Adrenal Exhaustion = PMS, Menopause, Infertility?

by Glen Depke

I see it as an epidemic in my practice with women that are experiencing negative symptoms of adrenal exhaustion, PMS, menopause and far too often infertility. As a Traditional Naturopath, I do not treat symptoms and do not believe that the answer lies in symptom care. My clients address the underlying core values that lead to their symptoms, balance this and eventually allow the body to balance and walk away from their challenges.

I have had the pleasure of working with a high percentage of women in my practice through the years and can share the most of my clients have been women from the ages of 40 – 55. With this group in mind I can share that the high percentage of them were challenged with some type of hormonal imbalance that led to PMS symptoms, menopausal symptoms and/ or infertility.

Let’s recognize that the true challenges are not PMS or menopausal symptoms or infertility. The challenges have a core that is much deeper than what you may be recognizing. Beneath these symptoms we would generally recognize a deeper adrenal insufficiency or exhaustion.

Most think of the adrenal glands only in regard to mental/emotional stress. While the cortisol produced in the adrenals definitely ties into this stress, there are many other hormones produced in the adrenals and honestly, you need cortisol for normal, healthy function. The challenge is when we have a need for chronic high levels of cortisol. In order to move through your monthly cycle, maintain fertility and transition through menopause with ease; it is of utmost importance to maintain healthy adrenals. I know I have said it before in other posts, but these two tiny little glands functionally play a role in the whole of your body.

So it’s easy; sounds like the whole problem with infertility, PMS, and menopausal symptoms are caused by the adrenals. Well, not so fast. Saying this is the case is totally false. Understand that the adrenal exhaustion are only the symptom of what’s wrong. It is so important to understand that the adrenals don’t simply get out of balance on their own. They become imbalanced based on your lifestyle choices.

Over the years in my practice, I find that the main factors tied into this adrenal exhaustion is mental/emotional stress, lack of focus on the fundamentals of health, the consumption of gluten for those that are gluten intolerant, and inflammation.

If you review the posts from January of 2010 in this blog you will find information about gluten, and all of your fundamentals of health, as well as adrenal insufficiency. There is also quite a bit of information on all of these on our website at www.DepkeWellness.com. If you are interested in assessing your likelihood of being gluten intolerant, feel free to go to the Gluten Intolerance link on the website and scroll down to the bottom of the page to print out your free gluten assessment.

If you are one of the many women challenged with either PMS or menopausal symptoms or concerned with infertility, I welcome you to attend my 5 hour workshop, “PMS or Menopause Got You Down?” this Saturday 8/21. To get more information on either attending this workshop or the video reproduction, visit my website at www.DepkeWellness.com and visit the Calendar of Events page.

If you have any other comments or questions, please reply with a post, and I will address this personally.