Some people start feeling better in the first week of their recovery program, especially if they dramatically improve their diet or make changes in their lifestyle that greatly reduce stress. But typically you should not expect changes before at least three weeks.

I advise patients to keep journals in which they jot down notes daily about how they are feeling, what they are able to do, and their general overall symptoms. On days when you are feeling discouraged, you can go back to the early journal entries and note that you have made progress even though it does not feel that way at the moment. As you get better, you will find that you are able to do and complete more things, your frame of mind is improving, generally, things are going more smoothly in your life, and you are better able to handle the rocky times. You will even have happy days or nearly happy days, replacing all those bleak ones that came before. Note the happy days in your journal. They will serve as landmarks and as inspiration on other days when you need encouragement.

Although regaining your health and vitality is very important and requires considerable commitment and persistence on your part, do not wrap your entire life up into getting well. This creates a compulsiveness that is not usually conducive to restoring health. It causes you to be driven by the effort to get well which then becomes just another source of stress draining your adrenals.