In this day and age it seems like all of us are constantly at war with ourselves to be calm and present instead of stressed out and anxious for what’s to come. All of this extra stress can lead to high cortisol and not surprisingly, high cortisol can lead to a bunch of fun health issues. You see, cortisol is a hormone in your body that affects your whole body. When it’s working the way it’s supposed to it can regulate your body’s stress response, regulate your metabolism, regulate your blood sugar, and a couple other very important bodily functions. However, when you have too much or too little cortisol it can have negative effects on our body.
It personally clicked for me that I was suffering from high cortisol when I could not get my acne under control. I had always had those breakouts on the right side of my chin whenever I had hormone fluctuations but besides that, acne wasn’t something I was regularly dealing with. It started as breakouts on the left side of my chin then I was also seeing them on my cheeks and then along my jawline. It wasn’t until I happened upon an article about high cortisol that it clicked and I saw all of the other symptoms I had besides the acne:
- Tired and Wired: I would be completely exhausted but if I tried to take a nap mid-day I would just lay there with my mind on full blast about everything I needed to be stressed about. And THEN I would be extra stressed that I couldn’t sleep even though I was completely exhausted. It was a wild ride and definitely not fun.
- Muscle Fatigue: I would squat down to pick up my toddler and as soon as I would stand back up my leg muscles would, for lack of a better term, freak out. The muscles almost went numb. I would either have to stand there with my toddler in my arms and hope I didn’t fall over while I waited for it to pass or sit by on a nearby chair if that was an option.
- Blood sugar sensitivity: This was a big one right after I had my second born. I was showing signs of being diabetic but whenever my doctor would test me (yes, this was something I actually went to the doctor for) nothing would look out of the ordinary. But I was experiencing extreme fatigue after eating a piece of bread and honestly psychotic mood swings after anything remotely sugary. Looking back, I did have a two year old and a newborn so being stressed does make sense.
- Weight gain: I’ve always eaten pretty healthy, especially after figuring out how to balance my blood sugar, so in times of high stress I’d get really confused about why I seemed to be gaining weight rapidly while not eating any differently. Sometime I’d even be eating less because of the stress.
- Tight jaw: This became the tell-tale sign for me that my cortisol was spiking. I could not unlock my jaw. I’d try stretching it, gua sha, massage, lymphatic drainage, ice rolling. But until I actually got myself to calm the eff down, it wouldn’t loosen.
Some other high cortisol symptoms you could experience:
- Stretch Marks
- High Blood Pressure
- Excessive Hair Growth
- Weak Bones
- Obsessive/Anxious Thoughts
Fun stuff right? The good news is, it is manageable.
The last 6 or so months I have been on a journey to manage my cortisol the best I can. Here are some of the tips I’ve picked up and implemented to fight off high cortisol:
- Get your gut health in check. Gut health is very buzzy right now, but I’m glad it’s getting its moment in the spotlight because it really is important. For a lot of reasons, but particularly, your hormones tend to be more balanced when your gut health is in check. And when your hormones are balanced that means fewer mood swings which equals less stress.
- Limit coffee and Alcohol. This one quite honestly hurts my soul. Like any millennial, coffee is a good portion of what fuels my happiness. And I’m by no means addicted to alcohol, but I love unwinding with a glass of red wine and a book at the end of my day. That being said, both are pretty inflammatory to your internal system and therefore not very good for your gut. Coffee wise, there have actually been studies that it can be good for your gut but consumption is key, excess caffeine could swing the other way for your gut health.
- Get outside. This might not be universal, but I personally can’t help but feel calm when I step outside and take a few minutes to breathe in the fresh air and watch how nature moves around us. Whenever I’m really overwhelmed and stressed, if I can get outside and especially walk outside, I always feel at least a little more calm.
- Laugh. Ed Mylett actually did a WONDERFUL podcast on this that gave me a true “ah-ha!” Moment in a time where I was struggling to come out the other side of my cortisol battle. The Episode is called, ‘The Key to Joy and Wellness, Laugh MORE!’. Taking life less seriously and laughing more and feeling joy is so important, especially when it comes to regulating stress. I’ll try to listen to a funny podcast or two if I’m feeling a little to serious and it works wonders.
- Move your body. We all should know that exercise releases endorphins into our body and as Elle Woods said, “endorphins make people happy.” Sometimes high cortisol can make you fatigue faster if you work out, so I personally try to stick with low impact workouts when I’m dealing with cortisol issues. I usually start with a nice long walk, some low key yoga, low impact pilates, or my favorite, DANCE! One of my favorite ways to move my body while I’m feeling stressed is putting on upbeat music and dancing it out for at least a couple songs.
- Practice Gratitude. It’s easy to get bogged down by all the things not going your way in life and the to-do’s that are piling up. My advice: set a timer for 5-10 minutes and either write down or even just think of anything in your life that you’re grateful for. I usually phrase it like, “I’m so grateful for the roof over my head.” Or, “I’m so grateful for my happy and healthy children.” But you can do it whatever way serves you best. It can do amazing things to shift your mindset and therefore shift your fight or flight stress response.
- Eat well and keep your blood sugar balanced. Do what you need to to keep your body nourished. But if you have access to healthy fruits, vegetables, protein, etc and can keep your blood sugar and hormones balanced it’s way easier to deal with the stresses of life. Being “hangry” can be very real, and let me ask you: do you feel cool, calm and collected when you’re hangry?
While following these 7 practices pretty regularly should positively impact your stress/cortisol levels, remember- these things take time. If none of these ideas call to you or work for you, ask yourself: what brings me calm and what relieves stress for me personally? It could be doing an activity you enjoy or spending time with people that make you feel good, whatever it is DO IT! No matter how busy you are it is important to take care of yourself. I could quote a lot of cliche’s right now like, “can’t pour from an empty glass” or “put your air mask on first” and so on, but they all ring the same truth, you have to take care of yourself first to take care of anyone or anything else.
It took me months of implementing these things to finally feel free of the issues I was having. However, don’t be too hard on yourself if you fall off. I was doing really well and then the busy-ness of the holidays and the plethora of alcohol infused social engagements had me not taking care of my mental and physical health as much as I should have and I was socially drinking way more than I usually do. My symptoms started to creep back up on me again and sure enough I got a couple breakouts and my jaw started locking up and I knew I needed to get back to my list of high cortisol practices.
Be gentle on yourself. Life can be hard. When your think you have something figured out another challenge will pop up in it’s place. But life is also beautiful and through challenges comes knowledge and resilience.
