Adrenal Fatigue

Imagine: you feel tired, you’re constantly tired and you drag yourself through the day (with the help of caffeine). Your nights are broken and soundest sleep is between about 7 and 9 a.m. You have odd pains everywhere in your body (you may already have been told by a doctor that you have ‘fibromyalgia’, which is just a fancy name for ‘pains everywhere in your body’). You feel lethargic and depressed. Your blood pressure is low, your blood sugar levels are on a roller-coaster ride and you are prone to respiratory infections and various other sources of physical discomfort. Your doctor and the specialists he sends you to give you more and more medications – including steroids – to deal with the diverse complaints. They appear to relieve some symptoms, but have their side effects. You feel you’re not getting better; rather your health is declining. You are given a variety of ‘labels’, such as ‘chronic fatigue syndrome’, but you don’t get a diagnosis that provides a solution.

Then, one day …
… you come across a certain book. You read it and instantly feel validated in what your body is dealing with. The book promises you a solution that is so clear and so logical, yet when you broach it with your doctor it is waved aside as ‘unproven’ or ‘under discussion’. How is this possible?

The system
In the regular medical system, all illnesses and syndromes have been assigned a code, a so-called IDC. This code indicates the specific protocol for the treatment (drugs, surgery or whatever) and only with this code will hospitals give treatment and insurance companies provide reimbursement.

Imagine, then, that the solution to the syndrome you’re suffering from has no IDC, is not recognised and will therefore not be treated as such. There is no protocol. Yet the cause is very simple.

Hypoadrenia
In the last 50-60 years, adrenal fatigue has become one of the most prevalent yet seldom diagnosed disorders. The vast majority of regular medical doctors are unaware that this problem exists; their training definitely excludes this subject. And this despite the fact that adrenal fatigue was described in medical texts as long ago as the 19th century and despite the development in the 1930s of the first truly effective treatment. What is recognised is the adrenal dysfunction known as Addison’s Disease, an extreme condition that goes far beyond the range of what is known as hypoadrenia or adrenal fatigue as described in Wilson’s thorough book. However, as becomes very clear in reading the book (as well as ‘official’ statements on the Internet) Wilson’s approach is maligned by the orthodox medical world.

The writer and his work
As one of the very few specialists with three doctorates and two masters’ accreditations in different disciplines, James L. Wilson received his PhD in Human Nutrition from the University of Arizona, with minors in immunology, microbiology, pharmacology and toxicology. Wilson is also a Doctor of Chiropractic and Doctor of Naturopathic Medicine. His masters’ degrees are for bio-nutrition and experimental psychology.

Dr. Wilson is one of the 14 founders of the Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine (CCNM) in Toronto. He is named in The International Who’s Who in Medicine (Cambridge, UK).

During his 24 years of private practice he helped hundreds of people with adrenal fatigue to regain their health and vitality. Besides having lectured extensively to doctors, he is a recognised expert on the adrenal glands and other endocrine disorders and their effect on health.

His researcher’s understanding of the science of adrenal function, combined with his clinician’s insight into the effects on the human body, are the keys which help so many people to understand the physiology behind this tragically common disorder.

The programme
Wilson makes abundantly clear that it is possible to heal yourself. A change in eating pattern, choice of food, and a fairly simple selection of food supplements are essential. He also gives valuable advice about exercise, reducing stress and a large number of additional factors. The real-life examples help you to understand the broad extent of imbalances resulting from adrenal fatigue. The expert descriptions and explanations are both scientific and useful at a pragmatic, daily level. The book includes a questionnaire to help determine the health of your adrenals.

One thing, however, is abundantly clear: the content of this easy-to-read book (the more technical biochemical passages can be skipped) provides solutions for the lingering exhaustion that regular health practitioners neither recognise nor can resolve.

A personal note
Many months after reading the book, I visited my local doctor to have my blood pressure checked: 120/50. The doctor congratulated me on my low blood pressure but ignored the fact that 50 is really too low, resulting in a distinct sluggishness.

I remembered that Wilson warned that such ‘congratulations’ were to be expected! When I mentioned that my adrenals might be involved, I was told that this was a subject that was ‘still under discussion’. I remembered that Wilson warned that such lack of help was to be expected!

Kaiyum, Osho News