Adrenal Fatigue And Weight Gain

I Cant Think Straight Im Foggy

Blame it on: High cortisol and its effect on the hippocampus.

Ever noticed how hard it is to keep your mind operating on all four cylinders when youre having a heavy-duty day? You sit at the computer but cant focus, go to the shops but forget what you need to buy, misplace your keys or wallet or both. This mental meltdown is a direct result of adrenal fatigue.

Stress induced brain drain is caused by the hippocampus, a little seahorse shaped organ in the brain involved in our short term memory. With too much cortisol in the brain, dendrites start to shrink and dont work as properly.

Why Does Adrenal Fatigue Happen

Adrenal glands are small glands located above the kidneys.

The main objective of the adrenals is to regulate your bodys stress response. This means that when youre in a stressful situation, they release hormones such as cortisol to fulfill the demands of the fight or flight response from chronic stress.

These hormones help regulate blood pressure and blood sugar levels and aid you to think more clearly during times of tension.

You might then wonder why people can become weak and skinny if they have high cortisol levels. The answer lies in what happens when your body is exposed to chronic stress.

In this case, the adrenals overexert themselves and wear out. Under this scenario, cortisol levels in the body may decrease, resulting in a range of symptoms that affects the entire body.

As a result, you will continue to feel as if your body is in constant response to stress even when theres no real reason for it.

Other experiences may trigger adrenal fatigue as well, such as:

• Autoimmune conditions

If you suspect you have adrenal fatigue, consult a medical professional about it for a clearer diagnosis.

When Is Fatigue Considered Extreme

People can help their doctor identify the exact cause by recording any additional symptoms that they are having. The yield of endoscopic investigation for unintentional weight loss. Ferri FF.

Sudden or steady gain in daily weight ecxessive as 2 to 3 loss in 24 hours or 5 pounds over a couple of weeks shows that the body is retaining fluid and may be a sign of congestive heart failure. This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. Cleveland Clinic. Changes and symptoms of menopause can start several years earlier, including:. Fecal transplant treatment of C.

Overactive thyroid. In some people, depression may increase appetite. People with depression often struggle with chronic fatigue. This content does not have an Arabic version.

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Box 1 Complaint Group

• Alkaline phosphatase
• Transferrin saturation

aTests in italics are part of the limited Dutch College of General Practitioners test set.

Electronic medical records were searched for complaint-related GP entries during a 1-year follow-up period. A final categorisation of complaints was performed in a three-step process. First, two of the authors independently searched the electronic medical records for all complaint-related GP entries and summarised these into one diagnosis per patient. Secondly, these patient-specific summaries were categorised into the following groups:

• Somatic illnesses detectable by blood-test ordering

• Somatic illnesses not detectable by blood-test ordering

• Psychosocial illnesses

• Complaints not otherwise specified or

In steps 1 and 2, consensus was reached by discussion. In case of disagreement, two members of the research team both experienced GPs arbitrated. Finally, the categories were dichotomised as somatic illnesses detectable by blood-test ordering, or otherwise.

Health Conditions Overweight And Fatigue

Medical conditions may contribute to your tiredness. A sluggish thyroid can be responsible for fatigue and weight gain. If you suspect this may be the case, talk to your doctor about having your thyroid hormone levels checked. Anemia, which results from too little iron or vitamin B12, can also lead to overwhelming fatigue. Your doctor can identify such conditions with blood tests.

Sometimes having overweight can make it hard to get even, deep breaths throughout the day, because diaphragm movement is restricted. This may make it difficult for you to get adequate oxygen to your muscles, tissues and brain. This can make you feel sluggish and fatigued, too.

In some cases, having overweight and increased fatigue may have the same root cause â stress. A demanding job, family issues or financial concerns can make your body pump out more of the hormone cortisol, which causes cravings for unhealthy foods, encourages your body to store excess calories as fat and keeps you up at night. The combination is an overweight and tired body. Adopt stress-relieving techniques to help you sleep better and manage your weight yoga, meditation and journaling are often helpful.

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What Exactly Is Fatigue

Fatigue is a feeling of tiredness that many different things can cause. It can make it difficult to do everyday activities and may lead to feelings of frustration, irritability, and lack of energy.

There are two main types of fatigue: mental and physical.

Mental fatigue is the result of using your brain for prolonged periods of time and can be caused by activities such as studying, working, or attending social events.

Physical fatigue is the result of physical activity and can cause a person to feel tired after exercise or work.

Now that we know what brain fog and fatigue are, lets take a look at some of the most common causes for each condition.

You Never Lose Weight No Matter How Healthy You Eat

To trace how adrenal fatigue can get in the way of losing weight, we have to look at their function. When you are experiencing high stress levels, your adrenal glands produce cortisol.

If you have struggled with stubborn belly fat , then you probably already know that cortisol can be a powerful contender in any weight loss war.

Cortisol has gotten a bit of a bad rap over the years. But the truth is, cortisol serves an important function. It is part of that whole fight or flight stress response to dangerous situations. It is part of your bodys natural reflex system the system that literally keeps you alive in emergencies. Its simply your adrenals trying to do their job as they struggle to keep up with all of that stress.

But odds are that whatever you are stressing out aboutwhile far from pleasant

is hardly a life-threatening emergency, even if your body sometimes has a hard time telling the difference.

When your adrenals are constantly responding to unrelenting stress levels, things can get unbalanced. And this imbalance can lead to weight gain . It is worth pointing out, as this article from Womens Health discusses, that adrenals going into overdrive can be to blame for weight gain. Either way, imbalance is imbalance, and stress is at the heart of both issues.

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Summary Of Main Results

Exercise interventions can lead to an improvement in fatigue in people with cancer self management education programmes and respiratory rehabilitation interventions can lead to an improvement in fatigue in people with COPD the pharmacological agent amantadine may provide a small improvement in fatigue for some people with MS. The applicability of such interventions remains to be confirmed within advanced illness groups.

The individual factors which give rise to unintentional weight loss continue to be poorly understood but appear to be resistant to simply increasing caloric intake. Anabolic steroids, progressive resistance exercise interventions and combined progressive and anaerobic exercise interventions can lead to a small increase in weight in people living with HIV/AIDS. The applicability of such interventions remains to be confirmed within homogenous advancedillness groups. Megestrol acetate can provide a small, statistically significant weight gain for people with cancerinduced weight loss versus placebo. The quality of life benefits of the weight gained through use of megestrol acetate remain unproven due to the heterogeneity of reporting from included studies. Consideration of lean body mass as a separate outcome measure may be important when considering the potential impact of increased body mass on functional status and healthrelated quality of life.

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What Causes Cfs & Cfs Weight Gain

In order to understand why there is CFS weight gain, its important to understand what causes CFS. Infections can cause CFS. Strands of the herpes virus and conditions such as LYuniquee disease can create physical manifestations that are diagnosable as CFS.

Any type of infection can cause much stress on the body. With the body being occupied by trying to fight off an infection weight gain or even weight loss can occur.

Other causes of CFS are nutritional deficiencies. It seems like the odds are low that people in a developed country would suffer from nutritional deficiencies, but its quite common. As modern society began to evolve and foods were made more available and affordable, peoples health started to take a turn for the worse.

Processed food, food that is readily available, and junk food contain many harmful ingredients that contribute to poor health. The problem with processed foods are many, but one is an imbalance of minerals. Without the proper nutrients, the body does not have fuel.

Hormones are another cause of CFS. As we age, our hormones deplete. Hormone depletion can manifest in many ways. Fatigue though is a certain sign of decreased hormone levels. Hormones are the bodys signaling agent. They tell the body to perform biochemical processes.

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Lets Talk About Metabolism

Before we dive into the adrenals, we need to address the metabolism elephant in the room. I dont typically recommend calorie restriction as the way to lose weight, and its because when you restrict calories, you reset your internal metabolism to get used to the new intake. So, when you first start this new diet, youll lose weight, but then after some period of time, the weight loss will stall out. This is because your body has become used to the new caloric intake level and adjusted accordingly.

In addition, when you go on a diet it implies a temporary state, and then inevitably, when you stop your diet you gain all the weight back that you lost. This is because you trained your body to get by on a smaller amount of calories, so when you increase the calories, you gain weight. An effective weight-loss plan needs to be designed around the quality of the food, the nutrient density, and the avoidance of processed and sugary foods.

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Beware Of Unsupported Claims

In recent years, the diet industry has tried to capitalize on findings from studies about cortisol and weight gain. Perhaps youve come across advertisements promoting dietary supplements claiming to lower cortisol and enhance weight loss. Most medical professionals advise patients to avoid these products as no independent studies published in respected, peer-reviewed medical journals have shown that these supplements have any value in cortisol reduction or weight loss.

Overall, its important to remember that theres no miracle cure for elevated cortisol. Exercise, eating right and relaxation are the best methods for lowering these harmful hormone levels that have risen in response to stress.

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Belly Fat An Important Symptom Of Adrenal Fatigue

So many women struggle with the spare tire of additional fat that shows up around their waist. Women with adrenal dysfunction are quite likely to develop this additional body fat around their middle, for a variety of reasons.

When your body is functioning properly, if you go a long time without eating your blood sugar drops, and your brain sends chemical messages to the adrenals to release cortisol.

This cortisol mobilizes glucose, amino acids and fat to prevent the blood sugar from dropping too low, and keeps the body and brain fueled with the energy it requires when food is not available. Cortisols job is to maintain stable levels of glucose in the blood insulin assists in getting the glucose into the cells.

But chronic stress is a different story. After months, or maybe even years, of long term stress, cortisol and insulin remain high in the blood and the extra glucose gets stored as that unwanted fat, mostly in the abdomen and thighs. Research is now showing us that fat cells have special receptors for cortisol, but most importantly these receptors are much more prevalent on the fat cells in the abdominal area.

How To Recognize Adrenal Fatigue Weight Gain And Feel Your Best

How Severe Is Your Lack Of Energy?TAKE THE QUIZ

Weight gain can be incredibly frustratingespecially when you cant figure out why its happening! What youre experiencing could be adrenal fatigue weight gain.

When youre experiencing high levels of stress your body releases hormones that, if left unchecked for long periods of time, can cause adrenal fatigue and weight gain. Though a common problem, many people arent aware of the signs and symptoms of adrenal fatigue and how it can impact their weight.

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Weight Gain And Cortisol Over

Cushings and subclinical Cushings syndromes can be caused by cortisol over-production from an adrenal tumor. In subclinical Cushings, oftentimes an adrenal tumor over-produces cortisol without the obvious, or overt, signs and symptoms seen with Cushings syndrome. Subclinical Cushings is more common, and thus, perhaps the cortisol level will be mildly elevated and only some of the signs of weight gain will be present. Please note that there is significant variability in symptoms of Cushings syndrome. Yes, we see skinny patients with cortisol-producing adrenal tumors and Cushings syndrome every week!

Regardless of whether the adrenal tumor is causing Cushings or subclinical Cushings syndrome, one of the most common universal features of the excess cortisol is weight gain, typically involving the face, neck, or belly. Often, the legs tend to lose fat, and become very slender. Fat can also be distributed in the cheeks creating a moon face appearance. A hump can occur over the back of the neck due to fat distribution. Fat can also accumulate over the collar bones resulting in a short and wide-appearing neck.

The clinical manifestations of Cushings syndrome tend to be less severe in those over 50 years of age.

Figure: Typical fat distribution in a patient with Cushings syndrome

Learn more about Cushings syndrome symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment.

Mixture Of Symptomsevere Fatigue Massive Weight Gain Dep

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Thyroid Hormone Replacement Options

Levothyroxine/T4- The standard of care treatment for hypothyroidism is a daily dose of synthetic thyroxine, referred to as L-thyroxine or L-T4. FYI Levothyroxine is the most prescribed thyroid hormone replacement.

Synthroid- The brand name of the synthetic compound T4 used to treat hypothyroidism.

Levoxyl- This hormone was pulled from the market in 2013 due to a suspicious odor from the packaging. This recall caused Levoxyl to be off the market for about a year, so many consumers changed to alternatives. As a result, Pfizer lost their share of the market.

Levothroid- A generic T4 hormone that is no longer manufactured.

Tirosint The brand name for Levothyroxine is designed for people with allergies to fillers and dyes found in traditional formulations. These soft gel capsules contain no dyes, gluten, alcohol, lactose, or sugar. In addition to T4, Tirosint contains only three inactive ingredients: gelatin, glycerin, and water.

Liothyronine/T3- The synthetic version of the T3 thyroid hormone.

Cytomel- The brand name for Liothyronine.

Compounded Hormones- These prescriptions combine T3 and T4 into a single dose, allowing your body to use the T3 and convert the T4 as needed. These prescriptions are only available at a compounding pharmacy.

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Exercise Doesnt Help Me Lose Weight Or Even Look More Toned

Cortisol is a catabolic hormone. This means that when its released during stress it breaks down protein to use for energy. End result? Rapid and ongoing muscle wastage even though you are working out every day.

Cortisol is also released when you exercise and the higher the intensity or duration of your workout, the bigger the cortisol release.

Heres what that means:

Cortisol from your life + Cortisol from exercise = Excessively high cortisol.

Thats why you may not be looking leaner or more toned after exercised your high cortisol is actually breaking down your muscle to help give your body fuel because it thinks youre in a life or death situation 24/7.

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Speak To A Therapist Or Dietitian

Another potential way to deal with weight gain that could be related to high cortisol levels is to speak with a qualified practitioner, such as a psychologist or registered dietitian.

A therapist can assist you in coming up with some strategies to reduce overall stress, which in turn may help you manage emotional eating .

On the other hand, a dietitian can provide nutrition education to equip you with the tools you need to make more healthful decisions surrounding food.

The dual-prong approach to improving your food habits and emotional well-being is an excellent step in preventing or combating weight gain.

Why This Slow Down Can Be Harmful

Because your metabolism is responsible for converting food into energy, a change in how this system works can cause potential problems. As outlined by the American Psychological Association, these issues include:

• Health complications, such as high blood pressure or type 2 diabetes

• Reduced effectiveness of the immune system

Furthermore, the weight that people gain as a result from a spike in cortisol is often around the abdomen. Fat accumulated around the waist area is attributed to the development of cardiovascular disease, earning it the nickname of toxic fat.

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