Signs Of Recovery - Tuesday, June 1, 2010

It is always amazing to me how quickly a month passes. It seems just a few days have passed since my last visit to the naturopath, yet today was my monthly appointment. As usual, I had my list of questions prepared the night before. I also planned everything I needed to do prior to leaving home, or so I thought. It was around 7:15 a.m. that I suddenly remembered the staff member who opens the store on Tuesdays was on vacation. That meant that no one scheduled to work the early shift could open the door. I began frantically making phone calls to locate someone on the schedule who had a key besides me. After about ten attempts, I gave up and decided to do the job myself. The only problem was that I had been exercising and was by no means ready to face the outside world. Since only 15 minutes remained until the store’s opening, I had no other option but to dash out of the house sans makeup and drive in my pajamas to Martindale’s. (Fortunately, they resemble an exercise outfit.) It only took a few minutes to help the staff open the store, then I jumped back in the car and headed home. (Move over, Speed Racer!) Although this addition to my routine only took about a half an hour, it was enough extra time to thoroughly undermine my plans for a calm morning. I found myself racing to my appointment only to arrive late. So much for reduced stress.

The naturopath and I discussed a number of subjects from which I received a good deal of insight. However, one piece of information really benefitted me. I have been puzzled over what seemed to be a regression in my physical progress. Lately, I have been feeling more achy and tired than in recent months. I could not determine why, so I wondered about the possible cause. During our session, the naturopath offered an explanation. According to her understanding, adrenal recovery mimics adrenal exhaustion. As the adrenals progress toward an exhausted state, a person feels fine for the most part, yet experiences tiredness at times. When the adrenals hit rock bottom, exhaustion becomes chronic. Fortunately, the adrenals can recover. As they repair, a person who has continually felt exhausted, gradually comes to a point of feeling tired some of the time. As the recovery continues, the same person will feel tired less and less until eventually he/she feels normal. I must be somewhere in the "between" stages in that I am no longer tired every day, all day. However, there are days when I wake up with an achiness and weariness that lasts into the evening. Other times, as I have stated before, I feel fine, then suddenly, lose my energy in the middle of the day. I cannot describe how frustrating this is, especially for someone like me who always has a long "to do" list. Unfortunately, no amount of griping on my part will change it. The other thing I was able to understand was that I should not feel guilty about not being fully recovered at this point. For some reason, that has been an issue for me. Her explanation made me feel better about the progress I have made. So, for now, I will try to exercise patience until recovery is complete.