Do You Have Adrenal Fatigue?

Adrenal Fatigue, aka adrenal insufficiency, are non-medical terms used to describe a condition where the adrenal glands do not appear to be functioning up to par, but they are not in “failure” as yet.

The adrenal insufficiency symptoms have a few common denominators: fatigue is the main one. But this fatigue makes it difficult to get up in the morning, and your best sleep is between 7am and 9am. Coffee, soda or some stimulant is needed to get moving in the morning or to keep going during the day. You find yourself dragging through the day, and just struggling to keep up with life’s demands. If you are stressed out, finding it is more difficult to deal with normal every day stressors, and don’t bounce back like you used to, sounds like exhausted adrenals. Craving sweets and salty foods is common. If life to too much of a drudgery, you may even deny yourself of fun activities because it is too much work to prepare for or too exhausting to do.

If you have experienced prolonged stress or short periods of intense stress, post-traumatic stress syndrome, driven yourself to exhaustion, spent too much time working and too little time playing, you may now have adrenal fatigue. Prolonged illnesses, chronic steroid use, alcoholism, excessive coffee intake, drug abuse, and eating disorders can also play a role in wiping out your adrenals.

Common symptoms associated with adrenal fatigue are allergies, asthma, chronic respiratory infections, chronic inflammation and tendency towards diabetes. If you have difficulty handling stress or pressure, are less productive due to fatigue or lack of motivation, avoid emotional situations, have unexplained foreboding, fears or anxieties, “butterflies” in your stomach when nervous or tense, get flustered when hurried or under pressure, or tend to not think as clearly, especially under stress, have decreased tolerance for people, or get annoyed or irritated more easily, you probably have varying degrees of adrenal fatigue.

Classic signs are getting dizzy when standing quickly, even to the point of feeling like you might black out, feeling chronically fatigued, just don’t feel well, but can’t put your finger on it, low blood pressure, blood sugar instability, and emotionally all over the place.  You may also feel generalized weakness, cold a lot, and avoid cold, or have unexplained and frequent low grade headaches.

Obviously, these symptoms can mean a lot of things. To find out more, investigative work is necessary.

Dr. Holly Carling

Dr. Holly Carling

Dr. Holly Carling is a Doctor of Oriental Medicine, Licensed Acupuncturist, Doctor of Naturopathy, Clinical Nutritionist and Master Herbologist with nearly four decades of experience. Dr. Carling is a “Health Detective,” she looks beyond your symptom picture and investigates WHY you are experiencing your symptoms in the first place. Dr. Carling considers herself a “professional student” – she has attended more than 600 post-secondary education courses related to health and healing. Dr. Carling gives lectures here in the U.S. and internationally and has been noted as the “Doctor’s Doctor”. When other healthcare practitioners hit a roadblock when treating their patients nutritionally, Dr. Carling is who they call. Dr. Carling is currently accepting new patients and offers natural health care services and whole food nutritional supplements in her Coeur d’ Alene clinic.

Medical/Health Disclaimer:

The information provided in this article or podcast should not be construed as personal medical advice or instruction. No action should be taken based solely on the contents of this article or podcast. Readers/listeners should consult appropriate health professionals on any matter relating to their health and well-being. The information and opinions provided here are believed to be accurate and sound, based on the best judgment available to the author, but readers/listeners who fail to consult appropriate health authorities assume the risk of any injuries.

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