What is Adrenal Fatigue?
The Adrenal glands belong to the Endocrine System where they produce a variety of hormones that are essential to life. The medical term “Adrenal Insufficiency” is an inadequate production of one or more of these hormones as a result of underlying conditions. Whereas, Adrenal Fatigue isn’t an accepted medical diagnosis, it is thought that adrenal fatigue is caused by stress on the body where the adrenal glands cannot cope with the constant pace of fight-or-flight (sympathetic) nervous system response. adrenal fatigue acupuncture sunshine coast
tSigns and symptoms of adrenal insufficiency:
- Fatigue
- Body aches
- Unexplained weight loss
- Loss of body hair
- Skin discolouration
- Lightheadedness
- Low blood pressure
- Low production of hormones
Diagnosis for adrenal insufficiency can be tested to show inadequate levels of adrenal hormones.
In Traditional Chinese Medicine, adrenal fatigue is burnout. The kidney is the organ that stores our vital energy called Qi. We are all born with varying amounts of energy based on genetics, this is called out ancestral energy. This energy manages our reproduction, ageing, vitality and emotional-physical endurance. The day to day living of healthy food, exercise, relationships, environment and work/life balance is what maintains the kidney energy.
The less ancestral and vital kidney force you have (based on your lifestyle and if you’re over doing it), the sooner the chance of adrenal burnout. Chipping away at the kidney qi from too much stress, working too much without rest, living in the fight-or-flight (sympathetic) nervous system response WILL lead to adrenal burnout. When burn out is not addressed or the body is under continual strain over many years, there is a place that we cannot come back from. This leads to chronic health problems and the biggest symptom is long-term fatigue (exhaustion). The body is remarkable its in communication. Symptoms tell us something is wrong!
General fatigue can come and go, so having a holiday or some restful days off usually helps you to feel better naturally. Even having a blood test to check on a few things (such as iron levels) might be a simple explanation of fatigue. Adrenal fatigue however doesn’t just happen over night. It takes months or more of stress and over doing it to reach a point where the adrenal glands can’t keep going under pressure.
Traditional Chinese Medicine diagnoses adrenal fatigue based on multiple symptoms in relation to the energy of the kidney system. These can include :
- Fatigue and/or exhaustion
- Needing to sleep during the day after 8 hours of sleep at night
- Relying on coffee for energy
- Body aches
- Lower back pain
- Muscle weakness
- Lightheadness
- Shortness of breath
- Feel worse after exercise
- Loss of body hair or hair falling out
- Lack of concentration, focus or recall
- Low blood pressure
- Slow pulse rate
- Decreased libido
- Difficulty falling pregnant
- Thyroid imbalance
- Getting sick often or taking a long time to recover from illness
- Low blood sugar symptoms
- Waking early in the morning regularly at 4am
- Craving salty foods
- Emotional and mental instability such as anxiety
How does Traditional Chinese Medicine support someone with adrenal fatigue?
- Seeing a registered Acupuncturist allows you to receive the correct type of treatment based on their qualifications and experience. Adrenal fatigue acupuncture sunshine coast.
- Traditional acupuncture stimulates the internal healing response in the body to help the nervous system self regulate.
- Herbal medicine is prescribed based on the individual patient to support the energetics of the kidney and adrenal health.
- Moxibustion is a heat therapy used with acupuncture to further strengthen and support the bodies healing response.
- Correcting nutritional and mineral deficiencies to support optimal health.
- Lifestyle recommendations to support where the person is at. They may need a referral to a therapist to talk and gain some strategies to help cope with the demands that lead to adrenal burn out. Or something simple like gentle yoga exercises and breathing techniques to connect mind and body again. Life can get on top of you sometimes, so seeing a health practitioner, talking with someone close to you or a professional might be helpful.
What does rest look like?
- Sleep and naps during the day
- Time in nature
- Health treatments – having someone take care of you to rebalance your system
- Setting boundaries and changes to work-life balance
- Time off work
- Doing one thing at a time such as solely watching a movie, while you’re not on your phone or multitasking other things at the same time
- Laying down, putting your feet up with a book
- Time away from electronics and notifications from smart phones
- Asking for help
- Taking a holiday away from your regular environment
- Sitting down to eat, chew slowly, consciously taste and enjoy the food
- Gentle exercises to connect mind and body such as meditation, yoga, tai chi, qi gong, walks in nature all support the parasympathetic nervous system
To maintain the ancestral energy, we need to take care of ourselves with healthy food, exercise, quality sleep, managing stress and most importantly learning to rest.
If you are suffering from fatigue or you believe you may have adrenal fatigue please contact us today to discuss how we can help your adrenal fatigue at our Acupuncture clinic on the Sunshine Coast.
Hi, I’m Tanya, an AHPRA registered Acupuncturist and health practitioner in Nambour in the Sunshine Coast hinterland, Queensland Australia. I practice Chinese medicine because its safe, logical, relevant and has effectively shown methods of natural wellness for thousands of years (read more about my training here). Life doesn’t need to be complicated and nor does the treatment approaches to get people feeling vibrant and well. I’ve seen people gain a lot from treatments, much more than just alleviating symptoms. It’s exciting to connect with people and share deep wisdom from the classics of ancient and traditional medicine, with modern protocols for todays mind-body living. See you in the clinic !