Adrenal Fatigue
“Adrenal fatigue" is a prevalent, yet rarely diagnosed, condition that is usually caused by some form of stress. This stress can be physical, emotional, psychological, environmental or a combination of these stresses, which can accumulate and become chronic. As we age, we become less stress resilient and stress, alongside poor nutrition, lack of sleep, caffeine, and alcohol, burden our adrenal glands. This can eventually lead to (what we often refer to as) burnout.
Adrenal fatigue goes by a few other names including:
hypoadrenia
hypoadrenalism
HPA axis dysregulation (this is actually what is going on, but it sure is a mouthful!)
and what I also refer to as adrenal dysfunction
But before we move on, do you know what your adrenals are, where they are located and why we have them?
Your adrenal glands are small, triangular-shaped glands located on top of both kidneys. They produce hormones that help regulate your metabolism, immune system, blood pressure, response to stress and other essential functions.
Adrenal fatigue is a controversial diagnosis, and is often a diagnosis of exclusion (meaning your health care team rules everything else out and is left to tell you that you have adrenal fatigue by default). Though it has been written about and treated for 100+ years, it is still not taught in medical schools (to my knowledge - correct me if I am wrong!) and as a result, individuals often bounce from physician to physician in frustration. Without resolution, the condition continues to deteriorate and this has an impact on the entire body.
For my ladies in their peri-menopause years, listen up! You need estrogen for lots of functions besides making babies. Once your ovaries stop producing estrogen, guess who takes up some of the slack? You guessed it…your adrenals! Now, if you’re already dysregulated, stressed out, exhausted, etc. then you really start to tax your adrenals to produce this estrogen. This complicates the entire peri-menopause phase (ahem, hot flashes, anyone?)…so it’s best to get this sorted out well in advance of peri-menopause so you can sail away through to menopause with minimal symptoms.
Signs & Symptoms of Adrenal Fatigue
Since each individual has a unique capacity to handle stress loads, signs and symptoms can vary. One of the most commonly overlooked sources of stress is chronic or severe infection (yes, this is a type of stress on your body too!). Adrenal fatigue is often triggered by respiratory infections. The opposite is also true; people suffering from low adrenal function can have a predisposition toward respiratory illness, which can take some time to recover from.
Other signs and symptoms of adrenal fatigue can include:
difficulty getting up in the morning (you need that ☕ to get going!)
continuing fatigue not relieved by sleep 💤
increased effort to do everyday tasks and light-headedness when standing up quickly
mild depression 😔
experiencing less enjoyment or happiness with life
oversensitivity to light 💡
a “lump” in the throat when emotionally disturbed
cold sweats or excessive perspiration 🥵
easily shaken up
allergies 🤧
unusual cravings for salt 🧂
excessive head, neck, and shoulder tension
feeling stressed and overwhelmed, on edge, or burned out
have a desire to nap in the afternoon 😴
a decreased tolerance with others 😤
As you can see, it can be difficult to figure out what is truly going on because many of these symptoms can be part and parcel of lots of other diagnosis. This is where holistic wellness comes in (don’t worry, we’ll circle back to that).
What happens if you keep pushing and you don’t help yourself now?
Adrenal fatigue has a large impact on thyroid, immune system and overall health and wellbeing. Since the adrenals are the glands of stress, they are involved in the processes of and recovery from most chronic diseases, ranging from arthritis to cancer.
There are, however, several diseases that stand out as having an adrenal component. These include:
chronic fatigue syndrome
fibromyalgia
alcoholism
ischemic heart disease
hypoglycemia
rheumatoid arthritis
chronic/recurrent respiratory infections
Since stress also suppresses gut function, adrenal fatigue can lead to leaky gut. This condition is a major factor in autoimmune conditions.
Many women with unbalanced adrenal glands or exhausted adrenals, experience a bumpy transition through to menopause, including hot flashes and emotional symptoms which can be life altering.
If adrenal fatigue/decreased hormone production is not addressed, it can progress and lead to Addison’s disease, where the adrenals are not capable of making enough stress hormones. This disease can require medication and can become life threatening since the adrenal gland has become physically damaged at this point.
What can you do to support your adrenals?
From a nutritional standpoint alone, there are lots of things you can do to begin optimizing your health once again. These are suggestions only and your personal health situation might dictate different choices (for example, lots of fibre and increasing salt isn’t great for “everyone”). Reach out to me (or your health team) if you have questions about this.
A few ideas include:
combine a protein, fat and carbohydrate at every meal (adequate protein is really important if you’ve been diagnosed with adrenal fatigue!)
eats lots of vegetables of a variety of colours
ensure adequate fibre (aim for 35g but increase slowly!)
salt food to pleasant taste (consider drinking salt water upon rising)
eat mainly whole grains (non-gluten) as starchy carbohydrate sources
avoid caffeine after 10 am (except green tea)
avoid sweet and sugary foods
avoid processed foods (i.e. if you can’t pronounce it, don’t eat it!)
drink filtered water
The good news is that there are lots of things we can do to get you back to feeling like your full self once again. Much of the healing happens through lifestyle changes like making some space for self-care, possible short-term supplementation and making changes to your diet as I’ve outlined above. Lab testing (which I can co-ordinate) can also be helpful in more complex cases.
These changes don’t have to be dramatic and we can move forward at your pace. Everyone has different support systems at home, varying obligations with work and family, and your tolerance for change will be different than the next person’s.
When you book a Discovery Call with me, that’s where we talk about all of this. I call it your commitment to the protocol, but I don’t mean that in a negative way. I simply mean: how much time and effort can you give the process? Then we make a protocol based on something manageable for you. It might take 3 months. It might take 2 years. It depends on the gravity of the situation, how deep you want to go and how much time you have to work on these things. One thing is for certain: it took you years to get to this place & we won’t be able to undo it overnight or with a magic pill. Lasting change takes time and commitment.
If what I’ve written about today resonates with you and you’d like to discuss working together to get to the root cause of your symptoms, then book a Discovery Call with me today! It’s as easy as clicking right here ➡️
Want to learn more on your own?
If you want to learn more about Adrenal Fatigue, I’d recommend reading:
Adrenal Fatigue: The 21st Century Stress Syndrome.
If you prefer podcasts, here are two with lots of information from Dr Mark Hyman’s podcast called The Doctor’s Farmacy. I listen on Spotify, but Apple, etc. works as well.
Wired and Tired: Fixing Adrenal Burnout with Dr. Elizabeth Boham
Tired And Wired: How To Heal Adrenal Fatigue
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