Adrenal Fatigue: Symptoms, Causes + The Top Natural Remedies To Restore Your Energy

In my telehealth functional medicine clinic, my patients come to me with many different health issues, but the most common one by far is fatigue. I witness the epidemic of extreme exhaustion on a daily basis, as my patients tell me how they never wake up feeling fully rested and depend on caffeine to keep them awake throughout the day.

They are irritable and “hangry” (hunger that makes them feel angry), crave salty or sugary foods, or both. They have trouble with stubborn weight gain despite dieting and exercise, and have little to no sex drive. Their energy level crashes in the afternoon, but they often get a “second wind” before bed and find they can’t wind down or sleep soundly, perpetuating the cycle.

Sadly, many think this is just the way people feel, and that it must be normal because everyone else seems to feel the same way. But just because something is common doesn’t make it normal. Feeling constant, unrelenting fatigue is not normal. In fact, it is one of the primary symptoms of compromised adrenal health and adrenal fatigue. 

All about your adrenal glands

In order to know how to address adrenal fatigue and other adrenal gland disorders, we need to understand the role of the adrenal glands. Your adrenal glands sit on top of your kidneys, like little baseball caps. They regulate and produce many critical hormones in your body, such as aldosterone and androgens, but one of their primary jobs is to control the release of your main stress hormone, cortisol. Cortisol is essential for survival.

Our bodies are built for stressful events. When our ancestors were chased by predators, the sympathetic nervous system responded by switching the body into fight-or-flight mode. During this stress response, the adrenal glands release cortisol, adrenaline, and norepinephrine, which increases blood pressure and blood sugar for faster response and better survival. When the predators were gone, cortisol decreased, and so did blood pressure and blood sugar levels. Normal balance was restored. However, ongoing stress (that feels like predators to your brain) doesn’t turn it back off. This constant stress signal can cause intense adrenal fatigue, affecting your energy and health.

What is adrenal fatigue?

Although adrenal fatigue isn’t classified as a “real” medical condition (research concludes there is not enough evidence to support that adrenal function is related to fatigue), this research isn’t perfect and there’s no denying that there are millions of people struggling with the same set of symptoms. (1,2) This is yet another example of the gap between conventional and functional medicine. But ultimately, adrenal fatigue is classified as tiredness alongside a set of other symptoms which are thought to be due to chronic (long-term) exposure to stressful situations.

In a healthy individual, cortisol is higher in the morning to help with waking, and slowly lowers throughout the day. Melatonin, your “sleepy time” hormone, is inversely proportional to cortisol, so when cortisol is high, melatonin is low and vice versa. Adrenal fatigue happens when there is an imbalance in this cortisol rhythm. Cortisol is either low when it should be high, high when it should be low, or always low or always high. Adrenal fatigue can look different case to case.

Many people ask, “how to stimulate your adrenal glands?” But the problem isn’t isolated in your adrenals. In fact, your brain tells your adrenal glands what to do through a complex web of communications called the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA axis), or simply the brain-adrenal axis. Your hypothalamus releases corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH), which tells the pituitary gland to release the adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH). ACTH then tells your adrenal cortex to release cortisol, while the adrenal medulla handles the release of “quick-response” hormones like adrenaline.

Adrenal fatigue is really a dysfunction of your brain’s communication with your adrenals — not the adrenal glands themselves.

LISTEN: Dr. Izabella Wentz: Cortisol Myths, Fasting For HPA Axis Health, Adrenal Fatigue Gaslighting + Stress Hormone Supplements

What is the root cause of adrenal fatigue?

Some chronic stressors that can lead to adrenal fatigue include:

• autoimmune conditions
• viruses
• bacterial infections
• accidents/injuries
• emotional stress
• excessive exercise
• food intolerances
• microbiome dysfunctions
• toxins

What does adrenal fatigue feel like?

Symptoms of adrenal fatigue include:

• Slow to start in the morning
• Cravings for salty or sugary foods
• Low libido
• Fatigue in the afternoon
• Occasional abdominal pain
• A “second wind” in the evening
• Inability to stay asleep
• Muscle weakness
• Dizziness when standing up quickly due to low blood pressure
• Afternoon headaches
• Blood sugar issues
• Chronic inflammation
• Weak nails and brittle hair
• Moodiness
• Difficulty with weight loss

Struggling with these symptoms? Take our Adrenal Fatigue Quiz.

15 Expert Tips For Adrenal Fatigue Treatment

Now that you know all about adrenal fatigue you may have identified your own issues and are asking “How do you fix adrenal fatigue?” These are a functional medicine expert’s top tips on tackling adrenal fatigue and restoring power over your energy and overall lifestyle.

1. Ask your doctor about diagnostic labs

Because adrenal fatigue symptoms are so non-specific and could be indicative of other diseases such as depression, sleep apnea, and certain autoimmune diseases like Addison’s disease (also known as adrenal insufficiency where your body doesn’t make enough cortisol and risks an adrenal crisis) or Cushing’s syndrome where your body produces too much. Seeing a medical professional or endocrinologist to establish a baseline of what’s going on in the body — and to rule out the need for surgical interventions like an adrenalectomy in the rare case of cancer — is the first step to knowing how to treat adrenal fatigue. In addition to conventional blood labs used to screen for rare conditions like adrenal cancer, I recommend:

• Adrenal fatigue labs: This saliva test involves spitting into several vials throughout the day. This will give you and your doctor a lot of information about your brain-adrenal function. When I did these labs, I learned I did indeed have adrenal (HPA) dysfunction.
• Microbiome labs: This is the community of trillions of bacteria and fungi in your gut. Because gut health is the foundation of overall health, it is important to discover what is going on and deal with any underlying gut problems such as leaky gut syndrome, candida overgrowth, and small intestinal bacterial overgrowth in order to recover from adrenal fatigue.
• Methylation labs: Methylation is a collection of biochemical actions in the body that happen 1 billion times every second. Healthy methylation helps to maintain a healthy brain, gut, hormones, and detox pathways, and also protects your DNA. However, some of us have genetic mutations that impair the methylation process. Methylation gene mutations can make you less able to absorb certain essential vitamins.

These initial tests will give you and your functional medicine doctor a better idea of what is really going on in your body systems, and send you in the right direction of knowing how to reverse adrenal fatigue in your specific case.

2. Manage your chronic stress

Another key element of adrenal fatigue treatment is managing chronic stress. Pinpoint your key areas of stress and work to modify them, whether that means testing for food intolerances, detoxifying your environment, incorporating stress-relieving supplements, or just letting yourself heal by clearing your schedule for a while. You can never eliminate all stress in life but if you can be sure to work in periods of rest and relaxation so stress levels can subside for a while, you will break the chronic stress cycle to regain your health and feel like yourself again.

3. Bring down inflammation

Inflammation is the driving force behind so many modern day health problems, including adrenal fatigue. Lowering chronic inflammation levels is one of the biggest things we can do to address adrenal fatigue. While there are many ways to go about this, eating an anti-inflammatory diet and bringing in inflammation-fighting herbs and supplements are two of my gold-standards. Curcumin, a compound in the turmeric root, has potent anti-inflammatory properties, as well as a neuroprotective quality. Bonus: It’s a mood-enhancer, too. In a randomized controlled trial, turmeric appeared to act as an effective option for depression, (3) which can occur concurrently with adrenal fatigue.

You can cook with Curcumin, but supplements can help take your fight against inflammation to the next-level. I formulated my supplement, The Curcumin, with pure turmeric extract, including the extensively studied BCM-95® that enhances the bioavailability of important inflammation-fighting curcuminoids to provide antioxidant and cell-protective activity, joint support, and modulation of the production of inflammatory cytokines.

READ MORE: How Chronic Inflammation Wrecks Your Health + What To Do About It

4. Eat nutrient-dense proteins

Oysters

Oysters are packed with zinc, and having a balanced trace mineral ratio between copper and zinc can help with healthy neurotransmitter function and act as an adaptogen to stress. Increased copper and decreased zinc have been shown to contribute to brain stress and anxiety. (4) Newer research also shows that both low copper and zinc levels significantly contribute to increased anxiety and depression. (5) Oysters — the superfood of the sea — are a great way to achieve this balance to help ease your stress levels and adrenal fatigue.

Organic turkey

There is some truth to the notion that a post-Thanksgiving meal heavy on the turkey will put you into a “food coma.” The reason is the calming amino acid tryptophan in the turkey. Tryptophan is a precursor to the neurotransmitter serotonin, which helps you feel calm and better able to deal with anxiety. (6)

Grass-fed organ meats

Organ meats like liver are some of the best sources of nutrients needed to beat adrenal fatigue, like zinc and vitamin D. They also contain copious amounts of choline and other B vitamins needed for methylation. (7)

5. Eat more green superfoods

Leafy greens

Plant foods like Swiss chard and spinach are rich in magnesium, the original nutritional “chill pill,” which helps to regulate and optimize communication in the brain-adrenal axis. (8)

Asparagus

This sulfur-rich vegetable also contains the beneficial B vitamin folate. Low levels of folate are linked to neurotransmitter impairment, which can lead to brain-hormonal problems. (9)

6. Eat healthy fats every day

Avocados

Avocados contain beneficial B vitamins and monounsaturated fats that boost neurotransmitter production and brain health. This fatty superfruit also contains potassium, which naturally helps to lower blood pressure.

Full-fat kefir

Bacterial imbalances in your gut can contribute to brain problems (10) because the gut and brain “talk” to each other through the vagus nerve. Kefir is rich in beneficial bacteria for your microbiome and also has fat-soluble vitamins A, D, and K2, which are important for brain health, so it helps out from both ends of this critical connection.

Coconut oil 

Coconut oil is super versatile — you can cook with it, put it in smoothies, or just eat it off a spoon as I do. It offers good fats like medium-chain triglycerides (MCTs) that can help with brain function. (11)

Wild-caught fish

Omega-rich foods like Alaskan salmon can help decrease inflammation, which is crucial for brain and hormonal health.

7. Practice breathing exercises

You breathe all day long, but doing it consciously and with focused awareness as part of a regular breathwork routine is a powerful practice for reducing the stress response. Take time throughout the day to become aware of your breath and you’ll diffuse stress and reboot the brain-adrenal axis.

8. Sip on herbal tea

Chamomile tea

This soothing, mild herbal tea isn’t actually from the tea plant. It’s made from an herb, Matricaria recutita, that has been shown to help decrease anxiety, depression, and stress symptoms in just a few weeks. (12)

Rooibos tea

Another non-tea “tea,” this one comes from the African red bush, typically known as Rooibos, and can have a balancing effect on cortisol. (13)

9. Practice mindfulness techniques

Reducing emotional stress using mindfulness tools like meditation, gratitude journals, or prayer can help you stay calm and soothe your brain-adrenal axis.

10. Try natural supplements

Rehabbing the brain-adrenal connection takes time and what works for one person may not work for you, so it’s important to discuss natural medicine therapy with a qualified practitioner who can make personalized recommendations based on your needs. However, here are some general natural medicines that can help mitigate stress:

• Adaptogenic herbs: Ashwagandha, Rhodiola Rosea, Holy Basil, and Eleuthero Ginseng can have a regulating effect on cortisol rhythm.
• Magnesium: Works to help support the adrenal glands, relaxes stressed muscles and nerves, and promotes quality sleep. It can also help keep you regular. The Magnesium is formulated with Magtein® — a breakthrough form of magnesium that actually crosses the blood-brain barrier for real results you can feel.
• Methylation support: Taking activated forms of B12 and folate are effective ways to support healthy methylation pathways, which help balance the melatonin-cortisol rhythm.
• GABA support: GABA is your calming, inhibitory neurotransmitter and herbs like passion flower and amino acids such as theanine, glycine, and taurine can help calm you down by acting on the gabaminergic pathways in your brain.

11. Sleep more

In order to allow your brain and adrenals to recuperate overnight, you need to get enough sleep. Promote quality sleep by turning off the TV and smartphone a few hours before bed and reading a book instead. Most professionals recommend at least 7 hours per night for adults.

12. Spend more time outdoors

Because I have a job that’s indoors, I need to make it a point to get outside more often. I believe there is something coded in our DNA that gives each of us an affinity with the sun and fresh air so that we seek out these health-boosting influences. I also like to practice earthing, or walking barefoot outside, as much as I can to help de-stress. Something about that skin-on-earth connection feels literally grounding and refreshing.

13. Get vitamin D levels into a healthy range

Spending more time outside in the sun helps boost levels of vitamin D, because your body manufactures this important vitamin/hormone when it senses the sun on your skin.Vitamin D is responsible for regulating over 200 genetic pathways, so make sure your levels are high enough. I recommend an optimal range of around 60 to 80 ng/ml. Ask your doctor about a simple blood test to help you keep track.

14. Learn to say “no”

Managing stress means creating space in your life to refuel, spend time with the people you love, and doing what you need to do for you and you alone. Don’t just pencil it in. It’s as important as anything else you do for your health, and maybe more so, especially for proper adrenal fatigue healing.

15. Give functional medicine a try

Depending on your individual brain-adrenal dysfunction, you may need to work with a qualified practitioner to assess your condition and carefully replace a small portion of the levels of the missing adrenal hormones for a period of time. That’s where functional medicine comes in. Specific amounts of DHEA and the precursor to cortisol, called pregnenolone, can stimulate your body to begin producing it naturally, while also supporting the balance of other hormones like estrogen. It is necessary to find professional guidance to determine how much and how often, in order to really nip that adrenal fatigue in the bud in the healthiest way possible.

As one of the first functional medicine telehealth clinics in the world, we provide webcam health consultations for people around the globe. 

Photo: Unsplash.com

Sources

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• Campos, M. (2020, January 29). Is adrenal fatigue “real”? Harvard Health Publishing. https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/is-adrenal-fatigue-real-2018022813344
• Sanmukhani, J., Satodia, V., Trivedi, J., Patel, T., Tiwari, D., Panchal, B., Goel, A., & Tripathi, C. B. (2014). Efficacy and safety of curcumin in major depressive disorder: a randomized controlled trial. Phytotherapy research : PTR, 28(4), 579–585. https://doi.org/10.1002/ptr.5025
• Russo A. J. (2011). Decreased zinc and increased copper in individuals with anxiety. Nutrition and metabolic insights, 4, 1–5. https://doi.org/10.4137/NMI.S6349
• Nakamura, M., Miura, A., Nagahata, T., Shibata, Y., Okada, E., & Ojima, T. (2019). Low Zinc, Copper, and Manganese Intake is Associated with Depression and Anxiety Symptoms in the Japanese Working Population: Findings from the Eating Habit and Well-Being Study. Nutrients, 11(4), 847. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu11040847
• Lindseth, G., Helland, B., & Caspers, J. (2015). The effects of dietary tryptophan on affective disorders. Archives of psychiatric nursing, 29(2), 102–107. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apnu.2014.11.008
• Zeisel, S. H., & da Costa, K. A. (2009). Choline: an essential nutrient for public health. Nutrition reviews, 67(11), 615–623. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1753-4887.2009.00246.x
• Sartori, S. B., Whittle, N., Hetzenauer, A., & Singewald, N. (2012). Magnesium deficiency induces anxiety and HPA axis dysregulation: modulation by therapeutic drug treatment. Neuropharmacology, 62(1), 304–312. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropharm.2011.07.027
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