When a person is under stress the system that is responsible for overcoming the stress rests
with the adrenal glands. However, some people do feel a sense of adrenaline rush when they
are under stress. How does this come about? This is Dr. Lam, founder of DrLam.com, and
in this review we will go through some of the mechanisms of what causes this adrenaline
rush.
Symptoms of adrenaline rushes are almost like a flush of hot circulation that goes through
your heart, heart pounding, sometimes the heart can beat fast, you are in an alert state.
These are all results of a hormone called adrenaline or epinephrine. It is released
as a result of the hypothalamic pituitary adrenal axis being overly activated, and the
adrenals going to overdrive.
Now, let us examine what happens when the body is under stress. First of all, the adrenal
glands respond by increasing cortisol production as an anti-stress hormone. If this works,
then the stress is reduced and you come back down to normal, you don't feel a thing. That
is normal, and that is why most people under stress, except when it is very chronic or
very acute, really feel no difference. Life goes on.
Now, if the body is unable to handle the stress for whatever reason, the stress can be physical
or emotional, then the body's adrenal system goes into overdrive and produces more cortisol,
but has certain limitations, and when this method is exhausted then the only thing left
is for the body to activate the sympathetic system to open up the fight or flight response
and release adrenaline.
Adrenaline is the only hormone in the body that has no opposing hormone, so once it comes
out, it has to be naturally decreased. There is no opposing hormone to offset or neutralize
or reduce the significance of it, and that is why the body is very careful in releasing
this hormone. It is one of the strongest hormones in the world, so overrelease can actually
kill you; but the body is very smart. It has a way to turn itself off in certain respects,
but at the same time it wants you to have more when you are in danger. So, adrenaline
is designed to be what is called a positive feedback loop. The more adrenaline that is
in the system the more it will release. It is very different from a negative feedback
loop, like the thermostat in your home, that once you have too much your body will shut
off. The body does not want to shut off because when you have more need for adrenaline the
body thinks you are in more danger, so the more you need. So, for some people with adrenal
fatigue they have a very sensitive reaction. One is that when adrenaline is released it
tends to flood out of the system and you get a spike, so this sudden massive release of
adrenaline from the adrenal medulla is what we call an adrenaline rush.
Usually it does not come up, but it will come up from time to time especially when you are
under stress, and once it comes up then you feel a sense of warm, a sense of nervousness,
a sense of being super alert. You cannot sleep, your heart may be palpitating, this may happen
in the middle of the night and wake you up, as well as during the day when you are under
stress, and what you need to do is, and you may have perspiration as well along with this,
so recognizing that adrenaline rush or adrenal rush is a mechanism of the adrenaline causing
the adrenals to produce this hormone is an important component of your understanding
of the full adrenal fatigue picture.
If you do have these experiences, you have to look and say what is really going on with
your body, how is it really handling stress overall, and what are you doing to prevent
this from happening again? Because too much adrenaline rush can destroy your body very
quickly.
I hope you've enjoyed this video. For more information on this topic, head over to DrLam.com
where I have written over a thousand articles to help educate people. You can also call
me at 626-571-1234 for more information on Adrenal Fatigue and how to navigate it. Finally,
if you enjoyed this video, please subscribe to my YouTube channel. Thanks for watching.