Thyroid Disorder & Adrenal Fatigue: Symptoms of Adrenal Fatigue
Adrenal Fatigue is estimated to effect around 80% of the world. It is generally caused by stress that’s unaddressed for long periods of time. The stress can be from many different facets. For instance physical stress like an injury or illness. It can be environmental stress like toxins. Or emotional stress from being unhappy or dealing with unpleasant things at home or work life. There are many ways our bodies are under stress everyday.
Common Stressors
- Long term financial strain
- Death of a loved one
- Not sleeping 7+ hours regularly
- Going through a divorce or separation
- Poor nutrition
- Exposure to chemicals and toxins
- Negative self talk and thinking
When the daily stressors don’t let up without sufficient recuperation the adrenal gland gets depleted of their reserves. Then adrenal fatigue symptoms begin to show up.
Common Adrenal Fatigue Symptoms
- Increased allergies
- Muscle Tension
- Depression
- Muscle Weakness
- Tired in the Morning
- Poor Focus
- Inflammation
- Trouble Rising After a Full Night Sleep
- Difficulty Sleeping
- Difficulty Digesting High Carbohydrate Foods Unless eaten with Protein & Fat
- Irritability
- Fatigue
- Sugar Cravings
- Hair Loss
- Low Libido
- Weight Gain
- Bone Loss
The adrenals are responsible for balancing our hormones like cortisol, adrenaline, and DHEA. Each of these hormones are very important to our body properly functioning.
Cortisol helps give you energy and boosts your metabolism. It helps to regulate your blood sugar levels. Cortisol also helps to reduce the body’s immune system allergic reactions and inflammatory responses. It helps the body deal with everyday stress, trauma, and helps to regulate your emotions. A problem develops when the cortisol levels are too high for too long, instead of just occasionally being released.
Adrenaline is the most commonly thought of as the “fight or flight” hormone. It starts pumping when we feel or are under threat. Our blood rushes to our brain, muscles, heart and our tolerance for pain increases. Long ago this was really important for our survival to avoid being eaten by bears and mountain lions for instance. Now we are having this response in rush hour traffic avoiding an accident. When we continually go throughout our days sleep deprived or are dealing with stressful situations at work. Now as you continue to make these withdrawals from your adrenal bank account and if you don’t allow the body enough time in between to replenish. You will find yourself with no more adrenaline to pump out when it’s needed.
DHEA is actually produced from the adrenal gland and ovaries in women. It helps to neutralize cortisol’s immune suppressant response, which helps our bodies to resist disease. DHEA helps to maintain good sleep patterns, increases bone density, increases vitality and energy, and helps to keep the LDL cholesterol levels under control. It also helps our bodies recover from stress, trauma, temperature extremes and overworking. When DHEA in women begins to drop their testosterone levels begin to drop also. This will decrease the libido.
When these hormones get out of whack for a long period due to the different stressors mentioned above the adrenal fatigue symptoms begin to appear. Being aware of the most common stressors you can focus on giving yourself sufficient recuperation time to heal daily.
Thank you for reading Thyroid Disorder & Adrenal Fatigue: Symptoms of Adrenal Fatigue blog. If you have any questions please feel free to send me a message here.
To read the rest of the blogs in this series check out the links below:
