I have heard more than one person/patient tell me "my energy has not been the same since I had children" or "my ability to work out has greatly diminished since I trained for the race" or "I don't seem to recover like I used to from bouts of working late", "I get sick more frequently", "I don't sleep well.". These are classic cases of adrenal burnout. When you are pushing yourself either physically or mentally, you are exposing your body and adrenal glands to a steady supply of stress. If you are at all adrenally fatigued, you pump out just enough cortisol to keep on going. Once the stressor is taken away, the adrenal glands finally have a chance to chill out, and the individual crashes; the adrenal gland function plummets and the symptoms of adrenal fatigue emerge.

You probably have a colleague who gets sick every time he takes a vacation, or know a student who gets a URI on every school break. Once the perceived stressor is eliminated the cortisol output is diminished. It is postulated that this is mediated by a decreased response from the hypothalamus in the HPA axis or perhaps a result of other hormone mediated stimuli to the HPA axis. The exact cause is still being explored. What we do know is that the way an individual responds to stress depends on many things: genetics, lifestyle, neonatal environment, previous experiences etc.

Clinically, we see these different responses in the many faces of adrenal fatigue. Some people might be pushing themselves to constantly do more and work harder, and some might be sleeping more than usual and retreating from normal activities. Individuals will have their own responses.

Measuring cortisol levels is the first step at successful treatment of adrenal dysfunction. Both high and low cortisol levels are associated with adrenal burnout, so observing patient's diurnal cortisol pattern is the key to accurate diagnosis. ZRT's saliva test offers four times a day sampling. Once adrenal dysfunction is apparent, good sleep habits, proper nutrition for the adrenal gland, healthy diet, decrease stress and gentle exercise are recommended.

by Elise Schroeder