Overcoming Adrenal Fatigue and Its Symptoms Pt. 1

(Adrenal Gland, Courtesy Wikipedia)

Okay guys, I’ll be talking about adrenal fatigue. Although most people may not be familiar with what adrenal fatigue means, they still experience the symptoms of adrenal fatigue. It has a wide range of non-specific symptoms that are often debilitating and the onset of this condition is usually insidious and slow. In my last posts about anxiety and depression, I talked about the effects of depression, its symptoms and how to treat it. You can check that out. One big challenge with adrenal fatigue is that its symptoms are similar to that of anxiety and depression. In this article series, I'll be sharing about adrenal fatigue, its symptoms and possible ways to deal with it so don't miss any part. I need to point out here that fatigue and lethargy happen to be the most frequent complaints that adult patients have.

So What is Adrenal Fatigue?

It's not really a disease so don't get scared, Adrenal fatigue is a syndrome that happens when the level of your Adrenal gland function drops below the required range and this leads to several identifiable symptoms. It occurs when our adrenal glands are fatigued and unable to deal with stress. Our body has been equipped to handle stress and adrenal fatigue effectively and our ability to deal with stress is key to our survival. Although it doesn't often pose an immediate danger to our health, it usually serves as a warning sign of our increased vulnerability to a variety of diseases and other health conditions such as depression, autoimmune and thyroid disorders, cancer, diabetes etc. and it can serve as a preventive measure when diagnosed and treated properly.

The Possible Symptoms of Adrenal Fatigue

I need to emphasize that people with adrenal fatigue can actually live what seems like normal lives and carry out their daily activities without any major signs of severe illness. However, they often experience a feeling of general fatigue, less vibrant life when compared to their previous lives and a general feeling of less than perfect wellness. In most cases, people having adrenal fatigue will often take stimulants to energize them to get going in the morning and last the whole day. In cases of adrenal fatigue that has progressed, the individual may actually feel very exhausted that getting out of bed is often difficult for some hours on a daily basis. If you ever experience such, then read on to find out more. So let's take a look at some of the possible symptoms of adrenal fatigue.

• Experiencing difficulty in falling asleep or even staying asleep
• A general overreaction to perceived stressors such as the pressure of writing an examination
• The inability to regulate blood sugar/experiencing symptoms of hypoglycemia between meals
• Having an extra pounds of fat around your stomach or waist which you are unable to lose or over 10 pounds of fat that just appeared out of nowhere and is not clearing no matter your efforts to clear it
• Having an increased susceptibility to flu, colds and infections
• Always feeling fatigued especially when you wake up in the morning and having a desire to go back to sleep
• Often feeling frazzled and easily overwhelmed or frustrated and snapping at friends, colleagues, partner or kids or even crying for no obvious reason
• Having a reduced sex drive
• Feeling lightheaded when rising from a laying down position
• Finding it difficult to remember things
• Feeling tired usually between 9-10 pm but resisting the urge of going to bed
• Having a general craving for fatty, salty and high protein food like cheese and meat
• Experiencing pain in the upper back or neck region with no visible reason
• Low body temperature
• Having alternating constipation and diarrhea
• Having unexplained hair loss
• Experiencing food and/or inhalant allergies

Okay, you must be wondering about the long list of possible symptoms. It's often recommended that if you notice that you have many of the symptoms mentioned, then you should consider adrenal fatigue as the possible culprit once other organic pathologies have been ruled out. Please note that none of these symptoms by itself can specifically pinpoint adrenal fatigue, however, the symptoms when considered as a group will form a specific adrenal fatigue syndrome.

Most of the symptoms are usually the product of acute or chronic excessive stress and the inability of the human body to reduce such stress. As humans, our ability to effectively handle physical or emotional stress is key to human survival and we are equipped with the complete set of stress modulation system which has the adrenal glands as the control centre. Whenever the adrenal glands become dysfunctional, then it also reduces our body's ability to handle stress.

In Part two of this article, we shall be looking at the basics of adrenal fatigue and the possible causes of adrenal fatigue. Thank you for reading and please your comments and upvote will be greatly appreciated.