Hypoadrenia history and symptoms
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Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]
Overview
History and Symptoms
The theorized symptoms for adrenal exhaustion include a depletion of energy reserves and a loss of resilience. They range from fatigue, nervousness, anxiety, exacerbated PMS, depression, brain fog and carbohydrate cravings to allergies, muscular pain, tenderness, joint pain and irritable bowel syndrome.
Clinical views on hypoadrenia
"Adrenal exhaustion" and "adrenal fatigue" are common diagnoses in alternative medicine, but are not recognized in conventional medicine. The mainstream medical view of hypoadrenia is that its alleged symptoms are vague and non-specific, and that day-to-day emotional stress is highly unlikely to lead to an "exhaustion" or imbalance of the adrenal glands.
Psychological conditions and mood disorders referenced above may be linked to hypoadrenia. Symptoms of chronic fatigue and depression could result from diminished adrenal stores, caused by prolonged exposure to a particular stressor (i.e. poverty) or a series of stressful events occurring closely together (i.e. loss of job, divorce, and children ill). The adrenal gland, responsible among other functions for producing cortisol, when in constant use may produce cortisol over a long period of time, resulting in a high amount of cortisol in the bloodstream. Cortisol functions to return the body to a state of rest/repose after a stressor or fight/flight stimulus. An individual with low cortisol levels may demonstrate mood disorders as anxiety, depression or fatigue as a result of the increased cortisol present in the bloodstream. An indication that psychological conditions may be linked to the amount of cortisol is that the hypothalamus, or master gland, is shared by both the nervous system and the endocrine system; endocrine system containing the adrenal gland and hormone cortisol.