Stress can make life emotionally draining but it can also affect your body’s ability to work properly. When your life is hit by stress your body physically reacts to the stressful situation by causing certain reactions and hormone release in the body. Prolonged stress can result in prolonged secretion of cortisol (glucocorticoid), mineralcorticoid, androgen, epinepherine, and norepinephrine from the adrenal glands which can result in:

weight gain

mild depression

disrupted sleep pattern

night sweats

decreased sex drive

decreased energy

lightheadedness

fatigue

cravings for salty, fatty, and high protein food like cheese and meat

Increased symptoms of PMS

Insidious pain in the upper back and neck

difficulty getting up in the morning

The most important glucocorticoid is CORTISOL.  When this is lowered, the body will be unable to deal with stress. This happens in Adrenal Fatigue.

Cortisol (The Hormone)

The most important anti-stress hormone in the body is cortisol. Cortisol protects the body from excessive Adrenal Fatigue by:

• Normalizing blood sugar level – Cortisol increases the blood sugar level in the body thus providing the energy needed for the body to physically escape threat of injury (both phycological and physical) in order to survive. Cortisol works to provide glucose to the cells for energy. More energy is required when the body is under stress, from any source, and cortisol is the hormone that makes this happen. In Adrenal Fatigue, more cortisol is secreted during the early stages. In the later stages of Adrenal Fatigue (when the adrenal glands become exhausted), cortisol output is reduced.

• Anti-inflammation Response – Cortisol is a powerful anti-inflammatory agent. When we have a minor injury or a muscle strain our body’s inflammatory cascade is initiated. Cortisol is secreted as part of the anti-inflammatory response. It’s objective is to remove and prevent swelling and redness of nearly all tissues. These anti-inflammatory responses prevent also prevent Adrenal Fatigue.

• Immune System Suppression – People with high cortisol levels are very much weaker from the immunological point of view. Cortisol influences most cells that participate in the immune reaction, especially white blood cells. Cortisol suppresses white blood cells, natural killer cells, monocytes, macrophages, and mast cells. It also suppresses Adrenal Fatigue.

• Phycological Induced Stress – People with Adrenal Fatigue cannot tolerate stress and will then succumb to severe stress. As their stress increases, progressively higher levels of cortisol are required. When the cortisol level cannot rise in response to stress, it is impossible to maintain the body in optimum stress response.

Cortisol Regulation

The adrenal glands are controlled via the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. There is an existing negative feedback loop that governs the amount of adrenal hormones secreted under normal circumstances in people with Adrenal Fatigue. For example, the HPA axis adjusts cortisol levels according to the body’s need via a hormone called Adrenal Corticotrophic Hormone (ACTH) that is secreted from the pituitary gland in response to signals from the hypothalamus. When the ACTH binds to the walls of the adrenal cells, a chain reaction occurs within the cell. This leads to the release of cholesterol where it is manufactured into pregnenolone, the first hormone in the adrenal cascade. After this, cortisol is released into the blood stream where it travels in the circulatory system to all parts of the body and back to the hypothalamus.

Steps to repair your adrenals

1. First of all understand this. Traditional medicine testing cannot detect adrenal fatigue unless it has become severe. That’s why so many physicians tell their patients – and you may have been one of them – to go home and relax or give them a prescription drug for anxiety to help. That’s simply a band-aid approach and resolves little if anything, and it definitely doesn’t cure the problem.

2. However, there is a saliva test that holistic practitioners and doctors are using that has excellent results in measuring your cortisol and DHEA levels. It is called the ASI, or Adrenal Stress Index. Although nothing is ever 100% accurate, this has very high accuracy. The reason is that your saliva is part of your tissues and can relate to the lab technicians what is being absorbed within your body as well as the level of your hormones.

3. Realize that all physical disorders have emotional cores. You may be able to “fix” your adrenal problem temporarily by making some lifestyle changes, but if you don’t release the negative emotion that underlies your stress it will simply come back again, perhaps in another form. We are multidimensional beings and it requires a balance in all four areas to be healthy. One tire on your car can cause quite an imbalance if it loses enough air. So it is with your body and health.

4. Remove your stressors.  Write down your stressors: work, family, spouse, finances, health, etc.  Priorities these stressors and work on resolving them.  Professional physcological help may be the best route.

5. Get enough sleep! This can be a real problem for many people.  So many come to me about sleepless nights our health store begging for something so they can sleep. Insomnia often accompanies adrenal fatigue yet it is most necessary for repair. 7-8 hours or more are necessary for healing and the adrenals repair most from 11pm – 1am. (some say the repair begins at 10 pm)

6. Change your diet . Follow these guidelines to allow for adrenal repair:

Eliminate sugar, caffeine, and alcohol – these fight against adrenal repair, consume many organic vegetables, at least 6 servings every day.  Consider juicing veggies several times a week for cleansing your body. Drink 2 liters of water on everyday with ½ organic lemon squeezed in it – cleanses the liver easily and naturally. Exercise!!!

Eat regularly, at least three meals per day – may benefit from 5-6 small ones. Eat plenty of good protein as amino acids found in protein help restore adrenals.

Supplementation that can support adrenal repair:

Speak to your health care provider prior to supplementation, prescription medication may be warranted.

Vitamin C and bioflavonoids – 1000 mg to 5000 mg daily, divided doses B-5, pantothenic acid, or panethine gelcaps – 1000 – 1500 mg daily, divided Vitamin E, mixed tocopherols – 400 iu’s daily, one gelcap Magnesium – citrate good form, 500 or more mg daily, powdered form good Natural progesterone cream

B complex, 50 – 100 mg 2 x’s daily Multi-vitamin/mineral – once daily Antioxidants DHEA – be careful with this, especially women, as only a little is needed to help Natural hydrocortisone