Conventional medicine has its good points, but it also has its weaknesses as well. One of these is the tendency to look and address symptoms without considering the underlying cause or the interconnected nature of the human body and its organs. This can leave you struggling to find help when you have Adrenal Fatigue Syndrome (AFS), which often presents with symptoms from a variety of organs and circuits. This is where functional medicine can help. So, let’s take a look at the link between functional medicine and adrenal fatigue and how it can help you find a new way forward in your wellness journey.
Before looking for information on functional medicine and adrenal fatigue, you need to understand what adrenal fatigue is and how it can affect the body. Adrenal fatigue can occur after a long period of stress, though the amount of stress and the length of time can vary remarkably depending on individual tolerance.
The body has its own mechanism to deal with stress and this is driven by the adrenal glands, which produce cortisol. Cortisol creates the fight or flight response, activating some systems and deactivating others so that you can survive a threat. But in the modern world, where threats aren’t usually physical, this can become a problem.
In the modern world, high stress levels are often seen as normal. There are hundreds of tiny stressors in everyday life, from environmental toxins to work pressures and relationship problems. Over time, these can add up to a really large amount of stress, and the fact that they’re ongoing can create all new problems.
When the adrenal glands are forced to produce high amounts of cortisol over long periods, they can become fatigued and start to struggle to produce the needed amounts of hormone. The body’s circuits, which are changed by cortisol, can also become unbalanced because they’re forced to remain in their ‘stressed state’ for too long. This can result in some very varied, ongoing, and distressing symptoms and health threats.
Most people who struggle with adrenal fatigue also struggle to get help from health care professionals. This is due both to the nature of adrenal fatigue and because of how the medicine system sees the body and illness. Functional medicine could be an effective remedy to this problem.
Adrenal fatigue can look very different from one individual to another, however some of the most common symptoms are:
Adrenal Fatigue is caused by stress, so it can be difficult to identify a single root cause. In fact, if you’re experiencing this issue, then it’s more likely that it has a multitude of root causes, all of them part of your everyday life. Here are some of the most common stressors that can bring on adrenal fatigue:
VirusesAll of these stressors can be chronic, which means they’re ongoing and often very difficult to eliminate. This is one of the issues that can be addressed once you learn more about adrenal fatigue and functional medicine.
One of the reasons why adrenal fatigue is so difficult to address is because it’s complex. This is why you need to know more about the link between functional medicine and adrenal fatigue, because this therapeutic form has the potential to unearth and address these complexities.
When you have adrenal fatigue, it isn’t just your adrenal glands that are affected. Cortisol affects every circuit in your body, changing how they function to help you cope with stress. And when these stress induced changes go on long term, the circuits and their components can become unhealthy and dysfunctional.
A key point to remember with adrenal fatigue is that as the individual components of each circuit decline in health, the circuit itself becomes more and more imbalanced. This causes additional problems and stress, which worsens the underlying adrenal fatigue in a vicious cycle that can be very difficult to reverse without the right kind of help.
This applies to the Hormone Circuit, as well as the other circuits in the body. However, the Hormone Circuit is also more directly impacted with adrenal fatigue because the adrenals are one of the three components in this circuit. As the adrenals become fatigued and dysfunctional, it also impacts how the other two components function. The three components in this circuit are dependent upon each other for proper functioning, so if one isn’t healthy then the others can’t perform their jobs properly either.
Here's how the other two components in the Hormone Circuit can be impacted in adrenal fatigue:
The thyroid is the second components in the Hormone Circuit. As the adrenals become dysfunctional, thyroid function and health declines as well. This is why many people with adrenal fatigue experience symptoms related to imbalances in thyroid hormones T3 and T4. These symptoms can vary from hair loss to weight issues, metabolism dysfunctions, and cold sensitivity.
The final components in this circuit are the ovaries in women and the testes in men. Obviously, this component is responsible for many of the sex hormones in the human body. As this component declines due to poor adrenal health it can cause everything from a low libido and infertility to PMS.
Functional medicine is a relatively new way of looking at the body and addressing illness. It focuses on identifying the root cause of disease using a biology-based approach. This approach acknowledges that symptoms and diagnoses can have more than one cause.
An example of this is mood disorders, which can be caused by a multitude of factors from inflammation to genetics to environment. In this example, how one person experiences and exhibits a mood disorder will depend on their genetics, lifestyle, environment, and other factors. And the best way to alleviate symptoms is to identify and address the correct cause for each individual.
This is a highly individualized approach that is obviously very different to the current medical model. However, it can offer dramatic results, particularly in complex medical cases. In a more practical sense, here’s what it should look like when you go to a functional medicine health professional:
So, now that you’re starting to see the connection between functional medicine and adrenal fatigue, let’s take a closer look at this link. In functional medicine, adrenal fatigue is often the result of HPA axis dysfunction.
The HPA axis is the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal network, which helps your body manage stress, immune response, and energy. When you’re under stress over a long period of time, the HPA axis becomes dysfunctional, leading to inadequate cortisol levels as well as physical and emotional symptoms and health problems.
Basically, while most medical professionals dismiss the idea of adrenal fatigue, functional medicine doctors take a different approach. They will usually work with you to identify and address any dysfunctions in your HPA access. The first step in this process is to take a complete medical history and examine your lifestyle, diet, exercise levels, and stressors.
From there, your functional medicine practitioner should recommend lab testing. This may include:
From this point, your health care practitioner will design a plan to address the root cause of your individual health concerns. This plan is likely to include:
Eliminating or reducing causes of stress is key to adrenal recovery. This can be highly individual, depending on your personal circumstances, but may include:
Poor nutrition is a common cause of stress and adrenal dysfunction. This means that if your diet is poor, as many people’s diets are, that you make changes that ensure your body gets everything it needs to function correctly. This means eating:
Natural Supplements can be an important part of your adrenal fatigue recovery. However, never try any of these supplements without expert medical guidance, as they can be very powerful, especially if your body is fragile. They can also cause intolerances and side effects that may make your condition even worse. A functional medicine health care practitioner can work with you to ensure that you get the supplements you need without any of these nasty side effects.
Here are some natural supplements for adrenal fatigue:
For people struggling with adrenal fatigue, one of the most frustrating issues is the difficulty with finding effective help from a health care professional. This is when you need to start the search for more information on functional medicine and adrenal fatigue. Here’s what you need to know about this approach and how it could help you:
For more information on functional medicine, talk to our team on +1 (626) 571-1234 or click here.
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Dineen, Rosemary, Christopher J. Thompson, and Mark Sherlock. “Adrenal Crisis: Prevention and Management in Adults.” Ther Adv Endocrinol Metab, vol. 10, 2019.
Head, Kathleen A., and Gregory S. Kelly. “Nutrients and Botanicals for Treatment of Stress: Adrenal Fatigue, Neurotransmitter Imbalance, Anxiety, and Restless Sleep.” Alternative Medical Review, vol. 14, no. 2, 2009, pp. 114-140.
Herman, James P., Jessica M. Mcklveen, et al. “Regulation of the Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenocortisol Stress Response.” Compr Physiol, vol. 6, no. 2, 2016, pp. 603-621.
Recovering from poor adrenal health isn’t easy, usually because of the contemporary view of the body and health. That’s why the link between functional medicine and adrenal fatigue is so important, because it offers a new way forward for your recovery.
