Cortisol Imbalance and Adrenal Fatigue; What’s the Relationship and the Symptoms?

Most of us have heard of cortisol, perhaps referred to as the stress hormone, but it is also an essential hormone needed by the body to produce energy. Cortisol is released when our body is in a fight or flight, along with other hormones, such as adrenaline and noradrenaline. Still, it also has a natural circadian rhythm, much like our sleep/wake cycle. Although our bodies need this vital hormone, too little or too much can cause an imbalance in other hormones and lead to dysfunction in other body systems. When cortisol is released, much of our body’s function, such as digestion, is put on hold. Our metabolic function halts because our body becomes preoccupied with reacting to the cortisol released from “fight or flight,” or the stress response. Let us discuss cortisol imbalance and adrenal fatigue symptoms.

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What is the Relationship Between Cortisol and Our Adrenal Glands?

Cortisol is considered a steroidal hormone and is produced in our adrenal glands. Our adrenal glands are a part of our endocrine system and produce several other hormones. All the hormones it produces are essential for our body in making energy. This is important because when the adrenals are not functioning correctly, OR the hormones produced in the brain to signal the adrenals are “off,” fatigue will ultimately occur. This concept is often overlooked as a reason for your fatigue, while a more “black and white” answer is sought by conventional medicine. In other words, a disease process is considered for the cause. 

Have you ever mentioned that you are “exhausted” to your medical provider, and all your labs return A-OK? They may tell you to get more rest or slow down, which is excellent, we need that, but an imbalance in your hormones and adrenal function is often not considered. The adrenals are more about balance and don’t point to “a disease.” A disease process will likely be what we are looking for as an answer to the problem: why you’re just feeling like “crap.” It’s more of a gray area.

Cortisol is released when we are experiencing everyday stressors. We all know that it is impossible to have “zero” stress. The key is to be able to manage those stressors and to be able to cope better. Constant stress is a huge risk factor for disrupting our hormones and ultimately being toxic to our overall health and wellness; you can read more about how here.

Adrenal Fatigue Symptoms

 When our adrenal glands are overworked, they become fatigued. You may have heard of the term “adrenal fatigue.” Some pretty noticeable and significant symptoms can occur with this;

• Chronic fatigue
• Muscle and joint pain
• Headaches
• Sleep disturbances
• Hair loss
• Anxiety
• Allergies
• Dizziness or lightheadedness
• Heat or cold intolerance
• Irregular periods
• Low libido
• Irritability or trouble dealing with stress
• Chronic infections
• Low B/P and low B/S
• Trouble with digestion
• Cravings for sweet or salty foods 

As you can see, this is a hefty list. If you look at this list, it also seems as though it can be just signs of aging, including peri and pre-menopause. Does the body slow when we age? yes. Can we slow the process? Yes. Some other things can trigger adrenal fatigue other than stress. Some of these include; dieting, especially “yo-yo” dieting, being on a constant “low-fat” diet, not getting enough rest, skipping meals, imbalanced electrolytes, chronic low B/P, and over-exercising.

Adrenals Responsibilities

The adrenal glands are responsible for keeping our hormones balanced, so when they are taxed and overworked and become fatigued. This will cause overproduction or underproduction of hormones, including cortisol. So, I have mentioned that cortisol is our “fight or flight,” or stress hormone, and is vital when we are trying to run away from that tiger or act quickly in an emergency. Our blood flow is redirected to our arms and legs so that we can “run,” while extra cortisol and adrenaline is released. This is our automatic stress response.

Systems such as the digestive, immune, and reproductive systems have blood diverted away during the stress response to prepare the body for an emergency. The problem is, that our brain does not necessarily know the difference between stress from saving yourself from that tiger or stress from that deadline you have at work.

The adrenals need time to rest, replenish, and recoup. Most of us don’t give them a chance to do that. As a result, we often keep pushing through the stress,  overworking our bodies and ultimately causing them to break down. We run on empty, and we begin to feel the results. Not only is the constant stress toxic to our bodies, but it can cause a significant imbalance in your hormones.

Cortisol Imbalance

As I mentioned, cortisol has a circadian rhythm and can be measured and tracked for 24 hours. Typically, it is at its highest early in the morning and declines throughout the day. It should be at its lowest level, late in the evening before falling asleep. While we are sleeping, it begins to climb back up while we rest. If you were to measure cortisol, which is low in the morning and high at night, that could explain why you’re not sleeping well at night.

Furthermore, cortisol and insulin (the hormone for controlling blood sugar) are closely related. If your blood sugar dips too low or spikes too high, you will release cortisol. When your body is waking you up in the middle of the night, and you can’t get back to sleep, it’s likely due to a blood sugar dip or spike, causing increased cortisol levels. In other words, if you have a massive drop in insulin during the night, your body sees this as an emergent situation and goes into the “fight or flight” response.

Cortisol wakes you up to tell you that you’re “out of balance” and you can’t get back to sleep often. This is because you are in fight or flight mode and causes you to not be in “rest mode.” Rest is important and is when your body needs to regenerate cells. It also needs to reset body systems, such as your digestive system. How do we prevent this from occurring? It all begins with balancing your blood sugar.

Keeping Cortisol Levels Balanced

How can we do this? There are a few important tips on balancing blood sugar and helping to keep cortisol levels balanced:

• Balance meals with healthy fat, fiber, and protein
• Eat breakfast every day within an hour of waking
• Eat smaller meals more frequently (listen to your body)
• Get to bed before you start having a rise in cortisol (this will promote better rest)
• Drink adequate amounts of water (divide your weight in half, and this is how many ounces you should be drinking per day) 

How Cortisol Keeps On the Weight

Because of insulin’s intricate relationship with cortisol, our cortisol levels shoot up while our body is in fight or flight and while our blood sugar spikes. When that happens, insulin is released and cleans up the blood sugar. This will lead to a blood sugar crash and leads us to crave sugary sweets and caffeine; 3 pm slump, anyone? Additionally, there are more cortisol receptors in the adipose tissue of our bellies, as opposed to other areas of the body. This gives more opportunity for cortisol to act on our fat cells, signaling us to store the fat because the body is in an “emergency state.” We crave, binge,, or stress eat, as a result. With this constant cycle, we continue to store the fat, especially in the “middle.”

What Can We Do?

So what can we do to help balance cortisol levels?

• So what can we do to help balance cortisol levels?
• Learn to manage and cope better with everyday stress
• Get adequate, quality rest
• Keep blood sugar balanced
• Get exercise regularly
• Limit caffeine intake
• Practice mindfulness (recognizing stress-induced thought patterns)
• Laugh
• Connecting with those we enjoy spending time with
• Connection to that which is greater(spirituality)
• Healthy Eating

 To Summarize, chronic high cortisol levels can lead to a boatload of health problems. Completely living stress-free is almost impossible, but there are ways that we can decrease our risks by lessening our levels. So relax, get some sleep tonight, and make healthier lifestyle choices. You’ll be on your way to assisting your body to function correctly, increasing your energy, and helping you feel better and live happier!

To find out more on how to begin living a healthier lifestyle, book a discovery session with Tess RN today!