Last week we spoke about the importance of honoring your biological clock and circadian rhythms.
One of the most important and powerful rhythms in your body is the sleep wake cycle.
Your sleep wake cycle affects many other important processes in your body including hormonal balance, mood, and weight.
Sometimes, however, your sleep cycle is not in your control.
The problem I often see in my clinic is that people want to sleep at night but find that they can’t.
They have trouble falling asleep, staying asleep, they wake up too early in the morning or find that their sleep isn’t deep or refreshing.
This poor sleep can then negatively affect those other systems like hormones, mood and weight.
Why do some people have trouble sleeping and what can be done to help?
Well, as you know there are many things that can affect the quality and quantity of your sleep. Noise, upcoming deadlines, and eating right before bed can disturb a good night’s sleep.
But in my experience the number one cause of consistent poor sleep is cortisol dysregulation.
I often refer to this sleep-depriving hormone imbalance as adrenal fatigue.
But – many doctors say that adrenal fatigue does not exist. Apparently it is a myth (check out this review that “proves” this).
So what exactly is this mythical adrenal fatigue?
The phrase adrenal fatigue was coined by James Wilson, a naturopath. He was describing a situation of mild hypoadrenia – where your adrenal glands don’t function up to snuff and can’t produce enough hormones.
What are your adrenal glands and what do they do?
The adrenal glands are two small triangular shaped glands sitting on top of your kidneys. They are responsible for producing many different types of hormones including the famous adrenaline (named for the adrenals) and cortisol.
Together these hormones help control many bodily functions including metabolism, blood sugar, blood pressure, sexual development, and your stress response.
When your body senses stress it secretes larger amounts of adrenaline and cortisol. They help ramp the body up to properly respond to a stressor. They raise your heart rate, your blood pressure and give you the physical drive to escape from the stressful situation and run away from the saber toothed tiger – or overcome whatever stress is threatening you.
When the threat is over, your body self regulates and restores the cortisol and adrenaline secretion to normal.
But what happens if you have been under relenting stress for a long time? According to Wilson your adrenals can get tired and start underproducing the stress hormones that are also vital for daily functioning.
This leaves you feeling exhausted, unable to keep up with life’s daily demands. It can also manifest with mood changes (anxiety and depression), metabolic changes (hypo or hyperglycemia), allergies, pain (fibromyalgia), and decreased immune response.
Dr. Wilson describes adrenal fatigue as a syndrome – with a collection of signs & symptoms that help us recognize a disease that doesn’t have a specific or definite cause.
Unfortunately there are no standard blood tests that can diagnose adrenal fatigue. Dr. Wilson does describe several ways to measure or diagnose this condition, including salivary and urine tests.
The best and easiest way to diagnose adrenal fatigue, and its severity, is to use Dr. Wilson’s questionnaire. To access a copy click here.
While most conventional docs don’t recognize adrenal fatigue as a real disorder, many do recognize that too much stress can lead to cortisol dysregulation – where you either have too much cortisol or too little.
Stay tuned next week to learn more about cortisol dysregulation and what you can do to bring your adrenal hormones into balance.
