I recently read an article in a magazine about adrenal fatigue, and I seriously think I have it. I have all the symptoms listed except a couple. The problem is that conventional medicine doesn't recognize "adrenal fatigue" as an illness (even though according to the article some 80% of the U.S. population has some level of adrenal dysfunction.) The conventional medical community only recognizes Addison's Disease, where you are literally at risk of death, as adrenal dysfunction. Anything not so severe, they dismiss. There has been an outpouring of information about subclinical hypothyroidism in the last few years, but very little on adrenal insufficiency. I've had my thyroid tested multiple times (full panel) and it was well within normal. Looking at the symptoms list for adrenal fatigue, my symptoms match up a lot more with that than low thyroid, so it makes sense. I do want to visit a holistic doctor (it can be an M.D. or an N.D.) to confirm my suspicion.

The recommendations are to avoid sugar and caffeine because they stress the adrenals. That's going to be hard, as I've crept up to 3-4 cups of coffee a day with the pressures of my waiting job. Also, it's recommended that one go to sleep before midnight because the adrenals re-charge themselves between 12-4 AM. That's also going to be an adjustment--my normal time is about 2 AM. There are also some herbs and things you can take, but I'll leave that up to the Dr. when I see them.

Just wondering, how many people have been diagnosed or suspect they have adrenal fatigue? FYI, some of the symptoms are:

-Excessive perspiration, even when not physically active

-Dark circles under the eyes

-Low blood sugar

-Cravings for sweets/carbs

-Low blood pressure

-Low stamina for stress, easy irritability

-Chronic infections

-Heart palpitations