Signs Your Body is Addicted to Stress
Is your body running on stress hormones? This may be news to you, but did you know many women are addicted to the cycle of stress hormones? I’ve spent too many years caught up in the hustle. Unable to rest and addicted to being busy. As I have prioritized healing and slow living, I’ve started to see that I am not alone.
This is why it’s a MUST to be able to recognize the signs so you can begin supporting your body and TRULY healing.
Adrenaline and cortisol are some of the most addictive hormones. They even can trigger the release of the feel good DOPAMINE–making them even more addicting. The dopamine hit that can come alongside adrenaline and cortisol is one of the most sneaky features of stress hormones. Mainly because it makes you THINK you are feeling great, when the reality may be that your body is not actually functioning optimally.
Stress is sneaky.
The problem with living off stress hormones is you may feel AMAZING… for a while. You have probably heard insane stories of moms, in a moment of adrenaline, lifting cars or running at insane speeds, because adrenaline is POWERFUL.
When I was 16 and a whopping 110lbs, a 60ft pine tree fell on a neighbor child in our backyard. In a moment of adrenaline, I was able to lift the tree off of his body. Days later, multiple full grown men, when trying to move the tree and clear the damage, couldn’t.
Insane.
Because adrenaline is powerful.
You know what I didn’t realize in that moment? I didn’t realize I had pulled my shoulder lifting the tree until a few days later when the adrenaline wore off. I felt great. Until I didn’t.
Remember, your body views ALL stress as the same.
Stress can come from a variety of different sources. It can be external and out of our control – like family issues, wakeful babies, trauma – but it can also be things we CHOOSE.
Touted “healthy” habits like keto, low carb dieting, calorie restriction, excessive HIIT training, and fasting all trigger a stress response in your body. And you honestly may feel GREAT… For a while.
In our body, the thyroid is meant to be the main driver of energy production. The adrenal glands are meant to function as a backup generator. They are there for acute stress responses. Like when that tree fell on that boy, adrenaline came in handy. But we are not meant to function at that capacity all of the time. The thyroid is meant to do the daily work.
But if we are operating with the adrenal glands pumping out stress hormones daily, even though we may feel GREAT, it will come at a cost.
Ever wonder why so many people start to rapidly gain weight, feel tired, more prone to injury, etc when they hit 30? It’s not because you turn thirty. It’s because your adrenal glands can no longer keep up and the thyroid has been suppressed for so long that energy metabolism in the body is WHACK.
Thankfully, we can come back from the crash. It may take time. You may start to feel those injuries that happened when you were operating in that sympathetic state (but your body lovingly hid). You may even gain some weight as protection. But you can heal.
Signs you may be running on stress hormones:
You have low temperatures but “feel great”
Frequently feel bloated
You don't wake up hungry or even like to wait until 11am or noon to eat
Can’t function without caffeine
You feel nauseous first thing in the morning
You struggle with constipation (stress hormones are the literal opposite of rest + digest)
You have intense cravings
At night you struggle with a "tired but wired” sensation
You have bouts of exhaustion and fatigue (2pm slump anyone?)
You believe you "thrive in stress"
You "have to be busy" or you get restless
You feel like a high intensity workout is the best way to reduce your feelings of stress
There was a season in my life where I checked EVERY SINGLE one of these boxes. I was your stereotypical, type A, high achieving, highly motivated go go go individual. Even if you may not be that person, I think we can ALL think of a friend or family member that fits those boxes. It’s so tricky, because I feel like these types of people are highly esteemed in society, but to their own detriment. We think we should aspire to be more fast paced. However, this is not conducive to a thriving metabolism or overall hormonal function.
Stress hormones have an inverse relationship with the thyroid. They suppress thyroid function, reduce happy hormonal conversion (like progesterone), and cause all “non essential” life functions to slow down. Your stress response stimulates what’s known as the sympathetic nervous system–fight or flight system–whereas, if we want to thrive with optimal hormone production, digestion, clear skin, stable moods, healthy periods, etc, we NEED to be living in the parasympathetic system–resting and digesting.