Are You Suffering from Adrenal Fatigue??

I am sure you have heard the term adrenal fatigue before.

If you have been under stress, (and let's face it, who has not been under stress this day and age?), your adrenals are suffering. If you are chronically stressed, your adrenal glands are chronically stressed. If your stress has been relentless and you have other chronic health issues - your adrenals can easily get completely exhausted.

Your "fight and flight glands", your adrenals can become worn out by physical stressors (over exercise, high sugar intake, poor diet, overwork, sleep deprivation, infections, chronic illness, root canal repair, surgery, chemotherapy .. etc) and by emotional stress (anger, depression, financial stress, relationship stress .. etc).

When this happens the body goes through four specific stages:

The alarm stage (flight or fight response kicks in, increase in cortisol is still within the body's output capacity, usually we are not aware of any symptoms here)
The resistance stage (the adrenals are not able to keep up with cortisol demand, fatigue is present, sleep is disrupted, thyroid hormone conversion is affected)
The exhaustion phase (low cortisol, hormone production suffers, clinical symptoms appear, your muscles break down, chronic fatigue sets in, increased pain)
Adrenal crash/failure (this could be a medical emergency)

This response of the adrenal glands to everyday stress produces an excess of cortisol. Cortisol, in its normal function, can be quite helpful in dealing with these challenges. It can convert protein into energy, release glycogen and reduce inflammation.

However, cortisol is also known as "the stress hormone" and can increase blood pressure, blood sugar, and can also lower the immune response. If we have prolong, everyday stress in our lives, it can lead to a greater overall production of cortisol, and over time, cortisol will gradually tear our bodies down. Cortisol is essential, we cannot live without it. But too much of a good thing is not healthy.

High levels of cortisol can destroy healthy muscle and bone, impair digestion, metabolism, mental function and interfere with healthy endocrine function. It will also play a big role in weakening your immune system.

Adrenal fatigue may be a factor in many related conditions, including:

fibromyalgia
hypothyroidism
chronic fatigue syndrome
arthritis
PMS, premature menopause .. etc

So how do we know if we have adrenal fatigue?

There are many, many physical symptoms:

feeling fatigued (note: one may not feel tired if drinking caffeine)
suffering from insomnia or non-refreshing sleep
trouble falling asleep or staying asleep
sleepiness around 9 p.m. to 10 p.m., however, you resist going to sleep
a "second wind" at 11 p.m. that lasts until about 1 a.m.
feeling wired but exhausted
feeling most energetic in the evening
unexplained weight gain (especially around your waist)
you are losing muscle mass and gaining fat
always feeling hungry and having constant cravings for sweets and for salty foods
if you quickly sit up or stand up, you feel lightheaded or dizzy (a common sign of low blood pressure)
your blood pressure is often low, or varies between high and low
poor digestion (struggling with constipation, indigestion , leaky gut ... etc)
low blood sugar (hypoglycemia)
experiencing heart palpitations
you have food or environmental allergies
your body temperature tend to be low(a sign of low thyroid function), often feeling cold
have premenstrual syndrome or difficulties that develop during menopause
suffer from depression, anxiety or mood swings
you feel forgetful, foggy, or unable to concentrate
you are slow to recover from injury, illness or stress
you often have joint aches and pains
you have unexplained knee and lower back pain
you have frequent headaches
suffer from muscle weakness
losing your hair, having acne
vertical lines in the fingertips
hollow cheeks
purple or blue under-eye circles
you feel unwell most of the time and/or you often come down with a lot of "little things" such as colds, flu, infections

Sounds familiar? If you or someone you love suffers from these, you have juts gotten a good look at adrenal dysfunction. In the early stages, you might feel "tired and wired", anxious, fatigued, or depressed. In the later stages, you might simply feel exhausted.

When we are under chronic stress, it repeatedly forces our adrenal glands to sustain high levels of cortisol. In such a case,two things
will happen:

First, the adrenals can't attend to their broader role in hormonal regulation because the same resources they use to make hormones like estrogen are required to make cortisol, and second, cortisol starts to damage healthy tissues.

With time, adrenal fatigue will set in (with symptoms such as mentioned above). Once the adrenals are completely depleted, it will lead to adrenal exhaustion and later to even more complicated health issues.

There are many ways to address and heal adrenal fatigue, and once you do, you will see results on the physical and emotional level, and your whole body will thank you.

The first step in correcting an adrenal imbalance is to get a full physical from a doctor to rule out other health issues.

Keep in mind that the medical profession is still far behind when it comes to understanding adrenal gland problems. But if you suspect that you might have adrenal fatigue, a functional medicine practitioner can conduct a saliva cortisol test to evaluate your adrenal function and DHEA deficiencies. (You will be asked to measure cortisol levels at several points in the day to track the adrenals' day-night pattern using a simple saliva test. We should see cortisol higher in the morning to help you get going, and lower as the day progresses to night, when it is at its lowest to support restful sleep.)

Conventional medicine often will detect only the extremes of these conditions, when damage to the adrenals has already occurred (see Cushing's disease and Addison's disease).

You do not want to wait till you have late-stage adrenal fatigue, because it can be pretty hard to dig yourself out of that hole, and it requires a lot of commitment and focus and time. For mild to moderate cases of adrenal fatigue, simple lifestyle changes should restore balance to your adrenal system.

So where can you start now?

1) SLEEP.

You should average between 7-9 hours of sleep a night. If that is not possible, sneak in some naps. This is a very important step. And make sure your lights are out by 10 pm.

2) IMPROVE YOUR DIET AND NUTRITIONAL INTAKE

First, reduce your refined carbohydrate intake (sweets, bread, cookies, bagels, crackers, pasta)

Eliminate stimulants like caffeine, energy drinks and alcohol. Ditch it. No more. Nada.

Make sure you eat lots of vegetables, lots of protein and good fats to help balance your blood sugar. (It is very, very hard to heal adrenal fatigue on a vegan/vegetarian diet. That is the cold hard truth. Check out Dr Wilson on this.)

Next work on addressing and healing your imbalanced gut so the nutrients from the food you eat can get absorbed properly. (Do not skip this part! It is crucial.)

Find the foods you are sensitive to, and eliminate them.

Use appropriate, high quality supplements and properly prepared foods to heal your gut.

Make sure to avoid excess dietary potassium since they make adrenal fatigue worse. Ensure you get adequate sodium. Add 1/4 to 1/8 tsp of Celtic Sea Salt or Himalayan Sea Salt to a glass of pure water first thing in the morning, at noon, and in the evening. This will help restore electrolyte balance while your adrenal glands heal. Table salt will not work in this case as it is highly refined and devoid of magnesium and trace minerals. (Avoid this if you have very high blood pressure or kidney disease.)

3) TONIFY AND REJUVENATE THE ADRENALS BY USING HIGH QUALITY ADRENAL ADAPTOGENS

Adaptogens are herbs that promote a sense of well being. You know those days when you stay up late working on a project and your body is gets all out of whack?? Adaptogens help balance out the stress your body is experiencing internally. They calm down your adrenal glands, so that they can safely leave their low-level-danger state. Examples: ashwaghandha, rhodiola, holy basil, maca, shatawari .. etc.

4) STOP ANY INTENSE EXERCISE FOR A MONTH

This is very important since intense exercise can easily wreck havoc on exhausted adrenals by spiking cortisol.Short low intensity walks (about 30 minutes) in nature are very beneficial, however. Strength training may be incorporated slowly.

5) TAP INTO YOUNG LIVING ESSENTIAL OILS

When you need some adrenal boosting or feel that your self care is falling to the wayside, reach for these oils:

Nutmeg - comforting and soothing
+ it may boost energy. Supports nervous system and endocrine system.

EndoFlex - a proprietary blend of essential oils that support the endocrine system and overall vitality. Inhale from cupped palms or apply several drops (2-4) to the ankles, or to the thyroid and adrenal areas 2-3 times per day.

Stress Away - because the adrenals are associated with stress, this would be on my list of oils to use often (besides I am crazy about how good it smells). It can be applied anywhere or place it in the palms of your hands and inhale deeply 6-8 times.

Vetiver - has calming, grounding and balancing properties and this in turn reduces stress and tension. It may also provide relief to those who cannot sleep. Dilute with a carrier oil (like fractionated coconut oil to minimize any skin sensitivity) or diffuse or inhale.

Pine - this essential oil is noted to be one of the most effective oils for fatigue and nervous debility.

In order to receive the benefits of essential oils, you must make sure they are 100% therapeutic grade, unadulterated, and undiluted. It is not a good idea to use oils that have been distilled or diluted with toxic chemicals.

Please, do contact me with any questions regarding Young Living Essential oils and their benefits (csilla@shininghealth.com).

4) REDUCE STRESS. BE KIND TO YOURSELF. TAKE MORE TIME FOR YOU

This might mean that you have to exercise less (yes, overtraining can be a big problem), or reduce the intensity of it. Do restorative exercises: restorative yoga, Qigong, meditation, restorative breathing, walking. Play! Assess your current life and make an inventory of the relationships and circumstances that worked for you and those that didn't in the past. Then I gradually purge the ones that didn't work in order to make space for more of the ones that did. This can be scary, but is very rewarding. The less you live out of integrity with what truly matters to you, the less stress you'll experience and the more energy and creativity will be coming up from deep within.

Remember the old adage? An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. When it comes to taking care of your adrenals, nothing could be more true!

This is why I love my NOURISH. A 7-DAY WINTER CLEANSE program where we get to support and begin to bring balance to those poor little stressed out glands.

By participating in this seasonal whole foods based program, you will learn what foods and lifestyle choices you can choose to cultivate to reverse adrenal fatigue.

We begin on January 25th.

Click here for details and to register at the Early Bird Special.

This cleanse is fully supported and delicious! I guarantee that you'll feel better than you have all year long.

lentil soup11