Today we are going to get down and dirty with hormones and discuss how our hormones become unbalanced. My last two blog posts talked about how to detox your home for hormonal balance and hormone balancing foods. This post is getting back to basics and looks at the HPA Axis (Hypothalamic/Pituitary/Adrenal), specifically at HPA Axis Dysfunction and the role it plays in hormone havoc, plus I’m giving you sixteen ways to start healing.
Your adrenal glands are endocrine glands that secrete a variety of hormones, including adrenaline and the steroids cortisol and aldosterone. Cortisol is a long-acting stress-buffering hormone, and it had been thought the adrenals fatigued over long periods of chronic stress. However, new studies have found that it’s not just the adrenals, but also inflammation toxicity in our brain, basically our environment has shifted faster than our bodies, so we see HPA Axis dysfunction due to issues with work, travel, shift work, inflammation (my knees swell terribly), and exposure to environmental toxins. You knew I was going to come back to toxins, didn’t you? As I’ve blogged about before, environmental toxins play a huge role in endocrine disruption.
So, what is adrenal fatigue or HPA Axis Dysfunction?
HPA Axis Dysfunction is a stress-related condition that results in symptoms such as sleep disturbances, exhaustion (even after a long sleep), weakened immunity, and food cravings. This dysfunction often emerges after a period of prolonged emotional stress or chronic infection/illness. It lowers levels of hormones and neurotransmitters, and symptoms typically vary from person to person. Further symptoms include anxiety, headache, joint pain, severe PMS, poor memory, poor wound healing, loss of bone density, and an inability to concentrate.
I suffered from HPA Axis Dysfunction after the birth of my youngest daughter, which manifested as a systemic infection, reactivated mono (from EBV), and Lyme disease. On top of having a newborn, I felt so fatigued, I could barely function. I was under a lot of stress due to our international move, and had high and then very low cortisol and adrenaline levels. In short my HPA Axis, my bodies stress response system was completely out of whack and my fight or flight was in overdrive.
Our bodies are not meant to be in a constant state of low-level chronic stress, but given today’s go go go lifestyle, it often is. It seemed like an impossible task to get better, but when I looked at recovery as a new way to look at myself combined with lifestyle changes, it worked. I continue to struggle with energy, and a weakened immune system, and I have to be very mindful of the food I eat, getting enough rest and not overdoing it. I have come to recognize food as medicine, but also the importance of mindfulness and rest.
Here are sixteen ways I started to heal my HPA Axis Dysfunction and practices I still do today.
Lifestyle Medicine Support:
- Eat a nutrient-rich diet
- Avoid sugar, alcohol, and caffeine
- Say no to things you don’t want to do and that bring you extra stress.
- Sleep 6-8 hrs each night
- Screen time curfew. Turn off 1-2 hrs before bed and wind down with a calming activity.
- Get a massage 1-4 times per month
- Keep a gratitude journal
- Acupuncture
- Meditation (I love Headspace)
- Yoga or other mind-body movement such as Tai Chi or Pilates. Yoga with Adriene is my favorite for my home yoga practice and it’s free on YouTube
- Practice earthing or grounding
- Delegate. This is a hard one and I’ve struggled with it. But at my husband’s insistence, I am delegating as much as I can each day.
- Practice self-care
- Breathing exercises
- Take supplements to support your adrenals and reduce oxidative stress.
- Do things that bring you joy. Every day.
If you have the symptoms of HPA Axis Dysfunction, you may want to ask your functional or integrative health practitioner for a saliva test (soon I will be able to do this for you) that will track your cortisol levels over a 24 hr period. If you want to get to the root cause of the factors playing into your HPA Axis Dysfunction and the accountability to take the steps to optimal hormone health, you can book an appointment with me here.
Photo by Milo McDowell on Unsplash
