Download Levels of Adrenal Dysfunction

 Levels of Adrenal Dysfunction It is important to remember the reason for Adrenalin and its original function. If you think of a cave person chased by a lion the person releases Adrenalin and then is tired. The rest and recover. If there are many consistent dangers then the body produces Cortisol to help Adrenalin release more quickly. The person is now constantly looking for where to run to and escape from every angle because there are so many dangers. They are exhausted but have to keep going to survive. If this level of danger stays present in the end the body becomes burnt out. Now the person has to find a safe, dark quite place to collapse and recover. In our world real dangers are rare, however, the body responds to stress about money shortages, external and internal pressure, conflict and negativity in relationships in the same way as it does to a lion. Because men and women have different levels of testosterone they often respond to stress differently particularly in their sex drive. This also has an ancient purpose. A man who is stressed will want to quickly have sex before the lion catches him. (Cortisol effects arousal but not ejaculation.) He then fights off the lion while the woman escapes. But if the woman has long‐term stress she has the opposite response. She knows she cannot carry, deliver and nurture a child in a dangerous environment so she often does not want to have sex. She finds it not easy to get aroused. 1. Adrenal Fatigue – Good sleep or holiday replenishes energy a. Tired b. Colds and Flu c. Digestive issues and intolerances 2. Adrenal Exhaustion – Must stop and sleep even when you don’t feel like it to recover, you go through fatigue and feel tired (Behaviour becomes more frenetic closer to burnout) a. Racing Energy i. Tired but can’t sleep ii. Hyperactive immune system – no colds etc (never sick) iii. Can’t stick to one thing at a time – easily bored b. Quick Fix as a Rescue with No Real Long Term Solutions i. Getting an idea no planning starting it not finishing it ii. No ability to plan or predict outcomes just wanting to start without thinking iii. Jumping from one idea to the other c. Addictions i.
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Sugar Salt Coffee Colas Fatty Foods Alcohol etc d. Digestive and blood sugar problems i. Allergies ii. IBS iii. Bloating, discomfort e. Escapist behaviour i.
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Excessive TV watching Reading Internet Partying f. All or Nothing Behaviour i. Beginning with great enthusiasm then doing nothing ii. Over doing exercise then Doing Nothing iii. Manic then depressive – running around doing everything then crying and not knowing why iv. Put up with too much then angry g. Irrational Emotions – Hormonal imbalances i.
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Suspicious of others for no reason Outbursts of emotion Unable to understand context or another’s point of view Irrational fears and anxieties No emotional resilience h. Rescuing Others as an Escape i. Rescuing others and getting caught in Drama Cycles Eg Rescuer, Victim, Perpetrator ii. Rescuing others instead of sorting out one’s own issues iii. Helping others who are actually better off than you are iv. Feeling angry when others don’t take your advice 3. Adrenal Burnout – Recovery take time, persistent supplementation, support and rest a. Not able to get out of bed b. Simple behaviour like washing dishes is overwhelming c. Nervous breakdown d. Severe depression – life is not worth living e. Chronic fatigue f. Immune Diseases g. Hormones flatline Cortisol Steal
Chronic Stress Hans Selye MD was a doctor who studied the stress response. He would
take a rat and physically stress it by having it continually swim in swirling
water. When it started to drown he would remove it, let it catch its breath and
begin the process over. He would cause emotional stress by placing a rat in
the corner with a cat on a leash, if the rat moved the cat would kill it. He
caused thermal stress by placing a rat on a rooftop in the middle of winter, let
it almost freeze to death, bring it in and let it warm up, then put it outside
again. What he found was that no matter what the stressor was the response
was always the same. The response was hypertrophy (enlargement) of the
adrenal glands, atrophy (shrinking) of the thymus and spleen, and ulcerations
of the stomach and small intestine. The thymus and spleen make up a large
portion of your immune system. This is why people under high stress tend to
get sick easily and also develop ulcers easily.
Our stress hormone synthesis happens as follows:
Cholesterol® Pregnanelone® Progesterone® Cortisol (stress hormones)
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Aldosterone
DHEA®Sex Hormones
As you can see, stress and sex hormones are all derived from
cholesterol. If you are under constant stress, you will make more stress
hormones, and therefore you will need more cholesterol to make those
hormones. This is how stress can lead to elevated cholesterol. When
you’re continuously making stress hormones your body will decrease
production of sex hormones, as well as aldosterone, this is called cortisol
steal. Lower sex hormones will lead to hormonal imbalances such as
irregular menstrual cycles, infertility and low libido. Lower aldosterone
levels will prevent your kidneys from absorbing sodium and therefore spilling
sodium into the bladder. Wherever sodium goes, water follows. This will
cause dilute urine and frequent urination, as well as the craving of salt.
Stress affects sexual function as mentioned above, also sexual arousal is a
parasympathetic nervous system response, whereas orgasm and
ejaculation are a sympathetic nervous system response. When you have
high stress, this stimulates the sympathetic nervous system, decreasing
stimulation of the parasympathetic nervous system and not allowing arousal
to take place. When Viagra was introduced in 1998, it became the fastest
selling drug in the history of pharmaceuticals. Could this because of the high
stress lifestyle we live?
Insulin is the only hormone that lowers blood sugar, whereas cortisol,
epinephrine, norepinephrine, glucagon and growth hormone all raise
blood sugar. Cortisol, epinephrine and norepinephrine are all stress
hormones. This is how stress will increase blood sugar, causing insulin
levels to rise, to lower the blood sugar and ultimately causing insulin
resistance. “Guyton’s Textbook of Medical Physiology” states that persons
with excess cortisol secretion frequently develop a peculiar type of
obesity, with excess deposition of fat in the chest and head regions of the
body, giving a buffalo-like torso and a rounded face called a “moon face”.
This is the “apple body shape”.
Higher cortisol levels also block the 5’ deiodinase enzyme. This enzyme
is responsible for the conversion of the thyroid hormone T4 which is
made in the thyroid, to T3, which is converted primarily in the liver and
kidneys. When this enzyme is blocked it will increase the production of
reverse T3. T3 is the thyroid hormone which has the most effect on the body.
Therefore, when cortisol blocks this enzyme it will lower thyroid
function, which leads to lower metabolism and weight gain. This could
be one of the reasons people have symptoms of a low thyroid, but their TSH
(thyroid stimulating hormone) is normal, as well as T4. The T3 and reverse
T3 levels are rarely checked.
Stress will also have effects on the gastrointestinal tract. It will
decrease hydrochloric acid (stomach acid) and mucus production, slow
the motility of the small intestine and increase the motility of the large
intestine. When you have a decrease in stomach acid and mucus production,
this will decrease the amount of gastric protection of the stomach. The high
cortisol levels from stress will decrease immune function, therefore
making it a favorable environment for Helicobacter Pylori to proliferate, and
causing a gastric ulcer. If the small intestine is slower to recover from stress
the motility is impaired and constipation results. When the large intestine is
slower to recover from stress, motility is increased and diarrhea results.
Stress will increase cardiac risk in many ways. It will increase blood
pressure. It can increase cholesterol for production of the stress hormones
as stated above. The stress hormones (catacholamines) are detoxified
through methylation, this could decrease the methylation capacity to detoxify
homocysteine. High levels of homocysteine are very toxic to the
cardiovascular system. As stated earlier, cortisol, epinephrine and
norepinphrine raise glucose levels. The higher blood sugar level will cause
the release of insulin. Insulin will increase cholesterol, LDL,
triglycerides and decrease HDL. The increase in body fat caused by stress
as mentioned above is another cardiac risk factor.
Cortisol has a half life of 100 minutes. This means that if you are under
stress and have a cortisol release, in 100 minutes you will have 50% of that
cortisol still in your system, after 200 minutes 25% and so on. If you are
under constant stress you will continuously have high cortisol levels and have
the physiological responses of that cortisol.
We have natural cortisol patterns. Cortisol should be very high at 8:00 am,
this is supposed to get you up feeling bright eyed and bushy tailed. It should
continually lower throughout the day and be very low at night so you can fall
asleep, sleep deeply and restfully. Cortisol levels at 8:00 am are
approximately ten times higher then at midnight. There are three patterns of
stress people fall into. The stressed and wired, the stressed and tired,
and the tired then wired. The stress and wired group are people who
continually have high cortisol levels. This is the always on the go type
person. The stressed and tired group, are people who have continually
low cortisol levels. These are people who are tired from the time they
wake up to the time they go to bed and are constantly seeking
stimulants to keep them going. The third type, the tired then wired
group are people who have low cortisol levels in the morning and high
cortisol levels at night. These are the people who need stimulants to get
themselves going in the morning, then calming aids (alcohol, sleep
medications) to go to sleep. If you suspect you have this problem click here
to download a screening questionnaire.