Adrenal Fatigue

Ever heard of it?  The first time I heard of this was when I had every test, scan and lab done for my symptoms and at my whits end went to a chiropractor to get help with a messed up neck.  He simply listened to my symptoms (which I will list in a min) and said, "you have adrenal fatigue".  I replied by saying, "well, I had a CT scan and my adrenals were fine".  Well come to find out, this adrenal fatigue is a syndrome, unrecognized my the medical community.  Adrenals can look fine and yet still be in severe fatigue.
What are adrenals you may be thinking?  They are hormone secreting glands that sit on top of your kidneys.  Check out adrenalfatigue.org for more information on the anatomy and function of this gland in which we can not live without.  
So what are my symptoms?  I shall go back about 5 and a half years.  I was pregnant with my tiny Trotter at the time and remember I was walking into Target to do some Christmas shopping, when all of a sudden I felt as if I was about to pass out.  I quickly left and ran to my car and laid down.  After I felt like I could drive I just went home.  These type symptoms seemed to be the first ones I remember.  That and I would see stars periodically and feel dizzy or light headed.  After the baby was born I don't remember them happening too much, but then when she was about 4 months old I had all of a sudden lost about 19 pounds on tops of my baby weight.  Everyone close to us thought I was sick.  Then about 2 years later, it started again. I went to my doctor and told him and said that it seemed worse in fluorescent lights.  He wanted me to see a neurologist and then performed an EKG.  That was normal, and sadly enough, I never scheduled a neuro consult.  I joined a gym instead and began to feel better.
That lasted for almost a year and then the symptoms came back with a vengeance.  I felt like I could pass out almost anytime I was in a public place with fluorescent lights and then I would panic.  I was always foggy headed and would wake up feeling like I hadn't slept a wink.  I hit a "slump" every day around 3:00 where I literally had to take a nap.    Then around 9:00 I had too much energy and couldn't go to sleep, and if I did, could stay asleep.
Now I also felt weak and shaky if I hadn't eaten in a few hours, even if I had eaten tons of protein.  I was working out and eating right and yet kept hanging on to weight around my middle.
Then it go so bad, I woke one morning and my arms were numb from the shoulders down and tingling.  I could grip them but couldn't hold the grip.  So I couldn't hold anything in my hands.  I thought I was having a stroke or heart attack.  I was having major anxiety and panic.  "I just wanta feel normal again!"  I went to another doctor and told him to spare no expense, I wanted to find out what was wrong.  MRIs, CTscan, ultrasound, every blood panel you can run, and a 4 hour glucose tolerance test, and all it revealed was my C spine 4-7 was out of wack, and I had cyst on my right ovary, and I was severely hypoglycemic.  So the diagnosis for me was that I need to take anti-anxiety meds.  desperate to feel normal again, I agreed to take Lexapro 10mg.  After 6 weeks of taking this, I felt NO better and against my doctors advice, I weaned off of the meds.  I then went to a Maximized Living Chiropractor and began to understand what was really going on.
I am now reading "Adrenal Fatigue, 21st century stress syndrome" by Dr. James Wilson.  This has opened some major doors for me to understanding this better.  At this point I am planning to finish the book and then order myself a saliva test to get started on healing my self of this.
Certain things that trigger this are Energy Vampires in your life, certain places, and even sometimes lighting.  I did a history timeline and figured out that my original stressor was when I witnessed my grandfather die of a massive heart attack in front of me and I could do nothing to save him.   (Being a nurse, that was pretty hard)
Then most recently it was walking through a horrible colon cancer diagnosis with a good friend.
Its crazy how stress can get us and truly make us SICK!
If any of the symptoms sound like you...I encourage you to buy the book and read it!  Also refer to the website for more details.
Follow me on this journey as I DO plan to heal completely and feel like ME again!