Adrenal Fatigue is a state of sub-optimal health applied to a collection of non-specific symptoms that is hard to explain.Most forms of Adrenal Fatigue are mild, with full recovery after rest, and therefore they will go undetected. A small number of people fail to recover and get worse. Advanced Adrenal Fatigue can be incapacitating. Physical or emotional stress (such as toxic relationships) plays a big role in this mind-body condition. Many myths and misinformation exist about Adrenal Fatigue.If the condition is left to natural progression and the stressors continue to persist, Adrenal Fatigue may worsen. Fortunately, the body has a built in healing mechanism, and can recover on its own most of the time, if given the right natural tools.
Symptoms of Adrenal Fatigue are wide and varied. They include tiredness, insomnia, anxiety, low blood pressure, muscle pain, multiple chemical sensitivity, food allergies, loss of libido, low body temperature, low energy, menstrual irregularities, insomnia, PMS, sluggishness, heart palpitations, salt craving and hypoglycemia. You can have any combination and intensity of the above. Symptoms of Adrenal Fatigue may appear to be confusing and convoluted because many systems of the body become concurrently dysfunctional. However, there is a logical explanation for each symptom that surfaces. Symptoms reflect the body’s only way of alerting you to the disarray within. For example, salt craving and low blood pressure can be attributable to hormone aldosterone dysregulation. Heart palpitations can be due to sympathetic nervous system overtone. Muscle and joint pain are often due to the catabolic state of the body. Insomnia may be due to metabolic imbalances, and PMS is likely to be due to excessive estrogen. Just because your symptoms are hard to explain does not mean that they are not real. Knowing what your symptoms are telling you is the key to understanding the underlying root cause of your health problems and is the first step to recovery. In addition to the symptoms, many recognized conditions are related to Adrenal Fatigue, including IBS, Depression, Metabolic Syndrome, PCOS, POTS, Diabetes, Hypotension, Estrogen Dominance, Obesity, Hypothyroidism, and Auto-Immune Diseases. Do not be surprised or afraid if the vast majority of health care practitioners are not familiar with these associations and their implications. The best strategy for recovery starts with taking control of your own health. The more you know, the better you are able to find the right practitioner to help you. Knowing more about how the Adrenal Fatigue related health conditions affect you and what they mean is the key to your recovery process.
Our understanding of Adrenal Fatigue is in its infancy. Much research is needed. Current understanding points to four stages of Adrenal Fatigue. Stage 1 and Stage 2 are quite mild in terms of symptomatology and therefore often escape detection. In fact, most in Stage 1 are asymptomatic. In these two stages, rest, dietary and lifestyle changes can be of great help towards full recovery. Stage 3 is called Adrenal Exhaustion. Stage 3 is the wakeup call for most people as the symptoms become severe and the condition becomes debilitating. There are four phases within Stage 3, each with different characteristics and hallmarks. Those in advanced phases are bedridden and can no longer hold full time employment. Phase 3C is where the most functional decline occurs. Internal emergency repair systems of the body are activated in order to maintain homeostasis. Symptoms of this phase are serious and can include heart palpitations, chest pain, postural hypotension, severe anxiety, severe insomnia, feeling (wired and tired), hypothyroid despite medication, and frequent adrenal crashes followed by slow recovery. The risk of adrenal failure increases as the Adrenal Fatigue condition advances. Knowing what stage of Adrenal Fatigue you are in is important because recovery options differ for each stage and phase.
Many of the convoluted and confusing symptoms of Adrenal Fatigue are hormone related, especially for females. In particular, the Ovarian, Adrenal and Thyroid (OAT) hormonal axis is usually involved. Imbalance of the OAT axis can lead to symptoms such as PMS, low body temperature, endometriosis, PCOS, cystic breast, menstrual irregularities, fibroids suggestive of ovarian dysfunction and Estrogen Dominance; dry skin, weight gain, fatigue, low energy, blunted response to thyroid medications suggestive of secondary hypothyroidism; salt craving, frequent infection, hypoglycemia, insomnia, anxiety and adrenaline rushes suggestive of sympathetic overtone common in late stage Adrenal Exhaustion. The common approach by conventional medicine is to suppress these symptoms and to increase energy flow with drugs. This may give temporary relief, but is often a failed strategy in the long run, if the body is sensitive. An alternative and more gentle approach is to consider focus on adrenal health first. As adrenal health is restored, many of these symptoms improve.
Some people can experience tremendous physical or emotional stress and have no symptoms of Adrenal Fatigue, while others can have extreme fatigue when faced with the smallest stressor. The body's biological constitution or body type is an important determinant when it comes to the expression of Adrenal Fatigue. Each person's biological constitution is unique. Knowing the type of biological constitution you are born with is therefore important because it is a good qualitative predictor of crash intensity and recovery potential.
Adrenal Fatigue crashes are real and unpleasant. Crashes will occur when the body's ability to overcome perceived stress is overwhelmed. Fatigue can become severe quite suddenly. All sufferers should be well educated on how to manage an adrenal crash and how to facilitate recovery. Crash and recovery management is part of the adrenal crash and recovery cycle, which follows the laws of nature. It is important that sufferers of Adrenal Fatigue learn about this to avoid crashes, which weaken the adrenal glands.
Proper nutritional supplementation serves to support adrenal function necessary for recovery. However, improper use of nutritionals and over-aggressive use of prescription medications, including hormones, are common adrenal recovery mistakes. Herbs and glandulars are commonly used to support Adrenal Fatigue and may be beneficial in early stages of the disorder, but they often backfire as the condition worsens or if used without professional supervision long term. The use of hormones such as thyroid and steroidal medications must be monitored closely as their aggressive use is another danger that can lead to devastating results to many who suffer from advanced Adrenal Exhaustion. Fortunately, there are a number of gentle alternative natural compounds to help the recovery process. Knowing when to use what compound along with the proper delivery system is a key to the recovery process. Blindly taking a large cocktail of nutritional supplements can worsen Adrenal Fatigue over time.
Good exercise and diet can help adrenal recovery, but has to be accomplished correctly. Overly aggressive exercise can trigger adrenal crashes. Improper exercise can delay adrenal recovery by draining the body of energy needed for healing. Exercise intensity, frequency, and focus should match the energy state of the body at all times. Diet is an important component of adrenal recovery. Providing the proper dietary carbohydrate, protein and fat ratio fitting for the metabolic and body type is crucial. Electrolyte balance needs to be monitored closely for those with advanced Adrenal Fatigue due to sodium and blood pressure imbalances. Improper diet can delay and may worsen Adrenal Fatigue. A personalized Adrenal Fatigue exercise program and dietary plan is a key to a complete recovery program.
The traditional blood test is not helpful when it comes to Adrenal Fatigue. Saliva hormone testing is widely promoted but has its limitations. A single snapshot of one's hormonal function at one particular point in time seldom tells the whole story and in fact may be misleading. Widespread misinterpretation of saliva cortisol test results is common due to inconsistent clinical correlation. Saliva tests, if necessary, are most effective when administered serially for proper interpretation. Fortunately, there are simple and insightful qualitative challenges one can do at home to assess adrenal function with great insight.
Due to poorly understood physiological pathways, the key to complete Adrenal Fatigue recovery lies in finding an experienced professional with thorough knowledge of internal medicine, endocrinology, psychiatry and cardiology. A total mind-body recovery approach is best, incorporating a customized program of diet, lifestyle adjustments, and nutritional supplementation to match the body's needs during the entire recovery process. Medications can be administered as needed as last resort. Recovery time varies depending on severity. A three to twelve month recovery period is normal under expert guidance.
About The Author
Michael Lam, M.D., M.P.H., A.B.A.A.M. is a specialist in Preventive and Anti-Aging Medicine. He received his Bachelor of Science degree from Oregon State University, and his Doctor of Medicine degree from Loma Linda University School of Medicine, California. He also holds a Masters of Public Health degree and is Board Certification in Anti-aging Medicine by the American Board of Anti-Aging Medicine. He has authored numerous articles and the following books: The Five Proven Secrets to Longevity, How to Stay Young and Live Longer, Estrogen Dominance - Hormonal Imbalance of the 21st Century, and Beating Cancer with Natural Medicine.
Dorine Lam, R.D., M.P.H., is a registered dietitian and holistic clinical nutritionist specializing in adrenal fatigue and natural hormonal balancing. She received her Bachelor of Science degree in nutrition and Master's degree in Public Health in Preventive Nutrition from Loma Linda University, California. She is also a board certified Anti-Aging Health Practitioner by the American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine. Her writing focuses on the dietary aspect of hormonal imbalance and adrenal fatigue.
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Comprehensive Article on Adrenal Fatigue
Read the most complete and extensive article on the web about Adrenal Fatigue. This article covers everything you need to know about Adrenal Fatigue.
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Adrenal Fatigue and Blood Pressure
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Adrenal Fatigue and Toxic Relationships
The most common stressor of Adrenal Fatigue is emotional and mental stress and distress. Find out how your relationships may be causing you stress here.
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Ask Me Archives about Adrenal Fatigue
Over the years many have asked me great questions about Adrenal Fatigue. Read some of these questions that have been submitted.
Frequently Asked Questions about Adrenal Fatigue
The most common questions regarding Adrenal Fatigue can be found here including who gets Adrenal Fatigue, common causes of Adrenal Fatigue and simple things you can do about Adrenal Fatigue.
Estrogen dominance
Excessive estrogen is a hallmark of Adrenal Fatigue in women when the ovarian system is involved. Common symptoms include PMS, endometriosis, irregular menstrual cycles, heavy periods, hair loss, lumpy breast, and water retention. These usually normalize when the adrenals recover. Learn more here....
Hypothyroidism
Feeling cold? unable to loose weight? Sluggish? You can be sub-clinically hypothyroid and not know it when you have Adrenal Fatigue. Laboratory test results may be normal. Medication dosages frequently miss the mark. Here is what you must know...
Progesterone
Natural progesterone is a good way to balance estrogen dominance. In the presence of Adrenal Fatigue, its use must be timed properly, or results will seldom be good and may backfire. Learn more here...
Liposomal Encapsulation Technology
Liposomal Encapsulation Technology or LET is the newest method that is solely used by medical researchers to transfer drugs that act as healing promoters to the definite body organs. The astounding effects and advantages derived from LET is the reason why a number of nutritional companies are now utilizing this technique in orally delivering dietary supplements.
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