See if this scenario sounds familiar: You’re constantly tired. You’ve seen many specialists and tried a lot of different treatments. But you’re still exhausted.
It can be incredibly frustrating. But fortunately, there is hope. You may suffer from adrenal fatigue.
If you’re sick of being tired all the time, getting a correct diagnosis — and the proper treatment — can be the start of a whole new life!
What is Adrenal Fatigue?
Adrenal fatigue is a diagnosis that indicates a depletion of the adrenal glands.
Adrenal glands, also known as suprarenal glands, are small, triangular-shaped glands on top of both kidneys.
The adrenals produce hormones, including adrenaline and cortisol, that help regulate many essential functions, including:
- metabolism
- immune system
- blood pressure
- stress response
These two little glands have a profound effect on the body. And when they’re not functioning properly, this can cause a wide range of issues — including that constant feeling of tiredness.
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New Patients Call: 972-382-5597
What Causes Adrenal Fatigue?
The leading cause of adrenal fatigue is stress.
When you experience stress, the adrenal glands go into “fight or flight” mode. This causes your body to pump out cortisol and adrenaline. Your heart rate and breathing increase.
Once the stressful situation has passed, your adrenal glands stop releasing these hormones, and your body returns to normal operation.
At least, that’s how it’s supposed to work. But here’s the problem: We no longer experience stress “once in a while” — it’s a 24/7 occurrence.
Pandemics, economic stress, and information overload can keep us in a constant state of turmoil and anxiety. And that causes the fight-or-flight system to produce too many stress hormones.
Besides the stresses of daily life, here are some specific causes of adrenal fatigue:
- sleep deprivation
- acute or chronic infections
- toxic chemicals or pollutants
- difficult relationships
- a diet filled with processed foods
- artificial sweeteners
- too much alcohol
- smoking
- inflammation
- certain vitamin deficiencies
How Can You Tell if You May Have Adrenal Fatigue?
Adrenal fatigue can be difficult to diagnose because the symptoms can have so many other causes. That’s why it’s important to dig in and get to the root cause of your symptoms, as we do here at Wonderfully Made Functional Medicine.
Common symptoms of adrenal fatigue include:
- fatigue, particularly upon waking, with intermittent “crashes” throughout the day
- poor stress response and mood regulation
- cognitive issues or “brain fog”
- increased energy levels in the evenings
- cravings for salty and sweet foods
- overuse of caffeine and other stimulants
- a compromised immune system
Less common symptoms may include insomnia, frequent urination, loss of muscle tone, poor circulation, depression, weight gain, and decreased libido.
Again, these symptoms may often come from other causes. That’s why it’s so vital to take a functional medicine approach and find out what’s really going on.
Tired of feeling tired? We can help!
Dr. Wood is an expert in treating adrenal fatigue. If you feel that this may even be a possibility, we encourage you to come in and see us.
When you do, we’ll spend as much time as needed to determine what will achieve the best results.
This is not a one-size-fits-all approach; we’ll discuss your full medical history and your current symptoms and identify your internal and external stressors.
Comprehensive lab work tailored to your situation will identify imbalances in your system. This includes saliva testing over a 24-hour period to get a good look at adrenal function.
Once we have all the information, we will come up with your tailored treatment plan. This may include Bioidentical Hormone Replacement Therapy to address hormonal imbalances.
It may also include gut health testing and working out how to address any dietary deficiencies, plus adding adaptogenic herbs.
We’ll also assist you with any needed lifestyle changes, such as dietary changes, a healthy sleep schedule, and other nutritional supplementation.
Plus, we’ll help you with stress-management techniques such as mindfulness, yoga, meditation, walking in nature, and tai chi.
This specialized treatment is all about freeing you from your constant fatigue so you can achieve long-term health.
For more information on adrenal fatigue and our treatments, please visit our Adrenal Fatigue Treatment page.
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New Patients Call: 972-382-5597
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