Work Stress, Cortisol, And Other Random Thoughts

[JDreamer]

Apologies ahead of time for my scattered thoughts.

Tomorrow I start my new position at work after nearly five long years at my prior one. The workload and stress just became completely unbearable as time wore on. I've carried around with me so much tension in my shoulders, restlessness, irritability, poor digestion, hair loss and put on quite a bit of weight around my lower abdomen that just never seemed to go away no matter how hard I worked out.

I decided to take some paid time off beforehand and I'm already seeing positive effects. It's like massive weight has been lifted off my shoulders. One of the biggest things is the ab fat is really coming off. I was watching some YouTube videos by a Dr. Eric Berg regarding cortisol and insulin. It really helped me draw the connection regarding the vicious cycle my body has been experiencing for quite some time now. I've had the classic adrenal body type - thin quads that I never seem to be able to keep size on and an abundance of visceral ab fat.

It didn't help that because work was so hectic my caloric intake and meals were hit or miss, further compounded by heavy workouts 3-4 days a week. This in turn has led to prolonged periods of catabolic effects i.e. my body burning protein to create glucose, constantly raising insulin levels, etc. etc. for at least 8 hours a day. I mean hell I'm sure all the protein supplements and amino acids I was taking were more than likely being converted to glucose and my liver was being overworked.

I'm very interested to see if I can continue making progress. I never want to go back to feeling the way I did. I was headed for complete burnout.

 

[Hans]

Apologies ahead of time for my scattered thoughts.

Tomorrow I start my new position at work after nearly five long years at my prior one. The workload and stress just became completely unbearable as time wore on. I've carried around with me so much tension in my shoulders, restlessness, irritability, poor digestion, hair loss and put on quite a bit of weight around my lower abdomen that just never seemed to go away no matter how hard I worked out.

I decided to take some paid time off beforehand and I'm already seeing positive effects. It's like massive weight has been lifted off my shoulders. One of the biggest things is the ab fat is really coming off. I was watching some YouTube videos by a Dr. Eric Berg regarding cortisol and insulin. It really helped me draw the connection regarding the vicious cycle my body has been experiencing for quite some time now. I've had the classic adrenal body type - thin quads that I never seem to be able to keep size on and an abundance of visceral ab fat.

It didn't help that because work was so hectic my caloric intake and meals were hit or miss, further compounded by heavy workouts 3-4 days a week. This in turn has led to prolonged periods of catabolic effects i.e. my body burning protein to create glucose, constantly raising insulin levels, etc. etc. for at least 8 hours a day. I mean hell I'm sure all the protein supplements and amino acids I was taking were more than likely being converted to glucose and my liver was being overworked.

I'm very interested to see if I can continue making progress. I never want to go back to feeling the way I did. I was headed for complete burnout.

Like you realized, it's mostly cortisol thats affecting you negatively so much. Hairloss, midsection fat gain, thin legs, etc., are all signs of high cortisol. Plus, you improved a lot and lost fat when you got out of that stressful situation.

Keeping cortisol under control further on would be a great idea. Also, lowering serotonin and increasing GABA can also greatly help in an stressful situation.

6-keto P is potent anti-cortisol and cypro is anti-serotonin.

 

[inurendotoxin]

Environment is a huge factor - so is excessive repetition or routine. I'm in a similar position to the OP in having finally escaped a toxic industry after 8 years.

I can second the 6-keto effects. Only 3 days at pretty low doses and some very noticeable reductions in gyno, abdominal fat, sleep quality, and overall mood.

That said, I would caution against reliance on supplements. I think they are, to an extent, essential in the stress-fueled culture of modern times, but better when viewed as a 'booster' when energy is otherwise deficient. Environment and meaningful activity should always be the core focus, and the long term goal.

 

[nbznj]

cortisol is a serotonin reuptake agent. You're most likely the type to be serotonin depleted and thus need to increase serotonin. I know it's anti Ray Peat, but it's like he doesn't believe in modern lifestyles causing excess chronic stress leading to serotonin imbalances as in, too low. Not everybody has baseline high serotonin levels.

Drop all supplements beside protein powders maybe, eat more carbs (for serotonin) and less fat, train LESS you're not in a state where you can afford any type of stress, figure out what stresses you and address that.

 

[Rafael Lao Wai]

cortisol is a serotonin reuptake agent. You're most likely the type to be serotonin depleted and thus need to increase serotonin. I know it's anti Ray Peat, but it's like he doesn't believe in modern lifestyles causing excess chronic stress leading to serotonin imbalances as in, too low. Not everybody has baseline high serotonin levels.

Drop all supplements beside protein powders maybe, eat more carbs (for serotonin) and less fat, train LESS you're not in a state where you can afford any type of stress, figure out what stresses you and address that.

Serotonin is known to stimulate cortisol secretion through, I believe, ACTH. I don't see how increasing serotonin will improve his situation, since excess cortisol is probably what is causing his problems. That is how cypro lowers cortisol: it blocks seotonin.

 

[Rafael Lao Wai]

Also, carbs won't increase serotonin, according to Ray, since free fatty acids are probably the most important fator that promotes tryptophan entrance in the brain( because the FFA displace tryptophan from albumin), and carbs lower free fatty acid concentration in the blood. Considering how many irritants there are in almost every single processed food available, it would hard to find many people with low serotonin levels, considering 90% of the serotonin is produced in the gut.

 

[JDreamer]

cortisol is a serotonin reuptake agent. You're most likely the type to be serotonin depleted and thus need to increase serotonin. I know it's anti Ray Peat, but it's like he doesn't believe in modern lifestyles causing excess chronic stress leading to serotonin imbalances as in, too low. Not everybody has baseline high serotonin levels.

Drop all supplements beside protein powders maybe, eat more carbs (for serotonin) and less fat, train LESS you're not in a state where you can afford any type of stress, figure out what stresses you and address that.

I've kind of come to realize that yes, I do need to scale back on my workouts. Give my body a break for a bit. I was stuck between a rock and a hard place trying to maintain a physique while being stressed out all the time. One thing's for sure I still never felt "healthy".

 

[JDreamer]

Also, carbs won't increase serotonin, according to Ray, since free fatty acids are probably the most important fator that promotes tryptophan entrance in the brain( because the FFA displace tryptophan from albumin), and carbs lower free fatty acid concentration in the blood. Considering how many irritants there are in almost every single processed food available, it would hard to find many people with low serotonin levels, considering 90% of the serotonin is produced in the gut.

My gut was becoming a major problem i.e. the constant bloating and crappy digestion. This in itself was clearly leading to other problems.

 

[lampofred]

cortisol is a serotonin reuptake agent. You're most likely the type to be serotonin depleted and thus need to increase serotonin. I know it's anti Ray Peat, but it's like he doesn't believe in modern lifestyles causing excess chronic stress leading to serotonin imbalances as in, too low. Not everybody has baseline high serotonin levels.

Drop all supplements beside protein powders maybe, eat more carbs (for serotonin) and less fat, train LESS you're not in a state where you can afford any type of stress, figure out what stresses you and address that.

I think people who think they are serotonin-deficient are probably GABA deficient. GABA is the real transmitter of calmness, resistance to stress, stability. At best serotonin will make your senses/awareness sluggish so that you can't recognize the stress you're under, but Peat repeatedly says it's not the agent of serenity that people seem to think it is, GABA is.

 

[JDreamer]

Started my new job this week. The pace is slow and there's a lot of downtime ........ yet, my body is kind of behaving like I'm still in the old position as I've found myself tense numerous times for no good reason. When I get something to work on it's like this subconscious "Go, go go, finish it as fast as possible!" overcomes me. Just goes to show you how stressful the last 4.5 years were.

 

[Rafael Lao Wai]

Started my new job this week. The pace is slow and there's a lot of downtime ........ yet, my body is kind of behaving like I'm still in the old position as I've found myself tense numerous times for no good reason. When I get something to work on it's like this subconscious "Go, go go, finish it as fast as possible!" overcomes me. Just goes to show you how stressful the last 4.5 years were.

Yeah, I know that feeling. School also trains people to be like this. What I can say is that it does improve the longer you stay in a calmer environment. Having the freedom to "procrastinate" is probably the main mechanism.