Adrenal Exhaustion

Adrenal Exhaustion is the result of an inability of depleted adrenal function of the adrenal glands and is often the result of continual high levels of stress experienced by most everyone in today’s society. High stress results in the adrenal glands inability to regulate hormone balance and a chronic excess of cortisol released into the body. When chronic stress repeatedly forces the adrenal glands to sustain high levels of cortisol, adrenal fatigue sets in, and many women experience symptoms such as weight gain, fatigue, insomnia, fuzzy thinking, depression, cravings and mood swings. Sustained high cortisol destroys healthy muscle and bone; slows down healing and normal cell replacement; depletes biochemicals needed to make other vital hormones; impairs digestion, metabolism and mental function; interferes with healthy endocrine function; and weakens your immune system. When the adrenals begin to produce steroids at some lower level, and the body is vulnerable to long term disease, since it cannot function properly with these lower levels of steroids. Once the adrenals become depleted, it can lead to adrenal exhaustion and much more serious health concerns.

Causes

In our society today, we have more stress than at any time in human history! Most women have to juggle family and career as well as many other responsibilities. They often eat poorly, give themselves no time to exercise, take no vitamins, and expose themselves to environmental toxins on a daily basis.

Adrenals are our "stress glands" and they also produce progesterone in our body. The adrenal glands produce several steroids, most of which deal with reactions to stress generally, and with the "fight or flight" responses. In very tiny amounts, the adrenal glands also produce all the sex hormones. Adrenal exhaustion is often a result of stress, vitamin C deficiency and natural progesterone deficiency.
Your over-burdened adrenal glands can rob your body of the building blocks it uses to make progesterone, estrogen and testosterone. Not only are the adrenals working overtime to deal with the stress, they also try, with little success, to make up for declining progesterone levels - until they literally tire themselves out. That's adrenal exhaustion. When you experience adrenal exhaustion, most of the progesterone produced by the adrenal glands is converted into the corticosteroid hormones.

Adrenal dysfunction may be a factor in many related conditions, including fibromyalgia, hypothyroidism, chronic fatigue syndrome, arthritis, premature menopause and others. It may also produce a host of other unpleasant symptoms, from acne to hair loss.

When natural progesterone production drops in the body, the normal conversion by the adrenal glands cannot happen. In addition, when the progesterone is depleted by dealing with the excess cortisol, this may immediately causes salt buildup, fluid retention, and hypoglycemia. Women in their 30’s and over are at risk. If you're female and in your 30's or older - you may now be running an estrogen surplus, which will trigger premenopause symptoms and early signs of menopause. You're also very likely to be entering into adrenal exhaustion, if you haven't already.

What are the symptoms of adrenal exhaustion?

Adrenal exhaustion will give you symptoms such as:
• Weight gain
• Blood sugar imbalances
• Thinning skin
• Muscle wasting
• Depression, fatigue
• Low blood pressure
• Allergies and asthma
• Inability to cope with stress
• Low metabolism
• Decreased thyroid function
• Irregular menstrual cycles
• Infertility
• Fibrocystic breasts
• Anovulatory periods
• Other signs of aging

Treatment

There are things women experiencing adrenal exhaustion can do to prevent or reverse the condition. Some simple solutions are:

Avoid environmental toxins.

One simple way to eliminate some toxins is to drink only filtered water, buy a good water filter or use bottled water. Most tap water has toxins (like PCB's), pesticides, heavy metals, floride and chlorine that should be avoided. Find out more about toxins and take the “Do I Need to De-Tox?” quiz in the Healthy Lifestyles section.

Use Natural Progesterone Cream.

Progesterone deficiency causes an abundance of symptoms and suffering in women. Natural progesterone will support your adrenal hormone production and can help eliminate your menopausal and adrenal exhaustion symptoms.

Manage your stress.

There is no way to escape stress in our lives, but we can create a plan to help us manage the stress we experience. Begin by taking a look at your schedule. Are there things you could eliminate? Work in time to remove yourself from stress and exercise, meditate or participate in an activity you enjoy. For more information, check out the Healthy Lifestyle section.