What is Adrenal Fatigue?

Adrenal fatigue is a group of related signs and symptoms (a syndrome) that results when the adrenal glands function below the necessary level. Most commonly associated with intense or prolonged stress, it can also arise during or after acute or chronic infections, especially respiratory infections such as influenza, bronchitis or pneumonia. As the name suggests, its chief symptom is fatigue unrelieved by sleep. However, adrenal fatigue is not a readily identifiable entity like a sprained ankle. You may look and act relatively normal with adrenal fatigue and not have any obvious signs of physical illness, yet you live with a general sense of unwellness, tiredness or “gray” feelings. People experiencing adrenal fatigue often have to use coffee, colas and other stimulants to get going in the morning and to prop themselves up during the day.

Adrenal fatigue can wreak havoc with your life. In the more serious cases, the activity of the adrenal glands is so diminished that you may have difficulty getting out of bed for more than a few hours per day. With each increment of reduction in adrenal function, every organ and system in your body is more profoundly affected. Changes occur in your carbohydrate, protein and fat metabolism, fluid and electrolyte balance, heart and cardiovascular system, and even sex drive. Many other alterations take place at the biochemical and cellular levels in response to, and to compensate for, the decrease in adrenal hormones that occurs with adrenal fatigue. Your body does its best to make up for under-functioning adrenal glands, but it does so at a price.

This syndrome has been known by many other names throughout the past century, such as non-Addison’s hypoadrenia, sub-clinical hypoadrenia, neurasthenia, adrenal neurasthenia, adrenal apathy and adrenal fatigue. Although it affects millions of people in the U.S. and around the world, it is generally dismissed by conventional medicine.

There is considerable information throughout the website about many aspects of adrenal fatigue. For a comprehensive explanation of how stress and adrenal fatigue affect your health and what you can do about it, see Adrenal Fatigue: The 21st Century Stress Syndrome. by Dr. James L. Wilson.

What causes adrenal fatigue?

Adrenal fatigue is produced when your adrenal glands cannot adequately meet the demands of stress.* The adrenal glands mobilize your body’s responses to every kind of physical, emotional, or psychological stress through hormones that regulate energy production and storage, immune function, heart rate, muscle tone, and other processes that enable you to cope with the stress. Whether you have an emotional crisis such as the death of a loved one, a physical crisis such as major surgery, or some other type of severe, repeated or constant stress in your life, your adrenals have to respond to the stress and maintain homeostasis. If their response is inadequate, you are likely to experience some degree of adrenal fatigue.* During adrenal fatigue your adrenal glands function, but not well enough to maintain optimal homeostasis because their output of regulatory hormones has been diminished – usually by over-stimulation.* Over-stimulation of your adrenals can be caused either by a very intense single stress, or by chronic or repeated stresses that have a cumulative effect.* The causes of adrenal fatigue usually stem from one of four common sources that overwhelm the adrenal glands:

• Disease states such as severe or recurrent infection or illness
• Physical stress such as surgery, poor nutrition, addiction, injury or exhaustion
• Emotional/psychological stress from relationships, work or other unavoidable situations
• Continual and/or severe environmental stress from toxic chemicals and pollutants

Who gets adrenal fatigue?

Anyone from birth to old age and from any race or culture can experience adrenal fatigue.* People vary greatly in their ability to respond to and withstand stress. An illness, a life crisis, or a continuing difficult situation can drain the adrenal resources of even the healthiest person. However, there are factors that can increase susceptibility to adrenal fatigue.* These include poor diet; substance abuse; too little sleep and rest; too many social, emotional or physical pressures; serious or repeated injury; chronic illness; repeated infections such as bronchitis or pneumonia; allergies; exposure to a toxic environment; prolonged situations that make you feel trapped or helpless; and a mother with adrenal fatigue during pregnancy and birth. Unfortunately, many of these factors are common in modern life.

How can I tell if my adrenals are fatigued?

You may be experiencing adrenal fatigue if you regularly notice the following:*

• You feel tired, rundown or overwhelmed.
• Depend on coffee or other stimulant.
• You don’t feel refreshed after a full night’s sleep.
• Headaches and sore neck and shoulders.

For more information, consult Adrenal Fatigue: The 21st Century Stress Syndrome by Dr. James L. Wilson. It contains a wealth of insights and a series of adrenal function tests you can do at home, as well as information about lab tests like the saliva testing page to help you determine if you are experiencing adrenal fatigue.*Also see Could I be experiencing adrenal fatigue? for detailed guidelines.

For more info go to Dr Wilson’s website