Your Adrenals: Incorrigible Kids That Never Grow Up Today, let’s talk about the adrenals. Pretty much everybody’s heard of them. Almost nobody understands what they do, how they do it, or how they get whacked. The adrenals are really important body parts–with an amazing knack for getting into trouble. We have two adrenal glands, each perched atop a kidney. With your spine dividing your back in two, you can locate a kidney in the middle of each half, with the bottom of the kidney right around the bottom of your rib cage. A few inches above that sits an adrenal gland, topping the kidney like a little beanie. The adrenals handle our everyday energy needs and our fight-or-flight response in stressful situations. Healthy adrenals don’t even let you know they’re on the job; they just go about their complicated business. Unfortunately, that’s when take them for granted. Silly us. Heavy stress, if it goes on and on, can cause adrenal fatigue. The first advice you’ll hear is to get rid of your stress. Right. I mean, it’s not like you can turn stress on and off like a faucet. But here’s some advice you generally won’t hear: 1. Get to bed by 10:00 p.m. every night 2. Get good nutrition. Any form of sugar stomps on the adrenals, so get rid of sugar–even though you probably crave it. Instead of sweets, eat fatty protein. (Saturated fat is the endocrine system’s friend. Brain’s friend, too.) Then add a good program of vitamins and minerals to your daily routine so your adrenals have something to work with. Adrenals can also crash-and-burn trying to help a faltering thyroid. Treating thyroid problems without first checking your adrenal status is asking for trouble, but most doctors do just that. It’s a good news/bad news situation: Not checking the adrenals is the bad news. The good news–of a sort–is that most doctors treat hypothyroidism with Synthroid, which doesn’t help the thyroid enough to get the adrenal glands’ attention, so at least things don’t get worse. You’re still in a mighty deep ditch, but, hey, things could be worse. Other endocrine glands–hypothalamus, pituitary, pancreas, etc.–can cause adrenal problems, too. As well as things in the environment. Most doctors use blood tests to check the adrenals, which makes no sense. First off, it measures adrenal levels in the blood, not in the tissues where the action happens. Second, accurate tests of adrenal function cover many hours. A one-shot blood test isn’t accurate. Doctors who test properly use either a saliva test or a 24-hour urine test. Both check adrenal levels in the tissues, so that’s a plus. The saliva test offers more information than the urine test, and you do it at home by putting little rolls of cotton under your tongue four times a day. Symptoms of adrenal problems are a lot like those of the thyroid–constant fatigue, brain fog, hair loss, etc. Some symptoms specific to the adrenals include an itchy back, a patchy loss of leg hair and difficulty in word recall, especially names. Hydrocortisone treats underactive adrenals, but it’s hard to get a prescription. And maybe that’s okay. Early on in my adrenal failure adventure, a doctor gave me hydrocortisone, but nothing happened. I only got the help I needed when I figured out vitamins, minerals and such. I’ve seen nutrition work for others, too, so that’s what I recommend. Not just a little pill here and another there, but a solid, balanced program that gives the whole body a real boost. You adrenals need you. God is good, Bette Dowdell BetteDowdell
Posted on: Wed, 24 Jul 2013 23:56:15 +0000
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