Urgent Help To balance Cortisol Levels Repair Adrenals

[mgrabs]

Can anyone recommend the best steps to help balance out cortisol & aid my adrenals?

I wake up fine & feel great all morning which allows me to work hard, commit to my tasks, my patience is better, motivation, etc until about an hour or two after lunch & the rest of the day feels very low energy, low motivation, slower IQ, anxiety, etc.

This feels like an adrenal issue from prolonged stress in the winter. how can I combat this issue?
Why is there this dreadful dip during the day? I feel stuck in this loop

 

[redsun]

Can anyone recommend the best steps to help balance out cortisol & aid my adrenals?

I wake up fine & feel great all morning which allows me to work hard, commit to my tasks, my patience is better, motivation, etc until about an hour or two after lunch & the rest of the day feels very low energy, low motivation, slower IQ, anxiety, etc.

This feels like an adrenal issue from prolonged stress in the winter. how can I combat this issue?
Why is there this dreadful dip during the day? I feel stuck in this loop

Do you consume caffeine from coffee/other caffeinated beverages? If so, when?

 

[Vileplume]

I used to get panic attacks every morning and afternoon when my digestion was bad, from eating lots of meat and grocery store fruits, which were rarely ripe. Emphasizing goat milk as the center of my diet fixed the issue, probably because of the calcium and easy digestibility.

You may feel good in the morning because you haven't eaten anything in a while. Maybe some foods you're having for breakfast or lunch are irritating your intestine and causing the stress.

 

[VitoScaletta]

I used to get panic attacks every morning and afternoon when my digestion was bad, from eating lots of meat and grocery store fruits, which were rarely ripe. Emphasizing goat milk as the center of my diet fixed the issue, probably because of the calcium and easy digestibility.

You may feel good in the morning because you haven't eaten anything in a while. Maybe some foods you're having for breakfast or lunch are irritating your intestine and causing the stress.

interesting

 

[mgrabs]

Do you consume caffeine from coffee/other caffeinated beverages? If so, when?

I do actually. I wake up around 6am & consume it around 7ish. A dark roast. Should I stay away? I tolerate caffeine in the morning…but if I were to try it after lunch I would get shaky or anxious

 

[mgrabs]

I used to get panic attacks every morning and afternoon when my digestion was bad, from eating lots of meat and grocery store fruits, which were rarely ripe. Emphasizing goat milk as the center of my diet fixed the issue, probably because of the calcium and easy digestibility.

You may feel good in the morning because you haven't eaten anything in a while. Maybe some foods you're having for breakfast or lunch are irritating your intestine and causing the stress.

Wow. Maybe thats why is right. I usually have a few duck eggs at lunch with salad & a little fruit. Sometimes whatever was left over from dinner. But like clockwork I’m so blah mid day

 

[redsun]

I do actually. I wake up around 6am & consume it around 7ish. A dark roast. Should I stay away? I tolerate caffeine in the morning…but if I were to try it after lunch I would get shaky or anxious

Problem is caffeine when only consumed once is going to mess up your day no matter what supplements you take or what you eat. Your body adapts to caffeine primarily by upregulating adenosine receptors so there are more of them. If you do not have enough caffeine in your brain blocking these receptors, you will be less motivated, cognition will slow down, you will feel fatigue, etc and this is because of adenosine inhibiting your neurons.

The half life of caffeine is about 5 hours so this coincides with your lunchtime dip in energy and motivation. You need to consume coffee again to properly block adenosine receptors if you want to fix this issue. It may feel overstimulating at first but this is the correct way to consume caffeine. One of cup in the morning is just going to cause issues with productivity, energy and cognition once most of the caffeine leaves the system, which will be about 5 hours after you consumed it, at least half will be gone. This coincides with about the time you feel a dip in energy.

Ideally, caffeine should be consumed about every 5 hours or at minimum at least twice as you will still have some caffeine lingering in your system by the end of the day. Some people dont need a 3rd dose around 4-5pm. But for example to be specific, in your case, you would have it at 7 am and at lunch. Caffeine is a drug and you need to treat it as such meaning if you want to use it you need to consume it appropriately.

The other thing is you need to make sure you are well fed early in the morning otherwise caffeine may trigger anxiety. It is very common for many people to eat light in the morning and only eat more calories at lunch and dinner. And then these same people wonder why they feel better in the afternoons only and also some here have temp and energy issues that get better as the day goes by. Because they barely eat in the morning.

 

[Momma]

1- eating ENOUGH
2- balancing (balanced) your blood sugar
3- coffee after a meal if tolerated

 

[Jonk]

You may feel good in the morning because you haven't eaten anything in a while.

+1. Endotoxin can potently mess you up. I need to watch my digestion carefully, but not eating enough is about as bad in the long run as having undigested food in your lower intestines.

Some things that seem to work for me right now is
1. eating a lot of potatoes (with some butter). They seem to be very easy to digest, easy to cook and take with me, fairly good amounts of nutrients and fairly dry.
2. when drinking fruit juice I always add a lot of salt (too much will induce diarrhea which is no bueno). Salt is very anti-stress in general, helps keep blood volume up, increasing CO2 etc. For me at least, I was way to low on sodium for a long time, and you can go a lot higher on the salt than what most are used to. See this thread for some interesting info Optimal Sodium Intake Is At Least 230% Higher Than RDA.
3. right now I'm eating a lot less protein/meat. I'm trying to listen to cravings and feel like I can go a few days with low-moderate protein - then starting craving it again and eating it until my appetite for it is full. I think this is something to consider, not eating less protein per se but listening to cravings and making sure the food is appetizing and gets the digestive juices going.

 

[mgrabs]

Problem is caffeine when only consumed once is going to mess up your day no matter what supplements you take or what you eat. Your body adapts to caffeine primarily by upregulating adenosine receptors so there are more of them. If you do not have enough caffeine in your brain blocking these receptors, you will be less motivated, cognition will slow down, you will feel fatigue, etc and this is because of adenosine inhibiting your neurons.

The half life of caffeine is about 5 hours so this coincides with your lunchtime dip in energy and motivation. You need to consume coffee again to properly block adenosine receptors if you want to fix this issue. It may feel overstimulating at first but this is the correct way to consume caffeine. One of cup in the morning is just going to cause issues with productivity, energy and cognition once most of the caffeine leaves the system, which will be about 5 hours after you consumed it, at least half will be gone. This coincides with about the time you feel a dip in energy.

Ideally, caffeine should be consumed about every 5 hours or at minimum at least twice as you will still have some caffeine lingering in your system by the end of the day. Some people dont need a 3rd dose around 4-5pm. But for example to be specific, in your case, you would have it at 7 am and at lunch. Caffeine is a drug and you need to treat it as such meaning if you want to use it you need to consume it appropriately.

The other thing is you need to make sure you are well fed early in the morning otherwise caffeine may trigger anxiety. It is very common for many people to eat light in the morning and only eat more calories at lunch and dinner. And then these same people wonder why they feel better in the afternoons only and also some here have temp and energy issues that get better as the day goes by. Because they barely eat in the morning.

Interesting. Wow. I was thinking this whole time one might suggest CUT the caffeine to calm the adrenals.

So you suggest during this time I consume coffee with my lunch? Will this have to be a forever procedure to build up this “energy rhythm” by consuming coffee morning & afternoon?

What if I cut out caffeine completely will this help balance out my cortisol & adrenals? Or is there no sense doing this. I do enjoy coffee.

 

[Glacier_Sama]

Maybe try a Bovine Adrenal Glandular supplement. Swansons product has good reviews on thir site, and is cheap. Personally I would prefer a product made from New Zealand cows though.

 

[redsun]

Interesting. Wow. I was thinking this whole time one might suggest CUT the caffeine to calm the adrenals.

So you suggest during this time I consume coffee with my lunch? Will this have to be a forever procedure to build up this “energy rhythm” by consuming coffee morning & afternoon?

What if I cut out caffeine completely will this help balance out my cortisol & adrenals? Or is there no sense doing this. I do enjoy coffee.

Yes. Its not really about rhythm. Its more about needing caffeine to block extra adenosine receptors and based on how quickly it leaves your system you need to consume it multiple times. Either you completely drop caffeine and go through 7-9 days of withdrawal and you will no longer be dependent on caffeine to block adenosine, or you dose it regularly (at least twice) a day.

 

[exile]

Have you tested cortisol when you’re feeling like that? It seems worth it to me to see if that’s really the issue.

 

[mgrabs]

Maybe try a Bovine Adrenal Glandular supplement. Swansons product has good reviews on thir site, and is cheap. Personally I would prefer a product made from New Zealand cows though.

Gotcha. How do you dose adrenal glandular? I have one from biotics research. They source from the same. Do you dose once in morning or throughout the day

 

[Glacier_Sama]

Gotcha. How do you dose adrenal glandular? I have one from biotics research. They source from the same. Do you dose once in morning or throughout the day

I personally haven't tried Adrenal yet, though I plan to, but I do use other bovine glandulars.

You should probably start low, one dose in the morning and one more if needed around lunch. I have read that it may keep you awake at night if dosed too late in the evening.

 

[Normal Human]

Have you tried just taking a 20-23 minute nap after lunch when you feel like that? Whenever I feel tired/low energy after lunch, it's the inpy thing that helps. There's a reason a siesta has been a staple of some human cultures for centuries. Lunch, nap, then coffee.

 

[youngsinatra]

Supplemental B5 (upwards to 1000mg/d) and eating vitamin-C rich foods help me tremendously with low cortisol symptoms.

 

[golder]

Supplemental B5 (upwards to 1000mg/d) and eating vitamin-C rich foods help me tremendously with low cortisol symptoms.

Thanks for that. Is that low cortisol symptoms or high? Appreciate!

 

[youngsinatra]

Thanks for that. Is that low cortisol symptoms or high? Appreciate!

Low cortisol

 

[mgrabs]

Yes. Its not really about rhythm. Its more about needing caffeine to block extra adenosine receptors and based on how quickly it leaves your system you need to consume it multiple times. Either you completely drop caffeine and go through 7-9 days of withdrawal and you will no longer be dependent on caffeine to block adenosine, or you dose it regularly (at least twice) a day.

Thank you ! Quick question.. why do i get cold right after having my coffee?