Are you constantly feeling tired, stressed or fatigued? Or suffer from inflammation, insomnia or anxiety? If so your little adrenal glands are constantly having to work overtime and your cortisol levels are likely unhealthily elevated. Cortisol is a stress hormone that your body secretes to help your organs function optimally, quickly, and more effectively during periods of stress. This is part of that "fight or flight" response where when stressed, your body thinks it needs to crank up the function of all parts to get you out of danger, including your heart rate to get you out of trouble fast.
This worked great when we used to have to run away from predators while out hunting, but, unlike our ancestors, we don't need to run away from lions anymore. However, our bodies continue to have this response when we are anxious or stressed. Over time, this takes a toll on our body and especially our adrenal glands.
Nowadays, we are more likely to be running away from office meetings or stressful exams more than a lion. Regardless of the stressor, we still respond just as our ancestors needed to when running away from the predator.
The cortisol response was meant for short term bouts of stress. Unfortunately, our modern day lives seem to be fraught with constant low level stressors that cause long term cortisol secretion
If your level of cortisol is always relatively elevated because you are always stressed about life events or if you are just overall anxious all the time, our adrenals (which produce cortisol) may become fatigued. Issues like hair loss, increased inflammation, insomnia, more anxiety, fatigue, and chronic aches and pains are related to adrenal fatigue. Worsening weight gain, hot flashes and thyroid dysfunction can also be linked to adrenal fatigue.
With this in mind, if you are concerned about your adrenal function, ask Dr. Dubrul for a free 15-minute Adrenal Stress Test to see if your function has diminished. Generally, if you are constantly feeling stressed or fatigued, you can be sure that your adrenals are having to work overtime and your cortisol level is likely unhealthily elevated.
My main suggestion is to intentionally implement stress management techniques into your daily schedule. Some common options I generally suggest for my patients are exercise, taking time to listen to music, playing with your favorite pet, or talking to loved ones. I also recommend that you eat smaller meals more frequently in order to avoid the blood sugar rollercoaster and consequently stress your adrenal glands further. For further suggestions on how to return your cortisol levels to normal and give your adrenals a break, ask Dr. Dubrul for a free 15-minute Adrenal Stress Test on your next visit or take home an Adrenal Stress Index® (Saliva Based Hormone test from Diagnostics) today.