Adrenal Fatigue

    Holistic Approach to Adrenal Fatigue

    Adrenal Fatigue Lancaster PA, involves a comprehensive approach to supporting your adrenals.  Overall, most women experience some sort of symptoms related to the adrenals.  Most conventional doctors do not even test adrenal function.  If anything they only test morning cortisol. For example, symptoms could include:

    • fatigue
    • difficulty losing weight no matter what you do
    • body swelling
    • mood changes
    • PMS
    • irregular periods
    • skin conditions
    • bloating
    • brain fog
    • sinus issues
    • joint and/or muscle pains
    • difficulty handling any kind of stress
    • digestive issues
    • hair loss
    • weak immune system

    Likewise, men can experience some of these symptoms as well.  Certainly, the conventional model for treating adrenal symptoms are anxiety medications or antidepressants.  However, many are looking for more natural ways to support the adrenals. Therefore, you can significantly reduce your symptoms with a holistic approach.

    Stages of Adrenal Fatigue

    Stage 1: Start Alarm Phase

    In the start of the alarm phase, the adrenals are working to meet the challenges of the increased stress your body is experiencing.  It works to increase cortisol levels in the body, so oftentimes people experience a hyper alertness in the body, increased heart palpitations, sweating, and difficulty sleeping at night.  People often describe this phase as being wired most times.

    Stage 2: Continue Alarm Phase

    In this stage, as the adrenals continue to keep up with the cortisol levels that the body requires to manage the chronic stress, other hormones start to suffer as all the raw materials for hormones are shifted to cortisol, and none are left for thyroid or sex hormones.  People often describe this phase as being wired sometimes, and tired at other times, especially the afternoon slump or evening crash.  Many turn to coffee to keep their energy levels up when they need to perform.

    Stage 3: Resistance Phase

    In this stage, the reserves of thyroid hormones and sex hormones become depleted, and one starts to feel chronically fatigued and experience lack of motivation, weak immune system, and low libido.  At this stage, one cannot go without coffee in order to function throughout the day.  This phase can continue for months or even years.

    Stage 4: Burnout Phase

    In this stage, all hormones in the body are depleted, and the body is no longer able to continue to function normally.  The body starts to rebel, shutting down systems, and symptoms are so severe that normal simple daily tasks feel like a marathon.  Your body forces you to physically take breaks after normal tasks.  You may even experience periods of being confined to your bed, without any energy to do simple things such as eat or exercise.

    Testing to optimize adrenal function

    Consequently, there are so many factors to supporting the adrenals.  Because of this, the clinic recommends testing to determine where to put your focus.  For example, comprehensive blood testing can assess thyroid, reproductive hormones (estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, DHEA), insulin resistance, nutrient deficiencies, and immune status.  Most importantly, the adrenals and thyroid work closely together.  Thus, it is critical to assess both to determine how much your thyroid is causing adrenal fatigue.  On the other hand, conventional testing usually only tests TSH, but other tests include free T3, free T4, thyroglobulin and thyroid peroxidase antibodies (optional reverse T3).  Most importantly, the best test to assess adrenal function is urine hormone testing (DUTCH) to determine exactly which phase of adrenal fatigue you fall under.

    Adrenal Fatigue Lancaster PA

    Holistic Adrenal Fatigue Approach Lancaster PA

    Overall, adrenal support requires a personalized approach. Thus, this involves a comprehensive analysis of many factors that affect the adrenals.  That way, this gets to the root of the problem. As a result, you do not waste time on trial-and-error approaches. Overall, whether you’ve chosen to undergo traditional approaches or are looking for alternatives, you can benefit from a holistic approach to understand how your body functions.

    Adrenal Factors we evaluate to develop a customized plan:

    Foods that Affect Adrenals. Firstly, we may be familiar with certain foods that are more inflammatory for the body.  Secondly, we may not be aware that there are specific foods that can also affect the adrenals without causing immediate reactions.

    Vitamins, Minerals, Herbs depending on test results or symptoms experiencing. Above all, nutrition is prioritized for a basic foundation.  However, natural supplements specific for the adrenal are available too.

    Reduce Toxin Exposure.  The liver processes all of our hormones.  Therefore, it affects adrenal hormones when it is overloaded with toxins.

    Organ System Assessment. Evaluate bowels, liver, kidneys, lymphatic system, and circulation imbalances with acupuncture.  Thus, we can improve the functioning of your adrenals.

    Immune System Function. Frequent infections can weaken your adrenals, which is critical for immune function.  Therefore, you can do blood testing for immune system status.

    Stress. Learn stress management techniques to incorporate regularly.   That way, more resources are dedicated to adrenal hormone production versus stress hormone production.

    Discover your personalized plan to overcome your adrenal fatigue in Lancaster, PA.