To read Part One of How I Healed My Adrenals, click HERE.
After the post that I shared last week on my Instagram page, and along with my first post about recovering from secondary adrenal insufficiency, so many of you reached out asking for a step-by-step guide for how I healed my adrenals. I completely understand where you’re coming from, because I searched for any sort of step-by-step guide for YEARS.
I wanted to be told exactly what to do, what to eat, and how to live life, in order to heal. It wasn’t until I finally did heal my adrenals on my own that I fully understood that finding true health is not a one-size-fits-all approach. We’re all completely unique and each of us has different needs, so what works for me may be totally different than what works for you.
I want to be extremely clear here – everything written in this post is what worked for ME. I’m in no way, shape or form telling you that this will work for you, or that you should follow any of my advice. I’m simply sharing my experience, as I know how helpful it can be to at least have somewhere to start, and new possibilities to consider.
I healed myself by thinking completely outside of the box. This takes an open mind to truly comprehend. I literally went against everything that I was ever taught to be true – and it WORKED.
Because of this, I no longer believe that healing is always found with super strict protocols, a million supplements, and “paleo-ing” harder. I find that if something stresses me out, is there really a point to doing it? Definitely not, in my opinion.
Again, this is all for YOU to decide what best works for YOUR body. Maybe your approach to healing will look completely different, and that’s great! Life is all about finding what works for YOU!
I was told by several doctors that there was nothing that I could do to heal my adrenals, besides take the Prednisone that I was prescribed.
Shortly before I healed my adrenals, I was told by my endocrinologist that I wouldn’t be able to stop my Prednisone, and that I would most likely be on it for the rest of my life.
Although I have a deep respect for most doctors, I tell you this because I hope that it will show you that just because someone says something, doesn’t mean that it’s true.
If you ever want me to do something, simply tell me that it cannot be done. I strongly believe that the only limits we have are the ones that we place upon ourselves.
It’s your choice if you’re going to write your own story, or if you’re going to let someone else write it for you.
How I Healed My Adrenals:
MINDSET IS EVERYTHING
I cannot say this enough. Having a positive mindset was the KEY to healing my adrenals.
By now, most of you know how important keeping a positive mindset is to me. My husband, Mike, and I have created several videos around this topic, where we break down common challenges into manageable steps to help improve your life! We’re able to do this because we’ve both been in very dark places, and we learned how to pull ourselves out and back into the light.
In order to heal my adrenals, I learned to manage stress like I never had before. When I would become stressed, it would tax my adrenals, and when my adrenals weren’t able to produce cortisol, this would make me very sick. I went through this cycle for years, basically until I said “no more,” and I completely changed the way that I handled stress. If this is something that you struggle with, Mike and I also created a video for you with 5 easy tips for managing stress right now.
As I talked about in my Learning to Love Your Body post last week, the book The Loving Diet, by my friend Jessica Flanigan of AIP lifestyle, was a huge part of my healing process. I highly recommend this book, as it helped me to completely change how I looked at Prednisone, a medication that I once despised, which I learned instead to be so grateful for. After all, this medication saved my life, over and over again.
When it comes to mindset, WHAT YOU BELIEVE IS EVERYTHING.
I fully believe that moment my adrenals healed was when I 100% believed without a single doubt, that they were already healed. That’s when I was able to completely release the Prednisone that I was on, after struggling with it for 5 ½ years. My belief in myself and my body’s ability to heal made ALL the difference.
REST
When it came to healing my adrenals, proper rest was a huge priority. I skipped events that I wanted to attend, simply because I was focused on a much bigger goal. While missing out on something isn’t always the most fun, you can make the choice to recognize that it’s only temporary. Rest and taking care of yourself pays off HUGE in the long run.
While I was healing, I aimed to be in bed by 10pm. Here’s the thing though, if I wasn’t in bed by 10, I DIDN’T beat myself up for it. This all circles back around to stress, and beating myself up for anything would have been pointless, and really, it would’ve only made everything so much worse.
FOOD & SUPPLEMENTS
Changing my diet and lifestyle really helped to make the signals extremely clear for what my body actually needed. Finding what foods that made me feel my best definitely took some trial and error. I stuck to a strict paleo diet for 2+ years to allow my gut to fully heal. (FYI, I’ve been eating this way for over 4 years now).
Once I felt ready, I slowly added certain foods back in, to see how they made me feel (although I never added gluten back in). Through putting in the effort, I’ve found what works for MY body, and what keeps me feeling great. It may be a surprise to some, but it’s no longer strict paleo.
I’ve found that white rice, high quality grass fed dairy, and some other gluten-free grains are what help me to thrive. I read a few books on adrenal health and took away the advice that intuitively felt right to me. I started to switch up the way I was eating, and noticed that I felt better, so I rolled with it.
Here’s what I ate while healing my adrenals. Again, this is what worked for ME, what works for you may look totally different:
First thing in the morning, I ate a breakfast that was high protein and low in carbs, and I also did my best to eat within an hour of waking up. Over the course of the day, I increased my carb intake, having most of my carbs at dinnertime (usually in the form of white rice, sweet potatoes, white potatoes, or something similar). I also made sure that I always had a healthy snack on hand that included a good amount of protein, as blood sugar was tough for my body to regulate with improper cortisol production.
I didn’t (and never have) count or measure anything, so I couldn’t tell you how many grams I ate of what. I simply listened deeply to what my body was asking for, and I gave it exactly that.
I also completely eliminated caffeine from my diet. Caffeine can stress the adrenals, and obviously that was the last thing that I wanted to do.
Years ago, I was taking 14 supplements every single day. Intuitively, this didn’t feel right for my body, so one by one, I cut back on them as my health improved. The only supplement I took for my adrenal health was Ashwaganda. It worked well for MY body, when I felt like I needed it.
SUNSHINE
First thing every morning, I did my best to get some sun exposure (sometimes even just standing in the sunlight, and looking out the window), which I believe helped with my adrenal healing. There’s a lot of science that backs this up, if you’re interested in learning more about this. Since it was summertime, this was easy to do. It also made me feel great getting that early morning light in to start off my day!
WORKOUTS
Movement is SO important to me. My workouts have changed drastically over the years, and now that I’ve fully healed my adrenals, my routine is much more intense, because my body is able to handle it & recover quickly. While I was healing my adrenals, I was told by alternative practitioners (conventional doctors never once mentioned anything that I’ve written about in here) that I should stick to only doing gentle yoga.
Here’s the thing, gentle yoga doesn’t make me happy. Maybe it does for you, and that’s awesome! I found that my happiness, and doing what I loved, was SO important when it came to healing, so I learned how to modify my workouts to work for me!
While I was healing my adrenals, I still did SOME obstacle course (ninja warrior) training and weight lifting, although I kept my workouts short. Approximately 20 to 30 minutes. I did what I felt up to, and this changed day to day.
Sometimes I felt up to doing my regular training, and sometimes I knew that I needed a day of complete rest, perhaps going on a walk with my dogs.
When it came to my workouts, I learned to never run myself down, as this would only go against what I was trying to accomplish. It wasn’t always easy, but in the long run, it’s been more than worth it.
HOW I HEALED MY ADRENALS – SUMMARY
All in all, when it came to how I healed my adrenals, I truly learned to listen to my body more than I ever have before. I did my best to honor and give my body what it needed.
Healing my adrenals taught me the most priceless lessons that I’ll carry with me throughout my entire life. I learned to REALLY take care of both my physical and mental health, and because of this, I know that I’ll stay strong, healthy and thriving.
I put in the effort, without letting excuses get in the way, and because of this, I’m able to now reap the rewards.
I have energy that I never knew existed. I train as often and as much as I want (while still always listening to my body), and my workouts leave me feeling stronger. I’ve learned what makes me feel my best, and I now eat to support my lifestyle and energy.
Life is full of challenges, and I believe that once you accept this fact and put in the work, the challenges become easier and easier to handle.
Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links, meaning that if you purchase something from one of my links, I will receive a small percentage, at no additional cost to you. I will only ever recommend products that I truly believe in, and that I use myself or find to be very valuable. Thanks for helping me to keep my blog up and running!
Thank you for the energy you put into writing this. I know how precious my energy is now that I’m on the path to healing so I don’t take others’ for granted! God bless you and keep shining your light.
Thank you so much, Melissa! Sending lots of love your way <3
Thanks so much for sharing. It’s really difficult to find people with adrenal insufficiency. I too responded really well to the aip and lifestyle changes. Recently I had a relapse and had to he back on steroids. I was wondering if this has ever happened to your during your healing process?
Hi Natalie! That’s so much of the reason that I wrote this post. In the 5 1/2 years that I had adrenal insufficiency, I wasn’t able to find one website that actually gave helpful & hopeful information. It was all doom & gloom, and I don’t want others to feel that it needs to be that way. I was on steroids during the entire 5 1/2 years, and since my adrenals completely healed last August and I released the steroids, I’ve been incredibly healthy and haven’t had a single adrenal issue. Sending you so much love and lots of healing vibes <3
Thank you for sharing these helpful insights. I’m learning more and more to accept and prioritise rest. The need is real! I can feel adrenal fatigue setting in. Your journey is always so inspiring Kristen x
Thank you, Ashley! Sending you lots of love! <3
Thank you for sharing! I also have severe adrenal insufficiency and for 19 years. I am going to see a holistic doctor in June and she says she can help me. I’m hoping to get off prednisone as well. I’m currently following Dr. James Wilson protocol until my visit in June.
I will watch the video on positive mind set because I do need to work on that.
Thank you!
I’m so glad to hear that you’ll be getting some outside help – sometimes that can make all the difference! Wishing you the very best!
Thank you for this. I have been loosing hair and other symptoms. I gave begun to eat more paleo and am off some meds prescribed as I was crying with the rediagosus of my mom’s cancer. With many stressors, I am wondering if this is the reason for my hair loss and hope following some of this helps. The doctors gave checked thyroid but this sounds so much more lime my symptoms.
So much love to you, Rachel! Thyroid symptoms can be very similar, so this adrenal issues could be the case. Just an FYI, conventional doctors will typically only recognize an issue if they test your morning cortisol and it’s at zero (which is how I was diagnosed). Adrenal fatigue (where you’re producing some cortisol, but not enough) is fairly common, but unfortunately not recognized by conventional medicine yet. A functional medicine practitioner or naturopath can help you further, if needed. Also, I wrote a post on how I now have my strongest and healthiest hair ever, in case you’re interested – https://livinglovingpaleo.com/2017/06/28/got-healthiest-strongest-hair-ever/ <3
I appreciate your blog so much. I have only been on prednisone for a little more than 3 weeks, but I understand the severity of the side effects. I just want to thank you again. It means so much to me that you have shared your experience. I’m so glad you’re doing well. With much love, Rachel.
Thank you so much Rachel! Sending you lots of love! 💕
Very interesting article. Although I’ve never been tested, my adrenals are probably shot too since I’ve been on prednisone continuously for over two decades but doctors are slowly tapering me off. Like you, steroids have literally saved my life several times but they also have some terrible side effects when taken long term too. I will definitely look for the book you recommended in this post. Thank you for writing this. It sucks how much you’ve suffered but you help with your story so much.
Sending you love, Tina!
Thank you for this post. So much of what you said resonated with me, as I’ve done so many similar things in my healing process as well. I’m not fully recovered yet but getting there 🙂 did you have a problem with weight gain with your adrenal fatigue? I’ve gained almost 15 pounds and while I’m feeling so much better I just can’t seem to get the weight off. Any tips? It’s so frustrating but I have learned to not let it stress me out and accept myself the way I am, and focus on the progress I’ve made. I agree with you that mindset is a HUGE part in recovery.
Hi Cara! I actually did gain weight when my adrenals were shut down, but I went back to my normal weight once I fully healed. You have such a great approach to it, as some things just take time to sort out. Trust that they weight will come off when your body is ready. Sending you love!
That’s really encouraging to know! Thank you so much!! 😊🙏🏼💙
You’re so welcome, Cara!
Do you have any recommendations for an accurate adrenal test? I had the Addisons test done but the test started at 9:30am 😩 thank you for your insight!
Hi Amy! I had what I assume is the same test that you mentioned for Addison’s (ACTH Stimulation) to be diagnosed with adrenal insufficiency This test starts at 8am (typically your time for highest cortisol). Are you saying that’s just too early?
Thank you for this post. I’ve talked to you via Instagram previously and enjoy your blog immensely. Your story is always inspiring. I have lupus and I, too, went through healing my adrenals with a functional medicine practitioner. I also used Ashwaganda, along with licorice root. My cortisol levels were shot. This regimen along with my diet changes and self care helped so much. I’m so happy I was directed toward functional medicine.
So happy to hear that, Raquel!
When did you know you could add caffeine back into your diet?
It really just came down to how I felt – caffeine makes me feel jittery and/or tired if I don’t do well with it, so if I felt great and energized after trying a little, that’s when I knew it was okay again!