I’ve spoken in my last post (Most common reasons Women have low Progesterone) how progesterone can be lowered and one of those reasons was because of a stress hormone called Cortisol and how extreme exercise and stress will lower Progesterone.
Having the odd Adrenaline surge is okay, oddly this can be good stress, is called U-Stress, it will get us into action and get us out the house on time, make a deadline or it may be a fun thing, like a ride at a theme park or extreme sport, people love it for a shot of Adrenaline.
An adrenaline surge is the natural bodies response to perceived danger, this could be from avoiding an accident, a disturbing phone call, an emotional threat, or anger, so instantly adrenaline is coursed through the body to trigger the fight or flight response to allow you to act to get out of that dangerous situation.
If the threat subsides in a short time, then your body will then begin to calm down and you may even feel a little shaky from having your sugar stores used up because of the need for instant glycogen for the body’s muscles released for energy.
However, cortisol is your longer-term stress adaptor. If the perceived threat is still lingering, say it is a work or emotional situation that is ongoing for days, weeks, or months even, then cortisol is released for an extended period of time which leads to a myriad of health issues.
The connection between cortisol and progesterone is another hormone called Pregnenolone.
In the miraculous cascade of hormones, where Cholesterol is the master material needed to make Progesterone, there is a hormone called Pregnenolone, which comes a step between the two. This is where Pregnenolone needed to make Progesterone can get taken down another pathway and get ‘stolen’ to make Cortisol leaving very little for the production of Progesterone.
This is an extremely common situation, where there would normally be enough Progesterone, it has been hijacked to make Cortisol instead. Because Cortisol is seen as a short term, “get me out of this situation”, nothing else matters but you being safe at this time and all aspects of living are put on hold, including digestion and baby-making, so all other hormones (including baby-making ones) will suffer under long term stress.
If you’d like to know more about this or other topics, you are welcome to join my free membership on face book. Thyroid, Metabolic, Hormone Harmony Hub.
I’d love to see you there
Inspiring Wellness
Beth
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