People often ask me what they can do about their fatigued adrenal glands. “What is the functional medicine approach?” The first thing I like to tell them is that their adrenal glands are their “stress glands” and so the best thing to do for them is to address whatever might  be causing them to be overworked and “stressed.” All sorts of imbalances in body or lifestyle choices can put stress these little glands! Poor sleeping habits, lack of physical activity, excessive worry or anger, poor diet choices and lack of proper nutrition can all function as stressors. Our adrenal glands are very important for maintaining health and vitality, they influence so many functions in the body that it would take a whole book to explain them all. So instead of going into great depth about them I will list some of the more common issue I see in my practice on a daily basis. Not only can the adrenals be fatigued they can also be overactive or have a poor daily rhythm (they are overactive or underactive at the wrong time of day or night).

Adrenal Gland Imbalances

• Low energy levels

• Insomnia and waking up at night

• Tired or sluggish in the morning

• Crave sugar or salt

• Inflammation and body pain

• Low blood sugar

• Feeling overwhelmed or anxious

• Not coping well with daily stressor

• Increased body fat around the belly

• Hormonal imbalances

• Allergies

• Leaky gut syndrome

I could go on and on with this list, but these are some of the more common health issues that we find with adrenal gland imbalances.

Adrenal Gland Testing

So maybe you have one or several of the problems listed above and you are wondering what to do next? In our Naperville office, I like to do a test that helps to determine what your adrenals are doing; running too high, too low or just up and down and all over the place! Ideally your adrenal glands should be more active and producing more cortisol in the morning and then that level would drift down as the day goes and they should be the least active at night when you are trying to sleep. It is important to know the current state of adrenal function so that a more specific plan can be created to restore normal function once again.

Adrenal Gland Treatment

The adrenal glands are stimulated to work when your body is under stress. So one of the first things you want to do is reduce the stress on them. This might include getting to bed earlier, drinking a little less coffee, removing inflammatory foods from your diet or taking a walk and just clearing your head. Stress can come in many different forms and some are easier to control than others. It generally doesn’t do much good to tell someone that they need to relax or not get so stressed about life; easier said than done. However there are some things that you can control and will reduce the burden on your adrenal glands. For example getting to bed a little earlier or getting up a little earlier and perform some gentle exercises. Drinking less coffee or tea and reducing sugar and refined carbohydrates can help. Identifying and removing food sensitivities from your diet can reduce inflammation and the stress on your adrenal glands. Adding dietary supplements to support adrenal gland function can also be beneficial. You will need to take a look at what you are doing or failing to do with your diet and lifestyle and make appropriate changes. Now this is something you can try doing yourself or you can get some help from a professional who can guide you. If you can identify obvious changes that you need to make, then give it a try and see how you feel. If that is not working or if you have already been making positive changes in your life and things are not improving you should consider seeking the guidance of a functional medicine practitioner. You don’t want to keep wasting time and effort going in circles, you want to start feeling better and making real progress.

You want to take care your adrenal glands; they are your stress-reducers, the stress-buffers that make day to day life much more enjoyable. So take care of those little guys! (Yes, you have two of them).

If you would like some help getting your adrenal glands back on track, please feel free to contact our office.

If you would like more information on integrative medicine, functional medicine, Dr. Sexton or adrenal gland health, go to napervilleintegratedwellness.com

Do your own research, inform yourself and ask lots of questions. When collecting information you MUST consider the source. There is no shortage of false, misleading, outdated, profit-driven and utterly biased information in healthcare today; even from the most respected sources.