Adrenal fatigue, a modern-day crisis, is more prevalent than one would suspect. The adrenal glands, which reside on top of the kidneys, are responsible for producing a myriad of hormones - aldosterone, cortisol, adrenaline, progesterone, estrogen, and testosterone. These hormones are vital for optimal body function; an imbalance of any of these hormones can cause dramatic health issues - anxiety, depression, fatigue, insomnia, infertility, unrefreshing sleep, hormone imbalances, excessive PMS symptoms, menopause, loss of libido, thyroid dysfunction, arthritis, and more!

The body has only two responses to stress - respond or die. Usually, the body chooses to respond to stress over the second choice.

The adrenal glands are designed to respond to stress - emotional, physical, mental, spiritual, chemical, or nutritional. The adrenal glands respond to all stress the same by releasing cortisol and adrenaline, a response called "fight or flight". Upon responding to the stress, the body should enter a response called "resting and digesting" so that the body can repair and heal. Unfortunately, many individuals encounter so much stress that their body never regenerates in the "resting and digesting" phase - they stay in an indefinite "fight or flight" phase.

Once the adrenal glands have remained in a state of "fight or flight" for an extended period of time, they fatigue and begin to shutdown. A complete shutdown of the adrenal glands would prove fatal since they produce the hormones that allow the body to respond to stress. Rather than succumbing to death, the body decides to sacrifice health for survival and allows the adrenals to steal from elsewhere in the body so that they can continue to function.

The adrenal glands usually tend to target the thyroid, immune system, and ligaments first. The person begins to feel symptoms of hypothyroidism, has difficulty healing, acquires auto-immune disorders, and reports instability in the joints. From there, the adrenals tend to attack anywhere - the brain, digestive tract, reproductive glands, and more. The person will begin to experience problems with the gallbladder, irritable bowel syndrome, lateral thigh and lower back pain, infertility, fatigue, loss of libido, and more.