Adrenal fatigue in functional medicine is different from the Addison’s disease recognized by the conventional medicine not only from a testing perspective but also in terms of treatment and goals of care.

When your adrenal glands are overworked or dysfunctional, a condition known as adrenal fatigue or adrenal exhaustion sets in, which in turn can set a cascade of disease processes into motion. One of the most common signs of adrenal burnout is feeling chronically fatigued.

The 4 most common reasons for adrenal fatigue and dysfunction are intense emotional stress, poor diet, chronic inflammation, and underactive thyroid.

The Kalish Method normalizes dysfunctional adrenals and restores normal adrenal function. It involves nutrition changes, supplements, and stress reduction. Healing the adrenals will have a great effect on the rest of the body including the thyroid.

The adrenal protocol calls sometimes for carefully replacing just a small portion of the exact level of the missing adrenal hormones which stimulates your body to begin producing it more naturally.

In May 2016 a research study published by two Mayo Clinic researchers confirmed the efficacy of the Kalish Method showing significant improvements in GI health and quality of life in the study participants. The study was based on Dr. Kalish’s model of Functional Medicine based on 25 years of successful clinical results. Graduates of The Kalish Institute include practitioners ranging from Dr. Mercola’s medical staff to Mayo Clinic and Cleveland Clinic physicians.

A research team, including Daniel J. Kalish, founder of the Kalish Institute and Susanne M. Cutshall and Larry R. Bergstrom, currently practicing at Mayo Clinic, proudly release a study around functional medicine. The study shows a variety of stress, fatigue, and quality of life measures can be improved through functional medicine, a growing field utilizing lab-based supplement programs, including lifestyle and nutritional counseling.

The 28-week study assessed the effectiveness of a specific functional medicine approach for improving stress, energy, fatigue, digestive issues and quality of life in middle-aged women exposed to high-stress work environments. This method, known as the Kalish Method and taught exclusively through the Kalish Institute, provides a systems approach to chronic illness addressing the “whole person” rather than an isolated set of symptoms and restoring three key body systems: hormones, digestion, and detoxification.

The study, which was completed in April 2015, has been published in the May 2016 issue of Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice

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Our body is quite amazing in its ability to remain functioning at a high level even when we are depleted of important nutrients for example. The challenge with this type of lifestyle is to understand when the body has been pushed too far and we cross the threshold and now we are talking about a feeling of exhaustion, not feeling rejuvenated even after sleeping or feeling extremely tired even after mild exertion.This is when you need to talk to your doctor.

So here is my approach to fatigue or lack of energy:

1.Always exclude the most common, conventional causes of fatigue like anemia, uncontrolled diabetes or kidney problems. In my experience, however most people have ‘’normal’’ blood work and they still don’t feel well.

2.Get tested for adrenal gland dysfunction or fatigue, this is different from the adrenal insufficiency recognized by conventional medicine and so is the testing. Functional medicine tests the salivary cortisol because these levels are indicative of cellular function wellbeing. The treatment usually involves addressing nutrition, sleep, stress reduction and a supplement protocol including some herbs known as adaptogens(they will stimulate or relax your body depending on whatever your body needs at any given time)

3.Check your thyroid with an extensive panel including T4 and T3 which are the active hormones and work with your doctor to determine what is the cause of thyroid imbalance(for example food sensitivities, gluten intolerance, adrenal dysfunction).Choose the right hormonal preparation to suit your body’s needs and not just the well-known synthroid.

4.Always consider a mitochondrial imbalance as a possible cause of fatigue. Mitochondria are little powerhouses existent in every cell and responsible for energy production. Unfortunately, is extremely sensitive to any kind of nutrients deficiency or environmental chemical toxicity. Luckily we can test for this imbalance as well and then correct it.

5.Make sure there is no chronic, low grade infection or inflammation in your body and I am thinking here particularly about digestive infections. I would like to emphasize the fact a lot of people do not get necessarily digestive problems with this type of infections but rather something like fatigue, skin rashes, achy joints, hormonal imbalance and so forth. Functional medicine uses a different type of stool testing much more detailed than the regular one used by conventional medicine and we also have a lower threshold for treating certain bacteria.

6.Think food intolerance as well as the reason for feeling fatigued and tired.Most people are only aware of the food allergy (rash. redness, swelling of face, difficulty breathing) which is completely different and easier to recognize. Food sensitivity can be diagnosed by a blood test and also by correlating symptoms with certain food ingested. The most common culprits are: gluten, dairy, soy. It is important to remember it takes your body a long time 4-6 weeks in average to get rid of the antibodies to a certain food so don’t expect major changes within the first couple of days. I would also recommend working with an experienced nutritionist/health coach.

7.Nutritional deficiency is a well-known cause of fatigue and pretty easy to diagnose with a blood test like Genova or Spectracell.Your doctor can then design an individualized treatment for you.

Which one applies to you?