Exhausted Adrenal Glands?
Under chronic stress the adrenal glands become over stimulated and exhausted. The body is smart and compensates for these overworked glands to allow physiological function and movement to continue by using another pathway known as ‘pregnenolone steal’. Pregnenolone or ‘mother hormone’ is the precursor to producing your sex hormones (testosterone) and DHEA your growth/repair hormone. If you remain chronically stressed, during the exhaustion phase of adrenal fatigue ‘pregnenolone steal’ will become the preferred pathway for cortisol production. With more pregnenolone being stolen, there is less available for your sex hormones and DHEA, growth and repair hormones. Symptoms like perimenopause and muscle aches/pains can develop. These symptoms are far from normal or healthy. If you identify with any of the above mentioned symptoms, you can take action to help yourself. It is not something you should have to live with.
Cortisol:DHEA ratio is a fundamental homeostatic control system. It is at the top of the chain in terms of physiological pathways. If it is out of balance, it will have a flow-on effect further down the chain and affect multiple systems within the body. Many of the symptoms people experience are a function from a disruption to this steroid hormone balance system. The diagram below demonstrates how multiple physiological pathways are influenced by this steroid hormone balance
