I originally wrote this in the Swedish language (2013).
BK
I have chosen to write about this because it affects so many people and they often do not understand what is happening in their bodies.
Hope this can help YOU, or maybe someone you know!
The following is partly based on personal experience.
Adrenal fatigue, popular name - "burnout"
Adrenal fatigue, is virtually an epidemic in our society today, and it is responsible for a large number of debilitating symptoms, yet most people are unaware that they are afflicted. Adrenal fatigue, sometimes also called adrenal insufficiency, develops when the adrenal glands can no longer produce their hormones adequately and do not function optimally.
The
adrenal glands are two small glands the size of a walnut that sits on top of the kidneys. They play a very important role in your emotional and physical health. They are responsible for the production hormones that are important to many of the body's functions and systems, such as
maintaining blood sugar, managing stress and fatigue, regulating the immune system and inflammatory responses, normalizing blood pressure and regulating our fight or flight response. Poorly functioning or depleted adrenal glands lead to excessive fatigue, craving for sweets and caffeine, inability to cope with stress, unstable blood sugar and a host of other debilitating symptoms.
The outer part of the gland is called the adrenal cortex and this is where cortisol, aldosterone, DHEA and a small amount of sex hormones are produced. The inner part of the gland is called medulla and it produces norepinephrine and epinephrine, also known as adrenaline.
The most crucial stress hormone produced by the adrenal glands is cortisol, as it counteracts stress. It supports our need to deal with stress. When the adrenal glands are tired or exhausted, they can no longer produce enough cortisol. When there is not enough cortisol in the body, the individual is susceptible to autoimmune diseases, chronic pain syndrome, chronic fatigue, asthma, allergies and more. In an effort to self-medicate the individual often takes drugs and alcohol, or caffeine and sugar which only aggravate the problem.
DHEA is an important hormone because it defends the body against the breakdown from chronic stress and is the precursor of estrogen and testosterone. It works in conjunction with cortisol to support the stress response, it assists by building and providing energy, generating a little "break" while cortisol opposes.
DHEA has also lately been touted as "the anti-aging hormone.
As with many other hormones, levels decline with advancing age, but there are also other factors that play a role in affecting our hormone balance,
stress being one of them.
Another important adrenal gland hormone that you do not hear so much about is
Aldosterone. It
regulates the balance of sodium and potassium in the body, which in turn helps control blood pressure, electrolytes and fluid distribution. It can also be weakened and contribute to adrenal fatigue. Low levels of aldosterone are often accompanied by low levels of cortisol, but not always.
The longer one goes without adrenal glands that work satisfactorily, the more symptoms develop. If it lasts for a long time, other organ systems begin to break down as they try to compensate for the tired adrenal glands.
Adrenal fatigue usually occurs in phases and the longer it goes on the more symptoms appear and the more serious the issue becomes. In the early stages of adrenal fatigue, you may respond fairly well to a variety of natural treatments, but as it progresses, substances that would normally help in a particular situation can actually make the problem worse.
When adrenal fatigue is allowed to progress. without intervention, the adrenal glands can hardly function at all. The individual has difficulty being active throughout the day and trying to manage stress feels like a monumental task. The general health, at this time, is seriously compromised. This is a dangerous stage and needs guidance from a knowledgeable health practitioner with expertise in advanced adrenal fatigue. If not enough attention and care is taken, advanced adrenal fatigue can lead to death.
How does adrenal fatigue develop? -
Causes of adrenal fatigue:
Stress hormones are needed when we face a dangerous, threatening or emergency situation, they give us the extra strength, energy and alertness to effectively deal with the situation. However, overstimulation of stress hormones is what leads to adrenal fatigue.
The primary organ-stress system involved in this is called the HPA axis. This involves a complicated interaction between the hypothalamus, pituitary and adrenal glands. This axis is responsible for controlling virtually all organs, hormones, nervous system activity, storage and energy consumption, regulation of the immune system, regulation of stress reactions and a host of other organ processes such as digestion, mood, emotions and sexuality.
When stressed, the pituitary gland secretes a hormone called corticotropin releasing factor, or CRF, it flows through the pituitary gland and further stimulates the release of adrenocorticotropic hormone or ACTH, which then stimulates the adrenal glands to release cortisol. This process makes you alert and gives you the energy needed to handle the stressful event.
In a normal circumstance, when the threat (the stressful event) has passed, these hormones decline and the body returns to its "non-voltage" state.
But, at a fast pace, high stressed life, which most people live in nowadays, diet choices etc. takes its toll on the balance of our hormones.
Over stimulation of the adrenal glands causes them to release high levels of stress hormones on a regular basis. The body is in a constant state of fight or flight and finally "burns out". When cortisol is released too much and too often, the adrenal glands eventually stop producing cortisol at the levels required for optimal function - adrenal fatigue arises.
Over-stimulation can arise from a one-time event where intense stress, such as the loss of a close relative, divorce, a medical crisis, chronic illness, or it may be the result of chronic, continuous stress in your daily life that eventually slowly breaks down the adrenal glands.
Over-stimulation is caused by the following main factors:
Excessive stress
Too much stress in our lives is # 1 on the list of causes of adrenal fatigue. This can be from the requirements of your job, family problems, financial challenges, health conditions, too many responsibilities, relationship problems, etc. Everything in your life that causes you stress can lead to adrenal fatigue.
If you grew up with
abuse in your childhood, then you may develop adrenal fatigue as s very young person. A child living with child abuse is in a constant state of struggle or flight. Their adrenal glands can never rest because their body constantly secretes high levels of stress hormones, such as cortisol.
Under this kind of terrible conditions, the brain is flooded with cortisol repetitively and exaggerated. Over time, this damages the brain and adrenal glands. In an attempt to adapt to the situation, the brain lowers the threshold at which cortisol is produced to a dramatically lower level, but the system remains in a hypersensitive state.
When a child is exposed to continuous and overwhelming stress early in life, such as abuse and violence, it alters the production and release of their stress regulating hormones such as cortisol and important neurotransmitters such as i.e. adrenaline, dopamine, serotonin and GABA.
This scenario also applies to other stress events,
domestic violence, survival of a natural disaster, prisoners of war, civilians living in a war zone, living with a chronic health condition, poverty or any other event that threatens your livelihood and puts you in a constant state of hyper vigilance.
Sugar, white flour and other refined foods
The human body is not genetically engineered to consume white refined sugar, white flour and other refined junk food, as they are free of all nutritional value. A diet that lacks nutrients provides a continuous burden on the adrenal glands, the liver, the pancreas and other organ systems.
When we eat sugar, white flour and other refined foods, they are absorbed very quickly by the body and causes our blood sugar levels to rise rapidly to an excessively high level. This sends an emergency signal to the pancreas to reduce blood sugar levels. It responds by secreting an excessive amount of insulin to address the excessive levels of blood sugar.
This, in turn, causes the body to urge the adrenal glands to release cortisol to restore (lower) blood sugar levels, as cortisol works in conjunction with insulin to keep blood sugar in balance. Every time you eat sugar and refined foods, the pancreas and adrenal glands go through this cycle and causes excessive demands on them.
Since the adrenal glands are stimulated over and over again, they try to regulate this vicious pattern, but they become depleted and can no longer secrete the amount of cortisol necessary for its function. Thus, blood sugar ends up at a consistently lower level leading to the problem of hypoglycemia, in addition to adrenal fatigue.
Caffeine
Caffeine raises our stress hormones. It triggers the body to release noradrenaline and adrenaline, hormones that are involved in our stress response, also known as fight or flight response. As mentioned above, stress hormones are needed when we face a dangerous, threatening or emergency situation, they give us the extra strength, energy and alertness to effectively deal with the situation. But in the case of caffeine, there is no emergency to deal with and your body is put into this stressful fight or flight response, for no reason whatsoever. Your body is in a chronic state of stress.
One hour or so after you consume caffeine, the stress hormones dissipate, you feel tired, hungry and cranky and you want more caffeine. This repetition wastes the adrenal glands unnecessarily and over time it leads to adrenal fatigue.
Nicotine
Nicotine affects the liver to release high levels of sugar. As mentioned above, when the blood sugar goes up, the pancreas is stimulated to release insulin, to bring down the blood sugar level in the blood. This results in a "dumping" of the blood sugar level and thus an excessive release of insulin and cortisol. Every time you smoke a cigarette, it results in this vicious cycle, and will eventually burnout the adrenal glands.
It shall also be mentioned that tobacco is fermented with
sugar.
Contaminants
Common everyday chemicals found in your personal hygiene products, detergents, perfumes, air purifiers, cologne, dishwashing detergents, cosmetics, housing construction, laundry soap, pesticides, herbicides, etc. contain hormone-disrupting substances, and are also a leading cause of adrenal fatigue.
The adrenal glands are one of our most important glands, they are strongly involved in the endocrine system (hormonal system).
We are constantly exposed to endocrine disruptors through our food, air and water. They bind to the hormone receptors and prevent the normal functioning of the endocrine system. This results in a variety of abnormal reactions throughout the body. Keeping the endocrine system in balance is a very sensitive process and a very small amount of toxins may cause injury.
In some cases, these hormone-disrupting substances imitate our own hormones, causing an excess, while in other cases it blocks the hormones from being produced or impairs the proper functioning.
The body does not have the ability to break down most of these types of toxic chemicals. Once they have entered the body, they are extremely difficult, and sometimes impossible, to eliminate. They accumulate in our tissues and fat cells and constantly circulate throughout the body.
When the adrenal glands do not work properly, you cannot handle stress satisfactorily. This results in a vicious circle where the tired adrenal glands cause even more stress ---} the increased stress levels drain the adrenal glands even more .
Candida overgrowth
On one hand, it is believed that weak adrenal glands allow Candida albicans (a kind of fungus/yeast) to multiply in the body, but on the other hand, it is the toxins that Candida emits that can alter and disrupt neurotransmitters and hormones in the body. This disrupts the endocrine system and further weakens the adrenal glands.
Other common causes of over-stimulation leading to adrenal insufficiency may include
chronic disease, chronic infection, excessive exercise (common!)
,
gluten intolerance, malabsorption or poor digestion, surgery, sleep deprivation, hypoglycemia, alcohol and drug addiction - sometimes people with adrenal fatigue become alcoholics or addicts, in an attempt to calm their symptoms. Since the adrenal glands interact with the hypothalamus and the pituitary gland, a problem in any of these areas can contribute to how well the adrenal glands work.
The adrenal glands are regulated by the pituitary gland and the pituitary gland is monitored by the hypothalamus.
Symptoms of adrenal fatigue
It is very important to remember that the symptoms of adrenal fatigue are shared with a number of other conditions such as thyroid disorders, hypoglycemia, imbalances in neurotransmitters, hormonal imbalances and many others. One should always consult a qualified doctor or health specialist, who is very competent and knowledgeable in this, and who has access to adrenal insufficiency tests to rule out any other problems before assuming you have adrenal fatigue.
People in the advanced stage of adrenal fatigue cannot stand up very long, as they feel too weak. They must remain seated or they stay in bed most of the day.
The main sign of advanced adrenal fatigue is
relentless fatigue that is not alleviated by any amount of sleep or rest.
You feel weak, exhausted and tired for no apparent reason.
You have trouble getting out of bed in the morning, even when you have had a reasonable amount of sleep.
In case of any illness or in stressful situations, it often takes a long time before you feel good again.
Cravings for salt and sugar
Inability to lose weight or weight gain, especially at the waist
Dizziness when rising from a sitting position (low blood pressure)
Shakiness when exposed to even the slightest amount of stress.
Need for stimulants in the morning and during the day, such as coffee and other caffeine containing drinks, even pills.
Increase in PMS symptoms and / or menstruation that is severe and ends and begins again. (hormone imbalance)
Feel a little better for a short period after eating
Often affected by flu or lung diseases.
Oblivion
Feel yourself too tired to enjoy life.
You have more energy and feel more energetic in the evening. However, this only applies in the early stages of adrenal fatigue. If you have advanced to a more serious stage then you have neither the energy of the day nor the evening.
Failure to handle stress is another classic feature in the list of adrenal fatigue syndrome.
Other symptoms of adrenal fatigue may include:
Back or neck pain for no apparent reason
Food allergies
Low body temperature
Feel better when you don't have to deal with stress
Low sex drive
Difficulties in dealing with daily tasks
Dry skin
Nervousness
Constipation and / or diarrhea
Palpitation
Mild depression
Anxiety
Hair Loss
Low blood sugar
Diseases / syndromes associated with adrenal fatigue:
Weak and disrupted adrenal glands are thought to be an important contributor in practically most medical and psychiatric disorders, but the following are some of the most common:
MCS - multiple chemical sensitivity
CFS - chronic fatigue syndrome
FMS - Fibromyalgia
Rheumatoid arthritis
Anxiety
Hormonal imbalance
Lack of neurotransmitter
PMS - premenstrual syndrome
Autoimmune diseases
Frequent infections
thyroid disorders
hypoglycemia
allergies
Headache
Candida overgrowth
Dys autonomia
Insomnia and sleep disorders
Mild depression
It is important to note that not everyone with adrenal fatigue experiences all symptoms. A person may have only a few symptoms, while another person may be completely incapacitated due to symptoms. This depends on the degree of injury caused, and many other factors such as age, integrity of other organs / gland systems in each person, the phase of fatigue that they have come to, and other conditions that may occur.
Part 2 - Diet at adrenal fatigue -coming soon
In Health!
Barbro Kravetz
Bachelor of Science in Natural Health
