Feeling Frantic? You Could Be Fatigued…

Leisa Wheeler, naturopath, health and healing mentor, and fatigue specialist, is the founder and director of Embracing Health, a business dedicated to bringing you health information that can change your life.
Leisa’s passions include many areas of health – from food as medicine and nutrition, to physical fitness and detoxification; from emotional release work to spiritual healing; these varied interests shaping her belief in the value of integrated healing on all levels; physical, emotional and spiritual.

It seems like a contradiction in terms, but sometimes feeling completely frantic and anxious can be a sign of fatigue.

When someone is suffering from adrenal exhaustion, the hormone cortisol is not being produced in optimal amounts. Alongside the common symptoms of adrenal insufficiency, such as low blood pressure (dizziness on standing up quickly), salt cravings, allergies, insomnia, muscle weakness, a foggy brain and of course, relentless fatigue – can come anxiety and a sense of being frantic or frantically busy all of the time.

There are two main reasons for this. One is that cortisol acts on the brain and without enough of it, symptoms of anxiety, dread and overwhelm are common. These are not necessarily psychological issues, but are related to the low cortisol levels effecting neurotransmitters in the brain, leading to anxiety. These issues resolve when cortisol levels are normalised.

The second issue and one that is very common, is that when cortisol levels drop, energy drops as well – and in many cases the body will produce adrenaline as a way of providing the energy to get through the day. When this happens it is not a sustainable, solid energy, but a frantic, anxious and jittery energy produced from adrenaline. Although this can allow the person with adrenal fatigue to function, it is actually worsening the adrenal fatigue situation. What adrenaline can also do is prevent restful sleep – insomnia due to adrenaline production is a symptom of adrenal fatigue.

Adrenal fatigue is a multi-faceted issue and can come from long-term stress, emotional trauma, infection, autoimmune disease, chemical toxicity and nutrient deficiencies to name but a few of the many causes. Most people will have one or more issues contributing to the poor adrenal function, and this is where it is not a “one size fits all” treatment program to heal adrenal function, but an unraveling of the underlying factors and a healing program designed for each particular person’s contributing factors. If you suspect you are suffering with adrenal fatigue, saliva hormone testing is the best way to evaluate adrenal function, or coming in for a naturopath appointment is also an option, where I can review your indiviudal circumstances and put together a healing protocol.

The ‘F’ Word Solution is a book that I have written which delves into many areas of fatigue, including a detailed section on adrenal exhaustion. The book is being released in the next couple of months, and you can download the entire first section of the book at the website www.thefwordsolution.com to learn more about the issues of fatigue. I hope you enjoy it!

Leisa

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