Hello!

I wanted to share about a topic that I have personally dealt with in my own health journey and that is the cluster of symptoms commonly referred to as “adrenal fatigue.” For the longest time and even to this day, many medical practitioners thought the only issue someone could have with their adrenal glands was Cushing’s disease and so adrenal fatigue was not recognized (and is still not considered an official diagnosis). Because adrenal fatigue is not a disease, but rather a bodily adaptation that happens in the face of chronic stress, it is not always readily recognized but is a very real phenomenon for a lot of people. I specifically noticed these symptoms in myself after college when I was working very long hours, struggling with insomnia but exhausted (“tired but wired”), experiencing memory issues and brain fog, and drinking excessive amounts of caffeine just to keep me going!

Let me first explain a bit of how our adrenal glands and the cortisol hormone are meant to healthily function in the body! Our adrenal glands are located right over our kidneys and secrete the cortisol hormone. Our adrenals get a signal from our pituitary gland to release cortisol when we wake up, when we exercise, and when we face stress (physical or psychological). While cortisol gets a really bad rap, it is actually an ESSENTIAL hormone in our body. When it is at healthy levels in our bodies, it has anti-inflammatory, energy-boosting effects and helps metabolize glucose and maintain blood pressure!

As we know, our bodies are very good at adapting to changes and becoming efficient if certain changes are too metabolically expensive to keep up! What commonly occurs with adrenal fatigue is that what often starts as a high cortisol response to life stressors turns into adrenals having to do so much cortisol output that they adapt their response and actually end up bottoming out their cortisol release. Therefore, in adrenal fatigue, even though stress feels high, our cortisol actually ends up being too low because our adrenals cannot keep up with the high cortisol output… hence the gland “fatigue.”

Now diving in a little more to what can actually lead to adrenal fatigue, what the symptoms can look like, and what to do about them if something resonates with you!

First, I will cover some possible symptoms associated with adrenal fatigue: chronic body aches, hair loss, headaches, weight changes, loss of libido, anxiety/depression, sick more often, low blood pressure, constant fatigue, brain fog, and trouble sleeping. It is important to note that these symptoms can certainly overlap with so many other possible causes in the body. Below are some common causes of adrenal fatigue:

1. Chronic lack of sleep and/or inconsistent sleep schedule: probably one of the most common causes! Getting on a consistent sleep schedule (ideally aligned with daylight – waking when the sun is up, going to bed after the sun sets) and ensuring you are getting 7-9 hours each night. Adrenals recover while we sleep so having healthy sleep is key! You should ideally wake up feeling well rested

2. Overuse of caffeine: If you find yourself unable to function without multiple cups of coffee/energy drinks a day (this was me!), it could be time to cut back! Caffeine can deplete our body of B vitamins and electrolytes necessary to healthy adrenal functioning. Opting for decaf, herbal tea, or Teecino are great alternatives!

3. Exercise, both too little and too much!: Having a healthy amount of movement in your day is important to adrenal health and cortisol levels as well. Overtraining and undertraining both can disrupt healthy hormone regulation. Notice how you feel after a workout, are you completely drained or energized/feeling good afterwards?

4. Nutrition: long periods of dieting, food group restriction, and nutritional deficiencies all increase stress in the body which stimulate your adrenals into that survival mode and can mean your body doesn’t have what it needs to even create hormones at a healthy level! This is one of the many reasons we encourage a healthy, nourishing, balanced diet over restriction.

5. Life stress!: This one is broad but if you have a particularly stressful situation, relationship, job, past trauma in your life, the psychological stress those can cause can certainly cause chronic stress and adrenal fatigue. Reflecting on the areas of your life that are stressful that you can change or alter can be helpful, or even taking baby steps to reduce these life stressors. Meditation, yoga, walks outside, therapy, and breathwork can all be ways of lowering stress in the body too. For some, even switching to a better career fit/work-life balance job can do a TON to reduce adrenal fatigue.

To wrap up, your coaches here at Look Beneath are trained to recognize possible cortisol inconsistencies and help you with lifestyle and diet adjustments that can help you get back on track! Because adrenal fatigue is not yet recognized as an official diagnosis, in most cases, these types of adjustments can do a lot to help recover adrenal health and balance!

– Coach Sophie