Adrenal Health
Adrenal health is a topic that is not discussed nearly enough. Many people experience poor adrenal health but most mainstream doctors don’t give our adrenal glands a second thought. When we are tired especially if you are a young mom it’s often swept under the rug. We’re told to get more sleep and maybe start exercising. They might test our thyroid or our iron levels or our vitamin D levels, all the while ignoring the adrenal glands.
If poor adrenal health is allowed to continue a person runs the risk of experiencing adrenal fatigue. A condition, unfortunately, most doctors consider pseudoscience. I can say from my own personal experience of struggling with adrenal fatigue, that it is a very real and serious condition. If we were to adequately addressed adrenal health early on then we could avoid people experiencing full on adrenal fatigue.
WHY IS ADRENAL HEALTH SO IMPORTANT?
Before I dive into the symptoms of adrenal fatigue or poor adrenal health I want to discuss the importance of our adrenal glands.
Our adrenal glands are primarily known for their job of stress management and producing cortisol and adrenaline. These 2 hormones are extremely important but they are far from the only thing our adrenal glands do. Infact they are responsible for several other hormones including androgens, estrogens, aldosterone, epinephrine and norepinephrine. These hormones help regulate our salt intake, our blood sugar, our fight or flight reflex, and so much more! Additionally, all hormones work together, so if we are experiencing poor adrenal health and they are not functioning optimally our other hormones can easily be pulled out of balance. This can effect our thyriod hormones, sex hormones, our pituitary gland (our master hormone regulator), and our hypothalamus (our master hormone producer). Which then leads to a cascade of effects on our entire body.
Symptoms of Poor adrenal health
Symptoms of adrenal fatigue and poor adrenal health can include
– Difficulty concentrating
– Brain fog
– Poor memory
– Fatigue
– Constantly feeling exhausted
– Lack of energy
– Poor emotional regulation
– Moodiness
– Irritability
– Feelings of weakness
– Sore muscles and joints
– Hypothyroidism
– Unstable blood sugars
– Hormone dysregulation
– Low libido
– Unexplained weight gain
– Decreased appetite
In most cases these symptoms will come on gradually, no one wakes up one day with full on adrenal fatigue. Poor adrenal health can go on for weeks, months, and even years before a complete shut down happens. It’s important to pay attention to our bodies and address adrenal health early on. If you suspect you’re experiencing poor adrenal health talk to a holistic health practitioner about a saliva test to determine your cortisol levels.
It’s important to have this done because we produce different amounts of cortisol throughout the day with the highest amount being produced first thing in the morning and the lowest amounts in the evenings. There are multiple ways this natural rhythm can get disrupted.
We can get our levels reversed so we’re producing less in the morning and more in the evening. Ever wake up feeling drained and then by dinner time you’re finally awake and then you’re weird all night and can’t sleep?
We can produce too little so we’re just constantly feeling worn out. This is usually the final stage and is when we’ve moved on to full on adrenal fatigue.
We can produce too much and are exhausted but agitated and jittery at the same time. This is usually the beginning of poor adrenal health. In response to constant stress our body starts pumping out more cortisol but this can only be sustained for so long before we start to crash.
Causes of Poor adrenal health
*Page contains affiliate links*
There’s no single cause behind poor adrenal health but ultimately it comes down to stress placed on the body. And let’s face it, we live in a fast paced high stress culture that places an enormous amount of stress on us. Add in poor diets, poor gut health, nutrient deficiencies, and high toxic loads is it any wonder so many people are experiencing poor adrenal health? I’m certainly not surprised by it! All of those things further tax our adrenal glands which then leads to poor adrenal health.
Additionally, certain medications like levothyroxine can actually be harmful to our adrenals! I found out after years of using this drug (which is the 2nd most prescribed drug on the market), that per their instructions, you should not use it if you have poor adrenal health. Some functional medicine doctors actually think some who are on thyroid medication don’t actually need to be. Instead they need to be supporting their adrenal health.
Obviously don’t stop taking your medication without first speaking with a holistic practitioner, but if you’re on thyroid medication and your numbers are “normal” but you still feel sub par consider working with your provider on your adrenal health.
Since adrenal health is such an important foundation to our overall health and wellness it’s important to do what we can do reduce the load they carry by eating well, supporting good gut health, addressing deficiencies, and reducing our toxic load. Magnesium is extremely important when dealing with poor adrenal health because increased stress actually uses up more magnesium so it’s easy to become deficient. I use this lotion from Earthley Wellness and these capsules from Perfect Supplements.
The Effects of Poor Adrenal Health
Our adrenals effect so many things. As discussed above they are responsible for the production of multiple hormones they regulate our metabolic health, are key in stress management, and adrenaline production. Not only will you feel exhausted and just plain lousy, but since poor adrenal health can effect your other hormones like your thyriod, your gut health, your metabolic health, and more; if left unaddressed you’ll slowly lose the ability to function.
When I was experiencing adrenal fatigue simple daily tasks were difficult to do. I couldn’t thinking clearly. I could sleep for hours and hours and still feel exhausted.
Listen to my personal journey with adrenal fatigue on my podcast.
If you suspect your adreal health needs help start by reducing your stress level, clean up your diet, and reduce your toxic load. Consider a daily adrenal cocktail to help support your adrenals. Work with a holistic health practitioner to address nutritional deficiencies and to find the right protocol for you.
SOURCES
https://www.adrenal.com/adrenal-gland/function
https://www.pfizermedicalinformation.com/en-us/levoxyl/contradictions
https://draxe.com/health/3-steps-to-heal-adrenal-fatigue/