Adrenal fatigue symptoms generally aren’t recognised by most doctors. It’s not really a condition that’s on their radar. There is no quick blood test to diagnose it, and there is no medicine to cure it.
But it’s something that’s becoming increasingly common with our modern way of life.
What Is Adrenal Fatigue?
You have 2 adrenal glands, sitting on top of each of your kidneys. Your adrenals enable your body to cope with stress, and it does this by producing a range of hormones.
Your adrenals respond to all the different types of stress in the same way, regardless of the type. Here are a few examples of adrenal stress:
- Emotional stress
- Allergies
- Smoking
- Poor eating habits
- Lack of or excessive exercise
- Caffeine
Adrenal fatigue symptoms occur when the stresses inflicted on your body exceeds your body’s ability to cope. This isn’t about you being strong or weak. It’s about your adrenal glands being worn out, because they can only produce so many hormones for so long. Then they become fatigued.
All the different stresses are additive and cumulative. It’s easy to wear them out with modern Western living.
Adrenal Fatigue Symptoms
Feeling tired the whole time is pretty universal. Other adrenal fatigue symptoms include an increased tendency of:
- Allergies
- Repeated coughs and colds
- Arthritic pain
- Pre-menstrual syndrome
- Menopausal problems
Mental health issues are more common:
- Anxiety and depression
- Decreased concentration
- Forgetfulness
- Irritability
Insomnia can become a big problem. Adrenal fatigue symptoms are strongly linked with fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome.
Seeing Your Doctor
As I mentioned at the beginning – adrenal fatigue symptoms aren’t really on the radar for most doctors. But it’s useful to have some blood tests if you’re suffering with fatigue, in case there’s something else going on.
But if your blood tests are normal you’re likely to get told all is ok, or maybe that you’re doing too much. You may even be diagnosed with stress or depression.
Adrenal fatigue symptoms aren’t taught at medical school. There is no quick blood test to diagnose it, and there is no medicine to cure it. It’s not a condition that lends itself well to modern medicine, which is led by drugs!
So what do you do if you think you might have it?
Getting Healthy Again
To get back to feeling full of life you need to reduce the load you’re putting on your adrenals. They need time to recover, and they can only do this if you take the pressure off them.
Your stresses will you different from someone else’s, but these are common areas where most people have room for improvement:
- Reducing stress
- Improving the quality of your diet
- Getting some regular exercise
- Getting good quality sleep
These are good places to start.
Have a great week
Dr Julie
This is the best advice – it’s so on the button !!
I’ve got to get back on practising this stuff as a priority as I’ve let ME drop down the list again (ME!) Mmm interesting abbreviation too
Hope to catch up with you v soon too x
Hi Julie long time no contacted you but I do still read your posts! I found this one really interesting and thought some information about my experiences might be of interest to you and others. When I was in my early 30s I went to the dentist , had an injection and basically nearly collapsed / fainted I felt really weird. The dentist said it must be a reaction to the adrenaline carrier of the anesthetic., he had come across this before so since then I had to have a different injection. He informed my Dr who wrote on my records ( they were the old beige envelopes then! shows my age haha) Allergic to Adrenaline..
I was always rushing around highly stressed and mostly exhausted trying to be super mum, daughter, wife, teacher and finally in 1986 when I was in my mid 40 s I went down firstly with Glandular Fever and then ME. I was lucky I was referred eventually to the Royal Free and was treated with respect and believed as ME wasn’t recognised back then. My specialist and I came to the conclusion that in some way my body was actually producing a higher level of Adrenalin and this was turning in on itself and becoming damaging and combined with stress related IBS had mutated into the virus which was attacking me and manifested as ME. It was as if I was overdosing on adrenaline and the injections earlier in my life had taken me over the top as it were. I don’t know for a fact that this was the reason but it always felt right and I have read some research by Belgian Drs which backs it up. I finally recovered by changing my lifestyle and dealing with stress very differently learning to say No being a big lesson.. I am not saying this is the only reason but in the light of your blog I though you might find it interesting.
All the best
Liz
Hi Liz, so nice to hear from you!
Thanks for sharing this, it’s very interesting. I’m sure other people will find it interesting too.
Julie