A Stressor By Any Other Name is Still a Stressor

    Our stress response systems were developed back when people had to be ready to fight off a saber toothed tiger at a moment's notice. Thus, the fight or flight response. Nowadays, our stressors are more likely to come in the form of illness, infection, traffic, death of a loved one, time pressures, work deadlines, and things of that nature.  However, our bodies don't know the difference between those things and an attacking bear when it comes to our stress response.  We react the same way no matter what the stressor.  That is, adrenalin shoots through our system, making us ready to either fight off the tiger, or run like heck away from him as fast as we can.  This same thing happens to us no matter what we are facing. 

     Over time, cumulative stressors can weaken your adrenals, the system responsible for energy production and immune function, among other things.  This can happen from an acute illness, surgery, sudden, unexpected death, job loss, etc., or it can happen after a number of episodes of seemingly lower stress situations, like time pressures, worries, sleep deprivation, chronic infections, traffic jams, and things like that. Remember that, physiologically, we're still reacting like we're being attacked by a bear or a tiger. The syndrome this causes has been called Adrenal Fatigue.  Over time, your adrenal glands can no longer do their jobs, and you end up tired, worn out, irritable, intolerant, and unable to handle even the smallest stressors because your adrenals have nothing left to give to the cause. 

Symptoms of low adrenal function (low cortisol) include the following:

• Difficulty getting up in the morning
• Fatigue not relieved by sleep
• Depression
• Decreased tolerance (people irritate you)
• PMS
• Low libido
• Fuzzy thinking
• Becoming light-headed when standing up from a seated or lying position
• Taking longer to get over illnesses
• Craving salty or sweet snacks
• Using coffee or other caffeine to get going and/or stay going
• The daily demands of life easily get you down

If you think you might have adrenal fatigue, check out Dr. James Wilson's site, at http://www.adrenalfatigue.org/.  His book, Adrenal Fatigue: The 21st Century Stress Syndrome, contains a wealth of information on the subject and how to heal from it. 

     The best way to test for adrenal fatigue is through saliva testing.  One company who provides this testing is ZRT Lab.  You can find their Cortisol test here.  It is simple.  You spit into a vial, 4 different times in a day, mail them off, and you get the results back in about three weeks.  You can also find a practitioner in your area that can order the test and explain the results for you.  Here in Indianapolis, I see Randee Miller, a Holistic Nurse Practitioner, with many years of experience in conventional medicine as well.  I have learned SO much about what's going on in my body and am so excited about the possibility of improving my health because I can actually see what's wrong and can pinpoint treatment to those problems, not just have medicines thrown at symptoms.  For instance, I've learned that my cortisol levels do not follow the usual circadian rhythm.  A normal cortisol rhythm looks like a relaxed, curved capital L.  Mine, on the other hand, looks like a backward, horizontal Z, being high in the morning, crashing precipitously at noon, spiking up slightly at 6 pm, and dropping way off at 10 pm. Mine doesn't land anywhere on the normal curve!  This may explain my pathological daytime sleepiness, which may not be narcolepsy after all.  Now that I know what might be causing it and can take steps to fix it, I am looking forward to a time where I can get up in the morning, stay up in the daytime, and sleep through the night.