Adrenal Fatigue: Is it Real? Here's How To Know If You Have It

If you have been experiencing weird symptoms like salty food cravings, fatigue, or irritability, it is believed to be a sign of a condition called ‘Adrenal Fatigue’. Despite being very common symptoms, doctors often find it challenging to come up with a diagnosis since a lot of medical conditions could cause fatigue and other symptoms.

While they all engage in detective work, obtaining a medical history, doing a physical exam, and ordering blood tests, they found the results to be yielding no proper explanations. During such cases, it can be frustrating for both the patients as well as the clinicians when a clear-cut diagnosis remains elusive. An attractive theory called ‘adrenal fatigue’ is believed to be a possible cause of such symptoms.

‘Adrenal Fatigue’ aka ‘Hypoadrenia’ is believed to be a health condition that involves chronic fatigue arising from a failure of the adrenal glands to generate a sufficient amount of the hormone glucocorticoid cortisol. A chiropractor and naturopath Dr. James Wilson coined the term ‘Adrenal Fatigue’ in the year 1998.

Here’s a list of symptoms presumed to indicate ‘Adrenal Fatigue’:

• Sweet/Salty Food cravings
• Impaired immunity
• Trouble getting to sleep & waking up
• Premenstrual syndrome
• Unexplained weight loss
• Extremely low appetite
• Relying on stimulants like caffeine
• Excessive hunger
• Arthritis aches
• Repeated episodes of cold & flu
• Hot flashes
• Sensitivity to cold or light
• Delay in recovery from physical activities and injuries
• Nonspecific Gastrointestinal issues
• Fear
• Anxiety
• Panic attacks
• Worry
• Brain fogginess
• Weak memory
• Irritability
• Lack of concentration
• Depression
• Inability to cope with everyday stress
• Poor memory

While all of these symptoms are relatively generic, it could indeed indicate some kind of illness. While most of them could also be because of nothing more than a busy life and a lack of sleep, caffeine addiction, poor nutrition or elevated stress levels.

The theory of ‘adrenal fatigue’ is that your adrenal glands that get activated during stress are overworked and those who believe that the condition is real, long-term stress can make the glands to get fatigued and fail to keep up with the body’s demands.

Also, a recent review of 58 studies has reported that there is no scientific basis to link adrenal impairment as a cause of fatigue and other symptoms. They also reported that the cortisol levels were no different between a fatigued individual and a healthy one. There isn’t yet a formal criterion to define or diagnose adrenal fatigue.

If you experience any of the above-mentioned symptoms, it is best to get thoroughly evaluated by a doctor. The path to feeling better might just be in the vicinity. Therefore, before you think about purchasing expensive protocols from the internet, start analyzing your lifestyle and make healthy choices.