I have been drinking more and more sugar-free energy drinks (mostly Guru) these last days.I even drank 2 today and I feel like drinking a third one right now. It seems like I am fatigued and I need something to get going.
Maybe I am just getting old (I am 23) or normal school semester plus internship is too draining on the organisational side. I don’t work that much tought.
Anyone can relate?
caffeine is a hell of a drug!
Youre beginning to fry you adrenals. If you feel that you are just craving a carbonated beverage that is one thing. If you feel like you are dragging ass and need a pick-me-up to continue through the day, then yes, stress, probably lack of sleep, maybe a slacking diet, just overall Cortisol is starting to take a dive.
23? Old? duder…come on. Youre just burning the candle at both end, the problem with that is your running out of candle from the way it sounds. You need to do some things to dampening cortisol and let the adrenals heal.
I was exactly in your situation, so can totally relate,
During my finals, i used to have an extremely strong coffee (3-4 double espresso’s worth) in the morning and then a lo-carb monster in the afternoon, for about 30 days straight
i got so used to it i literally couldnt function without and felt extremely fatigued and impossible to concentrate on anything,
I guess the only option is to cut it out completely
i know its hard but otherwise its an addiction and should not let take control over you
im 22 btw, and slightly tipsy
[quote]hipsr4runnin wrote:
You need to do some things to dampening cortisol and let the adrenals heal. [/quote]
That sounds promising. How do you do that?
[quote]jasmincar wrote:
Maybe I am just getting old (I am 23) [/quote]
LMFAO
Just look into some natural adaptogens that help to lower cortisol. Even vitamin c works, but things like Relora and other herbs. Get your sleep back in order, don’t stress during your workouts, or even back off your workouts, make sure diet is in order. Yeah there are pills that can help but 1g wont fix 24 hours of stressing especially if you’ve been doing if for days.
and K2000 is right, 23 aint old, your not even prime yet 
Google man: natural+way+lower+cortisol
cortisol+lower+supplements
Thanks for the Google tip, man! Would have never thought of that. Turns out there’s this visionary called Dr. Oz that has some tremendous ideas about lowering my cortisol!
Actually what I’ve been doing so far to lower cortisol is a piece of dark chocolate (~20g, 86%) after my workout, a piece after my work day, and if I’m lucky, a nap (or at least 15 minutes of “meditation”).
I also keep my workouts pretty short… Like under an hour, once or twice a day.
The only reason I think my cortisol might be high is cause of the aforementioned caffeine. I get quite alot.
Hipsr4running is correct. Get proper sleep, get your daily nutrition in line. And for fucksake, lay off the STIMULANTS !
Dry to “drown” yourself in water, about 1oz for every 2 pounds of bodyweight per day.
Have Protein and good fats at every meal, and avoid carbs first thing in the morn.
At 47, I wish I had a place like this, or the others with so much GOOD GODDAMN info.
I would be in the top 5% for my age group instead of the top 15% , lol ha ha ha !!
Hips,
What is the Biosig recommendation (diet and supps) to help heal fatigued adrenals ? I feel that I may have been taking a thermogenic for too long.
[quote]JaggedG wrote:
Turns out there’s this visionary called Dr. Oz that has some tremendous ideas about lowering my cortisol!
[/quote]
lolololololololololololol
Well Jag, youre on the right path.
Caffeine alone isnt going to be the sole cause. So no n=1, in this/ most cases. What you would be looking at is total, chronic, accumulated stress. Dark chocolate would be a start but there is a shit ton of other things you could do/ take.
Killer is on the money. You would need to come of stimulants completely. You are “using” them. Meaning you dont need the occasional pick up or extra kick in the ass, it sounds like you are more than just even using them, ultimately you may not survive without them. As your title says “addiction.”
So you would need to come off and detox/rehab and let your body start building its natural energy.
Youd have to start looking at things like: what is your sleep like? What is your diet like? (is it similar to what Killer recommended?) What is your rest like? Do you do anything to chill? Have you considered taking time off working out? Etc. Find the stress point and work on fixing it. Obviously some stress can not be avoided, school/work etc but your ability to handle the stress, especially from a physio stand point, can be better managed, etc.
Haha maxi, thats personal
It would come done to you and what you are doing.
Without going into detail I can give you some basics i give my clients.
Sleep 7-8 hours. Oh, you cant? Fired.
Products like Bliss, Zen mag, Relora, Allostatix would be go to’s. Bliss is fucking bomb. Been taking that for almost a month, very solid and cool product. Of course Biotest also sells some pretty good stuff like ZMA and such. Magnesium would also be a go to. That actually doesnt make you that tired and could be used to lower cortisol spikes.
Try to get working on a natural cortisol follow. Peak in the mornings, coming down in the afternoons, lowered on the evenings.
Ditch all stimulants.
Lower workout intensity to just heavy shit with long breaks. No cardio, no wods. Just movements. Tnation has some great prgrams for that and keeping heart rate low.
The adrenals will usually heal on their own but most need help. Ultimately chill the fuck out. Allow your body to come back to a rested state and then proceed. There is a lot of other stuff, some of which I am experimenting with. Cortisol is the BIG, main problem though. Biosig Level 2 spends the whole first day on it practically.
^ What Hips Said !
thanks for the backup Hips : )
About the addiction thing-- That was the thread-starter that mentioned that. I wouldn’t call myself “addicted,” I can quit any time I want!
I think I’m pretty chilled out in terms of lifestyle. My work is usually not very stressful, my diet is quite clean, and I work out 5 days a week, usually in the mornings. The only thing is that I tend to drink quite alot of coffee, sometimes to get me through my day when I didn’t sleep well, but often just cause I like it. I also know coffee has alot of cool effects, so I don’t want to cut it out entirely, except maybe temporarily-- Just balance the effects.
2 questions about your recommendations:
For heavy, long rest style workouts… That’s awesome, cause that’s how I prefer to lift anyway 
But I’ve never heard of it in the context of keeping cortisol down… Is it basically low heart rate = low EPOC effect = low chronic cortisol response, or how’s that work?
killerDIRK recommended a low-carb first thing in the morning…? Usually I eat high carb in the morning (get me anabolic after sleeping/fasting all night, fuel my morning workout) and low-carb high-fat in the evening, as recommended by Christian Thibaudeau-- I basically follow the Carb Cycling Codex. What’s the logic of eating high-fat low-carb in the morning? (Other than bacon is delicious)
Ok, so by eating a Meat, Eggs and Nuts (or other high pro, high fat as prescrived by poliquin and others) breakfast you are still going to get an insulin spike. Yet it will not be as significant as if you pound the carbs.
Now if you do have an early (6am) training program, then down your coffee with some bcaa’s and hit the workout.
Just do not mix coffee and creatine. Something which does not work well. There is a negative chemical reaction between the two
and I forgot which post i found that in.
After the workout, feel free to pound the protein and carbs…
You can still cycle carbs this way, yet get the benefit of a good training session .