Adrenal Fatigue is a stress-related condition that occurs when your adrenal glands, hypothalamus and pituitary gland (together – the HPA axis) are functioning below their optimal level. Although you might not have heard of the adrenals, they perform several vital roles in maintaining your health. Most importantly, they control your body’s response to stress by releasing hormones like cortisol, DHEA and epinephrine, which are used to regulate your heart rate, immune system, energy storage and more.
When the adrenal glands are overstimulated for a long period of time, they begin to weaken. Typical causes of Adrenal Fatigue include long term stress from jobs, relationship problems or even chronic disease. Eventually, the adrenals weaken so much that they are unable to respond adequately when we need them. At this point, many Adrenal Fatigue sufferers report symptoms like a feeling of constant tiredness, lack of enthusiasm and mild depression. Sleeping long hours does not help – they wake up just as tired as when they went to bed. And they often resort to large caffeinated drinks, sugary sodas or other stimulants to get through the day.
Adrenal dysfunction is not recognized by modern medicine until it becomes life-threatening, when the adrenal glands virtually cease to function in an autoimmune condition named Addison’s disease. But what many doctors (at least the unenlightened ones) fail to realize is that millions of us suffer from sub-optimal adrenal performance. Simply put, the adrenals and several other internal organs are still doing their job, but just not as well as they should. This might not qualify us for a trip to the ER, but it is certainly a major issue for those of us who suffer from it.
Try taking the Dysautonomia test to see if you are a candidate for adrenal fatigue. Then follow the ten steps below to combate it and take back your health:
10 Steps to Adrenal Health
Check out Puritan Pride's website for information on supplements mentioned above.
When the adrenal glands are overstimulated for a long period of time, they begin to weaken. Typical causes of Adrenal Fatigue include long term stress from jobs, relationship problems or even chronic disease. Eventually, the adrenals weaken so much that they are unable to respond adequately when we need them. At this point, many Adrenal Fatigue sufferers report symptoms like a feeling of constant tiredness, lack of enthusiasm and mild depression. Sleeping long hours does not help – they wake up just as tired as when they went to bed. And they often resort to large caffeinated drinks, sugary sodas or other stimulants to get through the day.
Adrenal dysfunction is not recognized by modern medicine until it becomes life-threatening, when the adrenal glands virtually cease to function in an autoimmune condition named Addison’s disease. But what many doctors (at least the unenlightened ones) fail to realize is that millions of us suffer from sub-optimal adrenal performance. Simply put, the adrenals and several other internal organs are still doing their job, but just not as well as they should. This might not qualify us for a trip to the ER, but it is certainly a major issue for those of us who suffer from it.
Try taking the Dysautonomia test to see if you are a candidate for adrenal fatigue. Then follow the ten steps below to combate it and take back your health:
10 Steps to Adrenal Health
- Sleep. Make sure your sleep is consistent. ReadKeep Your Sleep Time Consistent.
- Take a multi-daily allowance multivitamin and mineral formula.
- Take adrenal cortical extracts. These help repair and restore adrenal function. Don't use whole glad adrenal or adrenal medulla glandular which can increase adrenaline levels. These can put more stress on your already delicate stress-coping system and cause anxiety, rapid heart rate, and elevated blood pressure.
- If your blood pressure runs low (90/60 or less) then increase your salt consumption. Yes, it is OK to use salt. By increasing your salt intake you'll help reduce inflammatory chemicals. Salt is a natural antihistamine, and histamine.
- Drink water. It is recommended at least 70 oz. daily.
- Always eat breakfast, and never skip meals. If you have low adrenal function then you are probably not hungry when you wake up. You may have gotten used to chemical stimulants instead like coffee, soda, or cigarettes to get you going. These stimulants do not raise blood sugar and serotonin levels, but they increase adrenaline and cortisol levels which curb the appetite. In the morning, your body needs to break the eight-hour fast it has been under Your brain needs to be feed to function appropriately. I make the Fibromyalgia Breakfast Soup to combat early fatigue.
- Limit your consumption of adrenal-hormone robbers. Start to eliminate: caffeine, nicotine, sugar, and alcohol in your diet. It takes two to three weeks to wean off caffeine and stop headaches.
- Try supplementing with DHEA. It is best to get your DHEA levels tested before supplementing. Using DHEA boosts energy, sex drive, resistance to stress, immune system, mood, strength and stamina, and overall health.
- Increase vitamin C intake if necessary. This is perhaps the most important nutrient in facilitating adrenal function and repair. In fact, until it was possible for scientists to measure adrenal steroid hormones, vitamin C levels were used to judge adrenal health in animal studies. It is recommended to take 1,500 - 1,800 mg. of vitamin C a day.
- Adopt the I don't care attitude. Stop over doing and trying to make things as they once were. You can't, acceptance is the first tool in recovery. Learn to watch your stress signals and when things become overwhelming stop caring as much. Often your perception of what needs to be done isn't reality. Get in reality, you have a chronic illness, do what you can, and forget the rest. Caring too much places unneeded stress on your adrenal glands.
Check out Puritan Pride's website for information on supplements mentioned above.
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