By Chad FaulknerAsking your doctor if its ok to help test your adrenal glands may result in some clinical confusion. In a world full of diagnosis and clinical testing, this is one test your doctor may not perform routinely. Luckily knowing the basic functions of your glands will give you the power to re-balance them and get you back to well again.
The adrenal glands are two glandular organs in the back of your back that control vital functions of your nervous system. They have 4 primary roles when it comes to regulating your nervous system. The adrenal glands produce hormones that control fight or flight, blood flow, natural pain control, and your body's sex hormones. Your adrenal health is directly related to how you feel.
The first hormone that is produced is adrenaline. Adrenaline is your bodies fight or flight hormone. This is the hormone that is produced when your body needs power and energy quickly. It's produced in response to stress, and what commonly has been known as super energy. Many reports of mothers being able to lift a car off of their child, or perform super strength endeavors are attributed to adrenaline. Too much adrenaline over time can cause the body to have headaches, nervousness, excessive sweating. heart palpitations, and anxiety.
The second hormone is nor-epinephrine, which causes massive amounts of blood flow to go from the central area of the body to the periphery. In other words, if a person were running from a tiger why would they need to digest a taco? So the blood goes to the muscles in response to its need to send blood to the area that it needs-the muscles. The over production of nor-epinephrine has been shown to correlate with depression.
The third hormone is cortisol. Cortisol is supplied to the body to help the individual deal with pain during the flight or flight time. Like cortisone, its source pushes out this hormone to allow you to undergo the feat that you are going to perform, and not feel the pain from it. The side effect of prolonged excretion can cause the body to hold onto weight and the individual can begin to pick up unnecessary weight. Cortisone patients are widely known to be "puffy" while under the drug and weight gain is a major side effect.
The fourth hormone produced is DHEA, which is the precursor for hormones such as testosterone, estrogen, and progesterone. Imbalances in this hormone cause moodiness, irritability, strength loss, increased hair loss, decreased sexual drive and libido.
Not surprisingly, the etiology of most all health problems are caused by stress. This prolonged stress causes the adrenal glands to go into exhaustion. The body must return to a homeostasis, and if not the body will suffer. Prolonged periods of adrenal fatigue will result in symptoms commonly known as adrenal fatigue syndrome.
The adrenals at this point can be exhausted to the point that their function is slowed down. They come to a halt, and a person typically will begin to rely or even crave stimulants such as coffee, tea, energy drinks, and sugar. The upside potential of caring for adrenal health is that a person can reverse all of the symptoms associated with chronic fatigue syndrome.
A comprehensive review by a licensed wellness doctor who is trained in this will assist you in getting your health back to normal. Often times there are many disciplines within each profession and they focus on different specialties of healing to achieve desired goals. It would be important to ask the following questions to your wellness doctor.
1. Can you explain how the adrenal glands can be tested in your office?
2. Do you prescribe a high quality nutritional supplement for the management of adrenal gland health?
3. Have you had other successful outcomes in the past when dealing with this problem?
Chad Faulkner, D.C. at http://oktohelp.com writes this article
Chad Faulkner, D.C. http://www.oktohelp.com
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By Gerrard MackenzieIf you become attacked by adrenal fatigue symptoms, all aspects of your being would likely manifest this. You could experience terrible, crushing exhaustions and sexual difficulties and its effect could clutch you up in a real stubborn grip. These feelings could be very overwhelming.
However, once you work out things in order to heal even one aspect of your being, as properly as possible, this is when rays of hope would start to shine on you. Other parts affected by adrenal fatigue symptoms in your being will begin to recover along with the ultimate one you are trying to heal.
Symptoms of adrenal fatigue are characterized in five most important areas of your life. Here you will discover the various adrenal fatigue symptoms in the different aspects of your life and the steps on how you can relieve yourself of them.
1. Mentally - the feeling of being brain dead is the most common complaint by sufferers of adrenal fatigue. The mind becomes not as sharp as we expect it to be, focus and concentration fades into oblivion, and memory is badly challenged. This is mental exhaustion at its fullest and is brought about by excessive stress.
Remember to stock up on vitamins and minerals that heavily maintain brain function. Folic acid, Vitamin C, B-complex, E and calcium all helps in sustaining the brain's regular function. It also helps a lot to practice relaxation techniques like meditation. This could assist in sharpening our mental edges.
2. Physically - adrenal fatigue's physical symptoms are manifested by exhaustion that cannot be easily relieved even after rest, lethargy, food cravings and longer recovery period after sickness.
Healing can begin if we start strengthening our vital body functions, especially the adrenal glands. Eating healthy, taking vitamin and mineral supplements, especially Vitamin B complex, C and fish oil, can help build up physical strength. Light exercise, rest and relaxation, adrenal glandular supplementation and DHEA all help in building our physical self back up.
3. Emotionally - among the adrenal fatigue symptoms in this aspect of our being are low self-esteem, denials and depression. Positive feelings can surely be revived by rebuilding our self-confidence, relieving ourselves from depressing thoughts and dealing with negative emotions.
4. Sexually - a relationship can have tremendous tension if one of the parties starts to become disinterested in sex. The adrenal glands' imbalanced production of DHEA and cortisol brings about a hormonal dysfunction manifested by lack of sexual drive. The overall exhaustion being felt by a person extinguishes sexual fires.
The steps to build up physically will help in increasing the sexual drive. Being honest and talking it out can help much to make the healing process come out positively.
5. Spiritually - all of the adrenal fatigue symptoms mentioned here serve to deaden a person's spirit. It could all culminate into feelings of being overtaken, fragmented and out of control
Balance, peace and courage can be achieved by establishing prayer, yoga or meditation routines to combat these spiritual fatigue symptoms.
Gerrard Mackenzie is the author of the ebook Supercharge Your Sleep and Special Sleep Report which taught thousands of the stressed-out, tired and overworked how to overcome their sleeping difficulties and get a better night's rest. He currently blogs over at Supercharge Your sleep Blog
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By Gerry GenevaMeet Your Adrenal Glands
Our adrenal glands are considered to be very important parts of the body. This is mainly because they are the ones responsible for producing the right hormones that facilitate the right processes in our body. However, it seems as if not too many people really understand how these organs function and how they are able to contribute to make our body respond much better to changes in the environment.
What are the Adrenal Glands?
Our adrenal glands are actually found just on top of our kidney. To begin with, there are two important regions that comprise the adrenal glands: adrenal cortex and adrenal medulla. Each of these parts function accordingly. Our adrenal glands work closely with the pituitary gland and the hypothalamus so that it can regulate the many different processes happening within the body.
The Adrenal Cortex
The adrenal cortex is mainly responsible for regulating the cholesterol content of the body's system. It is also responsible for secreting certain types of hormones that regulate the body's metabolic rate. It is the one which secretes corticosteroids just about directly into a person's bloodstream. The adrenal cortex also releases aldosterone hormone as well as the androgenic steroids.
The Adrenal Medulla
This is the inner part of the adrenal gland and is mainly responsible for releasing hormones that are important in helping the body cope up with regularly stressful activities like engaging in exercise. By secreting the necessary hormones, the blood vessels around the heart's area dilate accordingly to help keep up with the activity so that the release of blood and oxygen along the veins remain normal.
To be able to do these processes, the adrenal medulla secretes epinephrine and norepinephrine. The former is responsible for aiding the heart's output when the person engages in stressful conditions such as exercise. It causes fatty acids to be released and the vessels to dilate. On the other hand, the latter causes the blood vessels to narrow and lead the blood pressure to become lower.
It's also good to note that it is the adrenal medulla which is mainly responsible for allowing the body to have a fight or flight response within its surroundings.
Gerry Geneva is a personal energy coach and expert. He specializes in beating adrenal fatigue through energy management techniques, proper adrenal fatigue diets and adrenal fatigue supplements.
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By Gerry GenevaPeople these days have started to be more aware of the importance of hormones, more than ever. This is especially true for people engaged in an active lifestyle or are into bodybuilding. It may also be a concern for people with chronic illnesses or disorders who need to regulate their hormones in order to be able to function well and healthily on a daily basis. A currently popular choice these days for regulating hormones is the use of cortisol and/or adrenal cell extracts. It is important to note that these two things are different from each other.
For one, adrenal cell extracts (sometimes called adrenal cortical extracts) are mainly produced to be able to rebuild the adrenal cells. It has also been processed in such a way that adrenal hormones are for the most part removed. The main function of adrenal cell extracts is to rebuild, support, fortify, and restore your adrenals. These cell extracts are generally made from sheep, cow, or pig adrenal cortex that have been ground up. They come in either liquid or powder form. They are not replacement hormones but are there to help enhance adrenal recovery. These adrenal extracts are not new and have been used in treating adrenal fatigue and other adrenal disorders for many years.
On the other hand, cortisol or any of other cortisol steroid (prednisonlone, prednisone, cortisone, etc) operate by means of reducing or shutting down the activity of the adrenal glands. This is made possible because the use of cortisol triggers the brain to sense that there is ACTH present and then withhold additional production of it. In doing so, the adrenal glands cease to produce more adrenal hormones.
Cortisol treatment has been linked with viable results, but there are also some heavy side effects to be considered. There have been many incidences of people "crashing" once they decide to stop taking cortisol. Because of this, it can be a slow process to eventually get off the cortisol. Patients have noted that upon getting off cortisol treatment, symptoms can return even worse than before.
Although patients usually experience more dramatic results initially with cortisol, it does come at a price. Because of the side effects, cortisol supplementation is generally only prescribed in extreme cases. Meanwhile, adrenal cell extracts are deemed more natural because they still allow for the normal release of adrenal hormones, only that it regulates the dosage. The latter allows the adrenal glands to recover its healthy function while supporting and rebuilding them.
Gerry Geneva is a personal energy coach and expert. He specializes in beating adrenal fatiguethrough energy management techniques, proper nutrition and adrenal fatigue supplements.
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By Katherine SeawoodRecurrent nightmares can be exhausting and a cause for anxiety for anyone. They can lead to anxiety about sleeping, if the person avoids of falling asleep for fear of having nightmares. Luckily, if the cause of the nightmares is adrenal fatigue, the patient can do a few things to avoid having scary dreams.
The adrenal glands release cortisol, which also controls and triggers other hormone-secreting organs. When the adrenals become fatigued, the adrenal fatigue causes a number of hormonal issues. Because the pancreas releases insulin in accordance with demands from the cortisol, the body begins to suffer from blood sugar fluctuations.
The brain uses sugar for energy, and requires an optimum blood sugar level to work properly. When the pancreas releases a flood of insulin, this causes hypoglycemia (low blood sugar). The entire body reacts to this low blood sugar -- the heart races, blood pressure drops, and your brain does not function properly. During the waking hours, these symptoms are easy to recognize in the form of rapid heart rate, feeling faint, and having foggy though processes. When these symptoms occur when the person is asleep, however, the person isn't able to recognize the symptoms.
When hypoglycemia occurs while a person is asleep, the brain often reacts with strange and scary dreams. You can determine if your nightmares were caused by hypoglycemia if you wake feeling weak, tired, and with a headache. Often times, you'll also feel very hungry immediately upon waking from having nightmares. This is your body's way of trying to covey a need for fuel (food).
In order to alleviate nightmares caused by the hypoglycemia related to adrenal fatigue, you can take a few precautions prior to going to bed.
Remember that your body is experiencing hypoglycemia because your blood sugar is low. Remember, too, that people who suffer from adrenal fatigue have diet restrictions that they need to abide by. For these reasons, you need to have a bedtime snack that you eat an hour at most before you go to bed. Combine a small amount of natural sugar --such as a piece of fruit-- with some protein and saturated fat. (Keep in mind that there are certain fruits that those with adrenal fatigue should avoid.)
Eating a bedtime snack will keep your blood sugar at safer levels, and will help you avoid the nightmares that your fatigued adrenals have been causing.
Katherine Seawood has extensively studied adrenal fatigue, after learning she has the condition. After treating and curing her own adrenal fatigue, she created a free adrenal fatigue informational site, which she updates regularly. You can view some of her articles athttp://www.aboutadrenalfatigue.com
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By Caroline SelfeCommitting to an adrenal fatigue treatment plan is critical to recovering from stress overload. Putting the pieces of your health puzzle together requires comprehensive action. Sticking with adrenal fatigue treatment can be a daunting task but the rewards are a joyful, healthy and purposeful life.
The cause of adrenal fatigue is unrelenting stress that exhausts our adrenal system. The heavy fatigue that follows cannot be escaped unless healthy measures are taken.
A holistic adrenal fatigue treatment is the key to restoring your vitality. Pull together the fragmented parts of your being and you will become whole again. You need to heal the four areas of stress that leads to adrenal fatigue syndrome.
1) Physical stress - Fast, junk and processed food, sugar, caffeine are all physically taxing. Give your body nourishment through proper foods, supplements and exercise.
2) Mental stress - Negative thoughts cause tension, anxiety and fear. Transform your thoughts by focusing on the affirmative.
3) Emotional stress - Toxic emotions from trauma, baggage or past lives can lead to destructive behavior. Heal the wounds and you will gain energy.
4) Spiritual stress - Creativity and enjoyment easily fall by the wayside in this fast-paced world. Slow down and remember what it was like to have fun. Then go play!
Adrenal fatigue treatment should not be looked at as punishment. You should think of it as a gift to yourself. You should do it to improve your health, relationships, self-esteem, future and productivity. The steps you take to improve your health will skyrocket your self-esteem. This in turn will make your whole view of the world and the people in it much more positive.
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Learn more treatment options by clicking here: Adrenal Fatigue Treatment
Caroline Selfe has been a passionate seeker of natural and holistic stress relief methods for the past 25 years.
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By Angie LindseyDo you ever wonder when you actually should take a test to check for your adrenal insufficiency? This article will a little bit give you ideas about signs and symptoms of adrenal insufficiency which indicate what tests you may take to check your adrenal and hormones problems. The information contained here is based on my friend's experience, Tracy.
So Tracy had her adrenals and hormones tested. Her adrenals are overworked due to her immune system being suppressed. There are symptoms that have led her to take the tests. The tests and symptoms are mentioned below.
The adrenal insufficiency showed up on both blood and salivary tests for her. The blood tests she had done included TSH, Free T4, Total T3, DHEA-S, Free Testosterone, Cortrosyn baseline (or stimulation if you can find someone to do it), Somatomeden C, LH, FSH, Prolactin and Estradoil.
The salivary test kit was from BioHealth Diagnostics (BHD #800, panal #205 - Functional adrenal stress profile IV) and was processed by Medical Clinical Labs in Santa Monica Ca. The test results for the salivary test took 6 weeks to get back.
Hers symptoms included weight loss, hair loss, fatigue, food sensitivities, chilliness, low blood pressure, low body temperature, abdominal pain, sweet cravings, some alteration in bowel movements, weakness to name a few.
She has been suspecting adrenal fatigue due to having a stressful pregnancy with twins, having the tubal right afterward and getting a lot of steroid shots to boost the babies' lung development before they were born.
So, If you get the blood tests make sure your doctor interprets the result for your age and for where you are at in your cycle - i.e. the normal range for DHEA is 12-379, hers was 19 and technically within normal range until she learned that normal for her age is 150 and 19 would be normal for an 80 year old woman. That's why she always feels terrible.
Do you find the article above useful? If you need more information about the tests, I recommend a report on cure candida project website. (http://curecandidaproject.com)
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By George BestMost people know that exercise is an important factor in natural weight loss, but the wrong kind of exercise for certain people may actually be preventing them from losing fat! People who carry most of their excess weight in the lower abdomen in the form of the pendulous sagging fat deposit below the waistline can exercise too much and/or too hard and actually interfere with their ability to lose weight.
The adrenals are small glands that sit on top of the kidneys ("adrenal" translates to "on top of the kidney"). although they are small, the adrenal glands are powerful organs and produce hormones involved in many functions. The most familiar of the adrenal horomones is probably adrenaline (also called epinephrine). You may already be familiar with the function of adrenaline, which mobilizes the body for action by increasing heart rate, elevating blood pressure and respiration, and by increasing circulation to the body's muscles. Adrenaline also promotes the burning of fat for energy, so adrenal function can promote weight loss during short periods of physical or even emotional stress.
The adrenal glands produce another hormone that can promote weight gain though. This hormone is called cortisol, and it tends to cause the storage of fat in the lower abdomen. Unlike adrenaline which is produced for only short periods of time, the adrenal glands can produce cortisol long-term. This means that any fat-burning effects from adrenaline will be overcome in the long-run by the fat-storing effects of cortisol. From a survival standpoint, cortisol serves the purpose of providing emergency storage of fat for energy when the body is under stress for a long period of time. This storage of fat in the lower abdomen will provide energy and keep a person alive if he or she must endure long periods living under harsh and physically demanding conditions. The problem is, mental/emotional stress will elevate cortisol levels too, and for individuals who lead particularly stressful lives, the continued high cortisol levels will likely stimulate lower belly fat deposition.
So what does this have to do with exercise? For an individual who is under constant, long-term mental stress, the adrenal glands are always being overtaxed, so that person's cortisol levels are already elevated and their adrenaline has been long since used up for the most part. If you add a lot of strenuous exercise into the mix, the result is more cortisol production. As the cortisol levels increase, there is a greater and greater tendency to store fat in the lower abdomen.
Many people in this situation who are determined to lose weight will see their inability to lose weight as an indication that they need to exercise harder and more often. These people may be able to continue to lose weight in general, because if you are burning more calories than you take in, you will lose weight, but they never are able to eliminate that lower belly fat. So they work out even harder, but the belly fat remains - and they become more and more fatigued and actually begin to lose strength in the muscles of the arms and legs.
Why would someone lose strength in the muscles in the arms and legs? Isn't exercise supposed to build muscle? Well, cortisol not only stores fat in the lower abdomen, it also stimulates the breakdown of muscle and other tissue to use for immediate energy needs. As one struggles to work out harder and harder trying to get rid of the belly fat, more and more cortisol is released, and the body responds by breaking down it's own muscle and lean tissues for fuel - meaning you lose weight but not fat!
The result is a downward spiral of fatigue, loss of muscle mass and strength, and sometimes the development of joint problems as the body eats it's own tissues for energy - but there's no reduction in that lower abdomen fat deposit that the body holds in reserve.
So what should a person with this problem do to lose that lower stomach "pooch"? Well, first of all it is important to figure out if you actually fall into this category, because with the exception of someone who has high cortisol production and overworked adrenals, vigorous exercise is still one of the most effective weight loss measures one can take.
Someone with a high cortisol problem will have a certain collection of signs and symptoms. First, as we've mentioned several times already, the excess weight is deposited almost exclusively in the lower abdomen. The weight would create a sagging area just below the waistline. As we've discussed, muscle loss may occur in the arms and legs, which may be visibly obvious, or may be noticed as a difficulty in building strength and endurance in the muscles. In addition, people with adrenal fatigue and high cortisol may have a collection of symptoms that could include chronic fatigue, cravings for salty foods, a need for caffeine or other stimulants just to stay awake during the day, swelling in the lower legs, dizziness when arising quickly from a seated position, numerous arthritic problems, cramps in the calves at night, and waking up frequently in the middle of the night.
If you do fall into this category of adrenal fatigue / high cortisol, exercise is still important, but you want the kind of exercise that helps you to handle stress, not exercise that creates additional stress. For someone with overworked adrenals, the best type of exercise is relatively low-intensity aerobic exercise for 30 to 60 minutes about 3 times per week. Aerobic exercise is activity you are able to do without becoming out of breath and without being totally exhausted afterwards. Among the options for this type of exercise are walking, bicycling, swimming, yoga, tai chi, and low-intensity aerobics. Exercising outdoors seems to be particularly beneficial for stress reduction, and subsequently cortisol reduction, at least when there are no extremes of temperature to deal with. Besides changing to a lighter form of exercise, nutritionally it is helpful to be careful to eat plenty of protein in order to spare muscle tissue. This is easily accomplished by most people, but if you've been drastically cutting calories to lose weight, you are probably actually working against yourself. Just 3 to 4 ounces of meat, fish, eggs, or dairy three times per day is sufficient to spare your muscle. If you are a vegan, just make sure to eat plenty of beans, nuts, seeds, and other high-protein foods. If you've been working out like crazy to try to get rid of that belly fat, but all you've managed to accomplish was feeling tired, weak, and sore, by reducing the intensity of your workouts and controlling stress better, you'll likely find that the belly fat gradually shrinks away and you'll look and feel great!
Dr. George Best writes extensively on natural weight loss and is a practicing holistic healthcae provider in San Antonio, Texas. In addition, he is a consultant to MyFoodWithThought.com, a service that provides custom recipes and eating healthy meal plans for weight loss and other special dietary needs.
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By Kelly A McCaffreyLearning how to treat your adrenal fatigue is as easy as making sure that you take regular breaks throughout the day, e.g.; 10am and then anytime from 3-5pm.
To treat adrenal fatigue makes sure that you don't skip breakfast or any other meal during the day. When you're hungry, your blood sugar drops, causing stress to your adrenal glands and these trigger your sympathetic nervous system, creating dizziness, cravings, anxiety and of course fatigue.
Missing the important first meal of the day breakfast will only result in weight gain, but if you stick to grazing healthfully every two to four hours, your blood sugar will remain steady throughout the day, giving you more energy.
Eat protein with every meal as well as complex carbohydrates such as; brown rice, eliminating processed sugar, junk food, pasta, white rice and white bread.
Avoid caffeine, energy drinks & high sugar drinks, as these will over stimulate your adrenals, depleting your body's vitamin B.
Learn to relax, by either exercising, yoga, deep breathing or some form of meditation. Make sure you don't do any vigorous exercising as this only depletes the adrenals.
Avoid Alcohol, smoking and processed foods. The nicotine in the tobacco causes the cortisol levels to rise and overuse may result in low DHEA, testosterone and progesterone levels.
Reduce stress; learn techniques that will help you better cope with stressful situations, such as deep breathing causing muscle relaxation and/or visualization.
In addition, those suffering from adrenal fatigue can also include nutritional supplementation into their diet as this may add additional benefits to the adrenal fatigue symptoms.
There are also great herbal remedies that can add as an alternative therapy in treating adrenal fatigue, and these can include liquorice, ashwagandha, maca, Siberian ginseng and Korean ginseng. With those deciding to consume liquorice, to only eat a small quantity at a time, as it can increase blood pressure. If you are also suffering from hypertension or renal failure then you shouldn't consume liquorice.
Always make sure to check with your doctor before deciding on any of these herbal remedies.
If you recently experienced major stress in your life, be it, work stress, illness, family life and have you felt as though you just can't seem to get yourself together?
Are you unusually tired when you wake up, but still feeling 'grey' when it's time for bed? If so, then you, like many others may be experiencing symptoms of Adrenal Fatigue.
learn the simple steps you can now begin to use in overcoming this adrenal fatigue by first learning to cope with everyday stress then visit http://www.how-to-cure-adrenal-fatigue.com and start living again!
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