HYDERABAD: Do you feel tired and worn out all the time, despite getting enough sleep? If yes, many of you would promptly seek medical advice and find out that you are not unwell. You now read up about your symptoms on the internet and discover that you have ‘adrenal fatigue’.
Hold on... You have given your body so much stress — thanks to long hours of work and poor lifestyle — and are running out of adrenaline. Endocrinologists call this exhaustion, but stressed out millennials call it adrenal fatigue.
Adrenaline is a hormone associated with excitement. But for our brain and body, it is just a stress response. Adrenal fatigue, which many exhausted millennials self-diagnose, is just a theory. It means that high levels of stress can trigger a mild form of adrenal insufficiency, resulting in the lack of excitement. To correct this, some turn to synthetic drugs, which endocrinologists and physicians think will do more harm than good. “To shrug off this exhaustion, many use prescribed and non-prescribed substances, such as synthetic cytokine immunomodulators. The result, the body shuts down its natural hormones and people suffer from a lack of release of this stress hormone,” says endocrinologist Dr V Sri Nagesh.
Stress hormones such as cortisol and adrenaline, produced in the adrenal glands, regulate metabolism, immune system and blood pressure. “The synthetic substances are alternative medicines that can shut down the adrenal system. The dependence on it can cause severe illness, including premature death,” he warns.
The body can self-regulate cortisol and adrenaline unless there is any unnatural interference, including lifestyle changes. A healthy change is always good for the body, but should be done under medical supervision. “For instance, physical exercise can give rise to many neuropeptides like endorphins, which are the body’s natural painkillers, and neurotransmitters anandamide that gives what is called the runner’s high,” Dr Pranay Kumar, a general practitioner, says.
However, keep in mind that imbalanced stress hormones can cause havoc in the body. Consider the cytokine storm, which was responsible for many Covid-19 deaths. “When there is a hormonal imbalance, cortisol regulates the immune system and internal stress. When cortisol and adrenaline are not balanced, it causes a lethal cytokine storm,” Dr Nagesh says.