Hi ya rjmolly:

I think Dr. S. mentions getting some dark unsweetened chocolate to self medicate. Your seratonin levels might be low which could account for the sugar and/or caffeine cravings. As the adrenals heal, the cravings for stimulants should subside.

Try increasing your intake of tryptophan-rich foods, such as almonds, cottage cheese, oatmeal, peanut butter, peanuts, shellfish, soy foods, tuna or turkey. Tryptophan is required to rebuild seratonin. In SPII, Dr. S. lists several supplements to help with seratonin levels. St. John's Wort helps "plug the seratonin drain". So does SAM-e but it's horribly expensive.

People with severely burned out adrenals run into problems when they stop taking stimulants cold turkey. What have you eliminated so far? Did you quit cold turkey? She doesn't really address any of this in SPI since it's geared towards the "insulin" equation instead of the triad of hormones.

Which plan in SPI are you following? Is it possible that you may be eating too many carbs? You are balancing the chocolate with protein as per Dr. S.'s suggestions, right? If you are craving sugar, I'd look into SPII b/c it suggests adrenal problems. Just another thought.

Another trick is to put powdered L-glutamine under your tongue (sublingual) to help get rid of a craving. Never works for me, but you never know.....

Good luck with the cravings. I can certainly sympathize. They've hit me with a vengeance now that my cycles are trying to normalize themselves. I've made progress, but the process is somewhat frustrating.

Wanda