ADRENAL FATIGUE
We all experience stress in life whether it is emotionally or physically based. Our bodies naturally respond to this stress by releasing stress hormones such as adrenaline, cortisol, and DHEA. These hormones travel throughout the bloodstream and initiate changes in our body to take on the stressor by elevating blood pressure, dilating our pupils, increasing our heart rate and breathing rate, and increasing mental focus and clarity to name a few.
Once the stress trigger is overcome, our bodies are then free to relax. The adrenal glands stop producing the high level of stress hormones, and we resume our status quo.
RESULTS OF ADRENAL FATIGUE
Chronic long term stress exposure from things such as excessive exercise, excessive dieting/inadequate nutritional intake/undereating, use of stimulants such as caffeine or nicotine, poor sleep habits, or use of certain medications can all lead to dysfunction of the HPA axis. As a result, stress hormones release quickly and remain elevated longer than they should. The body remains in a heightened state of stress and cannot differentiate between what is normal versus not normal stress, then our stress hormones release inappropriately. Eventually, the nervous system is unable to properly communicate with the adrenal glands, and sufficient levels of our stress hormones cannot be produced. This results in adrenal fatigue and symptoms such as fatigue, body aches, headaches/migraines, weight changes, dizziness, hair loss, brain fog and loss of libido.
TREATING ADRENAL FATIGUE
Treatment involves identifying the root cause and developing a personalized treatment plan with attention to lifestyle interventions with nutrition, exercise, sleep hygiene, stress management, nutraceuticals, and pharmaceutical grade supplements.
