6 Ways to Support Adrenal and Hormone Function in Lyme Disease
By Jenny Lelwica Buttaccio
Many Lyme patients report feeling chronically fatigued to the point of being unable to function. Beyond fatigue, they may “crash” during times of stress, experience low blood pressure, feel dizzy upon standing, feel achy, experience hypoglycemic episodes, and more.
One way to combat unrelenting fatigue is by supporting adrenal and hormone function throughout treatment. The adrenal glands are small hormone-producing glands located on the top of your kidneys, secreting cortisol, aldosterone, and adrenaline. While the glands themselves aren’t diseased, they may be underactive, resulting in a host of symptoms.
Some experts believe low adrenal function, also known as adrenal insufficiency, is caused by a disruption in the brain’s hypothalamus, the region of your brain that signals your adrenal glands to produce hormones. In this article, we’ll look at lifestyle changes to support overall adrenal and hormone health.
Supporting Adrenal and Hormone Function
1. Improve Your Sleep Schedule.
You need it. You crave it. But sometimes you just can’t get sleep no matter what you do, and your sleep habits play a large part in restoring your adrenal glands and balancing your hormones. To assist your body in the healing process, plan to eliminate the use of tv’s and electronic devices around 8:00 PM. Though this may be a difficult pattern to break, reducing stimulating light will encourage your body to produce the sleep-inducing hormone melatonin.
Try your best to be in bed between 10:30 PM and 11:00 PM, which reduces the likelihood you’ll be kept awake by a “second wind” adrenaline surge. Whenever possible, aim to sleep in until 9:00 AM, which allows your morning cortisol levels to rise gently and without interruption. Seek to make this new schedule a routine, so that your body’s natural sleep-awake cycle gets reinforced.
2. Eat a Light Snack Before Bed.
A small snack before bed, like a handful of nuts or a spoonful of coconut oil, can help you fall asleep. It balances your blood sugar levels and lessens the chance of boosting in your nighttime cortisol – soothing the brain and the body for a better night’s rest.
3. Eat Nutrient-Dense Foods.
Bone broth is nutrient-dense fuel for adrenal, hormone, and gut health. Packed with collagen, gelatin, and amino acids, bone broths contain an array of nutritious components that are easily digestible. Other healing foods low in sugar, high in fiber, and contain beneficial fats to feed the adrenal glands and balance hormones include: cruciferous vegetables, coconut oil, avocados, olives, wild caught salmon, chicken, turkey, nuts, seeds, and seaweed. These healthy foods work to replenish your body from the inside out.
4. Increase Your Intake of Sea Salt.
Many people with Lyme have electrolyte imbalances and low blood pressure, which contribute to a worsening of symptoms. One way to bolster adrenal health and improve blood pressure and hydration is by increasing your intake of mineral-rich sea salt and water. Adequate hydration increases blood volume, a benefit to those with orthostatic intolerance, episodes of fainting, or postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS).
To help replace both sodium and fluid volume, try ¼ to 1 tsp of sea salt dissolved in a glass of water first thing in the morning. A word of caution: if you have high blood pressure, please discuss this with your doctor before increasing your salt intake.
5. Avoid Harsh Detoxing.
Simply put, severe detoxing can further disrupt an already delicate hormonal balance in the body. Instead of aggressive detoxification strategies, try something gentler like dry skin brushing, an Epsom salts foot bath, or a hot-cold shower.
6. Begin Restorative Exercise.
As Lyme patients, we know exercise is critical to our healing. But if you expend all your energy on trying to push yourself through an exercise routine, you’ll feel worse and increase the amount of time it takes for you to recover. Exercise is essential for rebuilding your body, but it’s the right kind of exercise that matters most.
You want to conserve as much energy as possible, so your goal for exercising is to restore; do exercises that release tension, improve movement, ease pain, increase oxygen throughout your body, and strengthen your core. Some examples of these types of activities include gentle walking, restorative yoga or Pilates, and tai chi. When your body has rebuilt some energy reserves, you can progress to more challenging workouts.
For some Lyme patients, recalibrating your adrenal and hormone function may take a significant amount of time. Try to listen to your body throughout the process and not measure your progress by what others are doing. Your path to recovery will be uniquely yours in all aspects.
