What’s the Difference between Adrenal Exhaustion and Adrenal Insufficiency?

Many people want to know: What’s the difference between adrenal exhaustion and adrenal insufficiency? While they may seem like the first thing when you first glance at the terms they are in fact completely different. Each one has its own causes and effects. While they do share some common symptoms one is far more serious than the other one.

Adrenal exhaustion (also called adrenal fatigue), is simply when your adrenal glands are so worn out that they stop functioning properly. This is usually a temporary situation but can span for years. This can happen from being overly stressed because of items in your life such as work. It can also happen from not taking care of your body and getting the proper amounts of sleep and nutrients. You need to give your adrenal glands time to recharge and get back on track through adequate adrenal support and give your body the proper nutrients.

Adrenal insufficiency is the second stage of adrenal exhaustion. In some extreme cases where people don’t take better care of themselves, adrenal exhaustion can lead to adrenal insufficiency. However in most cases you will get adrenal insufficiency from other situations. Many people get adrenal insufficiency when they are born due to their mothers losing too much blood. Likewise genetics can have an effect on your glands and pass along genetic defects which can weaken your adrenal glands. Also some infections and surgeries can cause your adrenal glands to stop working properly. You can re-stabilize your body by taking special steroids that are designed for adrenal insufficiency. While you will have to take them for the rest of your life it is a treatable disorder.