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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.
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