in the subtle

energy field surrounding each living entity. In Yogic philosophy, it is

said that a clairvoyant sage can look into this spot and count the number of

breaths and heartbeats a person will take in life.

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> Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

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> In conventional medical circles, people suffering from stress are

generally diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome though some are given more

erudite sounding pronouncements that appear to refer to viruses, like

Epstein-Barr Syndrome or Cytomegalovirus. Some are told that they are

allergic or environmentally sensitive.

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> Symptoms range from simple exhaustion to much more complex problems that

are secondary to excessive output of adrenal hormones, hormones that flood

the bloodstream in vastly increased quantities whenever there is any stress.

Stress can be emotional, such as insecurity due to lack of parental

understanding and support, fear that a vital relationship is unstable

because of a partner's illness or infidelity, worry over one's own health

and viability, or concern for the well-being of those dear to oneself.

Stress can be job- or money-related. One may not like the work or the work

place or other people in the work; one may not be earning enough to make

ends meet. Stress can also be very physical: working long hours, not

sleeping well, straining oneself to meet perceived outside obligations, or

sports-related, such as with marathon competitors.

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> Stress can also be quite difficult to pinpoint. Living with an alcoholic

or a person who gambles is usually acknowledged as stressful, but living

with someone one instinctively dislikes or mistrusts is harder to recognize

as a stressor. Likewise, there are pathogenic factors that one may or may

have identified. These can be as subtle, but real, such as anxiety over

global politics and the manner in which people in high positions exercise

their power to as unrecognized as proximity to ley lines, outgassing of

building materials, electrical frequencies, and astrophysical force fields.

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> Instinctual Consciousness

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> The truth is that we all live in a sea of vibrations, some of which are

congenial and some that are not. Whether or not we are able to identify the

factors contributing to energy depletion, our subconscious natures hold

extremely strong opinions about everything that impinges on existence.

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> Since this concept is sometimes new to people, I like to use an example of

dogs. Someone comes to your door and the dogs start barking. You tell the

dogs to " behave " which in your vocabulary means not to intimidate the person

at your door with rambunctious behavior. You invite the person in and the

person does something that upsets you. Your dog comes over to console you

and being a dog rather than a people does not say, " I told you so. " The dog

has access to his instincts, but people, especially intellectual people have

rationalized their instincts so that their heads can make their bodies do

what the heads want.

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> Physically, this translates into excessive adrenal output. Once these

hormones enter the bloodstream, digestion is impaired. In order to provide

the short-term spurt, other functions are suppressed. The body borrows from

reserves and inhibits the intake of replacement energies. Libido and sexual

performance decline, usually to the point that interest as well as activity

taper off. The thyroid tries to compensate by working harder.

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> Smell

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> There are some other classic symptoms that come with longer-term pressure

on the adrenals to perform. These include a heightened sense of smell. At

first, one is more acutely aware of odors, all smells, pleasant and

obnoxious.

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> The sense of smell is our most basic survival instinct. When life is

threatened, subtly or measurably, the mechanism governing survival is

triggered. Therefore, one of the first really noticeable indications of

prolonged stress is increased sensitivity to odor. This can focus

predominantly on noxious odors such as petroleum fumes but it affects

tolerance of perfumes and even assessment of pheromones, those mysterious

exudations that repel or attract. In order, shall we say, to identify the

" problem, " we have to become fussy about what we like and dislike.

Interestingly, though the sense of smell can become very acute, it sometimes

fails completely after a major stress, such as a terrible accident or

operation. The sense will return when the adrenals are healed, but this is

often a frustrating and long drawn out process.

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> Symptoms

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> Another symptom of adrenal exhaustion is dark circles under the eyes. In

serious cases, these do not seem to go away; but some people wake up looking

normal though within a few hours, those circles appear. Increased

susceptibility to bruising is next on the list. An exhausted person could

bump into a table and become quite black and blue, a sign that tolerance

margins are shrinking and a suitable protocol is needed.

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> Allergies are next. In the beginning, there is usually some sort of

rational basis for the allergies, but as time progresses, the list of

intolerances increases and it is clear that the problem is as much internal

as external.

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> My experience with most American doctors (do not know about Canada) is

that patients with these symptoms are usually put on synthetic thyroid

hormones or sometimes glandulars, extracts from animals that are made into

" nutritional supplements. " However, the people who consult me usually

express the opinion that these are not working satisfactorily even though

they sometimes noticed some improvement when first beginning use of the

prescriptions.

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> I therefore dispute the theory behind this practice, and here is my

argument. If people were born with weak thyroids, they would be Cretins.

However, the fatigue syndrome is affecting intelligent people whose minds

work perfectly well. The body may be tired, but the mind is still fired up

with ideas for projects, more efforts that would pressure the body to obey

the dictates of a mental force that is perceived as tyrannical by the body.

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> I therefore try to build up the adrenals and wean people off the thyroid

supplements.

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> The Unconscious

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> The best way to understand the unconscious forces that affect adrenal

function is to imagine that one part of each person's being is hooked in on

an immense loop that includes a lot of thoughtforms, some that are virtually

primordial and some that might pertain more to current circumstances. From

the perspective of this part of our beings, no " new " arguments hold any

weight. For instance, if someone who has been the source of much grievance

reforms or mellows, the subconscious does not necessarily change its opinion

of this person. It holds to the " tested " version of reality which is that

the person is not to be trusted, that he is potentially dangerous, etc.,

etc. In a certain way, it would be fair to say that this part of our being

does not pardon, nor does it grasp the nuances of high-minded discourses on

letting go and forgiving. It is governed by practicality and various proofs

that it has from past experiences.

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> We could postulate that favorite colors and tunes as well as aversions to

colors and places and people all stem from memories that reside well below

the threshold of normal consciousness. In other words, they are not

arbitrary but rather " sensible " from the perspective of the memory because

the opinions are derived from actual experiences.

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> If, then, a person were to act in such a way as to ignore the " advice " of

the subconscious, the behavior would not merely alert the adrenals, but

rational input to the adrenals that the conscious person knows more than the

unconscious would fail to convince the adrenals that the conscious person is

either wise or trustworthy. Therefore, the effort of the conscious person

to force the unconscious into submission would be resisted-and the adrenals

would function just as though there had never been any reprogramming. In

other words, the conscious mind usually fails to impact the operation of the

adrenals since they work in accordance with their own wisdom.

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> Treatment

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> As a consequence of the persistence of ancient instinct, it is difficult

to heal such problems as chronic fatigue unless the subconscious is honored.

Otherwise, even seemingly brilliant protocols tend to fail. In such cases,

people who have been making slow but steady progress slide back to square

one as if there never had been any progress.

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> An effective strategy entails some basic discovery work to determine what

the undermining factors are. When these are " surfaced, " it will usually be

found that some hazards can be eliminated whereas some situations can be

improved or at least adjusted so as to make them more tolerable. In other

instances, skills for dealing with " permanent " challenges have to be forged.

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> To make this a little less abstract, we could say that an example of a

hazard might be computer radiation in the work place. People in large

offices such as travel agencies and banks are exposed to the radiation from

scores of computers. If all the monitors were replaced with low radiation

monitors or fitted with radiation shields, there would be immediate

advantage for all employees, but the first to benefit decisively would be

those who are most devitalized by the radiation. This therefore would be a

" fix. " An improvement would involve repositioning desks and chairs so that

the worst radiation moved in a direction that did not impact any employees.

Usually, this means that no one is sitting in a direct line to the left of

the system unit and no one is right in front of an unshielded monitor. A

slightly more esoteric accommodation would be to wear some high tech jewelry

that transforms the frequencies to benign waves. There are also dietary

changes that would make radiation somewhat less poisonous for the body.

These include use of trace minerals and seaweed as well as adaptogenic herbs

such as ginseng and garlic.

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> Emotional " Cure "

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> There are emotional situations that do not lend themselves to such quick

fixes. From the vantage point of the survival center, relationships need to

feel supportive. This promotes well-being, confidence, and usually success.

Neutral relationships make people think that they are on their own, that

they have to stand on their feet, that they have to make a lot of effort to

accomplish less than astounding feats. Challenging relationships make the

psyche watchful so that people are hypervigilant and always on the alert for

the next disaster, disaster as measured by the subconscious which may not

always impress the rational person as significant.

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> Coping power can be described as great when there is a lot of elasticity

or resilience. It is " exhausted " when the ability to adjust is lost. This

makes tired people vulnerable and fragile whereas more determined people

become rigid and often more insistent, a sign that might be interpreted as

inability to flex or refusal to compromise. In either case, strategies have

to be embraced that bring life back from the edge.

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> Some relationships can be adjusted through attitudinal changes, but these

must be real, not bland aphorisms about opening oneself up to learn what one

needs to learn. As noted, the subconscious is wary and does not buy into

higher mind propaganda. However, it will respond to information from the

conscious mind that is relevant. So, if the subconscious is told that the

next time there is a row at home, the decision making self will walk out the

door, the subconscious will be a little less paranoid about the first signs

of commotion, and it will not probably go into a fit in which it gushes

thirty times the usual amount of adrenaline into the system.

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> In working with people who are exhausted, we try to begin by diagnosing

the sources of stress and determining which situations are most amenable to

adjustment. Then, we try to come up with adequate protective measures for

the more intractable situations. In terms of protocol, the most important

point is neither dietary nor herbal. It involves pacing oneself so that the

line between can and should not try is not violated.

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> I also recommend orderliness and predictability. This means repairing or

throwing out everything that is broken, keeping one's space neat and clean,

and catching up on necessary evils like balancing checkbooks and paying

bills. It also means keeping to a sensible schedule and avoiding

temptations to burn the candle at both ends. It could mean deliberately

undertaking some mindless chores like walking the dog or weeding the garden,

activities that do not require the mind; but when the mind is in charge,

every effort should be made to do one thing at a time and to keep one's full

attention on that project until it is completed. Then, a little break

should be permitted before diving into the next task. The break can be as

simple as washing dishes or making the bed, but doing something between

great mental efforts gives the psyche time to assimilate. Establishing a

rhythm for life that acknowledges the need for balance between physical,

emotional, mental, and spiritual foci is healthy and gives the body time to

regenerate before new demands are placed on it.

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> Conclusion

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> As noted, the adrenals sit atop the kidneys are therefore inseparable from

the kidneys in certain ways. If the adrenals " panic, " the kidneys go into

spasm, usually resulting in an urge to pass water. When the panic is more

or less constant, fluids pass out of the system before necessary nutrients

are assimilated. Therefore, besides losing the fluid buffers that make for

physical ease, this syndrome is usually attended by malnutrition, this

regardless of the " intelligence " of the diet. In other words, a person may

eat appropriate foods but fail to extract the nutrient value of the foods

and be left deficient. Most people with these problems are trace mineral

deficient and rally quickly when given easy to assimilate trace minerals,

whether in the form of liquid seaweeds or " trace mineral cocktails. " I

often suggest taking trace minerals in pineapple juice because the enzymes

assist proper absorption of the micronutrients upon which our bodies depend

for proper electrolyte balance and tissue structure.

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> When a condition goes unchecked for many years, the kidneys become tired

and cease to respond to the adrenal shockwaves. When this happens, people

retain fluids because they cannot squeeze them out of the body. Most people

with such problems can see marks on their wrists and fingers where their

jewelry is touching the skin, but the swelling tends to be somewhat

pervasive. Ironically, these people lose weight when they rest or when they

take proper adrenal tonics, such as the Chinese kidney " yin " formulas (of

which there are many.) They can also eat strengthening foods such as black

turtle beans or root vegetables that have absorbed nutrients from the soil.

Such measures tend to keep people on an even keel.

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> Regardless of how successful dietary and herbal protocols are, there

should never be room for complacency until the stressors themselves have

been resolved, but in my experience, it takes time to identify the causes of

stress and effort to transform undermining situations into supportive ones.

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