TREATING ADRENAL FATIGUE NATURALLY

The adrenals are small glands that lie on top (ad) of the kidneys (renals). These amazing glands have multiple functions. While the adrenals are endocrine glands producing hormones in response to pituitary stimulus that control carbohydrate, protein and fat metabolism, the adrenals also respond to neurological stimuli to initiate the fight or flight response, as well as electrolytes circulating in the blood to control blood pressure, and produce cytokines that influence immune function.



The adrenal glands control blood pressure, orchestrate protein, fat, and carbohydrate metabolism, influence the immune system and run the stress response.

The catabolic adrenal hormone--cortisol--breaks down tissues. Skin, hair, nails, muscles, and organs. Bones break down leading to osteoporosis. Even the gut lining is affected by high levels of cortisol leading to leaky gut syndrome, food allergies and malabsorption.

Remember the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis? Stress induces an adrenaline response which alerts the hypothalamus which in turn stimulates the pituitary to tell the adrenals to produce cortisol to fuel the fight or flight response.

The hypothalamus is the maestro of the entire system. And it does not know the difference between a tiger chasing you and you being late for work. The adrenal response is the same--adrenaline--> cortisol--> DHEA--> cortisone. Over and over and over again, day after day, week after week, for months, maybe years on end, the stress of modern day life puts a toll on the adrenals. Eventually they become fatigued, producing less and less cortisol and DHEA until you can hardly function.

What are the symptoms of Adrenal Fatigue?

• Profound fatigue. You struggle to wake up in the morning. You need caffeine and sugar to start your day. Your energy crashes in the afternoon. Sometimes you get a second wind at night and cannot sleep. A days circadian rhythm is usually early in the course of adrenal dysfunction.

• Hair loss. Your nails are brittle and slow growing. Your skin is dry and aging fast, although early in the stress response the high cortisol levels will induce oily, acne prone skin. Wounds heal very slowly. This is partially because of the catabolic nature of cortisol and mostly because of the lower production of DHEA that helps you metabolize protein and fat to grow new you (hair, skin, nails and other more important tissues) if your hair, skin and nails are unhealthy, you can bet that your internal organs do not look so good.

• You're sick alot. You cannot seem to recover from illnesses. You keep catching one cold after another. All your old viruses come back to haunt you. You break out in old sores, genital warts, relapse with chronic infections like Epstein Barr and hepatitis. Your immune system does not seem to be working properly.

• Sugar Cravings. You crave sugar after you eat. When you eat, cortisol is produced which releases stored sugar so that you have immediate fuel until your food is digested. Tired adrenal glands do not produce enough cortisol and you crave sugar after you eat. 

• Salt Cravings. Why? Because your adrenals also make another hormone called aldosterone that regulates salt water balance. Fatigued adrenals do not produce enough aldosterone, so your blood pressure is low. You get up too fast and you feel dizzy. Healthy adrenals produce enough aldosterone to raise your blood pressure twenty points when you rise from a lying to a standing position. Otherwise if you were napping under a tree, how would you be able to get away from that tiger?

• Slow Metabolism. Eventually your thyroid is affected. That's because thyroid function is controlled by the same hypothalamic hormone as the adrenal glands.

• Sex Hormones Decline. That's because reproduction is not a necessary function whe your body is under profound stress. Most brides experience this stress repsonse when their period shows up on their wedding day. Your adrenals use progesterone to make cortisol. Progesterone stabilizes the lining of the uterus. High stress equals high cortisol production and there is not enough progesterone to regulate the menstrual cycle. Eventually inadeaquately opposed estrogen leads to heavy, painful periods and fibroids. (more info on female hormones here) 

Conventional medicine does not recognize adrenal fatigue. Why? Because while adrenal fatigue is not optimal functioning, it is not a disease. Allopathic practitioners treat diseases. Complete adrenal failure is called Addison's disease. Your adrenal glands no longer produce cortisol. You need cortisol to survive, so you are given synthetic cortisone for the rest of your life.

Why wait until you have full blown Addison's disease? Why not stop before you fall off the cliff?

Integrative medicine recognizes less than optimal functioning as something that can be improved through better lifestyle choices, detoxification, and supplementation.

Adrenal fatigue is recognized by integrative medicine as a treatable condition.

Adaptogenic herbs, B vitamins, essential fatty acids  can help adrenal glands recover. Glandular products are also useful initially to support adrenal function. Sometimes bio identical cortisol and DHEA is prescribed to supplement adrenal function.

I believe the body will heal itself given the proper nutrients. So first I recommend a foundational support to heal the adrenals as well as all the organ systems affected by stress. Getting the adrenals functioning properly will stop the hair loss, weight gain, and aging, but the body needs extra nutrients to grow hair and healthy skin,  improve body composition to increase lean body mass and decrease body fat, and optimize health.

Then I recommend hypothalamic support to improve the communication system between the adrenals and the brain. Supporting the hypothalamus allows it to orchestrate the rest of the endocrine system as well as the neurological and immune system to harmonize the symphony of hormones, neurotransmitters and cytokines so your DNA dances optimal health and well being.

Yes, I recommend adrenal glandulars and adaptogenic herbs to boost adrenal activity, but revving the engine without providing gas and oil will burn out the vehicle.

Genesis Gold is the fuel the body needs to detoxify, rebuild and heal itself. Sacred Seven amino acids provides the hypothalamic support to optimize genetic function.

I developed a natural treatment protocol for adrenal fatigue that includes extra adrenal glandular support, adaptogenic herbs, essential nutrients plus homeopathic adrenal cortex with full instructions on how to use supplements.

Could My Symptoms Be Hypothalamic?

The good news is that I’ve been getting a lot of questions related to the hypothalamus lately.


The bad news is that there are so many people not getting hypothalamic help.


This is a classic question that I believe should be addressed in detail:

I showed my naturopath the ingredients of Genesis Gold and he said "You have been on several of these but perhaps it is the combination of them that could work." Is it the actual combination of ingredients? Do my symptoms sound to you as though they are hypothalamic in nature? (severe exercise intolerance, temperature intolerance, gastrointestinal issues, brain fog, insomnia, hormonal problems, constant/frequent urination, anxiety, fatigue coupled with strange frenetic energy, etc...)

Yes, it is the combination of ingredients...that works.

And Yes, I do think it is your hypothalamus that is the root of your problems.


When I first started treating hypothalamic dysfunction fifteen years ago, I was prescribing multiple bottles of supplements for my patients then was constantly adjusting dosages. I found that putting it together allowed for lower dosages and better results.


Think of it like Mrs Field's Cookies. While all chocolate chip cookie recipes have the same basic ingredients, her recipe produces a superior cookie.


Yes, Genesis Gold has all the herbs and micronutrients to support the neuro-immune-endocrine system that are typically recommended for hormonally challenged patients, no where else will you find them all in one bottle working together to balance the hypothalamus.


Sacred Seven contains all the same amino acids you will find in free form aminos, yet it's the way they are put together that is specific to supporting the hypothalamus.


A very challenging patient with hypothalamic dysfunction consulted with me two months ago. With adrenal deficiency, thyroid imbalance, glucose intolerance, depression, anxiety, insomnia, vestibular imbalance (meaning she could not walk without support due to severe neuromotor dysfunction) plus no sex steroid production after a total hysterectomy, this patient was at her wit's end.


Now on disability, she had been to seven different medical specialists over the past ten years, five different alternative healers, and multiple supplements by her own research. On her own accord, she stopped everything except some bio-identical hormone replacement therapy and started taking Genesis Gold.


Two weeks later, she came into the office walking on her own. She was sleeping, had more energy, and experienced a stability in her moods that was unparalleled by all the anti-depressants, anti-anxiety and other natural and illicit mood stabilizers she had tried over the years.


The key to her healing, I believe, is that she was ripe. She had done all her homework, tried lots of other therapies, and finally sat before me and surrendered to healing.


In the past, the patients who have not had such dramatic healing, well, they were not ripe...not ready to heal... She actually said, "I surrender to whatever healing you have in store for me." And then she did the work.


It took work to accept healing. She had no idea how resistant she had been before taking Genesis Gold. Oh, that is one of the gifts of Genesis Gold, you become very aware of what your body needs, what you need emotionally, how your relationships affect your health, how your past affects your health, how your environment is helping or hindering your healing. Then over time, you learn to make the changes necessary to heal completely.


It may seem strange that a supplement could affect your psycho-emotional, body awareness. Yet that is what I intended when I created Genesis Gold. I intended it to upregulate the DNA to optimize health to heal body, mind and soul. And that is what has happened over the years. It just happens faster when you are ripe for healing...like fruit, then it's sweeter. If you try to force healing, it's like picking unripe fruit...the results are bitter...and may be seen as side effects.


A few of my past Genesis Gold patients had side effects due to detoxing so stopped taking it. Then years later, they come back and start again...and guess what? No side effects! They realize that they were not ready before.


I have learned to accept that I cannot force healing, that the patient heals herself, I am just a coach, an advisor, a cheerleader during the healing process.


I hope this helps you. I know it’s helped me clarify the healing process.


Thank You!

Deborah Maragopoulos MN FNP
Intuitive Integrative Medicine
http://www.genesisgold.com/

What is Optimal Health?

Health is harmony of body, mind and soul. Dis-ease is an imbalance within this triad. Since humans do not exist in a solitary microcosm, the environment influences health both physically and energetically.

Imagine that health is a line stretching from optimal wellbeing to death. Symptoms of dis-ease represent movement away from optimal wellness and towards death. Most health care providers treat the symptoms either with conventional or alternative therapies. Few seek the root cause of dis-ease. Fewer still seek to help the patient return to optimal wellness.

All dis-ease processes are instigated by imbalances in the being, albeit biological or energetic. While most health providers recognize imbalances as dis-ease, few use a foundational model to assess and treat the whole patient. Without a holistic foundation, therapies are Band-Aids at best. Modern health care delivers chemical therapies that change symptoms but do not address the root issues. The imbalances must be assessed with a framework in mind to then deliver the appropriate therapies.

A decade ago while attempting to treat a myriad of dis-ease states, I began to notice similar patterns in the biochemical imbalances. Genetic expression favors homeostasis, so what made the body fall out of tune? Miscommunication. The complex messenger chemicals produced by the neuro-immune-endocrine system (NIE) tell the DNA what is needed by the body. To keep the hormones in harmony the body needs to take in micronutrients and get out toxins. As a triangular relationship formed between the function of the NIE system, the In and the Out cornerstones, I discovered the importance of a neuro-endocrine gland located deep in the brain at the sixth chakra level—the hypothalamus.

So I formulated a holistic model that addresses all aspects of wellbeing necessary to revolutionize health care.

DMAR Pyramid of Health™ is that model. DMAR Pyramid of Health™ refers to “the sea”—the source of all life—and assesses wellbeing through a pyramid of health. The four faces of the DMAR Pyramid of Health™ are the physiological, the psycho-spiritual, the anatomical and the environmental. The base of the pyramid encompasses the energetic vibration that represents life force. The energy within the system communicates itself via the biochemicals that make up the neuro-immune-endocrine system. These hormones under hypothalamic orchestration sing to the genetic encodement. The DNA then dances accordingly. If the music is out of tune, the genetic expression is one of dis-ease. If the music is harmonious, physical embodiment is perfectly healthy. Rather than tuning each of the hormones, I began focusing on the hypothalamus. The hypothalamus is truly the maestro of the body’s biochemical orchestra.

In clinical practice, I have found using the DMAR Pyramid of Health™ approach to dis-ease to be highly successful. I investigate imbalances in the neruo-immune-endocrine system, as well as perform functional testing of the assimilation and detoxification pathways, to uncover the root biochemical issues. Working with the other facets of the pyramid of wellbeing including the psycho-spiritual belief systems, the social and physical environment, and the anatomical structure of the physical body, provides a foundation in which to treat the patient. Being a biochemical specialist, I find that most patients need nutritional support. Feeding the brain holistically requires supplementation.

Tuning each biochemical pathway separately with nutritional and vibrational therapeutics is temporarily effective. Supporting the neuro-immune-endocrine system, as well as the assimilation and detoxification pathways, simultaneously creates harmonious communication with the DNA. Focusing on the hypothalamus which orchestrates the biochemistry is key to optimal genetic expression. A synergistic nutritional supplement to support all the biochemical pathways would create balance and harmony in our health and lives.

Hippocrates said, “Let food be your medicine”. In a world of fast food, gathering all the nutrients necessary to support the complex biochemical pathways can be difficult. After spending years sending patients out my clinic door with lists of supplements to balance their systems, I wondered if I could do what I was asking of them. The perpetual tuning and retuning of their supplementation programs required dependency on me. Parents of learning disabled and autistic children begged me to simplify the process. My research led to the development of the DMAR philosophy, but my dreams were the path to my greatest creation.

For three months at the end of 1999, I had a recurrent dream. My worse case patients came to drink from a golden chalice I held. We never spoke, but intuitively, I knew they were healed. I awoke asking what was in the cup. A formula unveiled itself. I spent the following year doing clinical research on the nutritional supplement that came in my dreams. In the summer of 2003, Creation in a Bottle was born. Genesis Gold® is designed to support the hypothalamus as well as the assimilation and detoxification pathways while keeping hormones in harmony.

For most of my patients, Genesis Gold® has replaced six to ten bottles of supplements. For many, they are no longer dependent on medications, hormone replacement, or natural remedies as their systems have come into harmony. Health is encoded into our DNA. Isn’t it time we tap into our highest potential?