A muscle cramp is a strong, painful contraction or tightening of a muscle that comes on suddenly and lasts from a few seconds to several minutes. It often occurs in the legs. A muscle cramp is also called a charley horse. Nighttime leg cramps are usually sudden spasms, or tightening, of muscles in the calf. The muscle cramps can sometimes happen in the thigh or the foot.
When the adrenal glands begin to act âdysfunctionalâ due to prolonged stress, they first go into a hyper (overactive, stressed) state. As they are pushed further and not given the opportunity to recover they go into an âextremeâ stressed/overactive state and eventually reach the hypo (under active, exhausted) mode.
Adrenal fatigue should not be confused with another medical condition called Addisonâs disease where the adrenal glands are not functioning. While Addisonâs disease is often caused by auto-immune dysfunction, adrenal fatigue is caused by stress. Adrenal fatigue is the non-Addisonâs form of adrenal dysfunction.