I just did it today.

I had a B-12 shot administered to my buttocks this morning. Why? I’ve been dealing with fatigue for the past few weeks, relapsing into something called “adrenal fatigue.”

I was diagnosed with this condition last year and have been effectively treating it with:

• dietary changes
• herbal formulas
• better sleep hygiene
• supplements

My main symptoms were insomnia followed by being unable to wake up in the morning and have normal energy. It turns out my cortisol levels were flipped, my cortisol was very low in the morning, and higher than normal in the evening. The result: buzzing energy keeping me awake at night, and dragging energy in the morning preventing me from getting up without much anguish.

I’m going to take a moment to explain my fatigue. It’s not just the normal garden variety of fatigue where you might need a catnap to replenish, hitting snooze gives you more quality sleep, or laying down for an hour will help. It’s a fatigue where if I wake before 9am I emerge as a zombie, dead to the world and going through the motions. Conversation is impossible, driving a potential haphazard, and I make mistakes like forgetting my lunch, to brush my teeth, or dropping my phone in the toilet. I become somewhat normal by around noon. Around 3 or 4pm I have a cortisol crash and have to supplement with a third cup of coffee or some kind of sugar to give me a left and get me through the rest of the day.

Then at night, another energy emerges that gets me wired. I usually get a surge around 6pm and operate as a normal person until around 12am. At midnight, when I am trying to wind down and go to sleep, I will experience another surge of energy that can keep me up until 1 or 2am, watching TV, reading, or simply laying in the dark trying to sleep. It’s annoying and frustrating. I’m glad I took measures to work on it last year and have since had significantly fewer insomnia incidents, and getting up in the morning was no longer the torturous experience I was used to.

Unfortunately, I am having some mild virus that wont quite turn into a full fledged flu or cold, and I’ve been back to the old pattern minus the insomnia. Instead, I’m needing to sleep 10 or 11 hours and not waking up refreshed. The rest of the day drags and it has been hard to do much of anything. I’m thankful I’m a freelancer between jobs right now as I have no idea how I would cope at work.

My ND thinks I could be fighting the flu and changed my adrenal supplement from herbal (ashwaganda/holy basil) to hormonal (bovine). She’s also concerned that I might be suffering from anemia, and I’m going to be tested for that.

Finally she prescribed a B-12 shot with B vitamin complex, which is helpful as the boost can last for two weeks as opposed to taking it by mouth daily. B-12 shots are used to treat pernicious anemia and are effective for people who don’t absorb B-12 well in food. I agreed and after a jab in the buttocks, which stang a little and felt slightly uncomfortable, I had a surge of energy and have felt lifted for the rest of the day.

Not bad. Will report how it affects me over the next two weeks.