Adrenal Fatigue-Never Ignore These Two Signs

Adrenal fatigue is a hard disorder to recognize. Many of the symptoms you may experience may be related to your adrenal glands which are not functioning properly. Exhaustion sets in when stress overwhelms these two glands which sit up on top of your kidneys. Your adrenal system (part of the Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal system (HPA)) is responsible for all your body's responses, both physical and mental. It does this by producing hormones like adrenaline and cortisol. These hormones regulate the way your body stores and produces energy. They modulate your immune system, your heart rate, your muscle tone, and other biological components of the stress response. When do they happen? Whenever there is a death in the family (I felt this surge in adrenaline recently with the unexpected death of our beloved dog. As an aside, I was very happy that I did not get a flare-up of my psoriasis from being very sad and upset over the loss (see my loss and grief blog), the stress of a major surgery, or your daily commute in rush hour traffic. A healthy body's levels of these hormones will return to normal once a perceived threat subsides. However, in the case of adrenal fatigue, your adrenal glands made up of the cortex and the medulla (inside the glands), may remain in the chronic "fight or flight" mode. Your cortisol levels soar, and your body becomes less and less sensitive to it.

Weight starts to accumulate around your mid-section even if you haven't changed your habits. Chronically elevated cortisol levels can trigger great changes to your body in how it copes with stress, processes food, fights off illness and handles toxins. When your body stops functioning properly, chronic inflammation happens. It is harmful and inflammation is the driving force behind every debilitating disease thus far. You might have general malaise and tiredness and other vague symptoms like trouble remembering things and a poor mood. That is how it started for me; fatigue and pushing through the day thinking it would pass, but it did not. Then after a few months, I then started to get red spots on my body and the psoriasis took over my body inside and out. You might think that there are no signs of a physical illness and that you may continue your life's travails with that persistent fatigue. Most doctors continue to diagnose it as "chronic fatigue," which means nothing is wrong with you.

Usually there are two signs of adrenal fatigue- people suffering from this burnout depend on coffee or other forms of caffeine or stimulants to get going in the morning and to make it through the day. The second is that the person wakes up around 3 or 4 in the morning. Please take note if you are experiencing one or more of the following symptoms on a daily basis: Unexplained tiredness, feeling rundown, a tough recovery from stress or sickness, cravings for salty and sweet foods, trouble waking up in the morning despite a normal bedtime, and peak energy and alertness after 6 p.m. With these signs, your adrenal glands could be suffering.

Diet is the most critical component to restoring adrenal function. Cutting out all sugars and grains are first and foremost and go for nothing but steamed vegetables and lots of animal protein. The next important thing to do is to get enough sleep every night until adrenal recovery with an optimal time of nine to ten hours.