To most people who know me I appear to be calm and relatively relaxed at all times. It seems like it would take a fair bit to stress me out. However if you ask my parents to describe me they would tell you I am constantly running around, I try to fit 10 hours of work into 8, I almost always eat standing up, I have trouble saying the word no and that I am a perfectionist. Both of these people exist but its taken consistent work to project this calmer exterior that most people recognise, 10 years ago calm was not an adjective I would have associated with myself.
I fit into what is described as type A personality. I am competitive, ambitious, impatient, highly aware and I am constantly multitasking due to overcommitment. It might not sound too bad but being type A is not an ideal way to function in today’s modern society. We already have many external drivers towards stress therefore internal drivers are really not necessary. Burning out, gaining weight, suffering menstrual cycle absences and changes, suffering from anxiety and experiencing bouts of depression are all things I have experienced from the combination of my personality and a fast paced lifestyle. Personal experience motivated me to figure out the parts of the hormone system that were not only affecting me but a lot of women (and men) I spoke with.
What I learned
One of the most powerful things I have learnt is that Physical; Chemical; and Emotional stress looks the same inside our body. In regards to chemistry our body is not able to differentiate between someone chasing us with a knife, toxins such as drugs and alcohol, blue lights from phone screens, and compulsive thoughts worrying about work/body image/relationships. On a primal level the body thinks is there is a threat to its survival and acts accordingly. Think about a smoke alarm in a house- burnt food on the stove is going to create enough smoke to set off the alarm. The alarm has no idea that it’s not the house that is burning down.
So what does that mean for your chemistry, hormones and overall physical state when its exposed to stress? Your body goes from being in a state of rest which includes proper digestion, deep sleep and self healing (the parasympathetic nervous system) to a state of fight, flight or freeze (the sympathetic nervous system). Stress hormones such as cortisol and adrenalin are secreted from your adrenal glands and the body becomes on high alert to deal with the event that caused you stress. Cortisol is the hormone that our body releases in response to stress and this also includes emotional stress. Cortisol is not the bad guy, it is very handy in getting us out of bed in the morning and it helps regulate systems such as our blood sugar levels, our metabolism and our water/salt levels. It is a necessary part of our biochemistry which only becomes a problem when its production and availability are not proportionate to the needs of the body.
Stubborn weight gain
When you have increased levels of cortisol in the blood weight loss can feel impossible. A sign of increased cortisol is stubborn weight gain particularly in the mid section of the body and increased appetite. When the levels of stress hormones increase so can your appetite as your body is attempting to replenish what energy it thinks has been expended to fight or flee (clearly not necessary when it has been an emotional stressor.) The cravings we feel are usually for carbs as sugar is the quick energy hit desired. Carbs break down to sugars and high levels of sugar and insulin (the hormone released in response to sugar) can cause the body to store fat. Another factor affecting weight is sleep deprivation including having non restful/broken sleep. Studies have shown that not getting 7-8 hrs of sleep a night can increase your daily consumption by 300 cals! Other studies have shown that reducing sleep is one of the fastest ways of changing insulin sensitivity (blood sugar regulation hormone related to diabetes.) The other factor for weight gain and stress can be alcohol consumption. If you are out partying or drinking a bottle of wine to wind down you are not doing your liver or fat cells any favours.
Tired but cant sleep vs sleeping but not refreshed
A flow on effect from a constant increase in circulating cortisol (from constant exposures to stress) is that our body can become resistant or less responsive to it. This means we need to produce more cortisol to get the same effect as before. Over time the body may detect the increased cortisol levels and decide that there is too much in the body. It responds by blocking cortisol creation pathways, a process known as negative feedback. What does this feel like? You may move from experiencing feelings of being tired but still wired (aka tired but unable to sleep) to being flat and exhausted (no amount of sleep is enough).
My personal experience
When I finished uni I started at two new clinics, I worked late nights at a bar and I exercised compulsively (often twice a day). It didn't take long for me to be sleeping 10 hrs a night and driving home for 1-2 hr nap at lunch time. I often cried driving back to work because I was so tired. My mum thought I was depressed but I knew there was something else going on. I took a two week holiday where I did some yoga and lay by a pool and felt better. As soon as I was back in my normal routine the cycle would start again and it wouldn't take very long for me to sleeping excessively and crying when I couldn't find my car keys. I eventually did some research into the hormone system and identified that I had a dysfunctional stress response that was driven by over exposure (to mostly emotional but also physical) stress.
Recovering
Id like to say I listened to what I had learned straight away but I didn’t. It seems being tired and cranky wasn't enough taking 4 years of weight fluctuations and menstrual cycle problems for me to really pay attention. Every year get better at listening to my body and doing whats best for it in each moment.
To cope with physical stress I frequently get adjusted by a chiropractor, have kinesiology, get acupuncture monthly and massages fortnightly. When exercising I think about whether I have enough energy to actually burn or if a walk, pilates or yoga will be more beneficial for me that day.
To cope with chemical stress: I try to swim in the ocean every day, take naturopathic herbs and specific vitamins and minerals and I try to eat local organic produce whenever possible.
To cope with mental/emotional stress: I meditate using the technique of transcendental meditation. I practice saying no to things when I am tired even (if they are fun social events) and instead have a bath or watch Netflix. Most importantly I am more aware of how I speak to myself. Am I using kind words? Would I speak to my best friend like that? Now I eat ice cream and try to be at peace with it rather than thinking excessively about it for the rest of the day.
For you
The hormone system is extremely intricate and changes to one area can lead to changes in another very quickly. As mentioned cortisol and other hormone issues may be showing up as weight gain but may also present as PCOS and skin problems. As we often cant remove ourselves from environments that may be doing us harm thankfully there are many health treatments, herbs and lifestyle advice that can help you to better cope.
Signs and symptoms of physical stress in the body such as back pain, poor posture and headaches can be addressed with Chiropractic care. Kinesiology can help identify which systems in the body are not functioning properly and which are therefore taking you out of a state of self healing (parasympathetic nervous system). Once these stressors are identified steps can be taken to re set your body systems and get you back to optimal health.
If you feel like you might be having problems with your hormones please get in touch with either myself or Tia Miers to book in for a Kinesiology, Chiropractic or Naturopathic consult.
tahligibson@gmail.com
https://www.tiamiers.com.au