So How Long to Treat Adrenal Fatigue? Really, how long does it take to recover? And is it really possible? Well, in my opinion, yes it is!!!!
Back in Oct, 2010 I had crumbled. I had no idea what was going on with me. I was completely worn out, feeling weak, it seemed I was intolerant to everything I ate, I had digestive disturbances, my blood sugars had gone haywire and I had lost hope. I didn’t realise at the time that I was in severe adrenal fatigue. I didn’t know where to turn and fumbled along for many months before I understood what was going on. Finally, it made sense – I was suffering from adrenal fatigue and I wanted to know if I could recover from this and how long it was going to take!!!
It seems there are many different opinions amongst the health professionals out there on how long it takes to recover from adrenal fatigue and my experience too has been a little different from what some of them have suggested. Nothing like actually experiencing it yourself 🙁
What does seem to be a consistent opinion however is that Adrenal Fatigue falls into 3 categories.
1. Mild Adrenal Fatigue.
2. Moderate Adrenal Fatigue.
3. Severe Adrenal Fatigue.
I also sought the opinions of three experts on the topic.
Dr James L. Wilson
I recently watched a youtube video where Dr James L. Wilson was interviewed. Dr Wilson has written and spoken at length on the topic of adrenal fatigue. At around 7 mins 15 secs in this video, you will find him talking about the length of time it takes to recover with each phase.
His views were this.
- mild adrenal fatigue can take around 6 months to heal,
- moderate adrenal fatigue can take 1 – 1.5 years to heal
- and severe adrenal fatigue can take up to 2 years to heal.
He did also make the point that if you reach severe adrenal fatigue there are often complications. This is in fact what happened in my case with many knock on effects including candida, digestive disturbances and many viruses. I did in fact reach severe adrenal fatigue and it took me more in the region of 3 years to recover.
Dr Michael Lam
Another doctor who’s work I highly value is Dr Michael Lam. Dr Lam has extensive and detailed advice on healing from adrenal fatigue. He uses slightly different terms, referring more to Stages of Adrenal Fatigue. He also acknowledges however, that with each stage things get worse and worse.
Dr Lam doesn’t state time frames in his work, but he is very big on talking about Adrenal Recovery Mistakes which can hold you back in the time it takes you to recover. It appears that Dr Lam recognises that each person’s situation is unique and best to evaluate on a person to person basis.
One of Dr Lam’s major suggestions in being aware of Adrenal Recovery Mistakes is that you don’t try and self navigate if you are in severe adrenal fatigue. What I have noticed though, is that many people are still not aware that it is indeed adrenal fatigue that they are suffering from and are engaging with doctors who don’t recognise adrenal fatigue.
If in any doubt, find a natural health care practitioner who can run some tests like saliva testing and also look at your blood results to ascertain if your adrenals are affected.
Marcelle Pick
Finally, the work of Marcelle Pick is also very useful in helping to understand this whole notion. She presents a plan to engage in for 30 days (and beyond), which involves following an adrenal fatigue diet and a complete adrenal healing plan (laid out in her book), and at that point you would begin to see some changes.
I really feel like this 30 day period is more for people who are in the mild or perhaps even moderate category. The impression I get in her book is that this is not the end result but with some dedicated changes, feeling improvement is definitely possible within that timeframe.
Marcelle uses the terms
- Racehorse (instead of Mild Adrenal Fatigue),
- Workhorse (instead of Moderate Adrenal Fatigue)
- and Flatliner (instead of Severe Adrenal Fatigue)
She does a really great job of explaining the progression through these stages through a lot of real life stories.
In my research on this topic and from my own personal experience, it really seems that there is not an exact science in the recovery time from adrenal fatigue as each person’s situation is so unique.
I feel that the main concern in recovery is not trying to navigate your way through yourself if you believe you fall into the severe category. You could perhaps do this if your adrenal fatigue is in the mild or moderate category, but severe adrenal fatigue definitely needs the right support.
If you are at the other end of adrenal fatigue, what experience have you had in the time it takes to recover from adrenal fatigue?
Let me know and come and check in with me on the facebook page with your advice and comments.
Always remember, recovering from adrenal fatigue IS POSSIBLE!!
Much love,
Lisa.
