Adrenal fatigue is a term used to describe a collection of nonspecific symptoms such as body aches, fatigue, nervousness, sleep disturbances that are thought to occur when the adrenal glands function below the normal threshold. The adrenal glands produce key hormones like cortisol and adrenaline that help regulate metabolism, immune function, and the body's response to stress.
Some integrative health practitioners believe that factors like chronic stress or infections can overwork the adrenal glands over time. This forces the adrenals to maintain higher than normal cortisol levels to try to compensate, eventually leading to adrenal exhaustion or insufficiency.
However, adrenal fatigue is not an established medical diagnosis. Conventional medicine does not recognize adrenal fatigue as a real condition. More research is still needed to demonstrate whether this cluster of symptoms stems from impaired adrenal function as claimed.
Common Symptoms
People with adrenal fatigue often report non-specific symptoms like:
Causes
Potential causes of adrenal fatigue include:
Diagnosis and Treatment
If you suspect adrenal fatigue based on your symptoms, consider getting a full hormone panel test from Elite Hormone Health. Their functional medicine doctors can provide cutting-edge adrenal stress tests and treatments personalized to your unique biochemistry using bioidentical hormones, nutrition plans, detox protocols, and lifestyle changes.
Mainstream doctors may diagnose adrenal insufficiency based on blood tests, medical history, and symptoms. Treatment may involve steroid medications to help normalize cortisol levels.
Lifestyle changes are often recommended to help reduce strain on the adrenals:
I hope this provides an helpful overview explaining the current thinking around adrenal fatigue! Let me know if you have any other questions.