Understanding Adrenal Fatigue: Causes and Remedies

Adrenal fatigue is unfortunately something I learned about postpartum. 18 months postpartum I was exhausted, overwhelmed, drained, and just feeling not at all like myself. I knew something was up so I had some functional testing done to look at my adrenals and hormones. Low and behold my adrenals and hormones were out of whack. My serotonin levels were low, my PEA aka endorphins were completely wiped out, as were my norepinephrine and epinephrine levels, plus my cortisol was really high in the mornings. This was no surprise to me as I’ve run tests like this on my clients, but it was a wake up call to prioritize limiting stress, self-care, and working on central nervous system regulation. 

Adrenal fatigue is becoming very common, and yet allopathic medicine does not recognize adrenal fatigue or test for it. Adrenal fatigue was first coined in 1998 by James Wilson, PhD, a naturopath and an expert in alternative medicine. He describes adrenal fatigue as a "group of related signs and symptoms (a syndrome) that results when the adrenal glands function below the necessary level." It is usually linked to prolonged stress. Many people with adrenal fatigue may not have any physical signs but still may feel tired, depressed, anxious, and experience fatigue that doesn’t get better with sleep. The start of adrenal fatigue can happen when you’re under constant stress. Your immune system does its job and revvs up when you’re stressed and then your adrenal glands respond to stress by releasing hormones like cortisol and adrenaline. These hormones are part of your "fight-or-flight" response. In my case, my cortisol was high and my adrenaline was completely wiped out. That’s why I felt anxious in the morning, and yet I struggled to get out of bed, my mind felt jumbled at times throughout the day, and I was overwhelmed easily, aka adrenal fatigue. 

For me, this meant adding in some functional supplements to lower my cortisol levels and increase my adrenaline levels, plus a pretty thorough plan around limiting stress, taking alone time for myself, going for long walks, and taking deep breaths when I needed them. 8 months later, I am feeling much better. My energy is back, my anxious mornings are long behind me, and I can tackle life so much more effectively. 

If this sounds like you, don’t hesitate to reach out, we can run functional tests to look at both your hormones and adrenals and work towards getting YOU back!