What is adrenal fatigue?

What is adrenal fatigue?

The term “adrenal fatigue” is slightly misleading due to the fact that the adrenals never truly fatigue.  It is more commonly referred to as “HPA axis dysfunction.” Lets back it up a minute though. 

What are adrenals anyways?  The adrenals are small (but mighty) glands that are located above the kidneys.  They release many hormones but are most known for: adrenaline, cortisol, and epinephrine. We will focus on cortisol, often known as the “stress hormone”.  

Cortisol - the “stress hormone”

Cortisol plays many necessary roles in the body. Your body secretes cortisol in a daily rhythmic pattern - ideally your cortisol is highest in the morning and curves down throughout the day. This is what gets you to wake up in the morning and feel ready to conquer your day.  When cortisol is too high, too low or does not follow the downward sloping curve - that's when you experience issues. 

Aside from the daily pattern, cortisol is also released anytime your body perceives stress.  It allows our bodies to respond to threats quickly and effectively.  Some of its roles include: reduced inflammation, increases blood sugar to get quick energy to the body to respond to the stressor, increased blood pressure, stimulates the immune system, increased mental awareness etc.  This is all designed to help us survive the threat. 

Now- back to HPA dysfunction.  HPA axis stands for hypothalamus, pituitary, adrenal axis.  These 3 glands communicate with each other (in that order) to initiate and control the stress response.  The amount of cortisol circulating is a result of these 3 glands and starts in the brain.  When your body has been in a state of stress for a prolonged period of time this communication system can break down - causing issues with cortisol production.  This where your symptoms of exhaustion, weight gain or inability to lose weight (typically around the belly), sleep disturbances, brain fog, anxiety, start showing up.

Causes of stress - more than the obvious

Whether you are running from a bear or have a stressful deadline at work - your body perceives this threat the same.  Both initiate a stress response.  Some stressors are “good” and don’t get me wrong - our bodies are built to handle stress - just not over and over again all day.  Some stressors are completely out of our control.  The point is to identify the ones we can control and limit them.  

Here are some possible causes of stress that you may want to consider:

  • digestive imbalances/pathogens

  • chronic emotional stress

  • toxins

  • mineral imbalances

  • low carb diets

  • going long periods of time without eating

  • under-eating

  • over exercising

  • drinking coffee on an empty stomach

  • blood sugar imbalances 

  • lack of sleep

  • underlying infections


What now?

Some people can live in this stress state for a while.  You might even feel great  - you have energy, mental clarity, feel productive, hardly ever get sick, and are less inflamed.  That’s because you are running off stress hormones.  Eventually it will all come crashing down and you will experience: exhaustion, burn out, fatigue, depression, anxiety, hair loss, missing periods, infertility, lack of muscle, inability to lose weight, etc.  

I’m guessing you may already be experiencing these things.  So how the hell do we fix it?  Identify and stop all causes of stress that you can.  The easiest to start with is nutrition- eat frequently, eat enough, and eat carbohydrates. Try to balance each meal with carbs, protein and fat.  Start replenishing and creating a safe place for your body to begin healing.  

Here is a free 5 day meal plan to get you started -

Tanya Mace