PRE-MENOPAUSE, MENOPAUSE, Male-Menopause AND ADRENAL FATIGUE
Although it’s estimated that up to 80% of adult Americans suffer some level of adrenal fatigue at some time during their life, it remains the most under-diagnosed illness in the U.S. The word “Adrenal” simply means “next to kidneys” and the adrenal glands are about the size of walnuts located directly on top of each of your kidneys. Normally functioning adrenal glands secrete minute, yet precise and balanced, amounts of steroid hormones. (That’s right… I said HORMONES!) In fact they produce 150 different hormones.
Because the adrenal glands are designed to be very responsive to changes in your inner physical, emotional and psychological environment, any number of factors can interfere with their finely tuned balance. This means that too much physical, emotional, environmental and/or spiritual stress can deplete your adrenals causing a decrease in the output of adrenal hormones. It can wreak havoc with your life. With each increment of reduction in adrenal function, every organ and system in your body is more and more profoundly affected. Changes will occur in your carbohydrate, protein and fat metabolism, fluid and electrolyte balance, heart and cardiovascular system and even in your sex drive. Going through pre-menopause or menopause is stressful enough to cause or certainly add to lowered adrenal function!
People with adrenal fatigue may not have the obvious signs of physical illness, yet they are not well and live with a general sense of un-wellness or “gray” feelings. They often use coffee, colas and other stimulants to get going in the morning and to prop themselves up during the day. They will hate eating breakfast and typically don’t feel like they are awake until 11am or even later! People who suffer from adrenal fatigue frequently have erratic or abnormal blood sugar levels in the form of hypoglycemia, a tendency to experience allergies, arthritic pain and decreased immune response. Most women who have low adrenal function have more PMS tension and much more trouble going through peri-menopause and menopause and after.
Adrenals also have an effect on mental states. As a result, people with adrenal fatigue show a tendency toward increased fears, anxiety and depression, have intervals of confusion, increased difficulties in concentrating and less acute memory recall. they often have less tolerance than they normally would and are more easily frustrated. When the adrenals are not secreting the proper amount of hormones, insomnia is also one of the likely outcomes. As their condition worsens, it lays the foundation for other seemingly unrelated conditions such as frequent respiratory infections, allergies, asthma, frequent colds, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, hypoglycemia, adult onset of diabetes, auto-immune disorders and even alcoholism. These people may appear to friends and family to be lazy and unmotivated, or to have lost their ambition, when in reality quite the opposite is true; they are forced to drive themselves much harder than people with healthy adrenal function merely to accomplish life’s everyday tasks.
Notice that I keep using the word “people” instead of “women”! That is because this particular problem of adrenal fatigue is NOT unique only to women. This effects EVERYONE! Children as well as husbands!
Adrenal fatigue, in all its mild and severe forms, is usually caused by some form of stress. Stress can be physical, emotional, spiritual , environmental, infectious or a combination of these. It’s important to know that your adrenals respond to EVERY kind of stress the same way, whatever the source. Life’s stresses at their worst come in the form of such cataclysmic events as the death of a loved one, the loss of a job, a car accident or a serious illness. Or it can come from an abscessed tooth, a severe quarrel, intense physical exertion, a bout of the flu, pressure at home or at work, etc.
Progesterone is a hormone that is manufactured by the adrenal glands as well as by the ovaries (and in men by the testicles). With adrenal fatigue this hormone level often falls because your adrenal glands are not able to manufacture adequate amounts. If you have had a tubal ligation, hysterectomy or are in menopause or peri-menopause then your ovaries are not producing the amount of progesterone that they normally did when you were younger… if your adrenals are also wearing down and not producing then no wonder you are having such a hard time “going through the changes”. In fact using supplemental progesterone in both men and women can decrease some aspects of adrenal fatigue! By bypassing the very complex and energy consuming steps required of your adrenals to make progesterone from cholesterol, your adrenals do not have to work nearly so hard to keep your hormone levels adequate. That is why many men and women get some level of energy back simply by using natural progesterone cream.
Note: approximately 80% of the people suffering from adrenal fatigue also suffer some form of decreased thyroid function! For these people to get well totally the adrenals must be supported in addition to the thyroid!
