I just found this forum and signed up because of Dr. John. I am in the same boat as you and few other guys here, adrenal fatigue and the other issues. I hit ROCK bottom last year after almost 20 years of on and off again but steadily worsening fatigue, lethargy, myofascial pain and most of the rest of the list of symptoms for adrenal fatigue and low T. The anxiety attacks are what finally sent me to see DJ last year. Treatment is really helping me out. Though things aren't as good for me now as at the beginning of treatment (that initial rush), I'm a lot better than I had become. Cortisol made a day and night difference in a few hours for me, so you can see that my adrenals are really shot. This is from 20 some years of heavy labor, weight training (too hard, too often for too long) martial arts (too hard, too often...you get it) and what seems to me a genetic predisposition to burn out at age 30 (whole side of my family, when they reach 30, BAM, necks go, backs go all kinds of health problems kick in)
Even with treatment, I am still only able to work out (bodyweight, light weights and cables, light "shadow boxing" style striking, not all at once but a different combination each week) once a week. Sometimes I can also walk 2 or 3 times a week for 45minutes, but only for a few weeks at a time before I fatigue again. I've got lumbar and cervical issues (stenosis, herniated discs, arthritis and narrow spinal canal) as well and when I get fatigued the muscles in my neck spasm and I get nausea, headaches, disequilibrium, parasthesias down both arms, and other fun stuff. I really have to take it slow and careful. I monitor whether or not I've got that "clutching chest" feeling from anxiety, my overall muscle pain and trigger points, and disequilibrium, etc from neck, sciatica from lumbar and energy levels to determine workouts. I have to be really up on it because my natural disposition is to work out (hard/to failure) no matter how much pain I'm in, that's what got me where I am now, so I've got to train myself to make haste slowly and carefully.
Massage helps/has always helped me out GREATLY but who can afford it regularly?
My best diet results have always been cutting out all grains,
eating a lot of veggies and fruit and meat, with a lot of fish oil. Whenever I manage to stick to that STRICT for a few weeks I always think about how great I feel, but human nature, I slide out of it again.