Signs of adrenal recovery are usually less prominent and more insidious. They include:
It is important to note that stabilization is part of the recovery process as mentioned above. In other words, if the symptoms of crash are not worsening, the body is likely in the transition from crash to recovery and in stabilization portion of the Recovery Phase.
The main focus of recovery is quite different from that of an adrenal crash because the total recovery process is usually complicated and drawn out. While the adrenal crash phase usually takes a few hours to a few days to complete its course, the complete recovery phase can take weeks and sometimes months. Those with weak constitutions are especially vulnerable to an overall delayed recovery phase. The main focus of adrenal crash management is to reduce crash intensity and duration. An analogy would be like quickly assembling a safety net to catch a falling person in order to soften the harsh landing. The main focus of recovery management is to provide the body with enough tools for it to heal itself even though it might take a long time. Adrenal recovery management is like leading a blind man across a stream. The motto is to go slowly and gently, one foot at a time. One foot is always ahead trying to feel where and how secure the next rock is before actually put the body weight on it. That is how one avoids falling into the water, or in the case of adrenal recovery, crashing.
Think of the recovery process as running a long distance race instead of a sprint. You need first to be strong enough to get up, start, and finish the race. That requires systematic planning, training, and budget for setbacks. At first you may only be able to finish by walking. Slowly you improve and start working out the speed. Most successful running programs stress a gradual and systematic approach, with intermittent challenge runs along the way as a gauge of your body's reserve and energy level.
The body is not a light switch that can be turned on and off at will. Adrenal Fatigue that takes years to develop should be given ample time to heal itself. A common mistake in recovery management is to focus on a speedy recovery, which sacrifices the more important concept of rebuilding the underlying reserve. Pushing the body ahead of its readiness is a recipe for crashes and ultimately recovery failure.
A successful recovery management program incorporates the following factors:
Many with fatigue also concurrently complain of insomnia. Sleep onset insomnia (inability to fall asleep) can be indicative of sympathetic overtone or excessive cortisol. Sleep maintenance insomnia (waking up in the middle of the night) usually points to some form of metabolic dysregulation in addition to cortisol regulation issues. Because most people present multiple symptoms, the clinical picture can be very convoluted and confusing. If one presents good morning energy but late afternoon fatigue, focus should be placed on normalizing the afternoon low by modulating blood sugar level as a priority rather than simply administering steroid or stimulating compounds to prop up the energy level at that time. Without proper normalization, the body will be struggling every day to maintain homeostasis. It will not have enough reserve left to rebuild itself. It is unlikely able to enter the honeymoon phase with vigor, and recovery will be delayed or failed.
Failure to consider all the above factors is a common reason why most recovery programs fail. Recovery management must be taken seriously if the goal is full recovery. What is commonly forgotten is that Adrenal Fatigue, if left to itself, progresses negatively with aging. Invariably, crashes will resurface again with time, and fatigue will advance if the previous healing process is incomplete. Those who tend to ignore the importance of recovery management during early stages usually become overly confident in self-management from previous successful efforts. This is compounded by the fact that the majority of conventional physicians are of little help. The tendency is then to continue to self-navigate using the same concept that worked before. This usually involves rest, use of stimulatory compounds, and medications to suppress symptoms. Sad to say that this strategy often backfires in those with advanced Adrenal Fatigue.
Proper recovery management is far more complicated than what meets the eye, especially for those in advance Adrenal Fatigue. The weaker the adrenal function, the more critical proper recovery management becomes. Patience is also required as many challenges, trials and errors are inevitable even in the best of hands.
Having looked at the entire recovery management process as a whole, we now turn to specific areas where special attention is required.
Many are discouraged when there is no immediate restoration of energy level after a crash and become impatient. Many equate adrenal function to energy level. Many feel, after a short time, that they are simply going nowhere and "treading water" as if there were no continuous increase in energy level. This time is commonly referred to as the stabilization period if it follows a crash, and plateau period if it immediately follows a recovery cycle.
Remember that the adrenals secrete over 50 different hormones that affect all parts of the body. Some hormones act quickly, while others take some time. Energy is important, but is not the only parameter of recovery. Those who are impatient or narrow-minded often resort to the use of stimulatory compounds or medications to produce a faster energy response. This approach is dangerous and has a higher chance of backfiring down the road. Energy needs to be properly modulated to be able to work harmoniously with the rest of the body and work. Too much energy without proper counter-balances will eventually lead to an overall weaker state of adrenal function. One can end up being energized (wired) and tired at the same time, a classic characteristic of advance Adrenal Exhaustion. A critical part of proper adrenal recovery is nurturing the adrenals back to a balanced state of function in order to minimize subsequent crashes during this time.
After a major crash, the body often needs a period of stabilization prior to beginning the first recovery mini-cycle up. This first leg up is the most difficult because the body is weakest at this time. An aggressive approach to stimulate the adrenals towards a fast recovery at this time can backfire and is one of the common recovery mistakes seen in self-navigation programs. The body needs time to regroup and reset itself. This may take weeks in those with advance Adrenal Fatigue (Stage 3 and 4). Pushing the body when it is not ready is a recipe for failure.
Allowing the body time to stabilize and using this time wisely to prepare the body with gentle nurturing nutrients is a sign of clinical excellence. With this approach, a strong foundation is set as the adrenal reserve is being rebuilt. This ensures a steady recovery and minimizes the risk of subsequent crashes during the recovery process. Minor crashes may be unavoidable even under the best of hands, especially if the adrenals are constitutionally weak. Some of the subtle indications of an adrenal being rebuilt during the initial stabilization period are a gentle and gradual return of calmness to everyday life, a better ability to deal with stress, and reduced anxiety when stressors resurface. However on the surface, there may not be any significant improvement in energy level from day to day. Fatigue continues to be troublesome. Yet, one can look back and notice that crashes are more spaced out and sporadic, with less energy depletion when that happens, and there exists a sense of calmness even when stressors surface. For this reason, a well-utilized stabilization period is the most important part of the overall Recovery Phase.
The worse recovery scenario possible is when someone recovers quickly only to be followed by more crashes that spiral down over time. class="articledefault">This cascading waterfall must be avoided at all costs as it weakens the body with reduced chances of successful recovery with each crash. The risk of this can be minimized only if the adrenals have a chance to rebuild itself slowly and steadily under proper guidance, and the best time to successfully accomplish this is during the initial stabilization period of the Recovery Phase and the subsequent plateau period of each mini-recovery cycle.
After each mini-recovery cycle up, there is a plateau period as well. This is similar to the stabilization period; except that it only happens after the honeymoon period and not after an adrenal crash. Allowing the body to rest during the plateau is important. After rest and consolidation of energy at this level, the body will be ready for the preparation period to get ready for the next honeymoon period of adrenal recovery. Not allowing the body to go through a plateau phase by pushing the body with undue exertion, stress, aggressive medications and nutritional supplements will often increase the risk of subsequent crashes.
Often times during the Recovery Phase, the body may go through a period where it tries to reset and kick-start itself for reasons that are not well understood. Perhaps it is nature's last resort of trying to help itself when all else fails. During a crash, the body often goes into an emergency mode. This resetting may be part of the delayed survival mechanism that is activated automatically. The timing of this resetting varies from person to person if it does occur. During the resetting, the body suddenly behaves differently for no apparent reason. For example, certain nutrients that have been helpful before may suddenly be rejected. Nutrients may also have a sudden positive exaggerated response only to be followed by a negative response. This is a turbulent time for the body where most sufferers are discouraged and do not understand what to do next. The resetting state usually occurs sometime during the late initial stabilization period, late in plateau period, or sometime during the preparation period during subsequent mini-recovery cycles.
Few pay attention to, or are on alert for, this event when it happens. Even fewer are attuned to the significance of this minor but important phenomenon that is clinically evident but seldom mentioned in any literature. This event may represent an opportunity to "kick-start" the system and bring it to a higher level of function. When properly taken advantage of, this "kick-start" process can propel the adrenals into the honeymoon period. Without taking advantage and using this to "kick-start" the system during the resetting state, one can stay stagnant in the preparation period for an extended period of time due to lack of impetus. This process is made possible by taking advantage of the natural body's recovery rhythm. The body appears to be telling us to stand aside and leave it alone during this resetting state. Most make the mistake of ignoring the body's signal. Instead of pushing more nutrients at a time when the body does not welcome them, it might be better to take a pause. Learning to listen to the body is often a wiser choice. After a pause to reset the body, the same nutrients may be restarted and the body welcomes them with dramatic improvement. An astute clinician attuned to this will likely catch it as he or she is on constant alert waiting for this. Recognizing such a window of opportunity and taking the right action at the right time will greatly facilitate the body's progression to the honeymoon period that otherwise would elude the sufferer. This is a sign of clinical excellence. Those who do not recognize this or miss this window of opportunity may have delayed recovery, or inadvertently make the condition worse by over-administering nutrients at a time when the body does not react well to them. A common mistake is to assume that nutrients are "not working" as fatigue levels seems to be getting worse, and that more is needed since those nutrients have worked previously.
One key question remains - how long does the recovery take?
The duration of the Recovery Phase varies as it is dependent of the adrenal fatigue stage. The more advanced the adrenal fatigue stage, the longer will be the Recovery Phase.
Recovery factor (RF) is a quantitative measurement of the Recovery Phase duration relative to crash phase duration. This helps us to appreciate the time it takes for recovery vs. the time of the crash. RF is a numerical number derived by dividing the recovery time by the crash time. If the crash duration is 1 day and the subsequent recovery duration to return to immediate pre-crash baseline is 4 days, then RF = 4/1 = 4. In other words, it takes the body four times longer to recover relative to crash. The higher the RF number, the more depleted the adrenal reserve and the weaker the adrenal glands. RF ranges from 1-20, with the lowest number in stage 1 and the highest number in stage 4. RF gives us a rough measurement of one's adrenal function.
The RF number can vary due to tremendous individual variation. Note that as adrenal fatigue stage progresses, the average RF increases. The average RF for stage 2 is 2, while the average RF for stage 3C is 7. The RF range also increases. The RF range for stage two varies from 1 to 3, or a 3 fold range. The RF range for someone in stage 3D can range from 6 to 30, a 5 fold increase. Those at stage 3D can expect a recovery time of 30 times or longer compared to stage 1 adrenal fatigue. The weaker the adrenals, the wider the range with a bias towards slower and less than optimal recovery. It is rare to see anyone with RF of 3 in stage 3D adrenal fatigue unless under professional guidance. It is common for most in stage 3D to have RF from 6 to 30.
Another way to look at this: those in stage 1 adrenal fatigue can expect to spend 50% of the total cycle in crash and Recovery Phase each. As adrenal fatigue worsens, one can expect to spend a proportionally longer period of time in Recovery Phase relative to crash phase. A typical stage 3C sufferer can expect to spend about 13% of the total cycle time in the crash phase and 87% of the time in Recovery Phase.
The following table depicts a summary of clinical observations. Each number represents a unit in time, usually day(s).
| Adrenal Fatigue Stage | Average Days of Adrenal Crash | Average Days it Takes to Recover | Ave. Total Cycle Time | Average Recovery Factor | Crash Time as % of Total Cycle | Recovery Time as % of Total Cycle | Recovery Factor Range |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 50 | 50 | 1 to 2 |
| 2 | 1.35 | 2.5 | 4 | 2 | 33 | 66 | 1 to 3 |
| 3A | 2 | 5 | 8 | 3 | 25 | 75 | 2 to 6 |
| 3B | 2 | 8 | 10 | 4 | 20 | 80 | 3 to 7 |
| 3C | 2 | 14 | 16 | 7 | 13 | 87 | 4 to 10 |
| 3D | 2 | 24 | 26 | 12 | 8 | 92 | 6 to 30 |
In absolute terms, the RF increases greatly in Stage 3C as this is where the greatest functional decline occurs. The RF increases by 43% from Stage 3B to 3C vs. an increase of 33% from Stage 3A to 3B. This bias continues to be carried onward as one enters Stage 3D from 3C. It comes as no surprise that those in Stage 3D spend 92% of their time in recovery and only 8% in crash on average. It is therefore imperative that those with advance Adrenal Fatigue avoid crashes as much as possible.
