What Is Adrenal Fatigue?

Your adrenal glands are small glands located on the top of each kidney. Your adrenals are responsible for producing vital hormones that you can't live without. Some of these important hormones include, your sex hormones and cortisol, which is a hormone that responds to stress and helps to regulate your blood pressure.

When you are stressed, your adrenals release cortisol in response. Cortisol is often called the stress hormone and while it does help in responding to stress, it also can help control blood sugar levels, regulate metabolism and controls the salt/water balance in the body. Now, while this hormone is important high levels of cortisol can contribute to changes in women's libido and their menstrual cycle.

When you experience chronic stress or anxiety, your adrenal glands may not produce enough cortisol, this can lead to symptoms of adrenal fatigue, such as:

• light-headedness
• brain fog
• salty and sweet cravings
• fatigue
• nervousness
• weight loss
• irritability
• body aches

  In order to avoid these symptoms it is important to manage your stress levels. Remember that stress is your bodies way of reacting to any change with a physical, mental or emotional response. It can be used to benefit you and get you through a difficult period of time, but if it is chronic it can begin to deplete your adrenals.