Is THIS the reason you feel tired all the time?
It’s a little-known condition doctors dismiss but sufferers insist is all too real
THe dinner with work colleagues had been inked on the calendar for weeks. But, that morning, Christine Toon felt utterly panic-stricken. ‘Although these people were my friends, I was palpitating at the thought of having to force myself to be the lively, smiling person they thought they knew, while inside I was crumbling,’ she says. ‘In the end, I made some lame excuse about having a headache and pulled out.’
It wasn’t the first time Christine, a sales assistant, had found herself feeling this way. For several months, she’d been living a double life — happy on the outside, but permanently exhausted, irritable and unhappy on the inside.
‘It was as if life was leaking out of me,’ she says. ‘I was 53, with a lovely husband, two great children, a beautiful house and a nice job. Yet the spirited, go-getting Christine was ebbing away. And I had no idea why.’
During repeated visits to her Gp, Christine, who lives in Bury St edmunds, Suffolk, was told she was menopausal, depressed or just overworked.
It was only after researching her symptoms on the internet, followed by visiting a naturopath, that she discovered she was actually suffering from a condition known as adrenal fatigue, where the adrenal glands — two walnut-sized glands that sit just above the kidneys — function below the necessary level, leaving you feeling tired and stressed.
often touted as the 21st-century stress disorder, the condition has been greeted with both scepticism and understanding. Many doctors dismiss the notion of adrenal fatigue. They maintain there is no science to support the theory that long-term mental, emotional or physical stress drains the adrenal glands ( described by nutritionist Henrietta Norton as the body’s ‘internal stress management centre’), causing many common symptoms.
Yet for Christine — and thousands like her — the diagnosis was a relief. ‘I thought I was going mad,’ she says. ‘I’ve always eaten healthily, exercised and looked after myself. I never had the classic blues to suggest I was depressed. But, suddenly, I changed from feeling super-confident to being an old, tired person I didn’t know.’
NATuropATH Marek Doyle is adamant that adrenal fatigue is very common, but says many women don’t realise they have an issue. ‘They accept the way they feel as normal and continue their daily struggle,’ he says.
‘Doctors don’t recognise it, so a huge number of patients are being dismissed — or offered antidepressants as a token measure, which is the last thing they need.’
Affecting significantly more women than men, adrenal fatigue happens when the adrenal glands are overworked. under normal circumstances, they produce the hormone cortisol to regulate blood pressure, the immune system and the body’s response to stress.
‘But when they are out of balance, they can disrupt production of other hormones such as adrenaline,’ says Marek. ‘This can lead to problems such as disturbed sleep, periods of feeling low, increased sensitivity to loud noises, inability to lose weight, feeling dizzy or lethargic and a craving for salty foods, as cortisol is linked to retaining the correct balance of sodium in the body.’
Some sufferers may not have any obvious signs of physical illness, yet live with a general sense of tiredness. Adrenal fatigue can strike after a period of stress, poor eating or disturbed sleeping, or after an infection that causes disruption of the glands.
excess cortisol may also prevent uptake of the mood- enhancing brain chemical serotonin, triggering anxiety and low mood. It can also lead to overproduction of insulin by the pancreas. As insulin deposits fat onto the body’s fat cells, this can lead to weight gain.
Yet although more and more women are succumbing to adrenal fatigue, thanks to their multi-tasking lives, it’s difficult to find doctors who will acknowledge the condition exists.
According to the British Thyroid Foundation, there is no recognised medical condition called ‘adrenal fatigue’.
either the adrenal glands are fine and need no treatment, or there is adrenal insufficiency due to adrenal or pituitary failure. This can be measured by an endocrinologist.
Yet there’s no doubt that many women are seeking help, after developing symptoms of what they believe is the condition.
‘I often see clients in my practice who display the symptoms of adrenal fatigue,’ says Louise Tyler, a counsellor who runs personal resilience clinics in Cheshire and Manchester. ‘over time, the sufferer will feel more and more exhausted and unable to cope with everyday life. And they don’t know why.’ Busi ne s s woman rebecca Goodyear found it difficult to pinpoint the cause of her tiredness and lethargy. ‘It started two years ago and I felt tired and as if I’d I lost my focus, even though I was so busy with work, setting up a company selling natural beauty supplements. ‘ I put on several pounds and I’d get a mad craving f or salty foods around 3pm every day. I also found myself flipping out over simple things. I remember going mad at my partner, Charlie, because he hadn’t cleared up af t er s upper one evening. I found myself welling up at stupid things — totally out of character.’ rebecca, 34, who lives in London, tried reflexology in a bid to help her relax. Her therapist said she could feel a reaction in the part of her feet that corresponded with her adrenals. Curious to find out more, rebecca began to research adrenal problems and found her symptoms matched adrenal fatigue.
‘It was such a eureka moment,’ she says. ‘I realised that I wasn’t going mad; I had a real problem.’ on the advice of a naturopath, she began to take natural, stressrelieving supplements such as Siberian ginseng, which, she says, helped enormously.
She also takes liquorice root, a herb with natural antidepressant properties. And she has cut back on her evening ‘glass or two’ of wine, as well as cutting out caffeine — both of which are said to exacerbate the condition.
‘I’m not fully there yet, but I already feel so much better,’ she says. ‘I’m sleeping better, my libido has improved and I no longer feel like I’m screaming inside.’
For Marilyn Devonish, adrenal fatigue was the result of years of emotional stress. ‘I’d had problems with an underactive thyroid and was prescribed medication,’ says Marilyn, 46, from Watford. ‘But my life was mad at the time. As well as working in an investment bank, I was training to be a chartered accountant. Then, I discovered my partner was having an affair, which was devastating.
‘I found the strength to forgive him, but several months later discovered he was still seeing someone else. It was a dreadful time and, although I did get through it, the residual effects of the sustained stress caused the adrenal fatigue.’
For Marilyn, diagnosis came after researching the condition and having tests at a private clinic: levels of hormones produced by the adrenal glands can be tracked by testing saliva samples over a period of time throughout the day.
However, despite the increasing anecdotal evidence, it may still be difficult to get recognition, let alone diagnosis, from your doctor.
Although cortisol can be measured in saliva, there is no specific protocol provided by the NHS and treatment is varied and usually provided by alternative practitioners, whose goal is to calm down adrenal activity.
MArek Doyle says eating five small meals a day, with high-protein snacks in between, can help stabilise blood sugar. ‘Snacks such as boiled eggs, chicken drumsticks, or slices of meat will prevent the highs and lows,’ he says.
‘It’s also important to exercise regularly and make time to alleviate worries — perhaps by taking long walks or simply doing nothing in front of the television.’
In some cases, supplements can help. After visiting a naturopath, Christine Toon now takes Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHeA), a hormone produced naturally by the adrenal glands, but which can be made from chemicals found in wild yam and soy.
She says: ‘There must be so many women like me who keep telling themselves they’re j ust going through a phase, and they may hear it from their doctors, too.
‘I’m just glad I was able to find out what the problem was and do something about it. Now, I feel so much more like the old me.’