Recognizing the signs of high levels of stress hormones is crucial since they can have an impact on both your mind and body. Check out these 7 indications of excessive levels of stress.
High levels of stress hormones might initially be energizing; they can also cause weight loss and increased productivity until you reach a ceiling. All the ‘benefits’ eventually wear off, leaving you with worry, hair loss, weight gain, and the whole nine yards. As soon as our body detects stress, our adrenal glands create and release the stress hormone cortisol into the bloodstream. The “stress hormone,” cortisol, increases heart rate and blood pressure. The body’s cortisol level and the signs of high-stress functioning should be understood because excessive amounts of stress might alter how you function overall.
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Digestive problems
Do you frequently need to use the restroom in the morning? or being completely unable to travel? You may be under the influence of stress hormones if you experience stomach problems, especially in the morning. Stress hormones cause blood flow to be diverted away from the digestive tract and have an adverse effect on gut microorganisms, both of which result in irregular bowel movements.
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Appetite loss
Contrary to popular perception, it’s not always a good thing if you don’t feel like eating, especially in the morning. In actuality, this immediately implicates an overabundance of stress hormones in the body. To put it another way, stress hormones tell your body to go into “fight-or-flight mode,” which reduces your appetite.
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Sleep disruption
An imbalance in stress hormones is frequently indicated by waking up in the middle of the night. Your body can’t enter the REM sleep stages when it is relying on stress hormones, which disrupts sleep. In turn, a lack of sleep may cause a rise in stress hormones. It’s a vicious circle once more.
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Restrictive and binge-eating cycles
Your hormones, metabolism, and digestion may all be thrown off balance by the stress hormone, which can cause you to binge, restrict, and repeat the cycle. For instance, you might find leftover pizza in the refrigerator when you arrive home from a long, stressful day at work. You overindulge in one piece, which causes you to feel full and bloated. You overeat dinner and feel bad about it in the morning, so you decide to skip breakfast. Stress hormones on cue. Your hormones, metabolism, and digestion are all thrown off balance by this cycle of bingeing, restricting, and repeating.
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Weight swings
Do you struggle to keep your weight in a healthy range? Your stress hormones may play a significant role in stubborn weight gain or surprising weight loss. Excess stress hormones not only have a direct effect on your weight but can also diminish satiety and increase food cravings, which encourage you to eat more calories (and often not from healthy sources).
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The persistent desire to be productive
Do you feel the urge to be doing something all the time? Although having a productivity addiction may seem like a good thing, it’s also a symptom that your body is dependent on stress to survive. Our bodies and minds were created with a need for healing, sleep, and rest. It’s not a coincidence. Only when stress hormones are active is it possible to move at 100 mph throughout the day, every day.
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Missed or irregular periods
Your body senses danger when stress chemicals are constantly released. Additionally, your body doesn’t want to reproduce in a dangerous setting. This is because, during evolution, stress was brought on by situations like starvation and being pursued by lions, neither of which are environments you want to bring a kid into. I’m not running from lions, you might be saying, but I’m stressed out from work and my social life. However, your body is unable to distinguish between the two stressors. This results in missed or irregular cycles.
