Nobody would’ve believed you 6 months ago

if you told them what we were about to experience in 2020! I certainly couldn’t have guessed. It’s the plot of an epic Hollywood disaster movie that went straight to dvd. Sadly this one doesn’t seem to be ending. The amount of confusing and contradicting information coming out is enough to make your head spin. Masks protect you! Masks don’t protect you! The fatalities are high but now they are counting all deaths during this time as virus deaths. News stories are getting put up and redacted the very same afternoon. You want to ignore the news but how will we stay informed?

Then there’s the idea of the virus itself. Will I get it, do I already have it? How many of us have woken up in the middle of the night and were convinced we had it because of a tickle in your throat? Then of course those people who have lost loved ones to the virus and lost their livelihoods because of the shut downs. And the thing I am most concerned about it, how will our world’s economies recover and what will become of our medical freedoms?

The bottomline here is, we are all submersed in varying degrees of stress and it’s taking a toll, wether you are aware of it or not. Even if you didn’t lose your job, or know anyone who is sick, there is a psychological impact which ultimately translates to a physical impact, period.

So the question is, HOW does this low grade, unrelenting type of stress effect our health? Unfortunately, it’s pretty impactful in some stealthy and harmful ways. Lets outline what they are:

The system of the body that is working over time right now, is the endocrine system. The endocrine system is made up of the pituitary, hypothalamus, pineal gland which are in your brain. And then the thymus and thyroid which are in the throat area. Then the adrenals, ovaries and testes. These glands produce our hormones and of course hormones are necessary for everything from our sexual function to how we perceive and feel about the world around us. They are so incredibly complex and wondrous and they can also wreak havoc when there is an imbalance. These imbalances can have repercussions hormonally in many different ways but ultimately the HPA axis or Hypothalamus, Pituitary and Adrenal communication pay the big price and you’ll be shocked to know just how vast the symptoms can be. Here are some of the common imbalances;

 

  • Low blood pressure
  • High blood pressure
  • Fatigue
  • Weakness
  • Depression
  • Anxiety, irritability, nervousness, panic attacks
  • Mental fatigue
  • Poor memory
  • Low body temperature
  • Insulin resistance
  • Dizziness upon standing
  • Insomnia
  • Salt and sugar cravings
  • Neck and shoulder muscle spasms
  • Indigestion
  • Diarrhea and/or constipation
  • Dry, thin skin
  • Lack of perspiration
  • Loss of body hair, especially on calf muscle
  • Heart palpitations
  • Food allergies
  • Soreness over short ribs in back
  • Stubborn weight gain that doesn’t go with exercise or seems to get worse
  • Headaches
  • Increased susceptibility to colds/flu
  • Early onset peri and menopause
  • Chronic inflammation
  • Autoimmune disorders
  • Increased cancer risk
  • Loss of muscle mass

 

Unexpected Stressors

The ongoing stress of our current climate is fairly obvious but here are some other types of stressors that play into these imbalances, stressors that some would never consider stress at all. Here are a few;

  • Intense exercise
  • Traumatic brain injuries
  • Obesity
  • Infection in the body (dental, viral, fungal, bacterial, parasitic)
  • Heavy metals
  • Caffeine
  • Alcohol
  • Refined and processed sugars
  • Fried foods
  • Poor diet
  • Over use of computers, handheld devices and exposure to EMF’s like the ones emitted by WiFi
  • Night owl habits and insomnia
  • Medications, especially antidepressants, corticosteroids, Acutane, and over medicating with thyroid medications

The human body is resilient and miraculous

and you are totally capable of healing these imbalances. You just need the right tools for the job. Here are the 10 things your HPA axis needs for support in order to operate efficiently and healthily.

  1. Magnesium (high quality and absorbable, like glycinate, malate and threonate)
  2. B vitamins (I like MagSRT because it’s a magnesium B combo)
  3. Vitamin C (I like Pureway C)
  4. Hydration (1/2 your weight in ounces in pure water for the average person, if this is a problem I sometimes use this electrolyte product)
  5. Salt (high quality sea salt)
  6. 5-8 hours of sound uninterrupted sleep (not even getting up to urinate)
  7. Cod Liver oil or high quality fat intake (I get mine from diet and from Alaskan Cod Liver Oil)
  8. Stress management (moderate daily exercise, breath work, sleep hygiene, break from electronics, prayer, meditation)
  9. Plant based melatonin (this is optional but I think it’s a HUGE help and also anti-aging, I use Premier Research Labs, you can get a free account here.)
  10. Bioidentical Hormone Replacement Therapy – I highly recommend seeing a practitioner should you chose to use BHRT. It’s incredibly effective and sometimes it is really the natural support people need to ultimately handle their hormone imbalances and HPA axis dysregulation.

There are other herbs and remedies of support and healing but I believe the ones mentioned above are foundational. I hope this information is useful to you and can help bring peace of mind to these unusual times. Please feel free to contact me for support to make an appointment for more customized guidance.

I offer comprehensive hormone testing and customized dietary and supplement programs. You can book an appointment here.

I recommend using high quality supplements. Here is a coupon code for a discount to the products I recommend. Use Kitty10 for a discount