Published August 21, 2004
in the North Island Weekender
I think summer is a great
time to take stock of ones life and do some planning, especially if you can do
it on the beach! I am preparing for a stress management workshop and as I watch
how I deal with stress I would like to share some things that might work for
you.
First let me explain a little
about the stress pathway in the body. The adrenal glands are small glands that
sit on top of the kidneys and they are the body’s primary stress responders.
They are controlled by the pituitary gland, which is in turn controlled by the
hypothalamus, a part of the brain. This stress responding trio is called the
hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis or the HPA axis. In many illnesses this
axis doesn’t function optimally leading to imbalances in any of three areas but
also other areas including the thyroid and the reproductive organs. The net
result is that the adrenals become exhausted and in an attempt to compensate
other organs become compromised. Cortisol, one of the main hormones of stress
can contribute to all kinds of problems: bone loss, weight gain, sleeplessness,
anxiety and virtually any symptom related to stress. At this stage people will
consult with their physician and be prescribed anti-depressants, anti-anxiety
medications, medications for heartburn, headaches and insomnia. Medication used
to get a person through a crisis is not a problem however if they are used as a
crutch and taken long term that is hard on the body. Many of these drugs used
are addictive over time and when people try to get off them later they run into
trouble. Ideally it is best to determine the cause of the problem which is what
naturopathic physicians are experts at.
Jillian is a 35-year-old
woman with 2 small children ages 2 and 6 who presented with insomnia and
anxiety. She was going to school fulltime to get her nursing degree and found
that she was increasingly having a hard time dealing with stress. She found
herself irritable, having difficulty concentrating and she feared this would
compromise her ability to finish the program.
As with everyone I start with
the basics. I try to give some easy suggestions that will not further
contribute to her stress! To start I recommend cleaning up her diet and getting
her off coffee. Although coffee can give a boost of energy it is usually very
short lived and contributes to the inability to handle stress by further
stressing the adrenal glands. One of the biggest problems with anxiety
disorders is blood sugar dysregulation. Often these people do much better on a higher
protein diet to help maintain blood sugars, which has the added benefit of
reducing their sugar cravings. One of the best sleep remedies is taking calcium
magnesium citrate capsules at bedtime. This calms the nervous system like a
glass of milk would, without the side effects of the dairy. Insomnia can be
tricky to treat but I do get good results with herbs such as hops, valerian,
passiflora, St. John’s Wort, chamomile and theanine (a green tea extract). If
this does not work I have other tricks up my sleeve and sometimes it is a
hormone imbalance so I will check salivary hormone levels to get a baseline.
When I checked Jillian’s saliva her cortisol levels were high but progesterone,
estradiol, DHEA and testosterone were all normal.
I prescribed my Adrenal Tonic
(a combination of herbs to support the adrenal glands) to lower her cortisol
levels as well as suggesting a few stress management techniques. Exercise and
meditation is well known to lower cortisol levels. Because Jillian had a very
tight schedule I recommended that she do a walking meditation three times per
week. I suggested she do it alone to get some down time, listening to what I
call healing music while walking. The music I recommend is by artists such as
Enya, Loreena Mckennitt or the Meditation series. I also suggested that she get
a house cleaner to give her quality time with her husband and children; that
she schedule a massage once per month; and that she and her husband sit down
and do some weekly planning to optimize the needs of the family and once per
year do some long term family planning with her husband.
The source of stress can
often be not getting what you want in life, not knowing what you want from life
or feeling that the tail is wagging the dog. Using the Steven Covey principles
from the book First
Things First when a person identifies the 7 key roles they play in their
lives and make sure that all these key areas are fulfilled in some manner or
other on a regular basis, then they begin to feel that they are in control and
getting what they want from life.
Within a few months Jillian
was feeling much more in control and realized not only how much diet played a
role but also how important her creative needs were and she began incorporating
her love of photography into her life.
Dr. Pincott has been practicing naturopathic medicine since 1985 and is currently practicing in Campbell River. She can be reached at (250) 286-3655 or www.DrPincott.com