There is a pretty distinct trend going around. A lot of people that I’ve seen were suffering not only from Candida, but from adrenal fatigue as well. Some of them had adrenal fatigue first; and others developed it as a result of their Candida. Regardless of when it developed, just about everyone needed some form of treatment for adrenal fatigue during the course of his chronic yeast infection treatment.
Understanding Adrenal Fatigue
Basic science and anatomy tell us that the adrenal glands are above our kidneys. These glands produce a series of hormones your body needs to survive – more than 50. Those who are suffering from adrenal fatigue do so because their adrenal glands are not able to function properly. They are literally fatigued – too tired to produce the hormones you need.
Why does this happen? Adrenal fatigue is often caused by stress, but you can have decreased adrenal function if you are suffering from chronic infections – bronchitis, respiratory, pneumonia, and even yeast infections. One of the main symptoms of adrenal fatigue itself is just that – fatigue; and it’s the kind of fatigue that doesn’t go away no matter how much you try to sleep it away. That lack of rest produces more stress within your body, making your adrenal function even worse. It’s a vicious catch-22 situation.
Let’s look at an example. Those who drink coffee think that the caffeine in the coffee is stimulating them. In reality, the caffeine stimulates the adrenal glands and causes them to produce some adrenalin. If you constantly drink coffee, you are constantly stressing your body, causing it to produce low levels of adrenalin. The stress and adrenalin will, over time, lower your immune function, which leads to all of the aforementioned susceptibilities to disease and Candida. Over time, that cup of morning coffee isn’t enough, so you go for a second; then a third or fourth. Maybe you start looking for energy drinks and other stimulants, too. Your adrenal glands can’t keep up and eventually they just give up and shut down.
Your body will, over time, try to make up for the lack of hormones your adrenal glands are producing. You’ll spend a lot of time looking relatively healthy despite feeling pretty tired and generally unwell. You’ll also begin to experience low blood pressure, weakness, and other symptoms as your body becomes unable to properly process sodium and other things you crave.
Adrenal Fatigue and Candida
Those who are suffering from chronic yeast infections are already under an immense amount of physical pressure. Their immune systems are severely compromised, which leads to physical stress on the body. Eventually, the adrenal glands stop producing cortisol, which in turn causes more damage to the immune system. Many are misdiagnosed at first, so they’re taking antibiotics, medications, and stimulants to fight what they think is chronic fatigue, IBS, or something else. They’re pressuring the adrenal glands without even knowing it.
On the other hand, some patients do develop adrenal fatigue before they develop Candida. Adrenal fatigue, in its own right, depresses the immune system because of the lack of cortisol. The weaker your immune system, the easier it is for Candida to grow and thrive within the body.
It’s incredibly important for you to talk to your naturopath about the possible connection between yeast infections and adrenal fatigue as you are being diagnosed and throughout the course of your treatment. While you’ll surely feel better if you’re only treating one, very few people fully recover without treating both conditions simultaneously.
