As a doctor who has dealt with patients who are overly tired for many years, you might think that I’d be .C., DA of dealing with it, but tiredness/fatigue is probably one of the easier symptoms to cure and the most gratifying for me, but often misunderstood. This is probably because, at first glance, we write it off to overwork, inadequate sleep, increased stress, or poor nutrition. Yes, this can be where it begins, but these four very common effects of the current century have interesting interconnections that “down regulate” our body systems and slowly degrade health, leading not only to tiredness, but to debilitating fatigue.
Body fatigue can be confusing and the world of health and medicine is complex. The interactions of our body’s organs and systems are so interrelated and complex that simple knee-jerk assumptions about actual functions can be incomplete and incorrect. But if one places the facts of health in an order that shows the progression of a process or an effect of some nutrient or brain neurotransmitter, our bodies start to make sense in the big picture. This is why I do this work. It is the reason I enjoy this work.
Most people, and physicians for that matter, think that poor sleep leads to tiredness instead of the other way around. So, of course, their first plan of attack is to take sleep medication. This can increase total sleep time and reduce the stress of long hours of staring at the ceiling, but it certainly does not address fatigue, or the cause of the sleep disorder. My point is that fixing fatigue by medicating a symptom (and this includes thyroid medication) may not help in the long run and can actually increase your problems. This is, in fact, where most of my patients are at when I first see them.
Here’s how it actually works. At first it can begin with any of a group of “stressors,” like anemia, adrenal gland dysfunction, inflammation, gut disorders, food sensitivity, but soon it bleeds over to other areas that are susceptible because of your genes or your lifestyle, or both. The fatigue causes are real but the common denominator is that the reactions to these offensive stressors lead to adrenal gland strain and eventual adrenal fatigue. The adrenal glands (small glands above your kidneys) manage your stress from every possible source–a tall order considering how much stress we deal with. They actually produce more than 50 hormones, the majority, however, are cortisol, DHEA and aldosterone and epinephrine.
Once the adrenal glands are traumatized and under-functioning, you are not the same. In the initial stages of adrenal stress you may be hyper-responsive to minor stressors, like missing trash day, but when the adrenals continue to be strained they fully fatigue, leaving you unable to cope—overwhelmed and drained. Of course, most of us find ourselves somewhere between tired and debilitated at times, but the good thing is that the adrenals rarely are permanently scared like can happen with the pancreas (diabetes) or the brain (Alzheimer’s). It’s just that it can take a while (6 months to a year) to sort things out so that we can clearly identify the cause to the initial problem and then provide support for the organs that are under water.
Treating adrenal fatigue requires a whole-body approach, one that encompasses life style habits, diet, and excess stress that attacked your adrenal glands in the first place. Testing the adrenals with an Adrenal Salivary Test is the most accurate starting point (one that most doctors don’t do). That, along with appropriate blood testing for other causes of fatigue, will usually round-out the picture.The good news is that natural treatments for this syndrome are very effective.
Dr. Don Davis, D.C., DACNB is a BOARD CERTIFIED CHIROPRACTIC NEUROLOGIST in Walnut Creek. He has been serving individuals with chronic pain for 30 years. For information about how you can get a free consultation with Dr. Davis, call (925) 279-4324 (HEAL). Visit us at WalnutCreekHealth.com or WalnutCreekThyroidInstitute.com
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