The Adrenal Gland, Your Fight-or-Flight Stress Defense Mechanism

The past two blogs about energy started out with the big picture of the most common reasons why you might be fatigued <link>, and then the various nutritional aspects that could explain why you might be tired <here>.

Understanding the Adrenal Glands

This blog gets into one of the biggest culprits in detail – your Adrenal gland and your nervous system’s Fight or Flight response.

Your Adrenal glands, a name which literally means “on top of the kidney”, are responsible for the primary neural and hormonal response to stress. They produce cortisol, epinephrine and norepinephrine, the so-called Adrenaline Rush associated with stressors from being chased by a saber-toothed tiger to being stuck in traffic and everything in between. When triggered the adrenals turn on everything you need to survive the fight with that tiger – muscles, heart and lungs – and turn off almost everything else in your body.

When Stress Never Stops

This is a fantastic adaptation for truly life threatening situations; it helps you survive to see another day. Unfortunately, many of the stressful situations we face aren’t really life threatening. Being stuck in traffic is annoying. Finding a bank teller who can’t count to 10 and make change properly is annoying. They are not, however, life threatening.

Every stressful event requires 30-40 minutes for the body to recover and achieve a normal state of balance. If your jobs, your commute, all require a stress response once or twice and hour, your body never recovers. When this pattern continues long term, it begins to affect your sleep and you never full recover.

Testing for Adrenal Fatigue

Proper testing to find out the true state of your adrenal glands is also important. Orthostatic blood pressure testing – comparing your resting BP while lying down after at least 5 minutes, to your BP when you first stand up is a good initial screen. A healthy normal response is for your pressure to go up by 10 points, as your body adapts to the need to keep blood flowing to your brain. Not going up, or worse, dropping, indicates adrenal gland fatigue or burnout. This should be followed up with a 24 hour cortisol test using saliva samples, something you can do in your own home.

Natural Treatment Options for Adrenal Support

Fortunately there are many natural treatment options for even severe adrenal fatigue. We start with an appropriate dose of the vitamins B5 and C and the mineral Iodine. Adrenal herbs, both Western and Oriental, provide strong support. Glandular remedies, homeopathics and energy exercises such as qigong are all able to help build your adrenal glands.

Lifestyle modifications are usually going to be needed, things such as meditation, biofeedback and exercise are among the most successful.

Call to Action

You don’t need to stay exhausted. Testing for your adrenal glands is available, as are a variety of natural treatments. To learn more or schedule your visit, contact Dr. Cage Wellness Clinic at 406-361-8073 or visit Dr. Cage Wellness Clinic.