My Story – Adrenal Fatigue

Hi everyone,

My name’s Willy and I can almost guarantee I suffer from Adrenal Fatigue. I’ll give you a background of myself to help everyone get an understanding of me as a person.

I grew up with Epilepsy (Medication: Tegratol) and was medicated until I grew out of the condition (approximately age 7-8). I was in a serious car crash when I was 9 in which my mother had both her legs crushed but thankfully survived and even manages to walk, despite doctors telling her she never would again. She’s a tough lady!. I never received counselling after this event (something which a psychologist later pointed out, would have had a large effect on my ability to deal with stress up to this day). I have eczema which is brought on by dairy products and funnily enough, stress(!).

I had a serious bout of depression and anxiety around the age of 17 when I went through a break up. While at University (College) I abused marijuana and eventually dropped out after suffering from extreme stress and anxiety. I’ve had a number of jobs since I moved back home (I am currently 27). I have been on anti-anxiety meds since I was 21 years old (venylfaxine).

Up until the age of 21 I was morbidly obese. I always over-ate as a child and always needed to have food of some sort, this sometimes got to the point where I would raid the pantry at my friend’s houses out of extreme hunger. I later learnt that this impulsive personality was due to undiagnosed ADHD (I was diagnosed at around age 23).

I have always had a problem dealing with stress and have used a number of things to self medicate in the past (food, marijuana etc).

For the last 2-3 years, I have been training in boxing. It became my passion when I was around 23 years old and has captivated me ever since. I am fully aware of the dangers that boxing presents. I love everything about boxing, and I am a library of facts. When I began my training under my Master, I experienced extreme levels of fatigue. I passed this off as my body accustoming itself to rigorous training (I train around 5-6 days a week). This level of training is typical for a boxer. I have had one fight so far and it was a draw (everyone thought I won!).

Unfortunately I have been experiencing this fatigue constantly over the past 2 years. It has caused me constant health issues (weight loss, gain, muscle weakness, bone weakness, constant Respiratory tract infections). No matter what I do I can’t seem to recover from even a simple amount of training. I got sick around 3 weeks back and decided I needed to take some time off training. After about I week I started to feel great (better than I’ve felt in years). I was eating smaller portions and my body was relaxed, no muscle soreness, clear head. I felt almost free.

I decided to go to the doctor to discuss Adrenal Fatigue but like many other doctors, simply dismissed it. He did however, get my Testosterone and Cortisol levels checked. Both of which, came back as healthy. This has made me increasingly disheartened, as if there was a hormonal imbalance it would at least give me an idea of what I need to work on.

I was just reading up on Andrenal Fatigue () and I can see that certain muscles are affected directly by stress. (These are 1) sartorius, 2) gracilis, 3) posterior tibialis, 4) gastrocnemius, and 5) soleus)

I think I display nearly every symptom on the list of Adrenal Fatigue.

I thought that I overcame this problem, but I went for a run last night and low and behold, I woke up this morning feeling exhausted and sore with a headache present.

I find myself becoming increasingly upset and disheartened because I feel like I’ll never be able to overcome this.

Any input or similar experiences would be extremely helpful.

Thanks,

Willy