Adrenal function and vitiligo

Last Updated on 17th January 2022 by Caroline Haye

Continuing this series about the links between vitiligo and other diseases, this post is about the adrenal glands.  Although it is common knowledge that stress can be a trigger for vitiligo, the possible role of the adrenals in pigment loss is not something we often hear about. So most vitiligo sufferers are – like I was – probably unaware of any link.  This post, then, is my attempt to explain the link between adrenal function and vitiligo.

What are the adrenals?

So, first things first – what and where are the adrenals? The adrenal glands are two small but very important glands, situated one above each kidney. They produce a range of hormones, or ‘chemical messengers’ involved in regulating crucial functions in the body, including blood sugar and blood pressure levels, heart function, metabolism and immune response.  Each adrenal gland consists of two parts, each of which has separate hormone functions and control mechanisms.  The adrenals are the major glands the body uses to respond to stress.  Closely related to the sympathetic nervous system, the adrenals are part of the fight-or-flight response which comes into play under stressful conditions. 

Underactivity of the adrenal glands is known as hypoadrenalism. But some people refer to it as adrenal burnout, adrenal fatigue, adrenal insufficiency or Addison’s disease.  It occurs when the adrenal glands do not produce enough of the hormone cortisol and, in some cases, the hormone aldosterone.  When the adrenals become depleted, the body is unable to handle stress properly.

The symptoms of hypoadrenalism

The main symptom of hypoadrenalism is constant fatigue, which is not relieved by sleep. But this may also be accompanied by a craving for sweet foods. Also, low blood pressure and low blood sugar, irritability and depression. Skin pigmentation can become either darker or lighter (vitiligo). And poor digestion, weight loss and susceptibility to infections may also develop, as well as joint and muscle pain.

Underactive adrenal glands can be the result of the immune system mistakenly attacking the adrenal glands (autoimmune disease). And in this instance can sometimes involve other autoimmune conditions too, including vitiligo.

The good news for anyone suffering from more than one autoimmune disease, it seems to me, is that improving one condition may also improve the other(s).

An adrenal / vitiligo success story

A lovely lady recently emailed me with an example of exactly this. Her 12 year old daughter has vitiligo but has seen tremendous improvement as a result of treating her adrenal glands.  The mother says:

“My daughter has an extremely sensitive system so we have to be very careful what we give her. I believe that her system is very sensitive because she is highly emotional and her immune system is over active. The key to vitiligo is to calm down your immune system so it stops attacking your melanocytes. You have to retrain it. Once you have retrained your immune system you will not get any more vitiligo.  It takes two to three years from what I have read to retrain your immune system. The way to do this is to get rid of the triggers that cause your immune system to react.”  

“For my daughter it is stress (adrenals) and digestion. I have a journal and have written down all her white spots and the events, foods, or vitamins that could have caused them. Since her body is not covered with the white patches it has been easier for me than maybe others to keep track of new white spots that may come. I document it and keep track of it to see if it gets worse. When it does it has been easy to figure out. It is usually something we added or not giving her enough of because we cut back.”

Adrenal test

“There is a saliva test you can take to see if your adrenals are functioning properly. It is a cortisol test which involves spitting into a tube 3 times in the course of one day at different time periods. It measures how your body deals with stress throughout the day. You mail the tube back to the lab and they send you the results back. You can google labs that will do this test on the internet… Our Natropath gave us a tonic called ashwaganda  wathina. It is amazing stuff, I use it myself. It heals the adrenal glands from the inside out. We saw positive results with my daughter right away. And within 4 or 5 months her spots were gone from her knees.”

Do we spend too much time focusing on treating vitiligo skin?

As well as using a herbal tonic, this lady has also been trying to teach her daughter meditation, breathing, and spiritual awareness… As well as giving her a similar nutritional regimen to the one that enabled me to re-pigment my own vitiligo. All of which has apparently helped her adrenal fatigue and her vitiligo. 

So, on the face of it, it seems likely an underlying cause of her daughter’s vitiligo is poor adrenal function… Which is why anything that she does to alleviate the adrenal problem has a positive impact on her vitiligo.

I do sometimes wonder if we spend too much time focusing on treating vitiligo skin. And not enough on treating other conditions that may in fact be triggering the pigment loss.

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