Understanding Stress, Fatigue + Your Nervous System
There are seasons where life feels full from the moment you wake up.
Work, parenting, school runs, appointments, sport, household jobs — and somehow finding time to look after yourself in amongst it all.
You might feel exhausted but struggle to switch off. Your shoulders stay tense. Sleep doesn't feel as restorative as it once did. Your concentration isn't quite there. Or perhaps you've simply noticed that your capacity for everyday stress feels lower than usual.
Online, you may have heard experiences like these described as “adrenal fatigue.”
But what does that actually mean?
First, What Is “Adrenal Fatigue”?
The term adrenal fatigue is commonly used in wellness spaces to describe a collection of experiences such as:
persistent tiredness
difficulty getting going in the morning
poor or disrupted sleep
difficulty concentrating
feeling overwhelmed or irritable
changes in appetite or cravings
feeling generally “worn out”
However, adrenal fatigue is not currently recognised as a medical diagnosis.
Your adrenal glands don't simply become “tired” from everyday stress and stop producing enough cortisol in the way the term often suggests.
There are recognised medical conditions that affect adrenal hormone production, including adrenal insufficiency, but these are different conditions and require appropriate medical investigation and management.
So while the experience of feeling completely depleted can be very real, it shouldn't automatically be assumed that the adrenal glands themselves are the cause.
Persistent or unexplained fatigue is worth discussing with your GP.
So Why Can Stress Leave Us Feeling So Depleted?
This is where understanding the body's stress response can be useful.
Your brain, nervous system and endocrine system continually communicate to help your body respond to what's happening around you.
One pathway involved is the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, usually shortened to the HPA axis.
When you encounter a stressor, the brain and body coordinate a response involving hormones such as cortisol. Cortisol isn't inherently bad — it's an important hormone involved in normal processes including metabolism, immune function and the body's response to stress.
The stress response is designed to help us adapt.
But life doesn't always provide a neat period of recovery after each stressful moment.
A poor night's sleep might roll into a busy workday. That becomes an afternoon of school pick-ups and sport, followed by dinner, emails and another late night.
Over time, it can feel as though you're spending much more of the day “on” than properly recovering.
The Gas Pedal + Brake Pedal
At Restore, we often use the analogy of a car to explain the autonomic nervous system.
Your sympathetic nervous system is a little like the gas pedal. It supports alertness and mobilisation when something requires action.
Your parasympathetic nervous system can be thought of as the brake pedal. It is involved in processes associated with rest, digestion and recovery.
We need both.
A healthy nervous system isn't one that's relaxed all the time. It's one that can appropriately respond to changing demands.
After a stressful meeting, a hard workout or a chaotic morning with the kids, the body should also have opportunities to recover.
What Can Affect Our Capacity to Cope?
Stress isn't only emotional.
The demands placed on our bodies can come from many different areas of life, and several may be happening at once.
Physical demands
Poor sleep, illness, injury, long periods of sitting, repetitive work, high training loads and physical discomfort can all add to how demanding a week feels.
Lifestyle + environmental factors
Nutrition, alcohol, caffeine, medications, working hours and our environment can influence how we feel physically and mentally.
Mental + emotional demands
Work deadlines, financial pressure, parenting, relationships, study, caregiving and simply having too much on your plate can all contribute.
Rather than viewing one of these factors as the root cause, it's generally more helpful to consider the whole picture.
What About the Vagus Nerve?
The vagus nerve is one of the major nerves associated with the parasympathetic nervous system.
It travels from the brainstem through the neck and into the chest and abdomen, communicating with structures including the heart and digestive system.
Because of this broad connection, you'll often see the vagus nerve discussed in conversations about stress, digestion and nervous system regulation.
It's an important part of normal autonomic function — but it's also important not to oversimplify it.
Feeling tired, stressed or overwhelmed doesn't necessarily mean your vagus nerve is “damaged”, “switched off” or needs to be “activated”.
These experiences can have many contributing factors.
Supporting Your Body During Stressful Seasons
There isn't one adjustment, supplement or wellness tool that can eliminate the demands of a busy life.
Instead, think about creating more opportunities for recovery.
That might look like:
prioritising a more consistent sleep and wake time
getting outside and seeing natural light in the morning
eating regular, balanced meals
staying hydrated
reducing excessive caffeine, particularly later in the day
moving regularly in ways you enjoy
taking genuine breaks from work and screens
using breathing, mindfulness or relaxation practices
spending time with people who help you feel supported
asking for help when your load has become too much
Sometimes the most helpful change isn't adding another thing to your wellness routine.
It's removing something from your plate.
Where Chiropractic Care May Fit
Some people choose chiropractic care as one component of looking after their physical health.
At Restore, our chiropractors assess each person individually, considering their history, movement, physical function and musculoskeletal presentation.
For someone navigating a particularly demanding season, this might include assessing concerns such as:
neck or back discomfort
stiffness
restricted movement
muscular tension
other relevant musculoskeletal concerns
Where chiropractic care is clinically appropriate, recommendations are tailored to the individual.
Chiropractic care is not a treatment for adrenal fatigue, adrenal insufficiency, chronic fatigue, anxiety, depression or other endocrine or medical conditions.
If your symptoms suggest something outside chiropractic scope, further assessment or referral may be recommended.
Where Do INSiGHT Scans Fit?
At Restore, INSiGHT technology may be used as one part of our assessment process.
Depending on the technology being used, measurements may include surface electromyography (sEMG), skin temperature patterns and heart rate variability (HRV).
These measures can provide additional information alongside a person's history and physical assessment.
However, an INSiGHT scan cannot diagnose adrenal fatigue or adrenal insufficiency, nor can a scan tell us that coloured areas or particular readings represent “adrenal exhaustion”.
It also doesn't replace blood tests, medical investigations or assessment from your GP where these are indicated.
When Fatigue Deserves a Closer Look
Being tired after a demanding week is one thing. Persistent, unexplained or worsening fatigue deserves proper assessment.
Consider speaking with your GP if fatigue is ongoing, interfering with everyday life or occurring alongside symptoms such as unexplained weight changes, persistent dizziness, significant mood changes, weakness, shortness of breath, heart palpitations or other new symptoms.
There are many potential contributors to fatigue — including sleep disorders, iron deficiency, thyroid conditions, medications, mental health conditions and other medical issues — so it's important not to assume stress is always responsible.
You Don't Need Another Thing to “Fix”
If you're feeling wound up and worn out, you don't necessarily need a bigger wellness routine.
Sometimes the starting point is simply recognising how much your body has been navigating.
Look at the foundations. Look at your sleep, movement, nutrition, workload, relationships, physical comfort and opportunities for genuine downtime.
And when something doesn't feel right, seek appropriate support.
At Restore, we're interested in understanding the whole picture, while staying clear about where chiropractic care fits within it.
The goal isn't to eliminate stress.
It's to support your health and physical capacity while you move through the demands of everyday life.
Important Note
This article is for general educational purposes and isn't intended to diagnose or treat adrenal, endocrine or other medical conditions.
“Adrenal fatigue” is not a recognised medical diagnosis. Symptoms commonly attributed to adrenal fatigue can overlap with recognised health conditions, so persistent or unexplained symptoms should be discussed with your GP or another appropriately qualified healthcare professional.
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Original article: How to Fix Adrenal Fatigue Naturally
Original author: Dr Tony Ebel, DC, CPPFC, CCWP
Reviewed by: PJ Howland
Adapted for Restore Chiropractic Studio, AustraliaOriginal source and concept: Dr Tony Ebel, How to Fix Adrenal Fatigue Naturally, PX Docs. Updated 16 December 2024; reviewed by PJ Howland.