Having A Lot Of Energy

The Blah and Blue type feels tired, depressed or anxious, and unmotivated all day. They feel like a slave to their health and body and wish they could enjoy their life. She remembered having a lot of energy as a child and when she was younger, but once she hit midlife, her body only wanted to sit still and read. She forced herself to walk for exercise. By the end of her day, she felt beat from walking up and down her home’s stairs and doing daily chores. She struggled with depression and anxiety, low libido, and lack of motivation and was altogether pooped. Here, Patricia’s Sluggish and Stressed pattern was obvious. Because her cortisol was higher in the morning, she often woke up feeling like she was ready to accomplish the tasks on her list and enjoy the day by playing with her grandchildren. But then by midday, even after several cups of coffee to boost her adrenaline, everything came to a halt. What seemed like a great idea suddenly had to be put on the maybe tomorrow list. My patient Daniel is a lawyer who’s had his own law practice for almost three decades. But nothing seemed to really help him turn the corner.

Friday On The Mind

Even though he had energy to help his clients, he had underlying fatigue due to low adrenaline. Once we solved that, he felt like he had turned back time and was reinspired to succeed in his business and life. This person wakes up with low cortisol and/or adrenaline. They immediately feel like pulling the blankets back over their head. In this stress type, adrenal distress is also linked to loneliness and a sense of isolation, which only adds to the stress a person feels. It feels like you were hit by a truck or that your body is made of lead. Your limbs feel too heavy to move, and your mind is mush. You drink coffee, hoping that it will give you a boost to be somewhat functional, but still your mind feels like it is in mud and your mood is in the tank. You wonder what you can do to possibly feel better when even taking a walk feels impossible. Alternatively, the low cortisol and adrenaline can occur in the afternoon, after you have put in a full day of work. At this point you feel like you need a nap, but often you need to push to keep going. I tend to see this pattern in patients who have done a lot of commuting and traveling for work, and who are juggling many responsibilities, such as parenting, helping their own parents out, or running a nonprofit organization, alongside their usual activities.

Plow Right Ahead

You may feel like your brain gets foggy. My patient Hayley is the epitome of Blah and Blue. She described herself as a type A personality, a workaholic who multitasked all day and was willing to take on more. If she wasn’t working, then she felt depressed and was prone to mood swings that made her feel anxious or sad. Hayley’s adrenal distress patterns? Low cortisol most of the day and low adrenaline. Low cortisol and adrenaline in the morning made it almost impossible for her to get out of bed. Her genetics and stress exposure set her to feel drained and as if the rug were slipping out from under her. She had low thyroid function and struggled with digestive issues as well, both of which are common when cortisol is low. Like a Stress Magnet, she was drawn to taking on more stress in her body, but instead of shifting to high cortisol and high adrenaline, her body went the opposite way, to low cortisol and low adrenaline. This is an interesting mix. If you are the Tired and Wired type, anxiety is your predominant mood, each and every day. It may be so common to feel worried and nervous that it seems normal to you.

Famous Last Words

Making decisions, even about what to have for breakfast or whether to make a phone call, is difficult because your mind is giving you so many things to consider. If you use the eggs now, will you have enough for later? How are you going to find time to get to the grocery store and the bank before you have to be back home? It’s like each day is a flood of options, very few of which you can choose before the next day starts the process all over again. At the same time, you feel too tired to muster the energy to really care or make enough progress for it to matter. You survive by cooking one day a week, stocking up enough food for the other days, and putting everything on repeat so that you don’t have to think or decide. I often find this pattern to be common for working moms, people who are experts in their fields, people who are running businesses, and people who hold jobs with a lot of responsibility. Those with this stress pattern often feel like they’re treading water. They may be reluctant to make changes for fear of causing everything to fall apart. They can respond under stress to get a task done, underneath it all they are struggling to keep going. Their immune system and hormones often show signs of depletion or overresponsiveness, such as allergic reactions. Yet for these people, it’s tempting to look past the initial health issues and try to carry on. My patient Fatimah is the epitome of the Tired and Wired type. Then she did it all again. Fatimah’s morning fatigue decreased throughout the day, her anxiety tended to kick in when she had a pressing deadline or didn’t feel like she was being productive. Fatimah’s low cortisol levels showed me that her adrenals were struggling to keep up with her highly disciplined routine. To make up for the lack of cortisol, her adrenals overproduced adrenaline, to help keep her going. Do any of the patterns feel familiar?