Symptoms of Chronic Stress
Stress can manifest itself in a number of ways.
The most common symptoms I see for prolonged stress clinically are as follows:
Stress & Chronic Fatigue
Excess stress over prolonged periods of time can cause adrenal fatigue and burnout which manifests itself as feeling tired all the time. If prolonged enough, it causes Chronic Fatigue, and possibly Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.
Furthermore, chronic stress adversely affects our health in a lot of different ways. From mood-related issues such as anxiety, depression, and feeling as if you are not coping; to the inability to lose weight due to the impact that stress has on the thyroid by elevating reverse T3, which is an inactive metabolite.
The accumulation of fat around the stomach is known as visceral fat deposition, it impacts the health and functioning of trunk organs, such as the liver and pancreas as well as increases inflammation levels which has a further detrimental effect on our health. All this is caused by high circulating adrenal hormones such as cortisol, adrenaline, and noradrenaline.
Chronic stress has been linked to a 50% increased risk of cardiovascular disease as stress hormones increase blood glucose, which increases insulin, bombarding the bloodstream with it and eventually causing insulin resistance. There is also an increase in free fatty acid oxidation which builds up as plaques on the arteries and causes inflammation which constricts blood vessels.
Spending some time figuring out ways to reduce your stress is a highly beneficial activity, and something that I will step you through, because stress is a key driver of many conditions.
Some of the stress management techniques I encourage you to use are:
Some of the stress management techniques I encourage you to use are:
There are many natural treatments available for stress, which we will discuss in consultation.
Causes of Chronic Fatigue
Potential causes of prolonged fatigue and contributing factors to Chronic Fatigue Sydrome are listed here:
