Is your low energy adrenal fatigue? Autoimmune? Or something else?

Tired? but wired?

Is your fatigue because you’re not sleeping? Or is “can’t sleep” the cause of your fatigue?

Burned out? Sure, we all know this feeling well—maybe all too well as we live a fiery, fast-paced life.

If you search the blogosphere, you’ll hear everything from adrenal fatigue, adrenal exhaustion, thyroid problems, stress, “too much going on”, liver problems… and these days everything has an autoimmune component—they say.

Have you ever stepped back and asked: What causes autoimmune diseases?

“If you have a hammer, everything looks like a nail”?

In other words, if you have knowledge (or even opinions) in one area, then that’s the solution to everything?

Even the best of us are guilty of our hobbyhorses. When I learned about requirements for vitamin B12 (cobalamin) many years ago—hundreds of pathways in the body require adequate B vitamins and B12 is special among them all. I became convinced everyone with low energy was deficient in B12 and that supplementing it was the ultimate cure.

Then in herbology I learned about the fascinating world of adaptogens—amazing herbs that help the body adapt to stress. In many of my clients, adaptogens form part of their healing plan because they can normalizing our stress response. Adaptogen herbs can both energize and calm. Sounds great, right? Everyone needs them, right?

Tunnel vision.

The cause of all energy declines, according to current blogosphere wisdom, is either adrenal fatigue and cortisol or thyroid and its hormones. Yet in all the discussion about natural “remedies” or getting the “right” medication, there isn’t much mention of primary signals that affect these glands.

Energy production in the body has a master switch: the mighty hypothalamus.

The master regulator of hormones, the hypothalamus releases hormones that signal the pituitary gland, which then send signals further downstream to your other glands. Essentially, the hypothalamus is the master conductor, orchestrating all the different instruments in harmony: the adrenal glands, thyroid gland, ovaries / testes… Your hypothalamus coordinates everything from body temperature, to energy balance, to metabolism, your stress response, even circadian rhythms.

Recently, this organ garnered more blogosphere attention. But before we get too caught up in a new myopic focus…

WHY have these organs started misbehaving.

Well, you say, it’s because I have Hashimoto’s. Well OK, I say right back, why did your body start attacking itself?

Isn’t it genetic? Well, no, not really.

Yes Hashimoto’s can run in families; and, yes, there is genetic information that regulates the immune response—genes that help our immune system distinguish proteins we make and exist on the outside of our human cells from proteins unique to bacteria and viruses. And, yes, you can be tested to see if you have the have the stretches of that genetic information that make us more or less susceptible… and you can also be tested to see whether your immune system has begun to make antibodies against itself.

But if it is genetic, then how come only 50% of the identical twins of people with Hashimoto’s also develop thyroid antibodies. Why?

Or, you say, my adrenal glands are crashed and I have Addison’s. Why did your your immune system turn against you? And, of course, modern tests that can show if you have antibodies against yourself or stretches of genetic information that might predispose your body to make them.

Everything is connected to everything; the body is a web.

The answer is not solely in the adrenal glands, or in the latest thyroid test, let’s zoom out a bit.

Three things are needed to develop autoimmunity:

1. Environmental triggers that “turn on” specific genes
2. Intestinal permeability
3. Genes

All of us have the genes that help our immune system recognize ourselves from foreign invaders. Some of us have more precise genes; others, more “careless” ones 😊.

Your genes are not your destiny: Regardless of which set of genes you inherited, you are in control of environmental triggers and any intestinal permeability.

What’s more exciting is that we can “turn off” autoimmune gene expression by eliminating the triggers and healing intestinal permeability.

Does this mean my low energy is because of an autoimmune disease?

Not necessarily.
Here’s one scenario:

1. Environmental triggers stress the body—what the stress is doesn’t matter
2. The body sends the brain a signal so the conductor (hypothalamus) can coordinate the response to stress.
3. A web of hormones cause:
   1. The adrenal gland releases fight or flight hormones.
   2. Fight or flight hormones elevate blood sugar by breaking down liver and muscle glycogen.
   3. The thyroid slows down.
   4. The stomach holds onto any food it might contain (delayed gastric emptying). Stomach upset, even nausea and heartburn.
   5. The intestines push food through faster (diarrhea, often followed by constipation).
4. Once danger is averted, the hypothalamus coordinates a return to normal.

What if normal never happens?

That’s the problem. Your body is designed to deal with stress but not day in and day out. While we can blame our fast-paced, go-go world with ever-expanding “to-do” lists, all stress is created equal.

Environmental triggers do include the mental perception of impending doom, or just “too much going on” or limitless other concerns.

Environmental triggers also include excessive iodine intake, toxic chemicals and metals, medications, molds, various infections, and anything that your body finds difficult to digest.

When, day in and day out, we continue to irritate and imbalance our systems, our organs rev up to address the situation. Because they are never allowed to recover, our hormones remain imbalanced, finally the whole thing crashes.

1. The constant strain on our organs cause them to need more nutrients
2. Because digestion is affected, nutrients are no longer being released from food and absorbed in the gut;
3. Organs become fatigued and inflamed, sometimes other organs compensate—for a while;
4. We grow sensitive to more and more environmental triggers from all corners;
5. The gut cells, not being fed, stop functioning as a barrier;
6. As incorrect particles leak through, the immune system becomes confused. We develop food hypersensitivity to foods we’ve eaten all our lives;
7. Some what leaks through looks like “self” or “healthy bacteria” and more.
8. Autoimmune

Reversing what’s really wrong

Hopefully you notice the change problem early. You’ve noticed signs that something is going off. You go get your blood tested but everything is in normal range. What gives?

Do you write off these early clues as “I’m getting old, I guess”?

Or do you start drinking Ginseng tea because you read about it on Facebook? That didn’t work so… perhaps take more B vitamins (most of which are synthetic; not from natural sources) or…

And maybe you even feel better, for a minute…

85% of people with adrenal dysfunction have a gut pathogen—labs are normal, fecal tests are normal—BUT the body is in stressed state; because the adrenals are tired the immune system is not working. Remember, the body’s goal is to survive. It will do anything it can just to get through today. If it knows it does not have the resources to fix the gut, it won’t. But it won’t let the bug take over either. Instead, it tucks the pathogen away into “intestinal crypts” (the little spaces at the base of the villi).

The body says – Yo parasite, your not supposed to be here but right now I don’t have the energy to deal with you. So… welcome home. As long as you just stay put in that spot, I won’t bother you. Next, the body puts the pathogen into the crypt between villi and then covers them with biofilm. Nutrients get through to the bugs, the pathogens toxic waste leaks into you, inflammation increases, but the pathogens will not show up on typical blood or stool tests. Only if the parasite, or yeast, or Lyme disease, or… decide to leave the comfort of the crypt will they show up on most tests. Until then, you have mysterious symptoms.

Keep the treatment plan simple— but please stop guessing

With or without spending $thousands on expensive, multiple, testing to diagnose your specific form of organ stress or determine whether it has progressed to autoimmune, of which sort… reversing the problem is the same as preventing it:

Understand and remove the stressors while giving the body the building blocks it needs to heal and repair.

Nutrition Response Testing^® can evaluate all your organs and systems in one office visit. It can determine which organ or system needs the most help and exactly the remedies to help them—it answers “what’s wrong” from the source: your body. I get immediate answers and you can too.

Everyone on this trajectory needs to understand that something is irritating your digestive tract. You can learn exactly the steps that will fix inflammation.

Nutrition Response Testing and restoring gastrointestinal health are my specialties. There is hope and I can help. Call me; ask about my internet special.

—Marie