HPA axis cortisol

The other day, we talked about the HPA System and how stress can affect our bodies in various ways.  The HPA axis cortisol connection is real and there are things you can do to help manage your stress.

The good part of stress

Don’t get me wrong, it is necessary to have some stress.  If we didn’t have some stress, we wouldn’t grow.  For example, when we’re in school, we have exams and homework due.  If we didn’t have the pressure of deadlines, we wouldn’t worry about getting our assignments in on time nor would we study for tests.  We wouldn’t care because we can always get to it another time (since there’s no time frame).

But, because of the deadlines, we have a little stress to get them done / completed.  With that, we learn and grow and can get a good job.  That’s helpful.  But, when our stress gets too much – say, when we’re falling behind in schoolwork and don’t feel confident enough to ask for help – this can be detrimental to us.

The HPA axis cortisol connection

When we get stressed, lots of reactions are going on in our bodies.  Our ‘fight and flight’ response is triggered whether we are being chased by a lion or when we get into a fight with our best friend.  It even happens when we have stress at work.  When stress becomes overwhelming, our bodies can’t cope and we start seeing the effects of chronic stress.  It happens gradually sometimes so we don’t realize what it is doing to our bodies.  That’s your HPA axis cortisol problem.

When we start having symptoms like headaches (then, eventually migraines), heavy periods (and then unusually heavy periods), and we can’t sleep (and then we have brain fog and can’t concentrate) – these are all chronic issues that need to be addressed.  Not doing this can really hurt us because it can turn into so much more – like stress acne.   Anxiety sets in and starts a vicious cycle we can’t get out of.  Soon, your HPA system is totally out of whack.

The Best thing you can do

If there is anything that I can give advice on is to set boundaries.  This is the number 1 thing that has really helped me manage my stress.  As a woman, I like to take care of people – but this was at the expense of taking care of myself.   You know the old saying, ‘you can’t take care of someone else unless you take care of yourself first’.  It’s true.  I was doing and doing for everyone else that it wore me out.   Here are some examples:

• During the Holidays, I wanted to make sure that my family had the best meal – with everything.  Since I love making desserts, I’d make multiple desserts – even though I didn’t have time to do everything.  I’d lose sleep over it and I’d stress myself out with the grocery shopping and finding time to do everything in between working, taking care of the household and taking care of myself.
• I have always had a strong work ethic.  I’m proud of that.  My parents came from very humble beginnings and I’ve seen where they came from and how much they sacrificed so I will always have a strong work ethic.  However, other people saw that and took advantage of it.  They pushed and pushed until it was too much for me.  I had to set boundaries for my physical and mental well-being.  (It’s so important that mental health should be taught in schools.)

So, take it from me – set those boundaries.  It will help you live a much happier and healthier life because there is a HPA axis cortisol connection!  Good luck and enjoy your extra down time!!!