WHAT IS ADRENAL FATIGUE?

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Has your ability to handle stress or pressure decreased? Does it seem as though you don’t think as clearly as you used to? Are you chronically fatigued; a tiredness that is not relieved by sleep? If you answered “yes” to these statements, you could be suffering from adrenal fatigue. In this blog you will learn: what is adrenal fatigue, what causes it, the top warning signs and why you shouldn't ignore it. 

Adrenal Fatigue

It describes a condition in which your adrenal glands are functioning below the necessary level.

Why is this a big deal?  The adrenal glands have a big job.

The adrenals are endocrine glands that produce and release over 50 vital hormones into your body like testosterone, estrogen, and cortisol, to name a few. Each of these hormones is important for the regulation of all our body processes. This not only includes our physical body but our psychological and even emotional parts of ourselves.

Adrenal fatigue causes chronic fatigue along with many other chronic health conditions.

Have you been diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome? Learn more about the connection HERE!

How Do The Adrenals Get Fatigued?

The adrenals become fatigued when one is experiencing intense or ongoing emotional, mental or physical stress. For example, a death of a family member or perhaps, a difficult divorce, a serious accident or a major surgical procedure.

The adrenals are there to help you respond to these different stress. Therefore, once your adrenals are fatigued they could be ineffective at producing the necessary hormones to fight an infection or to build endurance or raise your heart rate, or give you more energy to run from a tiger or deal with your stressful work deadline or whatever else is needed. So essentially the adrenals keep you alive.

The more stress you have in your life, the more your adrenals get exhausted. This makes it so you are less able to tolerate future stress, a vicious cycle.

This is why it is important to identify this condition and address it immediately.

In his book, Adrenal Fatigue: The 21st Century Stress Syndrome, Dr. Wilson shares that 80% of people experience this condition and the physical symptoms of stress at some point in their lives, yet it is often overlooked and misunderstood by the medical community.

So, let's now talk about the possible causes in more detail.

What Causes Adrenal Fatigue?

You can also expect to feel adrenal fatigue if you have or have had:

• Problems in the workplace like a demanding boss, long work hours, or even uncooperative colleagues

• Financial difficulties

• Exposure to pollution

• Problematic family situations

• Inadequate sleep

• Overeating

• Substance abuse

• Infections

• Long illnesses

• Major surgery

But, how will you know if what you're experiencing is actually the adrenal fatigue syndrome and not something else?

Warning Signs of Adrenal Fatigue?

• You're tired even without having indulged in vigorous activities

• You sleep 7-8 hours a night, but you wake up exhausted

• You feel exhausted and weighed down by your responsibilities

• Recovery from an illness or a stressful situation takes longer than it should

• You're snacking on something sweet or salty without being really hungry

• You seem to "wake up" after 6:00 pm and feel like the day has just begun

• You can’t seem to digest certain foods although you have never had food allergies before.

Why Should You Care?

Even though adrenal glands are small, they have a big job of helping your body maintain its normal functions. The adrenals are in charge of releasing over 50 hormones that run your body and help you respond to stress. Unfortunately when these glands aren’t working properly, they have the potential to wreak havoc on your body! That’s why it’s so important that this condition is identified and treated. 

What Happens If This Condition Goes Unnoticed?

When your body’s ability to respond properly to stress is compromised, it can impact your digestion, immunity, reproduction and so much more.

For example, one of the most important hormones the adrenals produce is cortisol. When you’re suffering from adrenal fatigue your cortisol levels are either too high or too low, depending on which stage of adrenal fatigue you are in. When your cortisol levels are out of whack you are more susceptible to severe, chronic allergies, infections, inflammation and autoimmune diseases.

If you suspect that you have adrenal fatigue, start by taking  The Adrenal Fatigue Test.

I just summarized what is adrenal fatigue, the causes, warning signs and why you shouldn't ignore it.

Now we'd love to hear from you in the comments below. What is your biggest struggle right now? This is a healing community and your comment could support someone else on their healing journey. Take a moment to drop us a line below.

Adrenal Glands - All You Need to Know

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What if I told you that a small gland in your body, no bigger than the size of a walnut could be the source of not only your chronic fatigue, but could be linked to other chronic health issues you may be experiencing? Yes, I'm talking about your adrenal glands. In this blog, I am going to explain what the adrenal glands are, what they do and why they are so important to maintaining optimal health.

 What are the Adrenal Glands?

Adrenal glands get their name from the words, "ad" that means over and "renal" that means related to the kidneys. Thus, adrenal glands are located just above the top of each of your kidneys.

What do Adrenal Glands Do?

Adrenal glands are endocrine glands that produce and release many vital hormones into your body like testosterone, estrogen, and cortisol, to name a few. Each of these hormones is important for the regulation of all your body processes. They may be physical, psychological or even emotional.

Why Adrenal Health Is Important For Overall Health?

It is up to the adrenal glands to help you deal with the different stresses you encounter in your day-to-day living. Whether it’s a bacteria from the physical environment, injury or stress as an emotional response as a result of a situation in your life.

By regulating your responses to these different stresses, the adrenal glands essentially keep you alive. In case of diseases or injuries, they release the appropriate chemicals that will fight off infection and build endurance; and if you are under emotional stress, they might raise your heart rate, produce added energy or affect your muscle tone so you can deal with it.

In this way, the adrenal glands control the performance of every organ, tissue and gland in your body and maintain their balance to keep you healthy, physically and psychologically. Think of them as the engine in the car of your body that keeps it functioning, as it should.

What Happens When Your Adrenals Get Fatigued

When your adrenals become fatigued they don’t perform the stress-fighting functions, as they should. This means they don't produce the adequate amount of hormones your body needs to maintain its balance. As a result, you begin to experience adrenal fatigue.

Adrenal fatigue has a myriad of symptoms from debilitating exhaustion, weight issues, to severe food cravings, food sensitivities, brain fog and so much more.

Learn about the full range of adrenal fatigue symptoms here.

Now we’d love to hear from you in the comments below. What are your biggest symptoms? What are you burning questions? We are a healing community and your comment or question could support others on their healing journey. So take a moment to drop us a line below.

Love, Angela

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