Adrenal Fatigue Syndrome

The Adrenal Fatigue Syndrome is a somewhat controversial diagnosis in conventional medicine. There is a long list of possible symptoms that an individual could suffer from in this condition but they are mostly non-specific. For example light-headedness is a symptom but there are lots of possible reasons for feeling lightheaded.

The same is true for other symptoms such as increased allergies and poor sleep.

The syndrome occurs after a prolonged period of high stress and consists of reduced output of the adrenal hormone cortisol. Doing a laboratory test for cortisol is probably the best way to shortcut the often prolonged period taken to conclude that a patient has Adrenal Fatigue Syndrome. The test itself is easy to do and simply consists of taking a saliva sample and sending it to a specialist laboratory.

Symptoms of prolonged fatigue unrelieved by rest along with some of the symptoms of increased infections, arthritis and increased symptoms during menopause backed up with the salivary cortisol test would strongly indicate a diagnosis of adrenal fatigue syndrome.

Treatment has been discussed on these pages of Adrenal Fatigue Treatment. The treatment has to include some changes of lifestyle too or the symptoms will likely return
 

Adrenal Fatigue Symptoms in Women

Living with Adrenal fatigue symptoms means having less energy to cope with all the demands and pressures of life. In addition, Chronic Stress will depress the smooth functioning of the immune system leading to more infections.

It will make natural processes like menstruation and menopause much more difficult to deal with. Mood swings and mild depression are exacerbated too.

The symptoms you experience will depend on your state of health before the stress kicked in.

Digestive symptoms including increased symptoms of allergies and sensitivity to chemicals and perfumes show an over reactiveness. Anxiety symptoms and sleep problems are common.

Some of these symptoms are common to other disorders such as hypothyroidism and wrong diagnosis is common, especially as most conventional family Doctors do not recognise Adrenal Fatigue as a valid diagnosis.

Unless your Physician regards adrenal fatigue as a valid disorder it is likely that you will get partial recognition of your condition. That means that your sleep disruption will be treated with sleeping tablets, your increased allergies treated with anti-histamines etc.

Your symptoms may well be treated but the underlying condition of adrenal fatigue may well be ignored and not treated and attempts to bring it up merely regarded one more reason to give you a tranquiliser!
 

Women with adrenal fatigue need to follow pretty much the same course of action that men with adrenal fatigue use. As much as possible drop non-essential activities and get the rest you need. Check the articles about Adrenal fatigue diet and adrenal fatigue supplements too for extra ideas.
 

As you follow those suggestions your adrenal fatigue symptoms should reduce and if they do not then consult a good Naturopathic Physician.

Adrenal fatigue is real and is real serious but can be treated with the kind of holistic approach discussed here on Adrenal Fatigue Treatments.
 

Adrenal Support Supplements

Adrenal Support Supplements help us recover from the long term stress condition of Adrenal Fatigue aka “burn out”. Yes we need other kinds of support such as the right Adrenal Diet and the right Emotion Support too but supplements have their place too and can reduce the time taken to recover and get our energy back.

Let’s look at Adrenal Support Supplements step by step.

Adrenal Support Supplements – basic vitamins

From a basic health point of view vitamin C is crucial in supporting and helping the adrenals. How much to take is best sorted out with an expert but I would start with 2 grams a day and see how much help that gave before raising the dose.

B Complex vitamins – yeah, vitamin B is really several vitamins but they work together to help the body get its energy from the food you eat. A pretty strong B complex formula is needed. I’ll put some possible products at the end of this article.

Vitamin E – like vitamin C is a major anti-oxidant and fights infection. Part of the level of stress we carry long term and often don’t realise it is a background burden of infection. Taking proper amounts of these vitamins reduces the energy drain on the body and helps you recover faster from adrenal fatigue.

One Last point on vitamins for adrenal fatigue / chronic fatigue you cannot get adequate amounts from your diet and you need more than the small amounts in Multi-vitamin tablets and capsules. If you doubt this last point please do get reassurance from a Nutritionist or naturopath which are the only professionals trained in using vitamins and other supplements properly.

Adrenal Support Supplements – minerals

Well the first thing I do is ask all patients to get a laboratory test done for their mineral balance. The easiest way to do this is to use a hair sample and send it for analysis of trace minerals. I have mostly used a company called Mineral Check and have been very pleased.

The main mineral nearly everybody needs is magnesium – especially in adrenal fatigue. At least take 1,000 mg at bed time to help relax the muscles and reduce energy drain and encourage circulation of the blood and lymph.

Adrenal Support Supplements – Herbs

Two main herbs spring to mind with many possible variations. The crucial ones are Ginseng and licorice.
Ginseng is a wonderful, mild and helpful herb. Sadly some people are put off by all the rubbish published about it. But whether you use Siberian ginseng, or Chinese or Korean ginseng you will get relief.
But it is subtle. You will not get an energy rush because this is genuine healing and that takes time. It starts working right away but it may be days or weeks before you realise that your energy levels are returning.

You need to keep taking the ginseng and keep looking after yourself because the temptation will be to get back to the unbalanced lifestyle you lead which got you in to burnout and adrenal fatigue in the first place.

And the licorice – can be taken as a herb tea. It helps restore energy and your digestion and is an all-round tonic.

There are plenty of other herbs that may suit an individual recovering from adrenal fatigue but these 2 are the most important and can do a lot of “heavy lifting” by themselves. Together with the vitamins and minerals above, you will have a very helpful adrenal fatigue formula.