Fatigue and Stress
Today’s lifestyle – a demanding job, relationship dynamics, raising children in a complicated world, financial pressures, suboptimal nutrition, lack of sleep, unresolved emotional distress – results in a constant demand for the adrenal glands to produces stress hormones, such as cortisol and epinephrine (adrenaline). Eventually the adrenal glands become less responsive, which impairs the short-term response to stress in addition to impairing the production of other hormones produced by the adrenals that are crucial to health – DHEA, estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone. This is known as adrenal fatigue. Symptoms of adrenal fatigue include:
- Insomnia and/or restless sleep
- Difficulty getting out of bed in the morning
- Ongoing fatigue not relieved by sleep
- Lack of energy
- Lethargy
- Inability to handle everyday stress
- Feeling overwhelmed by relatively minor challenges
- Struggling to get through the day
- Mental fogginess
- Fuzzy thinking
- Frequent infections
- Longer recovery times from illness, trauma or injury
- Low libido
- Increased cravings for salty, sugary foods and refined carbohydrates
- Dependence on caffeine to get through the day
- Low blood pressure and/or lightheadedness
- Intolerance to cold
- Hair loss
The above symptoms can overlap with the signs and symptoms of other medical conditions. Therefore, a thorough intake will be taken, your cortisol and DHEA levels will be checked and other labs will be ordered to rule out other causes.
If adrenal insufficiency is the cause of your symptoms, there are wonderful herbs, nutrients and gentle lifestyle changes that can help normalize your adrenal function. The practitioners at the Health and Healing Center will offer guidance and support to help you get back on track so you are able to feel like yourself again.