Thursday, September 5, 2013

Our Stressful Lives Cause Havoc!


 I’ve fallen and can’t  get up!
 

This actually happened to me a few days ago!
I woke up feeling a little groggy that day, not having slept very well and then, I ran around completing chores around the house, cleaning, sorting, organizing and half way during the day, my body starting shutting down. I felt like I was about to get an MS attack.
“There goes my 6 year claim of being attack free.” I said to myself.
Thankfully, it was not an attack.
What it was, was a cause and effect. This was an effect. The cause.....?
I had been in Toronto  the previous week, visiting friends, family and my doctor and it was quite hectic. My routine was out of whack - no exercise, no meditation, less water, improper diet, traffic stress in Toronto, being overwhelmed by the number of cars and people everywhere, meeting with friends and family,  the physical and emotional excitement, and the list can go on.
It took two days to get there, eight days of running around meeting people and over exerting
myself, and then, two days to return, followed by my household chores and sorting things
out, laundry, cleaning, tending to my plants, etc.  I did not stop.  I was not drinking enough,  not
consuming enough essential oils (to help myelin support) and definitely not providing any
opportunity for my body to re-energize itself. 
On top of that, the day after we got back, I drove to Halifax, and went to Costco, drove
back, and then sat at the computer writing a letter against some ‘unjust cause’ until 2:00am.

The cumulative effect of all this physical and mental stress, caused my body to simply shutdown.

Did it ever shut down! One moment I was fine and the next, I could not move. I tried to stand up but my legs could not support my body. My knees buckled and down I went. No matter what I did, I could not get back up again. I crawled around the room, trying to lift myself but my arms had  also lost their strength. I really thought this was the end.

 



All I could do was pound on the floor so Michael (my caregiver, who was downstairs cooking) would hear me. By this time, my head started hurting and I was sure I was having an attack.
Michael heard the pounding and came upstairs to see what was going on and found me on the floor. He lifted me and almost had to  carry me to the sofa. 

He immediately wrote to Doctor Chang and she called as soon as she got the message.
It was not an attack. It was ‘adrenal fatigue’ after having been physically and mentally stressed for over a week.

I had also somehow reduced my consumption of essential oils.
Apart from the fish oils,  I need to consume good oils like coconut oil, flax seed oil, cold pressed olive oil and grape seed oil. All that socializing and eating out had cost me!
Doctor Chang also  asked me if I was doing my calming breathing exercises. I  told her, I was, but had not done them for over a week. I had also not meditated since we left for Toronto, over 10 days ago!

Is it a surprise that after over ten days of `go go go” my body had enough?  

It is always a cause and effect.

Had I gone to the hospital, they would have probably just treated the symptoms and given me some steroids. They do not care why a symptom exists, They care that it exists and will prescribe poisons to mask the symptoms.

Thank God, I am still drug free!

So now I have to make more positive changes to my life:

1.       Increase my consumption of essential oils – avocados, coconut oil for cooking, and cold pressed olive oil on my salad

2.       Resume breathing exercises, regular exercises and meditation

3.       Reduce getting stressed over almost everything. (Ha ha!)

4.       Eat  lots of protein and brightly coloured vegetables. Since I am on a paleolithic diet, I do not  consume any carbohydrates and therefore my energy  drains faster.

5.       Think  ‘happy thoughts’, do ‘happy things’ and speak ‘happy words’ while avoiding unnecessary physical and mental stress. I need to adapt the ‘what gets done, gets done and what does not get done will get done some other time’ mentality. Most times I do.

Reinventing Life everyday has become my way of life.

I was on a 'high' from all that socializing and activity and now, it was time to slow down and resume my regular pace of life.

People do not realize how the stresses of daily living harm the body.

My body is already weak to begin with and this affected me drastically.
Imagine what it is doing to all those ’healthy’ people who are constantly stressed, trying to meet deadlines, who have to look a certain way, dress a certain way, contend with irate people, traffic, bad news on the tv and radio, and  then, on top of it all, be poisoned by the toxicity of our daily living!!!!!!
All these stresses individually and combined, really do create havoc in our lives.

It is not just our food and drink that need attention, it is everything  from what we see, what we breathe, what we hear, what we think, our stress levels, how we treat people, how we treat ourselves, how we interact with the people in our lives, to the clothes we wear and the air we breathe.

The combination of all the things we consume  (physically, mentally and emotionally) will and do affect us (positively or negatively).
We want only those things that affect us positively.
if we falter, it is important to get back on the wellness path as soon as possible.


For more information on adrenal fatigue, see: