Why it's okay to relax.....

This is a bit of a personal post for me. Being a Naturopath everyone expects you to be happy and healthy all the time, to always be eating 100% well and to never be stressed. Well I am going to be honest with you - I try to achieve this for my own well being but sometimes it just doesn't happen!

Last year was a particularly stressful one for a number of reasons that were out of my control. In saying this I believe it was all there to test me and teach me a lesson. Personally, I feel that these lessons for me were patience, trust and self love. Now I haven't completely gotten there with all of them but slowly, slowy I am working on things and the universe is throwing some good oppurtunities my way.

I didn't think that I was stressed, I thought I was managing things well doing yoga multiple times a week, having quiet weekends, eating well, practising meditation, meeting girlfriends for herbal tea instead of wine etc. On top of this though however my mind was always putting pressure on me thinking negatively, I was working fulltime with never ending workplace qualms all around, seeing numerous lovely clients with some serious health and emotional issues which I would take home with me and think about constantly, I was doing University part time on the side and on top of this flying back and forth, packing and unpacking to Port Lincoln to see my partner every other weekend.

I was adrenally exhausted and I pushed it aside in order to try and be super woman. I see SO many of my clients do this. If there is one thing you can do for yourself to prevent getting into this situation it is to listen to the subtle signs and symptoms your body will provide to tell you something is not right. For me the first thing I realised was extreme emotions pre-menstrually. A week prior to my period I would cry at the drop of a hat - over absolutely anything (and it's here where I will say a big sorry to my boyfriend because he generally copped it and at some point I think he thought I was mad balling my eyes out during Huggies commercials). Secondly, I got a wart on my foot - gross I had never had a wart before in my life, I tried to blame it on all the hot and sweaty Bikram yoga I had been doing, but if your immune system is up to scratch it should be able to fight off a virus like this. Thirdly, and this is when it really hit home I fell into a heap during New Years. We had gone camping and two days before we left I had a shocking headache which turned into a nasty full blown viral flu. I was knocked for six and while everyone was partying on New Years eve I had to get taken back to our campsite and put to bed with a box of tissues and bottle of water. Not that I got any rest because our 35kg Labrador got scared of the fireworks and decided to sit on top of me the entire night, which then deflated our blow up mattress - funtimes! This is where I resigned from work, booked a yoga retreat in Bali and relaxed and am now gradually making some other changes to look after myself a little more!

Now just like I did to myself and tried to trick myself by saying "you must keep going" over and over again in clinic I have lovely patients sit in front of me with a variety of health concerns. When I ask them whether they are stressed or have high levels of stress in their lives they generally reply “No, I am not too stressed at the moment”. I then delve deeper into the consultation process and find that they are not sleeping well, they dislike their job or are having ongoing conflict with someone at their workplace. There are relationship or family difficulties, money worries, excessive exercise or yoyo dieting. This is then combined with a poor diet, excess caffeine, sugar or inflammatory foods, infection, recent surgery, antibiotic use, unresolved emotional issues or overwhelming responsibilities at home. To put things simply there is chronic ongoing stress in these people’s lives which they have become so accustomed to they think it is normal. It isn’t.

Generally, the main symptoms these people come in presenting with are:

Fatigue and lethargy

Immune system weaknesses (re-occuring colds, flu, bacterial infection, thrush, cold sores etc.)

Mood imbalance

Depression or anxiety

Insulin resistance

Weight gain and thyroid imbalance

Insomnia and muscle aches and pains

Low libido

Infertility

Digestive disturbances (bloating, bad breath, pain, abnormal bowel movements etc.)

All of which can be linked back to stress and adrenal fatigue. When you are stressed your body will go into survival mode by increasing cortisol and adrenalin. This is good in small doses – however for most people these days stress does not come in small doses.

Consistently elevated cortisol levels have numerous damaging effects to the body including:

Slowing down healing and cell regeneration

Speeding up the aging process

Increasing inflammation

Interrupting hormonal balance

Impairing metabolism and digestion

Decreasing immune system function

Adrenal fatigue occurs in both men and women and will peak between the ages of 35-55years - it can occur at any age however depending on influencing factors. Most people with adrenal fatigue will recognise that they feel exhausted all the time yet constantly “wired” or running on adrenalin. You will also feel as though you cannot get up in the morning, but you cannot get to sleep at night either.

A mixture of lifestyle adjustment, dietary changes, stress reduction techniques and high quality supplementation can aid adrenal fatigue and its symptoms. Some simple dietary changes that can be made include eating good quality protein with each meal, eating every 3 hours (small meals) to stabilize blood sugar levels, reducing refined carbohydrate and focusing on quality grains such as quinoa, millet, amaranth, rye or spelt. Cutting out sugar and eating foods rich in vitamin C, vitamin B5, vitamin B6 and zinc.

Lifestyle adjustments such as delegating certain tasks to others, meditation, deep breathing, yoga, cutting back hours at work, regular exercise and resting more can also aid in supporting adrenal health. Letting go of negative emotions such as guilt and resentfulness and focusing on positive thought patterns helps to also reduce cortisol levels.

Since being back home I have been to see my Naturopath (yes I see a Naturopath because I believe you need a second opinion and that sometimes you can turn a blind eye to your own health concerns) she has changed some of my dietary habits and put me onto a supplmentation program to nourish my adrenals, help the anxiety that has come along with this adrenal exhaustion and we have been working lots on my digestion to help me absorb the nutrients from all the good food I have been eating. I begin full time study on Monday and this year I will be taking a lot better care of myself becasue I do not want my health to end up like it did last year.

If you are concerned that you may be experiencing adrenal fatigue the best way to test this is through a salivary hormone test called an Adrenocortex Stress Profile which tests your cortisol levels and DHEA (another adrenal hormone) levels.

Through professional nutritional and herbal support adrenal hormone levels can be bought back into balance and the body bought back into a state of optimal health. Hormone Saliva Testing is available from Tessa Roberts N.D. at Eyre Naturopathic Clinic.

#adrenal #adrenalstress #cortisol #adrenalin #stress