Crushing fatigue that sleep cannot fix
The most reported symptom of adrenal exhaustion is waking up tired after a full night's sleep. The adrenal glands produce cortisol in a rhythm: a sharp peak around 6 to 8 a.m. that pulls you into alertness, then a steady decline through the day. When the glands are depleted, that morning cortisol surge flattens. You open your eyes and feel nothing has changed since you closed them.
