I am taking deep breaths.
In.
Out.
In.
Out.
Breathing is apparently good for stress.
According to the bloodwork I got back this week my adrenal glands are not doing too well right now. They've been low for a while, very low levels of cortisol and DHEA, low ACTH stim test. Low a year ago... now lower.
(Have I mentioned that I have 3 small children?)
If you saw "adrenals" and thought "adrenalin?" that's right on the money. Your adrenal glands are closely linked to the fight or flight instinct.
Adrenalin is great in small doses... but what happens when you live in a constant state of heightened stress, over a long period of time?
Well, your adrenal glands fail. And if that happens, you can't survive heightened stress. Literally. Stress will literally kill you.
People need functioning adrenal to survive illnesses, tragedies, major surgeries, etc. Adrenals help regulate our hormones. They're pretty critical.
If my adrenals drop further, it might ultimately put me in a position to need daily doses of steroids for the rest of my life... which is obviously not ideal.
All of my stuff is interrelated. Thyroid, adrenals, lyme disease. The whole package goes hand in hand.
The good news is, adrenals *can* improve with support. Sleep, exercise, lack of stress, and appropriate herbs have been shown to improve adrenal function. It isn't a lost cause yet. I don't need to go on steroids.
I tend to stay awake pretty late every night to keep up my commitment to this blog. Typically I end up going to sleep around 1:00amPST, just to keep up with my roles as mother, wife, content writer and tutor - and then, when everyone else is asleep and I've met their needs adequately, I can finally focus on my blog.
I don't mind doing this, in fact it is a joy -
but apparently the late nights and lack of sleep are really taking their toll on my body.
Which sort of negates the reason why I write this blog in the first place. I made the commitment to keep the daily blog back in December when I had been quite ill and suffering. I wanted to create something of value that my children would have from me for the rest of their lives.
My real goal though, is to be here with them, healthy and hearty and full of life... so that they can learn from me in person. A blog is nice, but it doesn't give warm hugs the way a mommy can.
In short, I need more sleep. My KIDS need me to get more sleep. They say in an airplane crash you've got to put on your own oxygen mask first so you'll have the strength you need to put masks on your children.
My cortisol is crashing, and it's time to put on my sleep mask.
I'm pretty sure that most of my friends and family who read this blog ~ many of whom are busy mothers themselves ~ will completely understand! Exhaustion is a pretty normal part of parenthood. Adrenal insufficiency is not uncommon in our fast paced, high intensity modern society.
With five months remaining for my 365 day commitment though, I need to make sure that I'm not writing at the expense of my long-term health.
So here is the new rule, and I'm going to stick to it strictly:
No writing after 11:30pm. No matter what.
Also, there are simply going to be times when I need to come back and "make up" for a day when I didn't have the time or energy to write. I'm already behind on about 7? blogs from the past 7 months and I'm guessing there will be more over the next 5 months.
Still.
Somehow by December 10, 2011 I will complete all 365 blogs and try to give them my very best!
For now though, thanks to Doctor's orders and my own exhaustion, it's time for bed.
(My husband's leaving town and I'll have all 3 kiddos on my own for several days. I'm going to need every ounce of extra energy I can get...)
Take care... be well, and I'll write more as soon as I'm able :-)
May the ZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzz be with you!
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