MERRY STRESSMAS – All Decked Out in Holiday Hormones

Holiday Hormones

ALL DECKED OUT IN HORMONES.

There is a definite link between stress and hormones. Stress hormones are a normal body response, but when constantly under stress by daily situations, this can lead to long-term health problems. There are 3 hormones that are effected the most;

  1. Adrenaline
    what it is: commonly known as the fight or flight hormone, it is produced by the adrenal glands after receiving a message from the brain that a stressful situation has presented itself. Your muscles are tense, you’re breathing faster, you may start sweating. That’s adrenaline.
  2. Norepinephrine
    what it is: a hormone similar to adrenaline, released from the adrenal glands and also from the brain.
  3. Cortisol
    what it is: a steroid hormone, commonly known as the mother of stress hormones, produced by the adrenal glands. It takes a little more time — minutes, rather than seconds — for you to feel the effects of cortisol in the face of stress, because the release of this hormone takes a multi-step process involving two additional minor hormones.

YOU WOULDN’T CALL BURNOUT A GIFT

Excess stress can have both physical and mental effects. (if you’re like 7 out of 10 people, you have both.)

  • Your head feels like it’s locked in a nutcracker.
  • Sleigh bells ring and your migraines skyrocket.
  • Insomnia strikes.
  • Exhaustion takes hold.
  • Anxiety attacks.
  • Depression looms.
  • Blood pressure blossoms.
  • Sugar levels soar.
  • Your muscles scream.
  • You become irritable.
  • Argumentative.
  • Your libido plummets (“not this month, honey…”)
  • You begin to feel loopy, having trouble remembering things from your thousand-item list.
  • Warning, warning, a complete health crash seems to be coming.
  • You’re under assault.
  • Burned out and overwhelmed.
  • It could totally sleigh you.

BE ONE WISE WOMAN

Stress hormones are a normal body response, but constant stress can wrap your body in long-term health problems. Hormones are the chemical messengers that flow through your body, telling it what to do. When your hormones aren’t balanced, you’re unbalanced. And don’t you have enough to throw you off balance as it is? You’re not alone. About 7 out of 10 people report saying that they feel overwhelmed and stressed during the holidays. Just too much going on. Deck the halls has taken on a whole new meaning. It’s more like deck your body with…well, everything.  They say it’s the thought that counts and your thoughts should be on making an appointment to see DR. STEPHEN A. GOLDSTEIN AT DENVER HORMONE HEALTH. He’s    got “nice” down to a science. You can tell him anything…everything…and just looking at you, he’ll know you’re suffering from a hormone imbalance. (He’s got that much experience.) With a few simple tests, he can tell you what he already thought the problem was. But once he gets your results, he tailors a program to get you back to where you were before the hailstorm of holiday stress hit. Don’t wait. Make an appointment now.

He’s the star to wish on.

MERRY STRESSMAS – The Post Black Friday Blues

Black Friday Blues

THE POST BLACK FRIDAY BLUES

Up we go (in the middle of the night) and tear off to Walmart or wherever where we’re sure to find whatever, and whatever the kids beg for. Minivans fight for parking places like reindeer on caffeine overload. Christmas spirit? And where are we going to load all those goodies (mostly unnecessary, into the car? This is a tradition that is taking a toll on a lot of us already frantically frazzled.

MAKING MY LIST AND CHECKING IT, OH, EVERY HOUR

Why is it stress is always at the top of your list? Where’s the time you get to lounge around in ridiculous pajamas sipping steamy hot chocolate, reminding yourself of things that have to get done. And why don’t those things ever involve anyone else pitching in? Who made this a one player team? You swear it begins to make you fruitier than a fruitcake. And just as heavy. Everyone wants…well, everything. Does price ever enter the picture? Christmas is going to the dogs, when you consider that 95% of people buy their pets gifts.

 

ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS IS A WEEK IN BARBADOS

It never seems to stop. You can’t forget filling every cranny in the house with extra batteries. And then, there’s the panic that sets in when you see something that has “requires some assembly” stamped on it. We have phones that store thousands of images in the cloud, but we still stand in line for 2 hours or more to get that tacky photo of your kids sitting on Santa’s lap, who if you asked, would rather be sitting with a jumbo-sized eggnog. (excess rum included.) Then there’s the whining “I’ll die if you don’t do it” request to sit for hours watching funny Christmas cat videos. Your “naughty” nerves start to climb. You get an incontrollable urge to wrap gifts in birthday paper since you have so much. And what if you have no chimney? Does Santa just power through the wall like the Kool-Aid pitcher man? And what if Santa has gone vegan or gluten free? Do you need to put out quinoa cookies with organic soy milk?

Since you probably won’t get the Barbados thing, then all you probably want for Christmas is Tylenol, Advil, Prilosec…maybe some Ativan…. They say it’s the thought that counts—I doubt anyone wants to hear what I’m thinking.

THE BEST GIFT YOU COULD GET

The holidays are wall to wall with stressors (all that stuff that makes you want to scream) and all those stressors have a huge impact on your entire hormonal system. If you’re feeling stressed, your hormones have a day with your body and your hormones will be out of whack. The more your emergency stress system is activated, the easier it becomes to trigger and the harder it becomes to shut off. The most dangerous thing about stress is how easily it can creep up on you. You get used to it. It starts to feel familiar — even normal. You don’t notice how much it’s affecting you, even as it takes a heavy toll. You can’t fake how rotten you feel. Wishing on a star isn’t going to do what making an appointment to see STEPHEN A. GOLDSTEIN MD, F.A.C.S. AT DENVER HORMONE HEALTH will. No one knows more about hormones and how they can affect your body. His expertise is unquestioned. His experience unparalleled. His understanding puts your mind to rest. Not to mention the rest of you. With simple tests, he can see which hormones are triggering your distress and target them head on with a treatment program tailored just for you. Right size. Right everything. Right away. So, make an appointment before your holiday cheer disappears.

No battery required.

MERRY STRESSMAS – Here comes the Holiday Stress!

Holiday Stress

REMEMBER WHEN CHRISTMAS WAS MAGICAL?

As a kid, you counted the days, you soaked up the have-to-have toys on tv. You couldn’t wait to bake cookies. You hunted dauntlessly for where your parents hid the gifts. You wanted the biggest tree on the planet and stringing popcorn was high on your list. Stress? What was that? You were clueless of the headaches the approaching holidays gave your mom. This was “happy” time. For most moms, it was “labor” time. She did all the things then, that fall heavily on your shoulders now.

TIS THE SEASON TO BE STRESSEFUL

Yep, Santa is coming to town, along with Rudolf, the stress nosed reindeer, and if truth be known, it makes most today’s moms want to run for it. You work 50 hours a week. Take the kids to endless classes and lessons. You’re exhausted and on the edge of burn out, before Thanksgiving even comes. And oh, but how the holidays have become Pinterest and Instagram maniacal. You’re supposed to become craft mom and whip up wonders of all sorts including Santa pancakes and talking trees. And Christmas lists? Now, replaced by Christmas texts. (More often than our President’s tweets.) “Want this”. “No, want this”. “No, want both.” “Want this, and this…and this…and this…” You text trail is unnerving.

STRESS TO THE WORLD

You’re probably not alone in the making a feast thing either. So, don’t feel alone.

In Iceland, the most common is probably hamborgarhryggur, which is a kind of gammon steak. Other common dishes are roast game like reindeer, ptarmigan and smoked lamb, (hangikjöt) and a great variety of steaks such as duck, turkey.

Indian people cook a variety of foods, including biryani with chicken or lamb/mutton, chicken and mutton curry, followed by cake or sweets like kheer. Long established Christian communities such as goan Catholics have pork dishes and beef dishes as part of their main course of their Christmas dinner. These include pork vindaloo and sorpatel. For dessert, a dish called bebinca is popular

Japanese Christmas cake, a white sponge cake covered with cream and decorated with strawberries, is often consumed and stollen cake, either imported or made locally, is widely available. A successful advertising campaign in the 1970s made eating at KFC around Christmas a national custom. Its chicken meals are so popular during the season that stores take reservations months in advance. (Finger lickin’ brilliant.)

But we’re talking about your world here. Turkey, ham, and a lot of what seems to have made the Thanksgiving table groan. So, it’s get-out-the-recipe time, shop ‘til you drop and then rush back to the market a dozen or so times more for the things you always seem to forget. And does Christmas dinner (eve or day) ever call for less people than you can muster up chairs for? Does it seem that everyone is bring a +one? Is chaos ever not on the menu?

WRAP YOUR HEAD AROUND THIS

Thanksgiving is barely over and Christmas comes at you like a steamroller. You’re frazzled before you even realize it. Peace might be on earth, but it’s not in your house.

And it doesn’t stop. You’re driven to distraction. The other thing you might not realize is how all the stress starts revving up your stress hormones and messing up your entire body.  Your tinsel is in a tangle and you don’t know what to do. Fortunately, putting

STEPHEN A. GOLDSTEIN MD, F.A.C.S. AT DENVER HORMONE HEALTH on your list is the best, and easiest thing you could do for yourself. He understands what a killer Christmas can be on your hormones, and with simple tests, he can wrap up your hormone imbalances in no time. Then he creates a totally unique treatment plan that’s going to feel like a true holiday present. Call now.

It will be a true reason to celebrate.