ADRENAL FATIGUE-part1

One of the most common complaints of adult patients in our clinic is – Fatigue and Lethargy. Adrenal fatigue has a broad spectrum of non-specific yet often debilitating symptoms. The onset of this disease is often slow and insidious. The truth is that Stress and Adrenal Fatigue is not a mysterious entity at all. Our body has a built-in mechanism to deal with it. Being able to handle stress is a key to survival, and the control center in our bodies is the adrenal glands. When our adrenal glands become fatigue and unable to handle stress, dysfunctional physiological symptomatology sets in.

Despite effective diagnostic tools and treatment programs, most conventional physicians were simply not informed of adrenal fatigue and not prepared to treat adrenal fatigue as a serious threat to health. This condition was seldom diagnosed as a sickness for the past 50 years. Instead, adrenal fatigue was considered as a condition whereby no treatment was available other than to tell the patient to "relax". This dilemma in diagnosis is mainly due to the fact that laboratory tests were unable to detect any abnormality, until recently. Today, adrenal fatigue could be accurately diagnosed, overcome and treated properly.
Adrenal fatigue should not be confused with another medical condition called Addison's disease where the adrenal glands are not functioning. While Addison's disease is often caused by auto-immune dysfunction, Adrenal Fatigue is largely caused by stress. Adrenal fatigue is the non-Addison's form of adrenal dysfunction.

Signs and Symptoms of Adrenal Fatigue
· Fatigue
· Feeling tired despite sufficient hours of sleep
· Insomnia
· Weight gain
· Depression
· Hair loss
· Acne
· Reliance on stimulants like caffeine
· Cravings for carbohydrates or sugars & meat and cheese
· Cravings for salt
· Poor immune functions
· Increase symptoms of PMS for women; period are heavy and then stop, or almost stopped on the 4th day, only to start flow again on the 5th or 6th day.
· Pain in the upper back or neck with no apparent reasons.
· Feels better when stress is relieved, such as on a vacation.
· Difficulties in getting up in the morning
· Light-headedness.
Other signs and symptoms include:

· Mild depression
· Food and or inhalant allergies
· Lethargy and lack of energy
· Increased effort to perform daily tasks
· Decreased ability to handle stress
· Dry and thin skin
· Hypoglycemia
· Low Body Temperature
· Nervousness
· Palpitation
· Unexplained hair loss
· Alternating constipation and diarrhea
· Dyspepsia
Related conditions
Adrenal fatigue is a likely factor in several medical conditions such as the following:
· Hypotension
· Fibromyalgia
· Hypothyroidism
· Chronic fatigue syndrome
· Arthritis
· Premature menopause
None of the signs or symptoms by itself can definitively diagnose adrenal fatigue. When taken as a group, these signs and symptoms do form a specific adrenal fatigue syndrome or picture - that is of a person under stress. These signs and symptoms are often the end result of acute severe or chronic excessive stress and the inability of the body to reduce such stress. The ability to handle stress, physical or emotional, is a cornerstone to human survival. Our body has a complete set of stress modulation system in place, and the control center is the adrenal glands. When this gland becomes dysfunctional, our body's ability to handle stress reduces, and symptoms will arise, and the result is adrenal fatigue.