Pamela Levin, R.N., T.S.T.A.

Symptoms of exhaustion & stress can mean you need something more than a little nap. Extreme stress symptoms can mean adrenal exhaustion  . This is such such an important topic because it can signal  you that you need to take effective steps right away to halt it before it progresses into far bigger health problems.

If your adrenal glands  fail to the point where they can't recover, you will be unable to

• manage salt and water balance throughout your body 
• make a variety of hormones; 
• properly metabolize carbohydrates, proteins and fats; 
•  manage stress except in a very narrow range; 
• make sex hormones; 
• raise your heart rate, blood pressure and breathing rate when needed. 

How can you tell if being constantly tired, feeling extreme fatigue is simply a need for a nice hot bath and a long sleep?  

1.      Non-restorative sleep - you feel tired even after 10 hours of sleep.

2.      Salt cravings - you may even want to put salt on salty foods like potato chips and bacon!

3.      Sensitive to heat and cold - meaning you have poor temperature regulation and adjustment.

4.      No chest hair  - males have no chest hair and no hair on the outside of their calves.

5.      Missing eyebrow hair -the medial third of  eyebrow hair is either thin or missing.

6.       Low blood pressure  - your blood pressure is typically low ( the top number, or systolic is below 100 and the bottom number, or diastolic is below 60.)

7.      Positive Ragland's sign - this is the difference between your blood pressure when you're lying down and your blood pressure when you're standing.A drop of more than 10 mm/Hg indicates adrenal exhaustion.

8.     O  rthostatic hypotension -  You feel dizzy when first standing up.  

9.      Positive pupillary reflex sign - Light shown in your eye in a dark room constricts the pupil, but is unable to hold the constriction, instead it begins to pulse and dialate instead of staying constricted for at least 20 seconds.

10.   Can't adjust to stress, pressure - You feel easily overwhelmed and unable to handle even normal or minimal amounts of pressure.

11.    Tendency to hypoglycemia, hypothyroidism -  You  need to eat frequently to avoid feeling shaky and you tend toward being hypothyroid (you gain weight easily and are easily fatigued).

12.     Brown, "old age" spots - You have  brown spots on your skin - even on areas of your skin that are not exposed to the sun.

Remedies:

In addition to reducing your stress level to as low as you possibly can and eliminating stimulants, here are four top remedies to employ:

1.  Whole food vitamin B.  Best source is nutritional yeast, 2 tablespoons per day. Be sure to read the label before purchasing. Ingredients should say 'nutritional yeast' only. If it also lists any B vitamins separately, such as B1, B2, B6 etc., then it means the product also contains synthetic B's. Do not buy it, as these synthetic B's can damage your peripheral nerve plates. They also have to be detoxified by your liver, unlike whole food B's.

2.  Whole Food vitamin C.   Best source is to squeeze the juice of a 1/2 lemon into a little water and drink it. Do this several times throughout the day.

3.  Consider Licorice Root. It contains various compounds that feed and support the adrenals.Consult with your holistic health professional about taking this, and tell him or her if you have high blood pressure or are pregnant or lactating, in which case it may be contraindicated.

4.  Ashwaganda  Root.  This is an herb that's extracted from Withania somnifera root. It is considered to be trophorestorative to the adrenal glands; in other words, it helps the cells of the adrenal glands repair and also regenerate. Consult your health professional first if you are pregnant or lactating.

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