Tired? Emotional? Can’t think straight?
It could be your adrenals
Chronic stress, worry and anxiety all can affect your body’s ability to recover from momentary physical, emotional and mental stress. When our body is no longer able to defend itself and everything can feel overwhelming. We’re also more likely to get sick during this time since an increase in cortisol can decrease the immune system.
Adrenal fatigue is a fairly new term, and some health care professionals acknowledge it and others do not. Typically those who have experienced these feelings are the ones who are more likely to acknowledge it!
The adrenal glands interact with many other systems of the body and the symptoms can mimic other conditions. Symptoms such as brain fog, irritability or mood instability, difficulty falling or staying asleep, increase in sugar and salt cravings, hormonal imbalances, changes in blood pressure, and hypervigilance.
What are the Adrenal Glands?
The adrenal glands are two “thumb-sized” glands that sit atop your kidneys and are part of the hormonal system. While cortisol and DHEA are the two best-known adrenal hormones, they produce about 50 hormones that propel almost every bodily function, some essential for life! They work with the hypothalamus and pituitary to help regulate your flight-fight-freeze-fawn mechanism.
Adrenals Help Regulate Blood Pressure
The adrenal cortex (part of the adrenal gland) produces aldosterone. Aldosterone is a mineralocorticoid responsible for helping the kidneys control the amount of salt in the blood and tissues, including the heart. Aldosterone keeps the sodium in the body and releases the potassium, thereby keeping a very tight regulation on the heart.
Symptoms of Adrenal Gland Imbalance
One of the challenges of identifying if your symptoms are from adrenal imbalance or something else is that the symptoms often overlap with other conditions and are often dismissed or ignored. Working with someone trained to spot these imbalances is vital to healing the adrenal glands. How many of these symptoms do you exhibit?
- Upper body obesity
- Round Face and neck
- Thinning arms and legs
- Blood pressure abnormalities (low or high)
- Muscle and bone weakness
- Moodiness, irritability, depression, anxiety
- Hypothyroidism
- Reduced immune system function
- Weight gain/weight loss
- Blood sugar irregularities (high or low)
- Slow growth rates in children
- Increased hair on face and body (women)
- Menstrual irregularities (women)
- Reduced fertility (both)
- Low or missing sex drive
- Lightheadedness
- Early signs of puberty (children)
- Trouble keeping enough sodium in the body
- Acne
- Unexplained weight loss, weakness, nausea/vomiting
- Patches of darker skin
- Dizziness upon standing
- Extreme fatigue
Test, Don’t Guess!
Knowing where your cortisol spikes and declines throughout the day is important to bring it back into balance. Hormones can be tricky! Taking the time to see where your levels are can allow you and your practitioner to be able to choose the correct supplementation and dietary recommendations.
Ready to Check Your Adrenal Hormone Levels?
Dr. Champion loves working with hormones so if you suspect that there is an issue with your adrenals, sex hormones, or thyroid, call her at 253.507.5775 or email her at Jennifer@NeoGenesisNutrition.com.
