Adrenal fatigue or Ambien-induced subway riding?
I had a pretty great weekend: went to the local high school’s chemistry demonstration, ate chocolate covered figs for the first time, sewed a vintage-esque dress from a pattern I made myself based on a picture (my first time making my own pattern and it turned out so cute!!) and watched Jelly Bean play “where’s your bellybutton” with two other toddlers at the church Christmas party. Oh and did I mention I lactated?! That’s right, the old gray mare ain’t what she used to be – and apparently now she’s mutated into a cow.
So I did what any woman who hasn’t nursed a baby in over a year and yet who has suddenly sprung a leak would do: I texted all my mom Gym Buddies. I got two immediate replies. Gym Buddy Krista told me I’m pregnant and Gym Buddy Megan told me I have a brain tumor. (Okay, three replies. Turbo Jennie texted me back, “I only have 1. What do I know?”) As I Googled my symptoms, I came across pregnancy (I’m not) and pituitary tumors (seriously?) but it was a different answer that really caught my eye: Adrenal fatigue.
Hang around health and fitness circles long enough and you’ll start to hear a few catchphrases over and over and adrenal fatigue is one of those (it comes right after “fat burning zone” and before “abs are made in the kitchen!”). For years I’ve heard fellow gym rats chalk up everything from extra sore muscles to fatigue to “tinny-tasting” protein shakes to this strange malady. A favorite diagnosis of alternative medicine practitioners, it is either ignored or decried by most conventional docs.
Basically your adrenal glands are two little tiny organs near your kidneys that help moderate your fight-or-flight response. For something so little they sure are controversial. While there is an official disease called “adrenal insufficiency/Addison’s disease” where your adrenal glands are woefully – and measurably – under-producing, it’s rare and you don’t get it from being overstressed. Adrenal fatigue on the other hand is, depending on the speaker, a very common by-product of our modern society and quite possibly the root of all evil. (And you thought that was Donald Trump!)
Says WebMD, adrenal fatigue is “a mild form of adrenal insufficiency caused by chronic stress. The unproven theory behind adrenal fatigue is that your adrenal glands are unable to keep pace with the demands of perpetual fight-or-flight arousal. As a result, they can’t produce quite enough of the hormones you need to feel good. Existing blood tests, according to this theory, aren’t sensitive enough to detect such a small decline in adrenal function — but your body is.”
Eh, naysayers! Plus WebMD doesn’t even list spontaneous lactating as a symptom. The Natural News rebuts, saying, “In mainstream medicine, doctors refuse to recognize there is a problem with the adrenal glands unless you meet the diagnostic criteria for Addison’s disease (extremely little adrenal function) or Cushing’s disease (hyper adrenal). These diseases together affect less than 2% of the population, but some experts believe that upwards of 80% of the population suffers from some level of adrenal insufficiency.” You hear that Mr. Web-anyone-can-string-MD-after-their-website-name-.com? 80%! It’s an epidemic!
Well, if the existence of Celebrity Intervention tells us anything it’s that we are all chronically overstressed (where Kathy Griffin leads, the country follows!). And heaven knows I’m a cortisol factory – my kids are going through a chanting stage that makes me want to stick forks in my ears – so I’ll give them that. But there are plenty of other symptoms besides chronic fatigue and stress, including everything from dizziness upon standing, headaches, memory problems, salt cravings, hemorrhoids, and a funky-sounding dub in the lub-dub of your heartbeat. Other than the last one (why oh why do I not own a stethoscope?!) I have every one of the 50+ symptoms listed.
And then it hit me: I am a Google-induced hypochondriac who just made her children all listen to her heartbeat to see if it sounded “funny”.
So now what do I do? Call my regular doctor and pray they don’t find a tumor? Find a naturopath and sun-salutation they don’t tell me for the eleventieth time to take up meditation? Sell my milk on the Internet and fund Christmas from my boob juice thereby making the phrase “money makers” both funnier and more horrifying all at the same time? Unfortunately there’s not a lot of definitive research into adrenal fatigue. Since the available tests supposedly aren’t sensitive enough to detect a biological change and pretty much everyone feels tired and worn down (except my 5-year-old who wakes up at 6 a.m. every stinking day) it seems like it comes down to a matter of opinion.
Seriously – what do you guys know about adrenal fatigue? Is it real? Pseudo-science? Any other women out there ever lactated spontaneously?? (And Dad, if you’re still reading, I’m sorry.)
I’d never heard of adrenal fatigue – I’m so out of it ! I now have something to blame (Yay !)
Maybe a checkup would be a good idea ? I hope you’re doing ok and not sprouting any more leaks 🙂
While it may [or may not] exist, I think treating something like this is unnecessary unless there IS something definitive in the blood test / physiological test result. People in the ‘developed’ world, leading relatively comfy lives should definitely stop getting paranoid about ‘diseases’ that are really just a result of environmental stress.
Definitely agree with the poster above that a checkup is a good idea! But if the checkup comes clean, then don’t fret about it unless it happens repeatedly.
Oh my goodness!!! You do share a lot! Ha ha. I’ve heard of adrenal fatigue from a few bloggers who are super anti-coffee. Other than that I’ve never looked into it and it’s probably a good thing b/c I have hypochondriac tendencies as well.
Please email me a picture of your dress. 🙂
As someone who actually has Addison’s Disease (of the autoimmune kind), I’m firmly in the ‘adrenal fatigue is a bunch of crock’ camp. If you look carefully at the credentials of the people actually selling AF as a condition it all soon starts to look like a bunch of snake oil. Unfortunately the ‘symptoms’ are so general as to make it sound as though everyone has them, especially the target market – women who are juggling multiple balls and are feeling the natural side effects. Tiredness, stress, insomnia, sugar cravings, weight gain? Yeah sure, sign me up for some of that yam extract.
Of course people who genuinely have Addison’s Disease can also go for years feeling absolutely rotten. In the case of the primary, autoimmune kind, your body is slowly destroying the outer cortex of your adrenals. They keep working, just less and less well, until around 90% of the gland is gone. For me the tipping point was a cold I never recovered from followed by two months of barely being able to walk 100 metres, during which time my GP tested me for everything under the sun before finally hitting on endocrine issues. One trip to the local hospital emergency department, and a quick shot of synthetic cortisol, and I was feeling like a million bucks. I mean that in all seriousness. I was as high as a kite and telling my husband I wanted to jog around the ward – and that was in the days before I was a runner. After years of slowly going downhill being given all that energy in one single injection was like winning the lottery or having all my Christmases come at once. What, and all I had to do was take a few pills each day? Sign me up! My diagnosis was the best thing that ever happened to me.
The lactation can be a sign of a pituatary tumour, which can lead to what is known as secondary Addisons if your pit gland isn’t producing ACTH any more (your body’s signal to the Adrenal glad to produce cortisol). That’s extremely unlikely to be the case though!
As for primary Addisons, I had all the symptoms you mentioned – salt cravings, lethargy, nausea, low blood pressure, weight loss, and most oddly, tanned skin. The tanned skin is a side effect of all the ACTH my pit glad was pumping out in a futile attempt to get my dying adrenals to produce cortisol. That, incidentally, is the test for primary Addison’s – a very painful shot of ACTH in the thigh or butt to see if your adrenals respond. I had to have it done twice, and it wasn’t pretty. Ironically the weight loss and the tanned skin caused a few people at my office to wonder exactly why I was taking so many sick days – I looked so well!
I would strongly advise anyone who thinks they may have adrenal issues to get a blood cortisol test done, and an ACTH test if that indicates any problems. See your doctor! If necessary, get a referral to an endocrinologist!
After seeing my ND about a myriad of symptoms I took a really simple saliva test and we discovered my adrenals weren’t functioning correctly. She put me on a supplement and it really, seriously helped. I would love to go back and re-take the test to see if my levels have actually changed, but as far as my treatment, it works! So crock or not, I don’t know, but I tell every woman I know with a list of mystery symptoms to just get their adrenals checked and see what’s up.
I am so excited that you are posting about this! A while ago I posted to a messaged board asking about this because I keep hearing it everywhere and it sounded like a load of bollocks to me (okay, I should really be nicer…I know a lot of people who say that they have it and I believe that they believe they do! Don’t shoot me other commenters!). Anyway, I was hoping you’d provide me with an answer, but I will be keeping a close eye on these comments. One of the things that really bothers me about these fad diagnoses are statistics like the one you gave above with up to 80 percent of the population being affected. If that’s the case, then is it really a disease? As far as us all being so stressed in these modern times, well, I have to admit that while I have a little sympathy, we’re living in some pretty good times comparatively speaking. Do you reckon that the rate of adrenal fatigue at the height of the Industrial Revolution, the Great Depression, or WWII was 100%?
Anyway, enough of my ranting. Here’s a good fact sheet: http://www.hormone.org/Public/upload/Adrenal-Fatigue-Web.pdf. I think a very good point made in that fact sheet is that the ‘treatments’ often make people feel better, no matter what their condition. Hence the power of so many of the testimonials. People who were feeling stressed and overstretched finally take time to care for themselves! It’s a medical miracle!
Yeah…what she said!
I vote “bollocks” on the adrenal fatigue diagnosis. I have no doubt you could walk into dozens of alternative medicine clinics in your city and get a positive diagnosis. Tell you what, right now I’ll tell you “Yes, you have it.” Send me $200, please.
That would be two Sarahs and one Naomi for “bollocks.” And I’ll share the $200 with Naomi. You’re welcome. (Seriously?? 80%? I definitely have SOME kind of fatigue going here — it’s called “i can’t have caffeine, yet I must do life.” Totally stinks.)
Hilarious! You may not be pregnant but if you ever felt like naming your adrenal glands, at least you have a very pretty name in contention 😉
Well, I think that maybe you want to hold off on a diagnosis and see if the lactating happens again?
good lord you are funnylarious and YES Ive heard of it.
but methinks it was from YOU!!!
“including everything from dizziness upon standing, headaches, memory problems, salt cravings, hemorrhoids, and a funky-sounding dub in the lub-dub of your heartbeat.”
Dizziness on standing is a symptom of slightly low blood pressure, common among people who work out frequently/are in shape; memory problems are common in people stressed out/with lots to do/with lots of little kids; salt cravings can mean your electrolytes are slightly out of balance, again common in people who work out frequently and/or drink lots of water; I don’t know a ton about hemorrhoids but I know they’re pretty common after childbirth. I’d guess that after birthing how many kids, they’re really common; and heart-beat thing that’s described as “funky-sounding?” okay, sounds official.
I wouldn’t look for the zebra when you’re describing a horse, or however the saying goes :). As far as adrenal fatigue – well I’d buy that it’s real but not nearly as hyped up as naturopaths make it out to be. If it affects 80-percent of the population – but “affects” them with minor symptoms are irritating but not even close to life-threatening (and usually helped or cured with over-the-counter remedies), symptoms which can also be explained by 0837459374589374598345 other minor things which tend to affect most people, then it hardly sounds as hyped up as all that. More like blisters among runners. Common, irritating, but certainly not life-threatening. If even that.
As for the lactating… girl, I got no idea!
Don’t know about this one! Hard to believe with all the saber-toothed tiger stresses of our origins that our adrenals can’t do it for us now, although we do live a lot longer.
I’d say with the weird lactation thing and not just vague symptoms, that yeah, a check up might be in order just so you don’t worry yourself into even more stress. It’s probably nothing and it will be nice to know that for sure.
But wow, I’d never read all this stuff about adrenal fatigue, and I’m finding both your research and the comments fascinating! Always amazed at how well-informed blog readers are. I’m a cortisol factory myself, but don’t seem to have any symptoms you’ve listed and don’t wanna go google myself into acquiring a few. But if I start lactating any time soon I’ll sure as hell come back to this post and round up some more links and info. Thanks!
ha! i stopped nursing my daughter at 3 years old and ended up lactating until she was 5 1/2. the dr. said it was normal after having nursed so long.
I’m dismayed by the tone of some of these replies – I’ve been to naturopaths and have NOT ONCE been told I have adrenal problems – or even been tested – even though I have/have had a great number of the symptoms listed as referenced. I’ve checked with others from other parts of the country and they haven’t either. Every profession has it’s ‘unique’ and vocal practitioners and it would be unfair to make those the standard by which all others should be judged.
And I echo those above who suggested you schedule a check-up with your doc.
This is the first time I read about adrenal fatigue and I guess what you said is of relative substances, you are right to write about that.
I can totally still get a bit of juiced outta the ‘ole boobs if I squeeze are hard enough. Does that equal “forced” adrenal fatigue? I am a bit yawny right now. It must. Oh, and that chick in the pic isn’t tired. I think she’s praying. Or practicing fake orgasm.
I think stress is the number one problem here. Whether or not adrenal fatigue syndrome is real, stress wreaks havoc on our systems. We all need to learn how to manage it. Not to be “stress free” which is impossible (and only creates more stress for those trying to achieve it), but to manage it. Meditation is hard at first, but it does get easier. Have you tried walking meditation? It’s a nice way to ease into it.
You might call your doctor about the lactating thing. It’s probably more common than we think!
Sounds crazy!
I began working with a Naturopthic Doc and an ARNP last August due to severe fatigue, severe allergies (I’m now allergic to three classes of antibiotics), and several other health related issues. As Sybil, above, mentioned… I had a 24 hour saliva test done, as well as a bloodspot test for total thyroid, thyroid antibodies, free T4 and free T3. I ended up being diagnosed with hypothyroid and adrenal fatigue (high estrone, high estridiol, very low DHEA, and high afternoon & evening cortisol). For the thyroid, the Rx’d Armour Thyroid (which contains T4 & T3), which has made a huge positive difference in how well I can now sleep. We’re working on the adrenals with supplements for the unbalanced hormones.
I can’t comment on the lactating issues, as I don’t have children. But for the adrenal fatigue… OMG, it’s definitely REAL.
Hi Susan
I want to type this without sounding overly critical of your natural health doctor and ARNP, but no Endocrinologist would ever advocate treating thyroid problems without first treating adrenal problems. If someone genuinely has malfunctioning adrenal glands then they will get worse rapidly if the thyroid is treated first. The hard and fast rule is to treat the adrenals, then add thyroid medication. There’s obviously something going on though with all your symptoms. I hope you get to the bottom of it all and continue to get better!
I’ve had unexpected lactation and I’ve never had any kids! It was only a tiny bit but it really freaked me out. I had just started on the Depo injection at the time.
A bit of research reassured me that lactation is not a sign of pregnancy, its just a sign that the particular hormone has been tweaked, can’t remember now which it is, for me it must have been brought on by the Depo.
It still happens from time to time. Briefly mentioned it to the nurse doing the Depo, she said it was nothing to worry about.
Don’t assume the worst 🙂 But maybe best to mention to your doctor.
Well, I have to say that I wouldn’t worry too much about the lactation thing unless it’s POURING out or painful. My daughter was 3 or 4 before I stopped leaking here or there and I had to stop breast feeding when she was 6 months old due to recurring mastitis. It’s disconcerting, but not totally Mars worthy unusual. If you’re concerned or it becomes a strange color or painful or occurs too frequently, make an appointment with your OB. Otherwise, you’ll be fine.
As far as the adrenal fatigue goes, I think that there is some credibility to it, but I would most definitely wait to see more widespread and valid research.
I know this is an unusually short response, but I have 2 short papers and a final CTAP paper to write and edit and finalize that are all due tomorrow at 11 a.m. and I have NO IDEA where to start and after spending the entire day at the oncology office with my seriously cranky father and writing my heart out, I’m drifting off really quick. Nothing like last minute! I put the PRO in Procrastinista! ♥
I take your (collective) point about the hyperbolic tendancies of some people talking about adrenal fatigue. I just know that I ran on fumes for a few years there, got pregnant, became an immigrant in a non-English-speaking country, and I’ve never been quite right since. My naturopath – AFTER working with me for a year – enquired about my endocrine health without prompting. My MD refuse to test, or said my tests were “fine”.
The whole thing has unseated my faith in the medical profession.
The weirdest thing is, I’ve been having letdown sensations out of the blue too (no actual leakage though) and never once encountered the suggestion that it could be related to the thyroid/adrenal/we-don’t-know problem. (How did I miss this? Where else did I think hormone surges come from?) Lactation is at least an unmistakable symptom, whereas “feeling more tired than usual” is totally subjective and easily dismissed.
See how you go with your health care provider of choice, and let us know!
I must admit I was a non believer in adrenal fatigue for a long time. I just thought I needed to suck it up and stop stressing. Everyone is busy and stressed so why was I any different? I work at a medical practice that tests neurotransmitter levels so I decided to test my adrenals. To rule them out if nothing less… My adrenals were totally depleted! I started taking some natural supplements and could not believe the difference. I slept better, woke up more refreshed, stressed much less and even noticed a difference in my skin. I also lost weight without exercising more.
The test was really comprehensive and it showed my cortisol levels every four hours for a twenty-four hour period. I am a true believer now and actually feel 30 my real age. Before this, I would have sworn I was pushing 50!
I am arriving at this conversation rather late, but might I recommend you contact someone actually knowledgeable in lactation, such as Dr. Newman? He is quite accessible; he and his assistant(s?) answer dozens of e-mails every day. http://www.nbci.ca/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=62&Itemid=33
@ all you nay sayers out there. The same things were and are still being said about fibrmyalgia! Sure hope you never have to try on these diseases for size!
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