Endocrine System

Do You Have Adrenal Fatigue?

When the adrenal glands are not functionining optimally, you can have a condition that is known as adrenal fatigue, or adrenal exhaustion. Adrenal fatigue often develops after periods of intense or lengthy physical or emotional stress, when overstimulation if the glands leave them unable to meet your body's needs.

• excessive fatigue and exhaustion
• non-refreshing sleep (you get sufficient hours of sleep, but wake fatigued)
• overwhelmed by or unable to cope with stressors
• feeling rundown or overwhelmed
• craving salty and sweet foods
• you feel most energetic in the evening
• a feeling of not being restored after a full night's sleep or having sleep disturbances
• low stamina, slow to recover from exercise
• slow to recover from injury, illness or stress
• difficulty concentrating, brain fog
• poor digestion
• low immune function
• food or environmental allergies
• premenstrual syndrome or difficulties that develop during menopause
• consistent low blood pressure
• extreme sensitivity to cold

The adrenals produce hormones that help to balance your blood sugar, which helps your body to manage your daily ebbs and flows of energy. When blood sugar drops, the adrenals release hormones that cause the blood sugar to rise, and increases energy. The adrenals also release hormones when we're under stress, releasing energy. It's the "fight or flight" response from the days when we needed to run away from wild animals, which now kicks in for everyday stressors, such as traffic jams, arguments, and work pressures.

But being consistently under stress takes a toll on the adrenal glands, and eventually, they run out of steam, and stop producing sufficient hormones.

Conventional endocrinologists and tests cannot diagnose adrenal fatigue, because they are prepared only to diagnose extreme dysfunction in the adrenals, such as Addison's disease, a potentially fatal condition where the adrenals essentially shut down.

Your holistic or complementary practitioner can do a saliva cortisol test to evaluate your adrenal function, however, to diagnose more subtle dysfunctions in yoru adrenal glands.

You should also have your entire endocrine system evaluated, because more often than not other glands, like the thyroid, will be misfunctioning as well.