Adrenal stress (popularly referred to as “adrenal fatigue”) is one of the most common, yet most overlooked, syndromes affecting modern mothers.

Adrenal stress (popularly known as “adrenal fatigue”) has become the commonly recognized name for a collection of symptoms resulting from exposure to prolonged stress or illness. It’s a syndrome, not a disease, so it’s often overlooked by traditional medicine. Countless overwhelmed, exhausted mamas are medicated for symptoms like digestive upset, repeated infections, insomnia, low libido, and depressed mood. They are told that their rock-bottom exhaustion is “normal” simply because they are mothers.

It’s not normal to be dog-tired all the time, and you don’t have to feel this way.

The biggest myth of adrenal stress is that the adrenal glands are actually fatigued, like tired little batteries that don’t produce enough hormones anymore (as in Addison’s disease). This confusion is perpetuated by the popular name “adrenal fatigue,” but the condition would more accurately be called adrenal stress, or HPA axis stress. What’s actually happening is that the delicate hormonal stress-response system, which the adrenals operate in, has been overworked and thrown out of rhythm.

Prolonged stress puts a huge physical demand on the body’s stress response system, causing a variety of symptoms all over the body. The body may have a compromised immune response, digestive system, regulation of metabolism, sleep rhythm, and mood balancing, just to name a few.

Mamas with adrenal stress are often constantly exhausted–experiencing the kind of fatigue that doesn’t go away with a few nights of good sleep. They generally experience any combination of other symptoms in the digestive, immune, hormonal, and nervous systems.

Symptoms are the body’s way of communicating a problem. But we’re often so focused on muscling through the day that we’re likely not listening. We ignore the warnings, push through with another cup of coffee, suppressing fears about the long-term effects of this lifestyle. You know deep down that this isn’t sustainable, and it may have already led to losses in your vitality, your marriage, and your career, and your ability to enjoy your children–not to mention the soul-feeding passions you once were able to prioritize.

Why are working mamas so susceptible to adrenal stress?

Frenetic is our new normal. The price of maintaining the daily pace of our career, family, and relationships is steep. Our days are filled with constant, low-level stressors that come in the form of text messages, emails, deadlines, distractions, and an overwhelm of information and choices. Stress is a ubiquitous part of everyday life–impossible to avoid and ever-increasing.

We mamas manage everyone else’s needs and schedules and are rarely able to prioritize our own health and well-being over the family’s. Symptoms of hormonal upheaval present themselves as our bodies try to tell us our hormones are drastically out of sync, but when is there time to do the deep work of renewal and healing?

It’s time to disrupt the cycle and reclaim our health and vitality.
It’s hard to imagine that we deserve better for ourselves and our bodies, but we do! The fatigue, exhaustion, and other symptoms of adrenal stress do not have to be a normal part of motherhood.

This is why I created Vital Mamas.

We mamas deserve to do more than just make it through the day. We deserve to enjoy the energy and vitality that allow us to pursue our passions.

Medicating symptoms is simple. But you’re not here for simplicity. You understand that it’s time to embrace the work of whole-body wellness because continuing with the old plan hasn’t delivered the robust health and resilience you deserve.

What is Vital Mamas?

Vital Mamas is a company dedicated to helping exhausted and overwhelmed mamas rebuild a multidimensional vitality. Our clients work one-on-one with our doctors in an all-inclusive program and connect with a community of like-minded mamas.

In our Energy Restore Program, Dr. Erica looks in-depth at your symptoms, hormone levels, thyroid function, and food sensitivities in order to evaluate your complete health picture, and form a comprehensive and manageable plan with all the resources so you can reclaim your vital, energized self. This program includes MOMentum Coaching with Dr. Emma to help you hone the mindset that maintains the physical progress you made and allow you to continue to show up as your best self. Most mamas haven’t tapped into even half of their potential, prosperity, and flow. We are here to help you uncover it. 

Our purpose is to support other badass boss mamas in reclaiming their health and blossoming into their full potential.