Adrenal Fatigue

There are lots of syndromes and illnesses that are getting more prevalent in today's stressful world and some of them are not even considered by traditional doctors when people are displaying symptoms.  Addressing Adrenal Fatigue may be one of the most important tools in healing conditions and yet it is rarely considered, addressed or treated in most cases.  Unless you meet the diagnostic criteria for Addison's disease (extremely little adrenal function) or Cushing's disease (hyper adrenal) then your symptoms will be dismissed without testing.

What are the Adrenals?

Adrenal glands produce the hormones estrogen, progesterone, steroids, cortisol, cortisone, and chemicals such as adrenalin (epinephrine), norepinephrine, and dopamine. When the glands produce more or less hormones than required by the body, disease conditions may occur.  In a perfect world the adrenal glands sit above our kidneys and  just happily rest there, quietly doing their job and behaving themselves. 

What is Adrenal Fatigue?

When we are stressed we secrete our stress hormones Adrenalin and Cortisol.  If we are stressed occasionally our body can recover fully from periods of stress and return to normal within 24 hours of the episode.  If however, we are perpetually stressed, then our body never has a chance to repair and we begin to tire chronically and find life unmanageable.  This is the pattern which leads to adrenal fatigue.

How do you know if your Adrenals are tiring?

Most of us feel tired occasionally, especially if we are doing a lot that week or month.  However, if you find you are continually tired with no hope of catching up with yourself then you may be giving your adrenals too much to to do.  Here are some signals that you may be suffering from mild or moderate adrenal fatigue:


-Finding it hard to concentrate
-Finding you wake up at about 10pm and find it hard to get to sleep
-Feeling nervous or anxious
-Responding badly to small stresses
-Reaching for high sugar foods to keep you going
-Feeling irritable and upset easily
-Feeling shaky and wired
-Allergies
-Excessive thirst
-Frequent illness or infection/slow healing
-Women may miss periods or find irregularities in their cycle


Generally, feeling 'wired and tired' is a description often used to define adrenal problems.  This suggests feeling awake and wired even though you feel physically exhausted. 


What to do?

If these symptoms sound familiar then it may be a good idea to start slowing down as much as possible.  Even though having a social life as well as work is vital for a balanced life, it might be time to get some really early nights, top up on raw foods and supplement with vitamin C and a good multivitamin to support your system.  Adrenal Fatigue can get serious and lead to autoimmune disorders or chronic fatigue if left unchecked.  Take the time to listen to your body and really slow down.  Your body can and will get back in balance, but not without change.  Here are some ideas for relaxing your adrenal activity:


-Early nights
-Wholesome foods
-Vitamin C
-Probiotics (gut health is where all health resonates from)
-Good Multivitamin (Lamberts or Higher Nature)
-Yoga or Meditation
-Thought diary to take your worries out of your head and on to paper
-Change to your lifestyle or job


I hope this helps you understand a little more about adrenal fatigue.  It take a while to build up and therefore a while to fix.  In the later stages of adrenal exhaustion which include chronic fatigue and more serious hormonal imbalances, seeking help from a Naturopath or Nutritional Therapist would really help get you back on track.


Rest assured that once you take notice and start to make changes, the body will start to get back into balance.


Josie.




Josie
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