Adrenal Fatigue

[ysabella]

Has anybody heard of Adrenal Fatigue? That web site says "This syndrome has been known by many other names throughout the past century, such as non-Addison's hypoadrenia, sub-clinical hypoadrenia, neurasthenia, adrenal neurasthenia, adrenal apathy and adrenal fatigue." Also, I believe, "adrenal insufficiency." I think it's woo-woo but it's not been busted much, that I can find. And I see quite a lot of chicks talking about this on some nutrition/fitness forums that I visit.

It's hard to even sketch the shape of what people blame on 'adrenal fatigue,' but I'll try. They believe stress has caused their endocrine system to get out of whack. They seem to think that if you have thyroid problems you may also have adrenal problems, and to treat one without the other you will never be well. They take a saliva test to check their levels and then get on hydrocortisone or Prednisone or other meds to fix the problem. They take extra vitamins and sometimes DHEA, and usually go off stimulants, although some take ginseng for some reason. In some cases, people get on to this after reading the Schwarzbein Principle books and possibly following Dr.Schwarzbein's diet, which is a low-carb plan thought to heal the body's hormone systems by avoiding artificial food additives and sweeteners and so on. Although now I see that she sells supplements as well...big surprise.

Here's another site discussing it - with this amusing line:

Unlike our ancestors, we live with constant stress. Instead of occasional demands followed by rest, we're constantly over-worked, under-nourished, exposed to environmental toxins, worrying about others - with no let-up.

Dang! It'd be so much easier to be cold, parasite-ridden, and using stone tools. Being chased by hungry bears is nothing compared to daily life now, bucko!

I have experience with a pet ferret getting adrenal tumors, and personal experience with thyroid trouble, but I don't know that much about the human adrenal glands. I do understand that cortisol is something to be considered when getting a lot of hard exercise; I even had it happen to me (when I was weightlifting and running a lot, I started feeling depressed and becoming afraid I was going to die in my sleep - it was weird, but taking some simple steps cleared it right up). I've heard of Addison's disease, vaguely. So, overall, I do understand that humans can have serious adrenal problems. The thing is, while I do believe people can have subclinical thyroid problems, partly due to disagreement on TSH lab values and so on, I'm not convinced about this adrenal thing. When I search for quack pages on it, I mostly get warnings about injection of raw bovine adrenal hormones (ew). In running some searches you do notice overlap with other woo-woo fad diagnoses, such as leaky gut, fibromyalgia, and candida problems.

In any case, I'm not a doctor or a biologist, but my woo-antennae are quivering when I read about this. If anybody has any input I'd appreciate it.

 

[luchog]

Has anybody heard of Adrenal Fatigue? That web site says "This syndrome has been known by many other names throughout the past century, such as non-Addison's hypoadrenia, sub-clinical hypoadrenia, neurasthenia, adrenal neurasthenia, adrenal apathy and adrenal fatigue." Also, I believe, "adrenal insufficiency." I think it's woo-woo but it's not been busted much, that I can find. And I see quite a lot of chicks talking about this on some nutrition/fitness forums that I visit.

As far as I can tell, it's effectively a description of a fairly well-known phenomenon that is not usually diagnosed or treated effectively; which has been picked up by the woo-woo crowd. Pretty much all the information I can find falls into two camps, the woo-woo ones which are almost invariably trying to sell some sort of product meant to treat or cure it; and more traditional medical info, which recommend a lot of common-sense stuff -- improving diet, no junk/overprocessed/high-sugar foods, quit caffiene and other stimulants, engage in stress-reducing activities as much as possible, and see a doctor if it's really bad.

It's actually a pretty good description of some of the health issues I've been dealing with lately.

 

[Rolfe]

I believe the syndrome does in fact exist, and can be diagnosed. Which doesn't mean that the diagnostic methods being touted here actually do detect the condition, or that the suggested treatments are useful.

It's a bit like the more mainstream scam of suggesting that the "tired all the time" patient is really subclinically hypothyroid, then selling a load of woo on that assumption. Some people do have mild hypothyroidism and that explains why they are tired. But that doesn't validate the woo approach.

Rolfe.