Adrenal Fatigue

Are You Running On Empty ?

The adrenal glands are known as the anti-stress glands of the body, often being referred to as a reserve tank that supports the body and mind during stressful times. They instigate and direct the body’s reaction to stressors of all kinds be they physical, mental or emotional. The adrenal glands are essential for life and along with the thyroid gland are responsible for around 90% of your body’s energy production.

The adrenal glands secrete a number of hormones that have a powerful impact on your physical, mental and emotional well-being. When they are functioning optimally you can feel on top of the world experiencing high energy levels, clear thinking and strong supportive feelings. You can face life head on and take challenges in your stride.

However, due to the tremendous stresses that we put ourselves under, psychological as well as physical, the adrenals take a beating and over time their output diminishes to the point where they can no longer provide the necessary support to maintain a high level of physical and mental well-being. As a consequence, researchers have found that poor adrenal function can be the cause of a wide variety of physical and mental symptoms or exacerbate existing ones

see stress and fatigue profile here

Hypoadrenia ( “hypo” - underfunctioning, “adrenia” - adrenal glands ) is a condition whereby, although there is no disease state present, the adrenals have been overworked to the point of depletion. Dr Hans Selye, a medical researcher and ‘father’ of the modern stress theory, classified three distinct stages of hypoadrenia - mild, moderate and severe.

Supply vs Demand
The adrenals manufacture and secrete cortisol and other stress hormones in equal measure to the stress we find ourselves under. As the stress increases, so the adrenals have to produce more and more cortisol. However, keeping up with increased demands can begin to stress the adrenals themselves, particularly if the stress is severe and unrelenting. As a result, the adrenals begin to struggle, their output falls and they fall into patterns of hypoadrenia - mild, moderate or severe.

People who find that they have to force themselves just to make it through the average day have fallen into patterns of hypoadrenia and run the risk of experiencing many different kinds of physical and mental complaints ( see stress and fatigue profile here ). Worse still, if the condition is not corrected, they run a further risk of exposing themselves to the diseases associated with hypodrenia

The 7 Key Signs Of Early Adrenal Fatigue
(1) tiredness not relieved by sleep
(2) insomnia - can’t get to sleep or wake up frequently
(3) cravings - coffee, soft drinks, sweets, salt, tobacco
(4) low energy accompanied by decreasing efficiency and effectiveness
(5) poor sex drive
(6) increasing irritability and moodiness
(7) fuzzy thinking, poor concentration / memory

Primary Components of Lifestyle Leading to Adrenal Fatigue

• lack of sleep
• poor food choices
• using food and drinks as stimulants when tired
• staying up late even though fatigued
• being constantly in a position of powerlessness
• constantly driving yourself
• trying to be perfect
• staying in double binds (no-win situations) over time
• lack of enjoyable and rejuvenating activities

see also...
stress and fatigue profile
laboratory test for adrenal fatigue