Blog 2: Self Care: in relation to stress including cortisol, hormones, and adrenals.

 Hello again! Thanks for coming back! 

Last months blog was about how self care can relate to anxiety and this months blog is about how self care relates to stress: cortisol levels, hormone balance, and adrenal care. 

When I was growing up, I didn't know what cortisol levels were, or let alone, adrenal glands. I thought being tired was a normal part of growing up, being a student, playing outside all day, but as I grew older and learned about what these things are, I realized I was not supposed to feel this tired! 😫

Just so you know, I am a pretty simple person when it comes to explaining things. I am not clinical. I just want the information to be simple and easy to understand, so it sticks in my brain! I want to know if things work and if it doesn't, and do not need a huge explanation for it either!  This is the way that I would like to communicate with you, and is definitely the way, I communicate with my clients. So let's go through a couple of definitions to start to unravel how self care relates to stress, including cortisol levels, hormones, and adrenals.

Meaning of stress overall: 

Oh stress! Ugh! Stress can feel like an overwhelming feeling.  It can feel like the world is going to come crashing in: if you don't meet all your deadlines; and if your boss hands you one more project to do on top of all the rest you have to do, you feel like quitting. Imposter syndrome may sink in because you see "everyone" doing just fine, but here you are, feeling stuck, overwhelmed, and not good enough. Stress can be your own thoughts in your brain, saying "do this, do that", you not going fast enough!, why did you do that? Did I turn off the stove, did I lock my car? I can't keep up, I have sooo  much to do!!!!! AAAGGGHHH! In fact, typing this stuff out, is making me stressed! LOL 😂

All and all, stress can have a significant impact on our mental health and self care. Stress can contribute to anxiety, irritability, depression, and NOT sleeping (insomnia). Chronic stress (being stressed for a long time) can weaken your immune system, create digestive issues, migraines, or other physiological symptoms. In addition, stress releases hormones like cortisol and adrenaline that can trigger your flight, fight, or freeze response. Now these can be a good thing including warning us of danger, however, in today's day in age, we have trained ourselves, to have these triggers go off when not in danger i.e. feeling on edge, heart beating fast, anxiety attacks, panic, negative thoughts, etc. 

Cortisol levels: 

As mentioned above, stress releases a hormone called cortisol. Cortisol is a steroid hormone produced by the adrenals in response to stress. See how it is all interrelated! Cortisol is released when we experience fear, anxiety, and trauma. When this hormone is released, it signals our bodies to release glucose into the bloodstream to provide energy for the flight, fight, or freeze response. Then our insulin levels rise, which promotes the storage of glucose as fat and when that happens, our cortisol levels are chronically higher, that storage of excess fat is shown around the midsection. Some say a "muffin top". That used to be me! Well, it is still a little bit there, however when I discovered this, and made a few changes in my lifestyle, my muffin top decreased! (Don't worry, we will discuss in future blogs) With this increase of cortisol, you may notice an increase in appetite and cravings for high calorie foods, and those high in sugar. Any one relate?? So if you are trying to lose weight, it might be difficult to stick to a healthy way of eating due to the cortisol/sugar cravings. So best to tackle your cortisol first. 

Adrenals: 

Adrenal glands are tiny organs above your kidneys that create a variety of hormones for your body to be successful-to thrive, including cortisol, which is released when we feel stress. Again, all interrelated! When we have long period of high stress, we overwork our adrenals, which can lead to adrenal fatigue. How can you tell? If you feel like you are unable to manage stress, it could result in fatigue, increased anxiety, depression, body aches, sleep disturbances, dry skin, weight loss/gain, digestive issues, and/or circulatory issues. Now this is not usually diagnosed by doctors, as they have not recognized it yet as a medical condition, however, if you think about it, it makes sense that our adrenals would feel fatigued by chronic stress aka excess cortisol. 

On the other hand, you could experience Adrenal insufficiency, in which the doctors can diagnose as a medical condition, and is referred to Addison's disease. This is different than fatigue due to experiencing the following symptoms: low blood pressure, lightheadedness, unexplained weight loss, skin discoloration, loss of body hair, diarrhea, vomiting, nausea, and abnormal blood levels of sodium and potassium. 

**If you experiencing any of the above symptoms, always recommended to speak with a Doctor, a Functional Medicine Doctor, or a Holistic Medicine Doctor. And in my opinion, in conjunction with a Mental Health Therapist, as AGAIN, all interrelated. 

WHEW! Lots of information!  That is the best way my brain understands it, so hope that works for you as well! Of course, there is a ton more information about the relationship between stress, cortisol, hormones, and adrenals, so feel free to ask me, your doctor, or research. A great resource that I reference is healthline.com. 

Now, what do we do this information: well first, DON'T RUN!!! No matter what age you are, we can always learn more about the way we work. You are in charge of YOU!  💪😍✌

Here are a 4 simple steps to get started on decreasing your stress level: 

1. Become aware of you! Observe yourself, reflect (NOT judge) upon your thoughts and actions. And if you have time, track your thoughts and behaviors by keeping a journal or calendar. This will help you analyze what is really going on and see where you may need to shift your thoughts and/or behaviors. 

2. BREATHE!!!!! That is one thing we can always rely on, our breath. 

3. Learn to say no, (even when I know how hard that is) when necessary and prioritize things that take care of your body and mind.

4. Connect with a Mental Health Provider and/or Doctor to discuss further. 

Well, if you've made it this far, I commend you! Thanks for sticking with me to learn about how stress can affect your cortisol, hormones, and adrenals and how they are all interconnected! 

Stay tuned for next month when we dive into our first self care tool: our breath! Cheers!

Michelle

Website: https://michelle-pettengill.clientsecure.me/