Adrenal fatigue symptoms are very similar to those of hypothyroidism so I wanted to give a little extra information on them so that you know how the two are interrelated.

The main symptoms are:

Fatigue

Insomnia

Feeling tired despite sufficient hours of sleep

Weight gain

Depression

Hair loss

Acne

Reliance on stimulants like caffeine to keep you going

Cravings for carbohydrates or sugars as pick-me-ups

Cravings for salt

Poor immune function

Intolerance to cold

Sound familiar? They do if you have read the page on thyroid dysfunction already and the “My Journey to Wellness” page that tells of my problems with both of them.

You see, these two conditions are closely intertwined. The function of the adrenal glands is to give us energy for the “fight or flight” syndrome.

If you’re running from the proverbial saber toothed tiger, you have no need at that moment for your food to be digested, or your liver to be filtering. All of your energy would be directed towards your heart, brain, arms and legs for fighting or fleeing.

The problem, of course, comes when we are constantly in this stress mode and the body never gets out of the flight or fight syndrome. The adrenals are constantly pumping out adrenaline and cortisol until they are just depleted and can’t produce any more, which is the major cause of adrenal fatigue symptoms.

Adrenals and Thyroid Connection

That’s when the real problems begin. When your adrenals are working too hard, the thyroid can also suffer. It’s a two-fisted whammy with one exacerbating the other.

High adrenaline output inhibits TSH (thyroid-stimulating hormone), which may or may not show up in a standard medical test. It also inhibits the conversion of T4 to T3 (which is the more active form of thyroid hormone), and decreases the function of T3 at the receptor level.

This is what happened to me. My body was not utilizing T3 properly even though my TSH test showed normal.

This then leads to hypothyroidism, which is an underactive thyroid. Hypothyroidism can lead to weight gain or difficulty losing weight, primarily because it slows your metabolism.

It can also lead to a vicious cycle of being dead tired during the day to the point of needing a nap or being almost unable to get out of bed in the morning. Then, after dragging through your day, suddenly you wake up and get a second wind somewhere around 6:00 PM.

Of course, when you try to go to bed, you’re suddenly “tired but wired” and cannot go to sleep. It’s as if your life has been turned upside down, or at least, backwards.