A question we've received several times is: "I'm tired all the time, what should I do? I think I'm exhausted."
When you experience severe fatigue or exhaustion, you have likely gone through significant or underlying stress over an extended period. You may also have experienced a traumatic life event.
After prolonged stress, you have often depleted your stores of the neurotransmitter serotonin. When serotonin levels drop below a healthy level, you may, for example, have difficulty falling asleep or wake up at night, experience worry and/or anxiety.
When serotonin becomes very low, the adrenal glands don't receive signals from the brain to produce cortisol and DHEA.
Then you may feel exhausted, depressed, and have difficulty handling stress and pressured situations. Here comes information we hope can support you if you recognize yourself in this.
Patience
The most important thing is to have patience with yourself and your life situation. To stop and be kind to yourself.
If you've pushed yourself over the edge, there is no "quick fix" - it takes time to return to your former self or rather: a "new self".
Recovery
Recovery can take a long time, but it is absolutely possible! Giving yourself time each day for relaxation and rest as well as sleep is very important. Rest. Sleep. Reduce stress. Say no to everything you can't handle.
1. Relaxation
If you have difficulty relaxing, techniques such as recorded meditation or breathing exercises are helpful. Other tips include talk therapy, meditation, relaxing music, and walks in nature.
Meditation is a fantastic tool for stopping for a moment, which everyone can learn, little by little. Meditation releases calming neurotransmitters that transform reactions into relaxing states.
2. Listen to your body
If you experience becoming sad, angry, or panicked by saying yes to things and taking on tasks such as a new assignment at work, you are in need of rest. This is experienced differently by everyone, but remember that there is nothing wrong with you - you just need to take care of yourself.
3. Rest
If you experience a feeling of "shaking" inside – a sensation someone with exhaustion can often relate to – it is of utmost importance to rest, and rest with warmth can be beneficial. Such as taking a bath, having a hot water bottle on your body, going to a spa, or getting a massage.
Closeness to someone you can relax with also works. Or just holding someone's hand. Someone who can help you regulate yourself.
You can also drink a cup of herbal tea or miso soup or eat a piece of fruit. Anything that gives you a sense of wellbeing and provides "comfort". Being close to animals also provides great comfort, if the opportunity is available.
Healthy Diet
4. Clean Food
It is important to choose as clean a diet as possible with as much nutrition as possible.
5. Nutritious Food
Real, nutritious food includes vegetables in all colors and forms, sprouts, fruit, berries, nuts and seeds. Feel free to vary the vegetables so you get different colors on your plate with each meal. Something that contributes a lot of nutrition is green juices.
Since "living" foods are full of nutrition, we get pure energy from them. Unrefined carbohydrates (whole grains, beans and vegetables) and good protein as well as good fats like cold-pressed olive oil and Omega 3 are also important.
6. Reduce Gluten and Dairy
It's worth testing going without gluten and dairy products for a while and see how you feel, and instead try plant-based products.
Fish can be good but in smaller doses since it unfortunately contains a lot of heavy metals today, which weakens us, and we also have the entire environmental issue around fish, which means it's no longer an obvious choice.
7. Avoid Stimulants
It's important not to overstimulate the body with things like too much coffee, cocoa, alcohol, or sugar. If you are very exhausted, you can easily get heart palpitations or anxiety from certain foods and drinks.
Yes, you read that right - you can get anxiety from food and drinks if, for example, the liver isn't capable of handling the intake. During certain periods in life, the liver has too much work.
Alcohol is one such example that can be felt immediately when exhausted. Sometimes you can feel it right away, sometimes you feel it after a few hours.
8. Drink Water
Drink plenty of water, lemon/lime water, and herbal teas.
How Often Should I Eat
9. Eat Smaller and More Frequent Meals
If you are exhausted, it can be good to eat a little less and more often. This is because when you suffer from low levels of adrenal hormones, blood sugar can fluctuate, and low blood sugar can strain the adrenals.
To reduce this, it's important not to become too hungry. Then you may feel even more shaky.
10. Don't Fast
If you are exhausted, you should not do intermittent fasting or fasting as it can stress the body even more. This is something you can do when you are 100% recovered and the body has all the building blocks again.
Nutrition is needed in the body to handle a detox.
Exercise
11. No Intense Exercise
Training hard is not a good idea when you are exhausted – instead you need to exercise in a more careful way. For example, yoga, dancing, cycling, swimming, or taking forest walks.
You can gradually build up your training over time until you feel more strength and energy and think slightly tougher exercise works. Then the exercise gives you the energy it should.
12. Exercise Should Make You Happy
After you have exercised, you should feel happy and fulfilled; if you feel sick, then it's too intense exercise. When you've built up your strength, herbs such as adaptogenic herbs can be a very good idea. Adaptogens are herbs and plants that work to increase the body's ability to adapt to different forms of physical, mental, chemical and biological stress as well as changing situations.Which adaptogen suits you best is something you need to experiment with. However, we recommend taking one adaptogen at a time.
Feel free to read more about adaptogens.
Supplements
13. Take Supplements
Suggestions for important supplements that support in different ways.
Vitamin C – a superb antioxidant that really supports us in all situations
B-Complex – B vitamins are so important.
Extra B-12 – feel free to take a blood test for your B-12 and see where you stand.
Lactic acid bacteria (probiotics)
Magnesium – very good for worry, pain and stress.
Q10 – for cellular and heart energy.
Lemon balm – both calming and uplifting.
An herbal blend for good sleep – such as Sömnbalans.
L-Theanine – a fantastic amino acid for stress and worry.
Iodine – supports the thyroid gland.
Selenium – very important for both the thyroid gland and immune system.
Infection & Inflammation
14. Take Care of Infection and Inflammation
Keep in mind that if you're carrying a chronic infection, your immune system and adrenals are working overtime. Then it's important that you find out about it and take care of the infection or inflammation.
Common infections can be digestive problems or dental issues. Here, culprits like bacteria, viruses, fungi (candida), parasites, or heavy metals are important to get out of the body as they worsen and create fatigue.
This is difficult to know and understand on your own, so we recommend that you go to a nutritional therapist or functional medicine doctor and get tested. Ask for help!
Reach out to us if you have questions and take care of yourself out there.
