15 Signs of Adrenal Fatigue
Are you stressed out? Are you over worked? Do you have a Type-A personality? Do you like to be in control? Are you always tired? Do you need caffeine to get you through the day? If you answered, “Yes” to any of the above… you might have adrenal fatigue.
What is Adrenal Fatigue?
Adrenal Fatigue is a condition where the body’s adrenal glands do not make sufficient hormones in response to stress.
First let’s start with the adrenal glands. Your adrenal glands are part of the endocrine system and sit on top of your kidneys. They are responsible for releasing stress hormones. Here is a partial list of hormones they produce:
- Cortisol
- DHEA (precusor)
- Aldosterone
- Adrenaline
- Epinephrine
- Norepinephrine
The adrenal glands affect kidney function through the secretion of aldosterone (a steroid hormone that plays a central role in the regulation of blood pressure). This is a partial explanation as to why your body has trouble retaining sodium when experiencing adrenal fatigue and if you have adrenal fatigue it is helpful to increase your salt intake.
Here is an excerpt from Dr. Wilson’s site on what is adrenal fatigue. The full page can be found here What is adrenal Fatigue?
Adrenal fatigue is a collection of signs and symptoms, known as a syndrome, that results when the adrenal glands function below the necessary level. Most commonly associated with intense or prolonged stress, it can also arise during or after acute or chronic infections, especially respiratory infections such as influenza, bronchitis or pneumonia. As the name suggests, its paramount symptom is fatigue that is not relieved by sleep but it is not a readily identifiable entity like measles or a growth on the end of your finger. You may look and act relatively normal with adrenal fatigue and may not have any obvious signs of physical illness, yet you live with a general sense of unwellness, tiredness or “gray” feelings. People experiencing adrenal fatigue often have to use coffee, colas and other stimulants to get going in the morning and to prop themselves up during the day.
What Causes Adrenal Fatigue?
The most common thing in today’s modern world that is causing adrenal fatigue is chronic stress. The adrenal glands were designed to kick in at that “fight or flight” moment. Way back in the day you would need a burst of energy to run away from a predator, like a tiger. Today our body responds to may things like they are tigers (email, conflict, your boss) thus leading to chronic and persistent stress on the system. Our body is responding to every email, every work demand, every confrontation as if it were a tiger. Sometimes this starts very early in the morning and will continue late into the evening. We are constantly plugged in and this is depleting our reserves. If you keep calling on your adrenals to push you through the stress they eventually become depleted. They were designed to run from a tiger and then return to baseline. Not run a marathon away from a tiger 7 days a week.
15 Common Symptoms of Adrenal Fatigue:
- Extreme Fatigue
- Not feeling rested even after 8 hours of sleep
- Insomnia
- Poor Sleep Patterns
- Tired but Wired Feeling – Can’t fall asleep
- Difficulty Waking Up
- Stand up feel dizzy or lightheaded
- Shaky, lightheaded, and/or irritable when going too long without food
- Low Blood pressure (the body has trouble with electolyte regulation and will dump sodium)
- Need the caffeine to get your through the day
- Brain fog, Fuzzy thinking, Inability to stay focust
- Low Libido/Sex Drive
- Ability to handle stress has decreased
- Feeling like you will blackout
- Decreased tolerance to cold
Is this hitting a Chord? Next we recommend you take the adrenal fatigue quiz:
Dr. Wilson wrote an excellent book on Adrenal Fatuigue and we highly recommend you picking up a copy if you feel this is something you are struggling with Adrenal Fatigue Book.
Peace Out. Stay Chill.
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