I see a lot of patients who come in with the vague symptom of “fatigue”. Usually people start to self-medicate with caffeine and sugar which ultimately makes the situation worse as it further depletes the adrenal glands that are probably already suffering and overworked.
Fatigue can be accompanied by aches and pain, lightheadedness, low blood pressure, dizziness, low or high appetite, and brain fog.
How can acupuncture and health coaching help?
Boost the Adrenals: A common cause of fatigue is adrenal fatigue. When people are overworked and lack sleep for long periods of time (eg. our entire society), the adrenals are forced to push out more adrenaline and cortisol to keep the body going when it’s tired but still has thing to do. The adrenal glands get exhausted over time and stop producing enough adrenaline to keep you feeling good. Acupuncture: helps to re-build the adrenals, balance hormones and neurotransmitters, and helps to improve sleep which allows the adrenals to heal. Health coaching: aims to pinpoint where the dietary problems may be, taking out foods that overstimulate the system and put burden on the body, and put the patient on a plan that helps to rebuild their adrenals and energy naturally.
Improve Sleep: So many of my patients sleep poorly on a regular basis. They either aren’t getting enough sleep, or they are getting poor quality sleep.
Acupuncture: helps to regulate circadian rhythm naturally without side-effects. Health Coaching: helps the patient adopt healthier patterns and activities to prep their body for sleep and choose foods that help to calm their bodies and nervous systems.
Calm the Mind: Chronic stress, even low-grade stress can wreck havoc on our nervous systems and our adrenal glands over time. Toxic and negative thoughts run rampant in our society. These keep us in fight or flight mode which causes our adrenaline to run high and keep our bodies from healing and functioning optimally. Acupuncture: Balances the nervous system and moves the patient in to calming, parasympathetic mode. Health Coaching: teaches the patient mindfulness techniques, deep abdominal breathing techniques, and re-wiring the brain to focus on more positive thoughts. Certain stimulating foods can also keep the nervous system and the brain over-stimulated. A health coach teaches you how to choose healing foods and how to stick with your choices.
Balance Hormones: a hormone imbalance can put extra strain on the thyroid and the adrenals and vice versa. A full program will address these as well to make sure everything is in balance. Acupuncture: Regulates hormone levels in men and women. Health Coaching: our activities, our thoughts and our food choices all affect hormone balance. Teaching you how to choose the right ones and how to avoid toxic hormone disruptors in our diets and environment is a major piece of the puzzle.
Other potential factors involved include immune system issues, nutrient deficiencies, anemia, gastrointestinal problems/absorption issues, Celiac, allergies or underlying low grade viral condition. An Health Coach would design a plan that is individualized for you that will address all your specific issues to get you the best results that last.
Healing the adrenals takes time, just like how it took time for them to become so depleted in the first place. With patience and guidance and regular intervention, even small changes over time can make a difference.
If you’ve been experiencing fatigue and aren’t sure why, or if you’ve been given a diagnosis but aren’t sure how to treat it or are still experiencing symptoms, give us a call. We can set up a free consult to see if you may be a good fit for our programs.
