Stress, “the silent killer,” has slipped its way into almost every aspect of our lives. In modern-day culture, stress is no longer a momentary fight-or-flight reaction to an approaching lion. Instead, it’s more like a lingering reaction to an approaching deadline. From our jam-packed schedules and workaholic mindsets, to an ever-growing obsession with digital, instant gratification, we’ve kicked stress into high gear, allowing it to take up permanent residence in our bodies. And we’re suffering the consequences.
One of the most recent manifestations of our overly stressed lifestyles is a syndrome called adrenal fatigue, or “21st-century stress syndrome.” It’s actually a mild form of Addison’s disease — adrenal insufficiency — referring to an inadequate production of one or more hormones produced by the adrenal glands.
Adrenal fatigue is characterized by a series of life-altering symptoms that include:
- difficulty getting up in the morning
- continual fatigue
- decreased sex drive
- caffeine dependency
- decreased productivity
- increased time needed to recover from injury, trauma, and stress
- low blood pressure
- cravings for salt and sugar, and
- depression
All of these can potentially lead to infertility, gastrointestinal (GI) issues, mood disorders, and more. And this is just skimming the surface.
What Causes Adrenal Fatigue?
Our adrenals are tiny glands that sit on top of our kidneys, and are known as “the glands of stress,” according to James Wilson in his book Adrenal Fatigue: The 21st Century Stress Syndrome. He writes, “It is their job to enable your body to deal with stress from every possible source, ranging from injury and disease to work and relationship problems. Your resiliency, energy, endurance and your very life all depend on their proper functioning.”
To help our bodies cope with physical, emotional, and psychological stressors, the adrenal glands produce a number of important hormones, including adrenaline and cortisol (the stress hormones). These hormones regulate energy production and storage, immune function, heart rate, muscle tone, metabolism, and other functions to help us in fight-or-flight situations. In other words, when we’re faced with a lion, our adrenals can instantly increase our senses, speed up our heart rate and blood pressure, release stored energy, and slow secondary functions to ensure a successful escape.
But what happens when that “lion” is actually hundreds of tiny stressors that pop up daily? Or when it’s one big chronic trauma that lingers for years? That’s when we begin to overwork our adrenal glands, depleting them of stress hormones. When the adrenal glands malfunction, the body tries to make do with inadequate levels of one or more of these hormones, and symptoms begin to appear, relating to the specific hormones that are lacking. Some doctors believe that it is a combination of acute and chronic stress that ultimately leads to adrenal fatigue.
Treatment for Adrenal Fatigue
Treating adrenal fatigue requires a whole-body approach to replace missing hormones, repair damage, reduce stress, and bring the body back into balance. A reputable medical practitioner will first carefully examine you and test your hormone levels to determine if your body is producing the correct amount of hormones and chemicals needed for optimal function before diagnosing adrenal fatigue and making any recommendations or providing prescriptions.
If adrenal fatigue is the issue, bioidentical hormone replacement therapy (BHRT) is among the most promising treatments for adrenal fatigue. Unlike traditional hormone replacement therapy, bioidentical hormones are safe, plant-based hormones provided in amounts similar to those required by the body, rather than artifically manufactured pharmaceuticals (dosages of which are often higher than the body’s normal supply and can suppress and even shut down adrenal function).
One example is Cortef®, otherwise known as hydrocortisone. It is a bioidentical form of cortisol, the only hormone that is absolutely essential to life. It’s found in every pharmacy, but is rarely prescribed for this purpose due to a lack of knowledge. It can be very effective at replenishing cortisol levels and treating adrenal fatigue, without the potentially serious side effects that come with traditional corticosteroids.
According to William McK. Jefferies, in the third edition of his book Safe Uses of Cortisol (first published in 1981), clinical research conducted during the 1950s demonstrated the dramatic benefits of safe, physiological dosages of cortisol for treating adrenocortical deficiency (another term for the condition in which the adrenals do not produce adequate amounts of steroid hormones, namely cortisol).
Jefferies writes, “When patients with adrenal insufficiency are treated according to these principles, they can live perfectly normal, healthy lives. In some respects they seem to be healthier than many persons without adrenal insufficiency in that they often appear to have more energy, less fatigue, and a greater resistance to at least some types of infection.”
Resistance from Traditional Doctors
Jefferies noted that “…the diagnosis and treatment of mild adrenocortical deficiency, a condition that is rarely mentioned in medical textbooks, has become important for all practicing physicians to recognize.”
While research and case studies clearly point to adrenal fatigue as a real and dangerous condition, most traditional medical experts today do not accept the validity of adrenal fatigue as a diagnosis. They insist that accepting a “medically unrecognized diagnosis” may prevent patients from getting treatment for the “real” cause of their symptoms, such as fibromyalgia, depression, or chronic fatigue syndrome.
Ironically, fibromyalgia, depression, and chronic fatigue syndrome, now recognized diagnoses, were once unproven and untested as well. And when first suggested by nontraditional practitioners, mainstream doctors claimed that those symptoms were “all in their patients’ heads.” So finding a facility with experience in treating adrenal fatigue is the first and most important step toward recovery.
Fighting Back
While finances, traffic, and work may not be as deadly as a hungry lion running our way, they can have the same effect on our bodies. We’ve all fallen victim to the daily stresses of the 21st century. But we don’t have to suffer in silence.
Learn more about Hormone Issues (General). If you’re ready to get your hormones tested and treated (which we can do anywhere in the US) go to this page for Bioidentical HRT / Hormone Replacement Therapy.
At the DaSilva Institute of Anti-Aging, Regenerative & Functional Medicine, we have been treating and reversing adrenal fatigue and similar conditions naturally for many years with great success. To get your energy and your life back, schedule an appointment by contacting our office at 888-832-7458.