Dr. Alex Jimenez Presents: The Symptoms Of Adrenal Insufficiencies

Introduction

Dr. Alex Jimenez, D.C., presents how adrenal insufficiencies can affect the hormone levels in the body. Hormones play a vital part in regulating body temperature and help function the vital organs and muscles. This 2-part series will examine how adrenal insufficiencies affect the body and its symptoms. In part 2, we will look at the treatment for adrenal insufficiencies and how many people can incorporate these treatments into their health and wellness. We refer patients to certified providers that include hormone treatments that relieve various issues affecting the body while ensuring optimal health and wellness for the patient. We appreciate each patient by referring them to associated medical providers based on their diagnosis when it’s appropriate to understand better what they are feeling. We understand that education is an excellent and inquisitive way to ask our providers various intricated questions at the patient’s request and knowledge. Dr. Alex Jimenez, D.C., utilizes this information as an educational service. Disclaimer

What Are Adrenal Insufficiencies?

Dr. Alex Jimenez, D.C., presents: Many factors can affect the body, whether eating habits, mental health, or lifestyle habits all play a role in maintaining hormone function in the body. Today, we will apply these common dysfunctional cortisol patterns that patients present when they go in for a daily examination. Most patients often come in and explain to their doctors that they are suffering from adrenal dysfunction because different symptoms are associated with various stages of adrenal dysfunction or HPA dysfunction. Now adrenal dysfunction or hypothalamic pituitary adrenal (HPA) dysfunction is when the adrenal glands are not producing enough hormone to regulate the body. This causes the body to go through different stages of adrenal dysfunction if it is not treated right this way, causing the body to deal with muscle and joint pain that a person hasn’t dealt with throughout their life. 

Many doctors and healthcare providers use a systematic approach that can help many people address whether or not they have adrenal dysfunction in their bodies. Today, we will discuss the relationship between female hormones and mood disorders associated with adrenal dysfunction. When it comes to adrenal dysfunction associated with hormones, many people will often get medicated for mental illnesses like bipolar disease or depression when their hormones are imbalanced. When hormonal imbalances begin to affect women in their early fifties due to premenopause, the mental disorder would often worsens and cause many other overlapping issues that can affect their hormones and their bodies. 

Adrenal Dysfunction Affect The Body

Dr. Alex Jimenez, D.C., presents: Many women would have healthy diets, take yoga, be involved in spiritual practices, and hang out with their friends; however, when their hormone levels are imbalanced, they are dealing with other issues associated with HPA imbalances or adrenal dysfunction. By looking at the 24-hour corticotropic activity and determining how the circadian rhythm controls it, many doctors can look at the data presented to the patient. The way the data is being presented to the patient on how their hormone levels fluctuate in the body in the morning and how they rise or decrease throughout the entire day until they go to sleep.

With this information, many doctors can diagnose why this individual is having trouble going to sleep, constantly waking up early in the night, or not getting enough rest, making them exhausted throughout the day. So how is adrenal dysfunction associated with 24-hour corticotropic activity? Many factors can cause adrenal dysfunction in the body and affect hormone levels. When the body begins to over or underproduces hormones from the adrenal glands or the thyroids, it can cause cortisol and insulin levels to lose control in the body and cause various issues that result in muscle and joint pain. Sometimes hormonal dysfunction can cause somato-visceral or visceral-somatic pain by affecting the vital organs like the gut and the brain and start to cause issues to the surrounding muscles and joints. When the surrounding muscles and joints are causing pain in the body, they could be causing overlapping issues that can affect a person’s mobility and make them miserable.

How To Diagnose Adrenal Insufficiencies?

Dr. Alex Jimenez, D.C., presents: When doctors diagnose a patient suffering from adrenal dysfunction will begin to look at the patient’s medical history. Many patients will start filling out a long, extensive questionnaire, and doctors will begin to look at the anthropometrics, biomarkers, and clinical indicators found in physical exams. Doctors must obtain the patient’s history to look for the signs and symptoms of HPA dysfunction and adrenal dysfunction to determine the issue affecting the individual. After the examination, doctors would use functional medicine to look at where the dysfunction lies in the body and how the symptoms are connected. The numerous factors causing adrenal dysfunction in the body could be how a person’s eating habits are causing these issues, how much exercise they are incorporating in their daily lives, or how stress impacts them. 

Functional medicine provides a holistic approach that considers lifestyle components causing issues in the person’s body. By connecting the dots on what the patient is saying and how these factors are causing adrenal insufficiencies, it is important to get the whole story from the patient to devise a treatment plan catered to the individual. They would appreciate that someone finally understands what they are going through and will begin to restore their health and wellness. By looking for the root causes, triggers, and mediators causing adrenal dysfunction, we can look at the expanded history that the patient is telling us, whether it be their family history, their hobbies, or what they like to do for fun. All these things are important to consider to try and connect the dots of the underlying cause of adrenal insufficiencies in the body affecting a person’s hormone levels.

Adrenal Insufficiencies Affect Cortisol

Dr. Alex Jimenez, D.C., presents: Now, do adrenal insufficiencies correlate with increased DHEA and cortisol hormone levels? Well, DHEA is a hormone that is produced by the adrenal glands naturally. DHEA’s main function is to make other hormones like estrogen and testosterone to regulate the male and female body. Cortisol is a stress hormone that increases the glucose levels in the bloodstream. Cortisol’s main function is to allow the brain to use glucose in the body while repairing the affected muscle tissues. When the body begins to over or underproduces hormones from the adrenal glands, it can raise the cortisol levels to cause resilience to the body, and the HPA axis begins to decrease. When this happens, the body starts to feel sluggish, which can cause you to feel exhausted throughout the entire day, even though you may have gotten a good night’s sleep.

Adrenal Insufficiency Symptoms

Dr. Alex Jimenez, D.C., presents: This is known as adrenal fatigue and can be associated with various symptoms that affect the hormone balance in the body. This can include non-specific symptoms like sleep disturbances, digestive issues, fatigue, and body aches can affect the hormone levels inside the body. This causes many individuals to feel miserable due to feeling low energy. Adrenal fatigue can also be associated with the different stages of HPA axis dysfunction. These can include:

• Trauma
• Food allergies and sensitivities
• Dysbiosis
• Changes in the gut microbiota
• Toxins
• Stress
• Insulin resistance
• Metabolic syndrome

All these issues can affect a person’s hormone levels and cause elevated cortisol to overlap many factors that cause somato-visceral problems. An example would be someone having gut issues associated with chronic stress who can start to feel pain in their joints from the knees, back, and hips which cause their hormone levels can fluctuate.

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