PART 3: RECOVERING FROM ADRENAL FATIGUE
Dr. Krista Coombs, DrAc, IFMCP
August 15, 2025
In this week’s INSIGHTS for Healing by Design, let’s finally dig into Part 3 of my Adrenal series and discuss some foundational lifestyle and supplemental ways to support the recovery of your precious walnut-sized adrenals glands, especially as you age.
If you haven’t yet read Parts 1 and 2 of my Adrenal series, I recommend starting there before reading on.
Adrenal fatigue is not a myth; it is a real experience. But, how it’s defined is very helpful to understand so that you have the foundational understanding for what I’m going to describe next.
When you’re dragging your bum to that next meeting, or feeling overwhelmed by yet another person asking “What’s for supper tonight?”, or feeling deeply empty and exhausted even after 10 hours in bed… the last thing you want to do is add yet more work to your overflowing plate.
SO, WHAT’S A GIRL TO DO?
Please realize that every crash you experience, every salt craving that overtakes you, every spiral into brain fog you succumb to… it’s all INFORMATION to help you make better decisions about how to navigate your life.
Symptoms are your neon signs directing your eyes where to pay attention.
To start healing, you must learn to LISTEN to your body as it yells at you for help, NOT ignore it any longer, hoping it’ll just get better on its own - because it won’t.
Ignoring the decline is “living by default”, my friend.
I want you to learn to Heal by Design, as I tell all my patients!
EMBRACE THIS TRUTH
⬇️
YOUR ADRENALS ARE NOT THE ISSUE.
THE LOAD PLACED ON THEM IS.
With adrenal fatigue, your two powerhouse adrenal glands have been overworked and under-loved probably for many decades, left on their own to try to help protect a terrain that has been completely overwhelmed by some intentional and a heck of a lot of unintentional abuse (read more about all this in Parts 1 & 2).
What you need is a STRATEGY to implement, over time, to lighten the load on these organs and give the body ingredients to recover its hundreds of functions.
A STRATEGY MUST INCLUDE THESE TWO IDEALS:
➡️ Clearing the toxic buildup from an overabundance of unwelcomed microbes and their secretions, recirculating hormones, chemicals and EMFs and retraining your stress response,
➡️ all while supporting your trillions of mitochondria energizing all of your body’s systems, regulating your nervous system, all to build up resilience again.
Your STRATEGY requires the rewriting of behaviors that got you stuck in full throttle mode on security patrol.
It requires a commitment to changing how you interact with your chosen world.
It requires consistent change of inputs to your body to get healthier outputs over time.
It requires enacting these new habits you create for the rest of your life so adrenal fatigue doesn’t happen again.
ADRENAL FATIGUE IN PERI & POST MENOPAUSE
Because… if you don’t commit to and then do this work, adrenal fatigue CANNOT improve during the natural hormone chaos of perimenopause (which can start in your mid-30’s) and into post-menopause.
If you suffer adrenal fatigue entering perimenopause, your symptoms will very likely be more troublesome to experience and to manage. I have seen it in myself and hundreds of other women in my practice. I’m not trying to frighten you, but I am trying to inform you of a truth in our physiology that you can influence to have a more comfortable rest of your life. You simply need quality information and then a PLAN; a STRATEGY, to help you win.
I think it is so common to see this biological overwhelm because women are trained to live in such a way that adrenal fatigue is expected to be their lot in life, on top of a progressively more toxic world we are creating and living in. Isn’t that sad?
We haven’t been shown how to love and respect our bodies enough to uphold quality boundaries that keep us healthy, nor have the foresight to clean up the world.
Figuring most of this out is something you GET TO learn though, if you choose, once you decide you want life to be different.
This is what I speak about daily in my private women’s Facebook group, The EASY YOUniversity, that you might enjoy participating in if you need some community and expert support.
Now, let’s look at the foundational things to consider to help you start recovering from adrenal fatigue and honestly, prevent it if you are trying to.
LIFESTYLE & SUPPLEMENT INFLUENCES TO CONSIDER
When you start doing the work to reduce the stress load and then treat your body with more love and respect by personalizing your diet, activities, sleep and mindset, and nervous system regulation, it will jump at the chance to heal! I promise. After that, you can dig into removing toxins and parasites and more with guidance from a qualified health professional - do NOT do this on your own please. Get support.
Remember, your stress response is a communication between parts of your brain and your adrenal glands, where a lot of chemistry is changing hands. Supporting your body to do this more efficiently and rebound more quickly (resilience) takes time and daily work to master.
How do you consciously influence that conversation?
8 WAYS TO START
BREATHWORK
The number one item to focus on to recover from adrenal fatigue, that will give them long term space to recover, is to learn ways to support your nervous system’s response to stressors.
The most accessible and useful way for managing your stress response is to master breathwork pattern interrupts. Why? Because focused breathing directly helps put your body into a parasympathetic nervous system response for rest, digest, and repair (the opposite of a stressed out sympathetic response of flight, flight, and fawn).
There are many breathwork techniques to try. I say, try them all and see what resonates and sticks that can be your go-to WHEN you’re triggered in life.
The easiest is a deep inhale through the nose followed by a drawn out exhale through the mouth. EASY. Do many of those in a row to interrupt the stress induced cascade of chemicals. It’s a pattern interrupt!
If you’re looking to explore different types of breathwork, consider exploring the hundreds of meditations with breathwork on the Insight Timer app (FYI, I have a couple of meditations there as a teacher).
MOVEMENT
When you move your body, you’ll help it burn through the stress chemicals.
Since stress is a fight, flight, and fawn reaction, you’re in a mode to get to safety.
Move.
Shake your hands. Rub your arms. Tap your chest. Walk around. Do some air squats. Do a few jumping jacks. Try Tapping (Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT)). Dance.
Get the excess energy out and you’ll come back to your centre more readily. It will help you build resilience and experience less damage from stress chemistry staying elevated too long.
NATURE TIME
Being around trees, flowers, birds, grass, water, pets… NATURE, will help ground your energy, helping your body regulate its nervous system without much work on your part. This is a great way to practice breathwork and movement, actually, combining foundational healing elements. For me, this is the top stress regulator in my life.
COMMUNITY
Sharing your overwhelm with someone or someones who are safe to speak with and who could help you pivot your thoughts to healthier ones for you is an important piece of Healing by Design. These people could be friends, family or a therapist. Being alone will only provide space for the mind to ruminate on old conditioned thoughts that will inevitably keep you stuck in the old neurological patterns.
So, get your thoughts out; don’t keep them in. But, be sure you share with those who truly want to see you grow, not stay the same.
SLEEP & REST
Without quality sleep and enough of it, you CANNOT be healthy.
The body repairs itself during sleep. If it’s interrupted often, or you aren’t prioritizing consistent bedtimes and awake times, or eating before bed too often, etc., these need addressing asap. Sleep hygiene is a must to spend time dialing in for the health of your body long term, including for adrenal recovery.
Given sleep naturally worsens in peri and post menopause, prioritizing this can make that transition a lot softer and enjoyable (yes, I said enjoyable because I do see Genius in Menopause - enough that I’m writing a book about it!).
And don’t undervalue the productive nature of intentional REST! Being on the go all the time, doing, doing, doing, is a direct line to burnout! So, intentionally culling your to-do list to the essentials that WORK FOR YOUR BEST INTERESTS is key to healing from adrenal fatigue. By doing this, you in fact become better at serving others too!
I often speak about creating an ELF life, not a HALF life. I learned this concept from author Joe Polish. ELF means Easy, Lucrative and Fun, while HALF means Hard, Annoying, Lame and Frustrating.
If you write down everything you do in a week and categorize them into an ELF column and HALF column, then you can start determining if you need to do all the things or can delegate them to others or let them go. And what remains can even be further culled to be a bare bones list of essentials that are ELF in nature. This will let your body find relief and have SPACE to heal!
NUTRITION
Personalizing your diet as you age is essential. Your body becomes less efficient at digesting and absorbing and then utilizing the food you eat as you age. Hormone changes are at the heart of this assault but so is damage to our digestive systems through years of mismanagement of food choices and diet culture crazes.
Ultimately, you want to determine what your body thrives on eating, what it has negative reactions to, and if it reacts immunologically to some things that need removal. Then, balance out the macros throughout most days.
Typically, this looks like prioritizing protein (your number one food appetite and their amino acids build ALL your hormones) in the morning especially, and balancing them with carbs, fats and fibre. If you want some support figuring this out for your YOUnique body, let’s chat, as it takes some personalization and experimentation.
It is common for women with poor adrenal communication to wake up not hungry. If this is you, let’s get you eating breakfast asap! When you start eating a higher protein breakfast (30-40 grams), you’ll start noticing you want to eat within an hour of waking. Of course, this recommendation is a general one and may not always apply to every person depending on their goals. But, I will say that if you are burning out, breakfast with protein is a must for a long while to help you recover.
HYDRATION
If you are not hydrating appropriately, you’ll put unnecessary stress on your entire body, including adrenal communication.
The general rule of thumb for hydrating is to drink half your body weight (pounds) in ounces of filtered water daily. Do the math to find your basic needs and set yourself up for success to achieve it. Set alarms in your phone to remind you or prepare water bottles the night before for the next day. Be kind to yourself as though you were your own child you’re helping get healthy.
And I like most folks to add ¼ tsp of non-iodized sea salt to each litre (~4 cups) they drink. Or they can use certain electrolyte powders to help.
Be VERY cautious about the types of electrolyte powders you use though - do your research. Two of my go-to’s right now are: Jigsaw Adrenal Cocktail and LMNT.
When using Jigsaw Adrenal Cocktail, which contains Camu Camu powder (for Vitamin C), sodium and potassium, I suggest starting with half a scoop in a litre of water with some fresh lemon or lime juice and a drop or two of a quality stevia.
When using LMNT packets, do NOT put a whole packet in every drink! You CAN take in too much salt. Instead, in a litre of water, add enough for the water to taste a little salty. You can do this with each litre of water you need in the day.
Remember, hydrate for your caffeine intake, activity level and sweating level. If you sweat a lot at a workout you will need more water. If you drink tons of caffeinated beverages, you need more water. If you have unmanaged sleep apnea (which needs to get helped to improve sleep), you’ll mouth breath a lot and be dehydrated, so keep that in mind when planning your water needs each day.
DO THIS! It’s EASY. And it helps a great deal with combatting fatigue.
*Please ensure these generalized recommendations are appropriate for YOUR body by speaking with a trusted health professional.
HERBS & SUPPLEMENTS
I was trained as a herbalist, so I love using plants as medicine for myself and patients.
Adaptogens are plants that are known to impact your chemistry intelligently. Meaning, if, for example, your adrenals are overproducing chemicals, some of these herbs can help them produce less, and those same herbs could help the adrenals produce more if they were underproducing. They adapt to the body’s needs. Very cool!
Now, not all of the named adaptogenic herbs will suit every person. So, again, it’s ideal to consult a trusted health professional for personalized advice.
My favorite ones to experiment with are: Ashwagandha, Rodiola, Panax and Siberian Ginseng, Deglycyrrhizinated Licorice, Holy Basil, Eleuthero, Schisandra, and Bacopa.
My best advice is to trial them one at a time rather than jumping into a combination formulation. You can use a combo later once you see how you react to the herbs individually. And ensure you are getting high quality processed herbs! Don’t add toxic ingredients to your body as it means it has to use valuable energy to detox it all.
One of my favorite drinks is an Ashwagandha Latte - it works for me and you’d need to try it to see if it works for you. Take ½ tsp powdered Ashwagandha herb, mix with ½ cup warmed oat milk and ½ cup boiled water, plus a drop of maple syrup. Stir and relax!
I also love experimenting with medicinal mushrooms too, such as Cordyceps, Lion’s Mane, Turkey Tail, and mostly with Reishi. I drink a coffee with Reishi, Cordyceps, and Lion’s Mane by Organo that I LOVE (the Reishi softens the effect of caffeine so I’m not jittery).
Next, there are supplements well studied for their positive impact on adrenal health.
My top choice would be Vitamin C. I prefer to get Vitamin C from whole food sources, so if that’s your preference too, consider adding Camu Camu or Acerola berry powder to smoothies as both are very high in the vitamin. If you would prefer or also like a supplemental form, my top choice is a liposomal form of Vitamin C for better gut absorption, especially Liposomal C by Designs for Health (set up a free Fullscript or Designs for Health account to purchase).
I also like the amino acid, L-Theanine, as it can help calm the mind without making you drowsy during the day. A favorite brand is Cyto-Theanine by Cyto-Matrix.
Magnesium Glycinate can be used the same way, as calming the mind is one of ~600 of magnesium’s functions in your body!
And finally, I love adding in a high quality Vitamin B Complex to a person’s regime to support adrenal recovery (and honestly, whole body recovery). My favorite is Pro B Complex by AOR.
Note that not all brands of supplements are of equal quality. Please purchase quality-made products and do your homework or follow a practitioner like me who does.
Also, dosing has to be personalized and might even change with the planet’s season or after an illness or during a difficult life experience. It’s best to speak with a trusted health professional to learn how to dose for therapeutic effect.
There are “MANY ROADS TO ROME”, my friend, but not ALL roads lead to Rome (with Rome being adrenal healing!). So, when you read through the list of foundational lifestyle and supplemental options for healing adrenal fatigue, feel what resonates most with your body and start there. As you get one habit mastered, if a good fit, stack on another, and master it. Don’t load yourself with MORE on your to-do list or you’ll keep yourself in burnout mode and even worsen it.
Healing by Design is about CHOICES that are a good match for your YOUnique body TODAY that helps you have a nicer tomorrow. Stack consciously and with great compassion for your precious body. And do your very best to support your adrenal glands so they can help you enjoy your golden years with more joy and growth!
I’ve thrown a lot of information at you today. All of it is useful, but I know it might cause some feeling of overwhelm and add to your already growing mountain of stress.
♥️Just know that your body has built into it a burning desire to survive.
I’d love to help you through that journey, in my group or with 1:1 consultations, because there is literally NO quick fix for this, only smart application of tried and true life skills for your YOUnque body.
Healing from adrenal fatigue IS possible.
Reach out. You’re not alone.
Hugs,
Dr. Krista
DrAc, IFMCP
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