Signs You Have Adrenal Stress and Natural Treatments For It
It creeps in slowly over time. You find find yourself with little energy and irritable. Weight begins to climb, you feel blue and cry without knowing the reason.
If you can no longer ignore debilitating tiredness and lack of enthusiasm for activity, you may be one of the estimated 80 percent of adults that experience adrenal fatigue during their lifetime. It’s one of the most under-diagnosed illnesses in the United States.
The good news is, natural treatments are very effective for this syndrome. With time, patience and the tips that follow, it is possible to recover.
Here are the signs you have adrenal stress and natural treatments for it.
How your adrenal system is supposed to work
Ever notice how your heart beats faster after nearly having a traffic accident? You’re experiencing an adrenal stress response. It’s an automated system designed to protect you.
The masterminds of this system are tiny organs that sit on top of your kidneys called adrenal glands. They impact much of your health from blood sugar to hormones to mood.
The adrenal glands work like shock absorbers. They help you bounce back from life’s many stresses.
Dr. Aviva Romm is a Yale trained physician and a founder of the Yale Integrative Medicine program. She is also the recent past President of the American Herbalists Guild. She explains, “When the adrenal response system goes into action, it rallies to protect you by pumping out adrenaline and cortisol.”
Adrenaline and cortisol are often called stress hormones. Cortisol is also known as the aging hormone. When cortisol gets too high, it puts you into a “fight or flight” response.
The stress hormones quickly ramp up blood sugar, giving you a fuel source for quick action like jumping out of the way of a bus.
Heart rate goes up to supply muscles with oxygen. Blood pressure goes up, so you don’t go into shock if injured.
After the crisis us over, insulin cranks up to stabilize blood sugar and your immune system activates to make sure you don’t get an infection. Your adrenal system quiets down and you recover quickly from the stress with no long-term harm done.
Adrenal glands work like shock absorbers to help you bounce back from life’s stresses. Click To TweetSymptoms of adrenal fatigue
When we are in a state of constant stress, our bodies perceive it the same as a persistent low level of danger. The blood sugar crash after a high carb breakfast is a stress that causes adrenal activation. We all know traffic and work will do it. Even sustained cardio or high intensity anaerobic exercise will initiate a stress response.
Dr. Romm says, “The stress response system stays in the “on position,” and leads to a host of symptoms, and potentially, health problems. Eventually, the system itself burns out, leading to what is commonly called “adrenal fatigue.” Most of us are either in a state of adrenal overdrive or are heading in the direction of, or have reached, adrenal fatigue.”
“Adrenal Fatigue” is a syndrome, not a disease, which means it is a collection of symptoms. Symptoms of adrenal fatigue syndrome are numerous and include:
- autoimmune diseases
- blood sugar problems, insulin resistance
- bone loss
- brain fog, concentration problems
- cancer
- decreased ability to handle stress
- diabetes and heart disease risk
- difficulty falling asleep (you feel “wired but tired”) or restless sleep
- digestive symptoms
- dizziness when standing from sitting or lying down
- fatigue, chronic fatigue syndrome
- feeling stuck in the “on” position – overwhelmed and overdrive
- fertility problems
- food cravings, especially for sugar, carbs, or fatty foods, and afternoon sugar or caffeine cravings
- frequent colds, infections
- high or low blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes
- hormonal imbalances, PMS, fertility problems, menopause symptoms
- inflammation, joint pain, fibromyalgia
- irritable bowel disease
- irritability, anxiety, or depression
- low sex drive
- thyroid conditions
- waking up tired or unrested in the morning
- weakness
- weight gain (especially that “spare tire” or those “muffin tops”)
If you have any of these symptoms or conditions, it is important to restore balance.
Kelsey Marksteiner, MS, RD is a Registered Dietitian with a Master’s degree in Human Nutrition and Functional Medicine. She works with Chris Kresser and they routinely treat patients for adrenal fatigue. Kelsey recommends not delaying corrective measures. “Once you are at severe adrenal fatigue, where you are really not making much cortisol, it can be a long hard process to get back to normal. So if you are recognizing the symptoms because you are wired all the time because you have such high cortisol, you are always stressed, that is the time to make time to heal yourself, and to take time for some stress release activities.”
Irritability, anxiety, frequent colds, weight gain and insomnia are symptoms of adrenal fatigue. Click To TweetThere is a Test for Adrenal Stress
Let’s go straight to Dr. Romm for this:
“While there are tests that a functional or integrative doctor can do for adrenal fatigue, if you’re experiencing a few of the above symptoms, you can actually start to treat yourself without special testing. If you do want to get tested, you can ask your doctor to check a salivary or serum cortisol. The best testing looks at a 24-hour range so you can see where your peaks and dips of cortisol occur through the day, which can give your doctor some clues as to what might be going on to trigger these. Some tests, for example, the Adrenal Stress Index, also include DHEA, progesterone, insulin, and fecal sIgA, which look at the effects of adrenal stress on other hormones, blood sugar regulation, and whether your gut is being stressed.”
If you suspect adrenal fatigue, you can begin treating yourself without special testing. Click To TweetHow to prevent or reverse adrenal fatigue
Prevention is wise, as reversing minor adrenal fatigue generally takes about 6-12 months. Anticipate a 12 to 18 month recovery for moderate adrenal fatigue and up to 24 months for severe cases.
Treating adrenal fatigue requires a whole-body approach, one that addresses the excess stress and unhealthy lifestyle habits that wore out your adrenals in the first place.
Here’s a summary of advice I found from a handful of functional medicine practitioners, including Dr. Romm.
- The Standard American Diet is a perfect recipe for destroying your adrenal glands. Eat a healthy nutrient-dense diet like the one described in the Wellness Repair Plan.
- Supplement magnesium and adaptogenic herbs like rhodiola rosea. Adaptogens are powerful herbs that act like a thermostat to help you balance stress hormones.
- Leave yourself time for 8 hours of sleep per night. That means you’re in bed ready to sleep by 10 if you have to be awake at 6. Sleep in (until 9 a.m. if you feel like it).
- Rest when you feel tired (this includes during the day by taking short naps or just laying down).
- Cut back or cut out caffeine. Dr. Romm says, “Caffeine allows us to push past our natural energy limits and triggers some of the same adrenal chemicals (adrenaline, for example) that get fired up when we’re under stress, leading to increased cortisol production and adrenal overdrive.”
- This is one instance where true intermittent fasting (skipping breakfast with no bulletproof coffee) is not recommended. If you eat breakfast, make it high in healthy fat and protein. Eat before becoming hungry also. Regulating blood sugar is paramount to correcting adrenal imbalance.
- Exercise, but not too much. Avoid sustained cardio longer than 20 minutes and high intensity training.
- Don’t skimp on healthy carbs like fruit and sweet potatoes when recovering from adrenal fatigue, especially if you are doing high intensity exercise. Just be sure to always combine your carbs with protein and fat to slow absorption and stabilize your blood sugar.
- Reduce mental and emotional stress. Begin with a “fear transfer“.
Emerging research on why adrenals may not be working
Dr. Bryan Walsh has been offering new information to the functional medicine community.
Jeff is the author of The Wellness Repair Diet – designed to help you optimize your endocrine, adrenal, immune and nervous systems. The result is enjoyable fat loss without food cravings, a lower risk of disease, improved mood and better mental clarity.
Additional Resources
Dr. Mercola and Dr. Kalish on The Kalish Method
Dr. Josh Axe – How to Overcome Adrenal Fatigue
I’ve been trying to figure out why I NEVER get sick, never get colds, had the flu once 14 years ago (if that’s what it was, could have been food poisoning). Recently I began to suspect that high functioning adrenals might account for it, as I drink and smoke, don’t eat particularly well, and live a very stressful life (very). I also can’t gain weight no matter how hard I try, I weigh about 10 lbs more than high school and I was a rail then. But when I read an article like this I have to conclude that it is not my adrenals as I have none of the symptoms listed. I’m full of energy, stronger than most men half my age (I’m 59) and I don’t exercise (though I am very active physically and live in a three story walk-up). Thanks for the good information!
Hi Todd!
There were three items in your comment that piqued my curiosity. Smoking, high stress and difficulty gaining weight have been common in many people who have an overactive thyroid (metabolism is running on overdrive).
Dr. Aviva Romm specializes in treating both adrenal and thyroid issues. She, and all the other functional medicine doctors, encourage patients to request some specific additional tests that allopathic medicine hasn’t begun training for.
Dr. Room says:
I check the following labs on my patients in whom I, or they, suspect thyroid problems:
TSH
Free T3
Free T4
Thyroid Peroxidase Antibodies (TPOAb)
Thyroglobulin Antibodies (TgAb)
Reverse T3
Here’s a link that tells what levels to look for in these tests: http://avivaromm.com/hypothyroid-testing-need-know
There’s also a brand new book that was just released yesterday by Dr. Amy Myers, called The Thyroid Connection. I’ve listened to hours of various podcasts with her as a guest talking about thyroid symptoms and the book. Dr. Amy is one of the best I’ve found. Here’s a link if you care to check out the book: http://amzn.to/2cD6NPu
But I hope you are just blessed with feeling great and an easy time of keeping weight in check!
What is the difference between adrenaline health and stress response, besides the price
I am going to give you a little history about me, I was 22 years old when I had my gallbladder removed, I am 52 now. I have been having digestive problems for a long long time, all the doctors wanted to do is put me on prescription mess, I started going on Google to see if I could find out what was going on, I found my problem, I could not digest my food well, no doctor or surgeon never told me I had to take something to help digest my food, I went to a holistic Dr, she put me on Biotics plus and digestive support, didn’t work for me, I come up on your site when I was trying to find something else, I am taking the now super enzymes, working fine but only been taking it for 2 weeks, I am so fatigue, don’t want or feel like doing anything, so I read about your article on adrenaline, I think that may be my problem,, don’t know I have felt so bad for so long I don’t know what it’s like to feel good anymore.
Hello Lisa!
Thank you for the bit of history. You’ve had a tough couple of decades, just as I did. I understand some of what you’re feeling and acknowledge your suffering. I also think you’re on the right track and hope I can offer some help.
Digestive enzymes are part of the fix. The Now Super Enzymes I take compensate for my lost gallbladder function, but don’t do much to address the factors that caused me to develop gallstones and a host of other auto-immune conditions. Here’s a plan I assembled from the books, websites, podcasts and videos of dozens of functional medicine doctors. I followed their advice and got rid of all my auto-immune conditions. What I’ve listed in my plan is common to reversing all disease. But sometimes there are additional treatments for certain conditions that speed your results and make you feel good more quickly.
Based on your specific symptoms, I put together some links for you to check out related to thyroid. This is to supplement what you’ve already been reading about adrenal fatigue. What the docs say is that it’s not typical for patients with one auto-immune issue to have only one. They generally have several. It may not be thyroid, but I would want to find out since fatigue is one of the main symptoms of thyroid issues. The links below will tell you exactly what tests to ask for and what levels to look for. If you have access to a functional medicine doctor in your area, that will likely speed up your results since they can address heavy metal toxiciy (another issue that manifetss as fatigue) mold exposure (again fatigue is a symptom) and other food and environmental exposures.
What thyroid tests to ask for – podcast with Dr. Aviva Romm
Thyroid tests and levels to look for – blog post by Dr. Aviva Romm
Dr. Amy Myers discussing her new book on Thyroid – podcast with Dr. Romm
The Adrenal Thyroid Connection – podcast with Dr. Romm
Healing Hashimoto’s with Izabella Wentz – podcast with Dr. Romm
Uncovering thyroid problems with Dana Trentini – podcast with Dr. Romm
The gut thyroid connection – podcast with Dr. Romm
Dr. Mercola on Thyroid – YouTube video
Regarding the herbs you asked about… I can’t really detect any difference other than the capsule count and some of the ingredients noted as certified organic (though not USDA organic). That may just be a labelling change, though.
Gaia Herbs Adrenal Health – 120 capsules, some ingredients certified organic
Gaia Herbs Stress Response – 30 capsules
Good catch on them being nearly identical!
Blessings, Lisa.
Thanks Jeff for responding to my comment, I have a doctor’s appointment in a few days, and thank you again for your help, I will keep you updated about my test results and I am going to follow your plan, it may take me a little while to catch on, cause I do have a foggy mind Thanks again Lisa
Oh by the way I am not a breakfast eater, you think it would be a good idea to do bulletproof coffee
I hope the appointment goes well, Lisa. Please let me know if I can answer any questions for you.
The C8 ingredient offers a number of benefits, including enhanced ability to focus and concentrate. If “foggy” is a symptom you experience, C8 will help within minutes. I wasn’t a daily coffee drinker, but have Bulletproof coffee now because I love having 6-8 hours of stable energy (including mental energy). People with gallbladder trouble stand to notice the most dramatic benefits just because they’ve not been digesting fat (stable brain energy) properly. C8 gets processed by the liver and mostly bypasses the digestive system. It provides ketones for the brain within minutes and doesn’t store as body fat. It gave me my brain back. Later, I learned about the enzymes that now help me process fats again.
Here’s the recipe for Bulletproof coffee. Let me know what you think.