Adrenal Gland Dysfunction

Dana Burns

Hi All,
I haven't posted anything since my 2016 IMMoo race report.  Literally I've never been down this long and after two of my endurance athelete friends recommended I see an ND (Nauropathic Doctor) to check if my adrenal glands are drained, I made an appointment to see if this could be sorted out. Sure enough after blood work and a saliva hormone test, stage 2 adrenal dysfunction.  The ND prescribed a Paleo diet, B12 shots, a regimen of supplements and suggested I take a year off.  "That's impossible, plus I've been barely moving since my last IM."  I replied.

Interstingly enough, I saw my MD right before 2015 IMAZ and he ran some blood work that came back low progesterone and my thyroid and other hormones were fine.  He thought the low progesterone was due to the high level of training and basically, nothing was wrong.  I adore my MD, however I'm learning ND's read blood work differntly than MD's who usually working within a certain range when reading results. My point being, I've had this for several years and it's not going to get better over night.

I'm looking for input from anyone who has adrenal gland dysfunction and advice on how I can still race this year knowing stress on my body does further depleat my adrenals. It's like leaving the faucet on without plugging the drain, the sink will not fill up with water.

Some of the symptoms are: weight gain, feeling foggy, can fall asleep but can't stay asleep, head out for a 6 mile run and can barely get through 3 at a snails pace and difficulty dealing with emotional stress...I have a VERY stressful job.  

Lastly, for the team MD's I realize traditionally Western Medicine doesn't recognize AGD as a condition whereas Eastern Medicine does. I believe in both, however I lean more towards a holistic approach. 

Thanks for reading.

Dana

Trish Marshall

I have no idea if he can help, but I just bought a book called the Blood Code and the author is a nauropathic doc who also does tri.  I haven't read much of the book yet, but you may want to check into his work.  He is located in Maine, but maybe does phone consults?  The authors name is Dr. Richard Mauer.  He may be able to advise you on how to proceed with training.  

I'd be very leary of training this year if this has been going on for 2 plus years though.  If your job is very stressful adding our training on top of that may just be too much for now.  Fingers crossed you get some answers and relief!

Dana Burns

Thank you Trish!  I will for sure look him up and although I should take this year off, I've forked up a lot of money for trips this year to celebrate turning 50.  Even if I have to train 1/2 and expect nothing, I don't want to throw in the towel because triathlon and meeting up with friends makes me happy.  Being happy reduces stress!  As far as work, I am considering making a move.  In my opinion, work is causing more stress than training.

It means a lot you took the time to respond:-) 

Ann Sloan

have you had your iron levels checked two?  I had a friend who had similar symptoms and was low on iron. The next year - same thing happened.  good luck...

Jenniferlyn Kryvicky

Hi @Dana Burns! 

My advise as a Functional Medicine based Nutritionist is to take the year off.  This is not something to just push through.   

Basically this is what I tell my clients:

Level 1 is a nuisance smoke alarm that needs to be addressed, maybe a battery change (i.e. light rest and a focus on reducing overall stress loads -easiest to correct just a little R&R and a quick diet clean up)

Level 2 is the smoldering camp fire in the dry forest that was not properly extinguished and the local FD needs to come in because there is a real risk of flames bursting at any time (i.e. this stage takes more to correct and if not addressed soon a full on fire will erupt leaving you out for much longer than you think.  You can still correct but takes months to a year to fully recover depending on the cumulative imbalance of the HPA-TG axis)

Level 3 is where there is fire in an apartment complex, it is spreading from apartment to apartment, consuming everything in it's wake and it will take some major FD collaborations to help contain and to put out the fire before it rages out of control (i.e. immediate and intensive therapies to get back on track - can take many months to a year or more to recover)

Level 4 - You have burnt down the building and now it leaped across the neighboring highway and started the forest on fire and is raging on uncontrolled (i.e. total burn out.  This can result it dire illness and in some cases cannot be corrected.) 

If your ND is saying that you are at stage 2 today without having been active since your IM last year -  then you are at real danger of doing more harm than good by staying in the game even at a reduced effort or intensity. You can easily go from 2 to 4 this year if you continue to race. 

Alternatively you can continue to race and just be very careful with your diet and mitigation efforts - but I would advise against it at this level.  1 year today is going to be much shorter than years later.

Adrenal Fatigue or Dysfunction is really a term I hate because it inadequately describes what is going on.  What is really happening is an imbalance in the entire HPA-TG Axis - Hypothalamus-Pituitary-Adrenal --Thyroid-Gonad.  You were right to go to an ND on this because functional lab work is much different than traditional lab work in scope and the limits tested against.  In a traditional setting, MD's check to see if levels are within spec for illness (very needed!) however if someone is showing symptoms of being ill even when the labwork suggests otherwise then a deeper more critical look is needed and that is why in the Functional world we test against much different limits, and those are for optimal functioning.  

This is why you can have thyroiditis even if your traditional thyroid labs all come back within range.  It isn't the hormone levels that tell the story - it is finding out how efficient your body is at utilizing them and that takes some digging and deeper analysis of the information in front of us.

You are currently at the "You can still fix it" stage.   Regardless is you have not moved since IM in 2016, it sounds like this has been an accumulating imbalance and if you try to get back into it your body is may not be capable of handling the workload properly due to an existing imbalance elsewhere in the HPA-TG axis.

All forms of stress is recognized by our physical body, even good things such as new jobs, marriages, etc.  so it is not only the physical exercise part of it that needs to be managed but also any life stresses and imbalances there as they sort of dog pile on.  I would also look at your total life and see if there are other things going on beyond just the physical that may be adding or compounding the issue.  I would focus on recovery - massages/self care, nutrition, and yoga.

I assume the supplements that your ND is focusing on are adaptogenics such as Holy Basil, Ashwangha, etc., and a solid probiotic that has been clinically proven efficacious for use in Adrenal issues (your gut plays a role in this dysfunction - that is why he/she suggested the Paleo protocol) 

Hopefully he/she is also suggesting to you meditation, gentle movement such as very easy walking, yoga (this is great for adrenal recovery!) and eating foods that are focused on restoring mitochondrial function as well as strengthening the HPA-TG functioning. 

If you have any questions or would like more information please feel free to PM me.  I finished up my MS in Functional Medicine and Human Nutrition last September and Adrenals/hormones are a passion of mine as an athlete.  :-)

Dana Burns

@Ann Sloan- definitely playing a role, thank you!
@Jenniferlyn Kryvicky - Thank you for the great detail and I will totally PM you!  I am so glad I finally posted this
 personally think a great amount of this is life as in job and not my training.

Dana 

Trish Marshall

Girl!  We will be at Al's together!  So excited to spend some time together!

Dana Burns

So excited to see you again Trish!  I just received Blood Code via Amazon yesterday and plan to read it over the weekend. Xox