Always Tired It Could Be Adrenal Exhaustion

Chronic Pain:

The most common complaint I hear is that people always feel tired. In fact, most people seem to think feeling tired all the time is just a normal part of modern life. I have good news. It's not!

There are many causes of chronic tiredness. Sometimes it's obvious, like not getting enough sleep, but other times it can be due to an underlying health issue. Chronic tiredness can be a frustrating condition. There usually isn't a simple solution to it and any medical tests are likely to come back 'normal'.

In this article I'm going to explore the common condition of adrenal exhaustion and how it can cause chronic tiredness.

Common symptoms and risk factors of adrenal exhaustion include:

?You feel tired and unrefreshed after waking in the morning
?You find it difficult to get going in the morning until you have had a cup of coffee
?You feel tired after exercising
?You began to feel chronically tired after a stressful event had occurred
?You experience chronic allergies, inflammation or digestive problems
?You have a high-stress, always on-the-go lifestyle. You work hard, party hard, stay up late, drink coffee and alcohol, sometimes burn the candle at both ends, but lately you've found you just can't do this anymore.

The adrenals are two small glands located above each kidney. One of their roles is to secrete the stress hormones cortisol, adrenalin and nor-adrenalin. These hormones are secreted during stressful situations - either to help us calm down (cortisol) or to prepare us for battle (adrenalin and nor-adrenalin).

During chronic stress, the adrenals continually secrete these hormones and over time can become exhausted (just like the pancreas becomes exhausted pumping out insulin in response to a high sugar diet). At the beginning stages of stress, the adrenal glands pump out more cortisol to keep up with the demands being placed on your body. At this point you may find yourself feeling alert and 'on the ball'. However over time the adrenals become exhausted, causing a decline in the amount of cortisol that they are able to pump out. If and when you reach this stage of adrenal dysfunction, a number of detrimental effects may occur including chronic tiredness (see list of symptoms above).

Our adrenals need to be cared for and supported with a healthy diet and nutrients. Certain herbal medicine, amino acids, supplements and stress-reducing lifestyle practices can help to repair exhausted adrenal glands. But remember it's always easier to prevent something going wrong than to fix it after its broken. When the adrenal glands become very exhausted, you can experience burnout and possibly chronic fatigue syndrome.

Alison Cassar is a naturopathic practitioner and nutritionist and runs a busy clinic in Sydney, Australia. Her website and e-book whydoifeeltired.com/explores the many causes of tiredness as well as solutions and prevention.