Let’s talk about stress
Cortisol is our main stress hormone. If we are awake, our adrenal glands are producing cortisol. When we’re under stress, our bodies produce more cortisol which puts us in a sympathetic or alert state and helps raise blood sugar to provide quick energy by breaking down body tissues. Cortisol helps us think and act with more focus and clarity and also acts an anti-inflammatory and a pain killer. When the body signals it needs cortisol it takes about 10 minutes to become active and once it’s released it will remain active for about 90 minutes before DHEA comes in as the counterbalance to cortisol and puts us in a parasympathetic or relaxed state. If our bodies are in balance the stress response works perfectly.
The problem is we’re not adapted to the burden of chronic stress we place on it today. When we’re under chronic stress, our adrenal glands will continuously attempt to produce the amount of cortisol that’s necessary. They will work tirelessly to put out 100% of what they can, but eventually it may not be enough. Our adrenals will continue this pattern until they are exhausted to a point where they’re so fatigued, they can’t produce nearly enough cortisol for our bodies to function optimally. This is when you get “adrenal fatigue,” or HPA axis dysfunction.
When your body can’t produce enough cortisol, you’ll have a hard time getting out of bed in the morning, feel exhausted all the time, experience brain fog, inability to concentrate, have sleep disruptions, headaches, joint pain, and depression. Since our body systems are all interconnected and overlapping this cortisol imbalance causes ripples of imbalance elsewhere. First, it causes DHEA (remember, the counterbalance to cortisol) to be continually suppressed, keeping us in a constant sympathetic or alert state. Cortisol is so important our bodies will give preference to making it, so immune functioning, digestion, and production of sex hormones will be suppressed as well. Additionally, constant stress puts our bodies in a catabolic state, which means it’s in a continual state of breaking down. The longer we stay in a state of chronic stress the more damage that accrues.
When digestive function and immunity are suppressed, it can lead to compromised gut functioning or what you may have heard of as a “leaky gut.” If the gut isn’t functioning properly, we might see GI issues such as cramping, bloating, gas, diarrhea as well as fatigue, headaches, skin issues, anxiety, depression and aches and pains. Plus, since the immune system becomes compromised, you’ll find you get sick easily and have a difficult time recovering. This can also lead to an imbalance of your gut bacteria and opens you up to other infections such as yeast and parasites.
This is why testing your cortisol levels with the Stress Hormone Panel is so critical to helping to uncover and correct hidden imbalances in your body. It’s a simple saliva test and it measures the bioavailable cortisol (meaning the cortisol that’s available to be used) in your body as well as DHEA, sex hormones and immune markers. This information can be correlated with your symptoms and helps guide me in creating a personalized protocol to help you remove stressors, heal your adrenals and get your cortisol levels back into an optimal range. It also has a trickle-down effect to helping heal your other imbalanced body systems as well.
Want to learn more about your cortisol levels and hidden imbalances?