Adrenal Fatigue

ADRENAL FATIGUE AND STRESS Part 3.

2012-09-25T08:31:00.002-07:00

Earlier we talked about Adrenal fatigue, what causes it, how it affects the body with different foods, and we also talked about the do foods and don't foods. Now we are going to talk about the affects of stress on the body when this syndrome is present.
First, we must talk about the hormone cortisol. We mentioned earlier that cortisol is a two edged sword. This meant that it is good and bad in some cases when it is in an imbalanced state. When cortisol levels are normal then our immune system reacts normal. It functions normal for our defense against infections and disease. But when our cortisol levels are off balance and too high, then it has an adverse affect on the body. Instead of helping us heal through our sickness by responding correctly to inflammation, high cortisol levels can cause sickness and auto immune responses. It can also cause an affect called "Cushings". Cushings is when the body begins to store fat because of high cortisol levels. Yes, cortisol is a hormone that can cause you to gain weight. How many times have you heard someone say, "I've gained so much weight, it must be stress." This is really a true statement. High cortisol=Weight gain. Please go to www.adrenalfatigue .org to find out more about cortisol and weight gain. This is also true in the neurological system. The nervous system becomes hypersensitive. Remember how we said earlier that stress is the beginning of this syndrome. Well, when we are stressed what is affected...our nervous systems. We become tired because we are dealing with overwhelming issues, and to keep up with our every day endeavors we become dependent on stimulants like coffee, cokes, and energy bars don't we. This is a major "NO!"
Our adrenal glands are already working in overdrive because of high cortisol levels, now they will be in burn-out if something doesn't change quickly. Instead of depending on caffeine to get you going, how about a whole life style change? For those of you who are dealing with this and those of you who's light has been turned on, a lifestyle change is a "MUST." When this disease becomes uncontrollable it can weaken the immune system and autoimmune responses start to show up like Muscular Sclerosis or better known as "MS", and Lupus. America and others I am so convinced that this is true because I have been affected by this syndrome. You are hearing it from the horses mouth and the horse just happens to be a nurse. For more information on this subject go to http://www.womentowomen.com/adrenalhealth/adrenalfatigue.aspx
http://www.everydayhealth.com/info/v1t00/cushing'ssyndromehttp://ts4.mm.bing.net/images/thumbnail.aspx?q=4947532479857575&id=f0980a0d649727c94a352ede3b07e7f6

What People Don't Know Part.2

2012-09-20T22:49:00.003-07:00

What People Don't Know Part2

Adrenal Fatigue is a syndrome that affects many aspects of the body. As we said in part one adrenal fatigue affects the adrenal glands, which in turn work in overdrive, because there is a constant state of stress. But also like we said in part 1, you can control this if you began a health, nutritious diet that heals the adrenal glands. The more information that you know about your own body, the better off you will be.

Most doctors do not believe that this disease is a real one, that affects real people. They simply believe tiredness is in a person's mind ,and that this is a form of a mental disorder, or laziness. But I'm here to tell you differently. It is real. Most people won't even realize that they are dealing with this syndrome, because the doctor will treat the symptom and not check for the underlying reason. Through God's grace I was able to figure out what was going on with me. By using my nursing background, education, and assessment skills I began to pay attention to my body and what it was doing. What made it react? What did I just eat? I eventually found out that a lot of the foods I was eating made my body react like I was in stress. Remember I said that long periods of stress brings on adrenal fatigue. So now the adrenals are reacting when they should not be reacting, because they have become exhausted. So now any little kick of energy from certain foods, and beverages make them unwind and turn on. (inner whistle) If you would like to know more about this disease go to part 1 and see the links that I gave to you. But now see a list of foods that should not be in the diet of someone with this syndrome:
These are only a few:

Do's
1. Fish
2.salad
3.vegetables
4.meats with no hormones (chicken)
5.drink plenty of water

Dont's

1. coffee
2. chocolate
3. wheat
4. whole grains
5. sugars
6. artificial flavors and colors
7. sodas
8. candy
9. processed foods
10. meats with hormones
11.shell fish (shrimp) iodine-this is one that may not affect you but affects someone else

What People Don't Know

2012-09-19T19:51:00.000-07:00

The Adrenal glands are two nut shaped glands that sit on top of the kidneys. They are responsible for flight or fight in the body. They are your bodies responders to stress. They are vital for homeostasis, and hormonal balance. Cortisol is one of the hormones that is a two-edged sword. It controls our bodies autoimmune response to stressors in the body. When our cortisol levels become out of balance, or too high, our bodies began to react as if it were in a stressful situation all the time. This is a result of prolonged stress, and leads our bodies into a syndrome called Adrenal Fatigue. Adrenal Fatigue Syndrome is a collection of signs and symptoms, known as a syndrome, that results when the adrenal glands function below the necessary level. http://www.adrenalfatigue.org/what-is-adrenal-fatigue

Our bodies were made to deal with stress, but only for short periods of time. I myself was in a long period of stress for about 10 years. My mother died, we lost the home that I grew up in, and I had to grow up fast because my mother sheltered me for so long. Got married, didn't work at the time, had four children, and now I'm a single mother of four. I no longer have the home I grew up in. My husband wanted me to move to Houston, Texas where I found myself homeless and had lost everything. This was in a period of five years, but even five years after that I found myself going through some rough changes. So guess what?
You guessed right...adrenal fatigue kicked in.

In March 2011,I had my first anxiety attack. It was massive. I had always taken care of people with anxiety disorder but had never had one. March 3, 2011 I found myself in the Orange Baptist Hospital emergency room. Of course, they did nothing but tell me to relax, remove the stressor and see my PCP. I didn't see my PCP that time. I told myself, I can handle this and control it, but that was far from the truth. i found myself back in the emergency room a week later. But this time, I did follow up with my PCP, he told me to remove the stress and gave me a prescription for Ativan. I gotta tell you, I did not like his approach . It was so uncaring. So bland. I did follow his advice about the stress, until one day I was resting quietly; and all of a sudden it felt like a train was going through my body. It was like my body had some internal whistles or engines. I didn't know what was going on as I awoke gasping for air, I frantically told my family to call 911. Something in me said, don't respond to what your body is doing. I was in such a desperate state of need that I had no other choice but to listen to the subconscious thought. But to my surprise it worked!

The gasping was over, the whistling was gone, and the internal engine sound was gone. I thought I was crazy. I didn't know what to do. I remembered something a friend said about the adrenal glands, and I began to search the net, articles and books and discovered this is what has been bothering me. Yes the stress was true that it brought anxiety. But the stress led my body into a syndrome called adrenal fatigue. I immediately changed my diet. I cut out all of the caffiene, chocolate, sorry chocolate lovers, sodas and processed foods, and limited on whole grains, because a recent allergy that I have from this syndrome is wheat. So, if you are having constant anxiety attacks you may need to ask your doctor for further testing. Ask for a saliva hormone test, it is the most accurate test to check cortisol levels. Most doctors will say steroid therapy is the best option,but a good ole change of diet, and finding techniques that relieve stress like walking, deep breathing exercises, and completely removing the stress will be great for you, and give your adrenal glands time to heal if they are still in a stage to heal. For more information on this topic, you can visit these URL's http://www.adrenalfatigue.org/what-is-adrenal-fatigue, and http://www.naturalnews.com/024985_cortisol_blood_fatigue.html