Is It Adrenal Fatigue or Burnout?

Feeling constantly exhausted—but being told everything looks “normal”? This episode helps you finally make sense of that disconnect.

In Episode 199 of Wellness in Every Season, Autumn Carter unpacks the often-confused conversation around adrenal fatigue and burnout—what they mean, why one is medically recognized and the other isn’t, and why your experience is still valid no matter what label is used. You’ll learn how chronic stress impacts your body through the HPA axis, why your system can feel completely off even when labs come back “fine,” and how burnout goes far beyond just feeling tired.

This episode dives into the real root of what’s happening: stress system dysregulation. Autumn walks you through common signs your body is overwhelmed—from brain fog and poor sleep to feeling “wired and tired”—and helps you connect the dots between your daily habits, emotional load, and energy levels. She also reframes healing in a powerful way, shifting from “What’s wrong with me?” to “What does my body need?”

You’ll walk away with practical, supportive steps to begin restoring your rhythm—like improving sleep consistency, regulating your nervous system, reducing invisible load, and honoring your limits—plus reflective coaching questions to help you tune back into your body.

If you’re ready to stop pushing through exhaustion and start rebuilding your energy with intention, this episode is for you. Learn more and explore coaching at wellnessineveryseason.com, and connect with Autumn on Instagram @wellnessineveryseason.

For more wellness tips and exclusive content, join my newsletter! Sign up now at https://wellness-in-every-season.kit.com/5-days-to-mastering-mornings-and-evenings receive a free 5-day guide called "Awaken and Unwind: 5 Days to Mastering Life's Mornings and Evenings." 

Transcript

Adrenal Fatigue vs Burnout

SPEAKER_00 0:02

This is episode 199. Today we are going to be discussing adrenal fatigue and burnout. What are the differences? What are the similarities? Both terms are very popular, trending, well searched. People talk about them in everyday conversations. Welcome to Wellness in Every Season. We talk all things wellness to help you align yourself, align with your goals, get find balance in your life, and just recalibrate yourself. If you are listening for the first time, welcome, welcome. I'm so glad you're here. And let's get started in the rest of the podcast. Let's figure out what the differences are, similarities, what's really going on inside your body, and let's get started. Okay. So, first question: is there a difference? And more importantly, does it matter? We're gonna dive into. If you know someone who's feeling completely drained, overwhelmed, or just not like themselves lately, please share this episode with them. There are so many people struggling with this, and it can affect every area of your life. And you can feel like you are struggling to push that boulder up the hill, and it feels more like it's humbling you rather than you actually making a difference and getting through the day and getting your stuff done. And if this resonates with you, I also want you to check out episode 197. It's on rebuilding energy, as well as the episode that's coming out in two weeks. If you're listening to this as soon as it goes live, and the one in two weeks will be on magnesium, and that means episode 201. And with magnesium, it'll be how it supports your nervous system, signs that you're low on it, signs that you're getting too much magnesium, which is usually not something that you're dealing with in your life. Usually it's the other way around. So it really pairs well with what we've been talking about with anxiety, rebuilding energy, all the burnout conversations that we've been having, which there's another one coming up in several weeks, episode 203 on how to prevent burnout. And a couple weeks after that, we'll be talking about blue zone living. I don't know if you heard the term blue zone, but it is the areas in the world, and there actually is one in California, so there's one in the United States as well, which was shocking when I did the research. But these are areas where people live a hundred plus years, and there's lots of people in the community, and there's research as to why they live well into their 100s, and they are functioning really well cognitively, physically. We want to live well and long. That is the goal of this whole podcast. So let's dive into this one because this is where it can feel very confusing with burnout and adrenal fatigue. The term adrenal fatigue is not recognized as a medical diagnosis unless you're working with in functional medicine. It's not recognized by organizations like the Endocrine Society, which the endocrine means hormones, working within your hormones. On the other hand, burnout is recognized by the World Health Organization as a real condition tied to chronic unmanaged stress. So we will be talking about that today. The label adrenal fatigue isn't medically recognized, but it does not mean that what you are feeling is not real. I've been to my primary care doctor for years, and my blood work comes back abnormal, and then she'll look at it and she'll say it's fine. And I've had the, but I'm not feeling fine. So that's where I started going down the functional medicine path for my own health. And that's why it's very interesting that in functional medicine they do recognize it and they talk about burnout a lot within functional medicine. Whereas the doctors have their own series of burnout in their personal and professional lives. So they're not really taking the time to discuss with us. And here's some of the symptoms that you can feel: exhaustion, brain fog. Feel like you're running on empty, but you still can't fully rest. And that experience is real. And there are so many people who have this experience. Everyone I coach is in this bucket right here. And it's just explained differently depending on who you ask. And then you can think about your overall week. And if you're just starting out your week, your past week. How are you feeling? Are you feeling any of these symptoms? Are you feeling like your energy level is really good and your your drive and your focus feeling good or are things feeling a little off? And then let's talk about how these two worlds are the same experience with burnout and then adrenal fatigue. Different languages, same thing. According to research, I don't know that I fully like within my body feel like it's the same thing. So in functional medicine, you often hear your system is overwhelmed and underrecovered. In conventional medicine, this means when you see your primary care provider, the ones that take insurance, they are saying your adrenal glands are functioning normally. What's the truth that bridges both these areas? Here it is. Your stress response system is dysregulated. Even if your adrenal glands aren't failing. So it all comes down to stress at the end of the day. Let's talk about what's happening in your body. This is the part that I've been most excited to talk about with this. So your body runs on a stress system called HIPAA or the HPA axis. And let me get you the real term of what that stands for. That's your hypothalamus and your pituitary adrenal glands is the HPA access. And it shows you the connection with those words. When life keeps asking from you, when you are taking a moment to rest. And what I mean by rest is you don't have the TV on, you're not reading anything, no devices, not just when you're trying to fall asleep, but when you are just trying to be a vegetable, just laying there or sitting there and just absorbing. Do you feel the need to do things? Do you feel guilty for doing this for yourself? That's the idea of your life is asking a lot from you, and you don't know how to unwind and unplug. And when you're doing this with that not enough space to recover, so that resting, this system doesn't break. It loses its rhythm. Isn't that a great way to think about it? So instead of smooth, predictable energy, you might feel exhausted in the morning, wired at night, anxious and tired at the same time, like your body can't decide what state it's in. This is why so many people say I don't feel right, but my labs look normal. Because it's not a failure issue. You're fatigued. Absolutely. But it's our regulation. Right? Regulation versus woo, roller coaster. That that nice line. Right? You could think of it like right now, I'm doing a glucose monitor patch just for fun to check my energy levels versus my glucose levels. So it's kind of like what they show in this app, which it is for glucose, but take the same idea where you have this green area and you want to be in here, right? You can go up and down, but you want to stay in the green. So it's that same type of idea. There, you don't want to go above this, and that's that whole idea of it's lost its rhythm. It's too far above and below, right here. This area that's really nice. And when you are within this green area, you can recover easily. So let's think about it. What does it feel like within your body? Do you feel like you can recover from a moment of stress easily? Do you feel like you can easily think of a creative workaround? Do you feel like maybe if you're super stressed out, that moment right before you fall asleep where within your body it's relaxed? That's the only time you feel it. And do you feel like you don't even feel that before you fall asleep? That's a really good indication of how stressed you are. Do you feel like you can take a moment to step outside and tilt your face up to the sun and just feel those rays on you? Do you feel you're constantly rushing the other people around you? It's a really good indication, too. What other things are indications that you have a lot of stress in your body? How's your face looking? Do you have circles under your eyes? Do you have acne? Do you have more wrinkles than maybe you should at this age? How's your hair looking? How are your nails looking? Your body shows a lot of the signs. Do you feel like you can take a deep full breath in and out? Does it feel like you have tight areas? How's your back feeling? How's your posture? So many indications. How are your feet feeling? Get an idea of this. And then if you want, look back in different areas of your life when you felt like you were fully aligned within your body and when you weren't, and when you felt like you were winning at life compared to when you weren't. Okay, so let's go back to burnout. It's not just being tired. It's chronic, unmanaged stress. Why we were just talking about stress and what it looks like and feels like in your body. It's emotional and mental overload. It's lack of recovery. Talking about getting too far out of that green line. Often a disconnect between how you're living and what actually feels meaningful. That's important right there. So I interviewed somebody for the show yesterday. It won't come out until the end of June. We talked about vacationing. And it's that idea of living your life that you don't need a vacation from. Of course, you still need to have vacations in your life, but you should not be dreading leaving vacation to go back to your real life. You should, and this is going to the shoulds, then I'm rolling my eyes at this because shoulds aren't a word that you want to use as often. I had to find a way to not say should again. And it's that idea that if you are saying shoulds, what needs to change? So you don't want your life to need a lot of vacations. Your life should be set up to where it feels in flow, it feels relaxing, it feels purposeful. If it doesn't, why doesn't it? Why don't you feel energized by your life? What needs to change? And when you get to that answer of what needs to change, know that it can be very painful to change all of that suddenly. And oftentimes you need to take it a step at a time. Be okay with that. Knowing that you're think of an airplane, you're making that one degree of difference at a time. Because that airplane, when you make that one degree of difference, it can put you on a completely different continent. The whole point is the issue is not the gland, it's the system. It's really what are you putting into it? And we've talked about this a bunch on the show. Childhood stuff totally comes up. And it can be generational trauma. If you are used to being around a family that's chronically stressed, and you grew up in that, that you can be wound so tight and used to that, where when you unwind it, it can take your body a long time to recover from not being stressed. And suddenly your body will say, Guess what? You have other things you need to work on, which is where I'm at personally. Is that, oh, I've been so stressed that I've missed signs, and this is why we're talking about this in two weeks of not having enough magnesium. I've missed signs of these vitamins and minerals being deficient as well. I've missed signs of these other things. Or I've missed some of my life calling. And what's so great, and we're talking about this several weeks further out, is the blue zone living. This idea that you want to live a well life full of vitality, just full of just energy, life, health, all of the goodness, well past your 100. And if you're doing that and you have that mindset that it's okay, whatever age you're at right now, that you have not met your life purpose yet. You're making that one degree of change and you're going to get there. And there are so many studies of people who don't become successful, well-known, and you can use your own definition of what that is for your life until they're later on in life. 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s. So you're on the right track still. It's okay. Take the shins out. A little bit more about the differences. Adrenal fatigue focuses on one thing: the glands. Burnout looks like the whole picture. Your brain, your nervous system, your hormones, environment, emotional load, which really goes on if you're looking at the video on YouTube. This poster, which is why I have it really big back here. This is why when people start coaching with me, I am asking now about their environmental health, their physical health, emotional, social, professional, intellectual, financial, and spiritual health. You know what I'm going to ask about along with that? Your stress and your sex life. We're going to get into a lot of the deeper things in coaching to really look at all of this. Because when any of these areas are out of balance, it affects you. This is where you get burnout. This is where you get the I don't want to, I don't have energy. How many of you are living in such a state of stress that you have lost the joy in life? You've lost the childlike wonder that the world is my oyster mentality. Such a weird saying, by the way. Better get some pearls out of that, right? So here's the missing piece that most people feel. If you've ever said or thought, I feel like my body is shutting down, what you're often experiencing is chronic stress overload, nervous system dysregulation, energy depletion from constant output, a system that hasn't had space to recover. How many times are you the only one that's sick? In your friend circle, work circle, family like? Isn't that interesting? Does that mean that it wasn't contagious, maybe? And maybe it was your body shutting down? Your body forcing you to recover? Do you have moments of your life where you have very high highs and very low lows? And it affects project management that you have to try and plan around those. Do you have a hard time falling asleep and staying asleep at night? Chances are higher that it could be burnout. For some people, it's a lot deeper than that. But a lot of the health challenges that we have absolutely have to do with stress. I was working on signing on a client who she gave me a whole list of things that she wanted to work on. And she said that she's been working on her weight loss journey. And I told her what I actually want to work on with me was your stress. Because stress negatively impacts your weight. And that can be trying to gain weight or lose weight. Your body shuts down when it's in fight and flight. And it goes with that idea that your body is telling the truth. And that you need to listen more to your body. And it's so hard to do that when you're go, go, go. And we are in such a lifestyle. We wear this busyness badge, right? Look how busy I am. Look how and that's a sign of success. I've been caught in that cycle for so long that it's a lot of work to undo it. It's painful, to be honest, but it's very energizing and it's very enlightening the journey to undoing this. So let's talk about it a little bit more about stress. Doesn't just live in your thoughts. And I'm gonna keep repoking at stress to give you a minute to breathe, and then let's dive into it again. So let's talk about this. Do you have tension in your neck or shoulders or your jaw? Disrupted sleep or waking up at 2 or 3 a.m. Digestive issues are bloating, headaches are increased sensitivity to pain. Feeling wired and tired. That is such a weird feeling. I get really goofy, like laughing when I'm like that. I feel like a puppy that's just running around circles, and the next instant they fall down asleep. That's what it feels like for me. Low motivation, even for things you care about. Really put stars on that one. Snapping more easily or feeling emotionally thin. Brain fog or forgetfulness. Needing more caffeine adjusts to function. It's like your body is constantly whispering, something is too much. And over time, that whisper gets louder. What's interesting is how many people have you heard, oh, I'll do that? They can't. Because they've been in such a state of stress that once it's unwound, their body goes complete in so many ways. Let's talk about what actually helps. And this is where I want to gently shift you out of what's wrong with me into what does my body need? Because healing doesn't just come from fixing your adrenals, it comes from restoring rhythm, rebuilding capacity, and reducing chronic load. And think about that like in car. If you are constantly overrubbing the engine, it's going to get out. And here's how to reduce it. What are you saying? It could look like consistent sleep timing, not just more sleep, but the same time that you are going to sleep and waking up. Nervous system regulation, breathing, slowing down, creating safety, reducing invisible load, mental and emotional weight you're carrying. And I have a whole course on that, wellnessandeveryseason.com, and you'll find it. Because there's so much invisible load. We think I didn't get my to-do list done, but if you look at your ta-da got done list, you'll find that that's like pages long. Stability and blood sugar. So I have my glucose monitor going on. Actually honoring your limits instead of pushing past them. I am so bad at that one. It's not about doing more, it's about doing what actually restores you. So here's a new way to think about it. Instead of thinking my body is broken, try this. My system has been running too hard for too long. And it needs support to find its rhythm again. And the thing to think about with this is it will take time to reset your system. Unfortunately, it's not like electronics where you just have 10 seconds and you plug it back in, and you're good. It will take time and you'll need to give more space to it. And think of it like anything else in life, it's a practice. Practice makes perfect. I don't think there's ever gonna be perfection. It's just you're getting to the next level. So keep trying. Let's have a coaching session if you need help. I offer free one time, let's dig in session. So jump on. You'll find it on my website. Here's some questions that I want you to think about. And no pressure to answer perfectly. This is for yourself. Okay. This whole time is for you. Where in my life am I consistently pushing past my limits? Might find several areas. And this will give you really good insight. Maybe just pick one that you wanna loosen up on. What signs has my body been giving me that I've been brushing off? Maybe think of a time when you absolutely knew that you had burnout. Postpartum depression can be a lot of burnout creating there. It'd be interesting to have somebody really dig into that. Is it really postpartum depression or is it burnout because you have inconsistency? Too much is being thrown at you. Your hormones are thrown off. But think about that. What signs has my body been giving that I've been brushing off? When do I actually feel restored? And how often does that happen? What is one small way I could reduce my load this week instead of adding more? And maybe the most important one. If my body could speak clearly to me right now, what would it say? So whether you call it burnout, adrenal fatigue, or just feeling completely depleted. Your body isn't broken. It's been trying to keep up with more than it is meant to carry. You can think of it that way with so many different things. And it's about lightening that load. A lot of mental health can be that as well. More than you can carry. How can I lighten that load? And this is not to make light of any of those diagnoses. The path forward isn't about pushing harder, it's about learning how to support yourself in a way that actually works. And it's also about building your village. When you have a really good village around you, even you have more space. Take care of yourself. And you get to be that really good example. This is what living well looks like to encourage other people to do the same. How much different would your circle look if you were that example? And then they became better and they encouraged you to do better. I think how much healthier that would be. And it creates that ripple effect of okay, your inner circle, then maybe more of your extended circle, people in your community can be so amazing. And maybe then we'll start our own blue zones where we live. But know that at the end of this, it is absolutely worth taking the time to listen to a podcast like this, to listen to more episodes, and maybe instead of doing it while you're running or working on a project or whatever you're doing, gardening, whatever, you sit down and you really listen. And don't try and multitask. And trust me, I have ADHD. I know it's hard to do. But put in more of those pockets of space to just break, to just exist. Instead of, oh, I suddenly have time. I can quickly shove one more thing in there. I can quickly run this errand, do this thing. Maybe it's I can listen to a meditation. I can enjoy the weather. And going along with that, when was the last time you stepped outside to enjoy whatever weather is out there? There's so many days that we spend where we're barely outside because we're getting in and out of our car to go somewhere else. We're not actually enjoying the weather. We are very inside people. So spend some time just being. What I want you to focus on this week. You're worth it. This time is meant for you, and it will impact everyone around you. So you're not being selfish. You are taking care of other people by taking care of yourself. I will see you in the next episode. Thank you so much for listening to this episode. I hope that you found the answers that you needed and you had some amazing aha moments. Please share this episode with others because it helps us align ourselves and then better align the world so that we can seek the healing that we really are looking for. As part of the legal language, I am a certified life coach with a bachelor's in applied health. That is what I am leaning on for this. This is general advice taken as that. See you in the next episode.