Series 1 Episode 4 Lockdown and Fatigue

Welcome to Wellbeing Wizards, we transform lives through intuitive coaching and motivational interviewing. 

 In Episode 4, we explore the fourth f...
 
This is the f that we mentioned in the Episode 3, for those who may have missed the previous podcast, tune into Lockdown & anxiety. 

 Just over sixty percent of the clients that have been visiting  the holistic wellbeing clinic have exhibited the fourth f , FATIGUE a sense of complete exhaustion and lethargy. 

 Let's put this into perspective,  in our previous episode we talked about stress physiology, the body's survival mechanism,  fight, flight and freeze. These are warning signals from the body to the brain, that we are under threat 

 If we have not learned how to reset or recalibrate that stress response at the alarm or resistance phase, and continue to function in the cycle of 'living on your adrenals' we eventually arrive at the fourth f, which is fatigue.

 What does 'living on our adrenals' mean? 

The adrenal system is associated with the endocrine system can be viewed as our ' battery pack'  An analogy would be a vehicle. If the battery is drained nothing's going to really function, and reduce its performance substantially. 

 Feeling tired on waking, loss of appetite, skipping breakfast, eating on the go or at the desk, sleepy at 3-5pm, large meal after work and when its time to sleep we wrestle with a restless mind.  When we consistently push ourselves into overdrive without paying attention to respite, we deplete our resources. Living like this for long periods has serious implications on health.

Effective treatments 

 Medical doctors are not trained nor equipped to treat fatigue. There is no magic pill, and often wait to see how patients respond to respite.  Blood markers are often normal, in most cases patients have been referred to the holistic wellbeing clinic for 'psychosomatic' condition, meaning there is no clinical reason why they should be feeling this way. 

 Other assessment questionnaires used to monitor low energy and mood are PHQ (performance health questionnaires) or GAD (general anxiety disorder).  Antidepressants are often first line prescriptions for treatment , which doesn't really deal with the underlying issue.

How do you know you are living on your adrenals? 

one of the inclusion criteria we have on our referral form is lock down syndrome, which includes low mood, apathy, fatigue - because these are the common patterns and symptoms exhibited. 

 All of the symptoms provided by the UK government are symbolic of burn-out :

extreme tiredness shortness of breath chest pain or tightness problems with memory and concentration difficult sleeping or insomnia heart palpitations anxiety dizziness and pins and needles joint pain  depression and anxiety  tinnitus earachesfeeling sick, diarrhoea stomach aches and loss of appetite 

How to recalibrate and nourish the adrenals when on overdrive
 
Gee provides naturopathic insights :The importance of tunning into your body. Listen to what your body's telling you, understand the signals. Fight fatigue, by rehydrating and nourishing using whole food sources  

Todd provides his expertise and shares tools to help relaxation,.

Thank you for tuning in. 

Gee Gahir & Todd Van Hees 

Co-Founders Wellbeing Wizards 

Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/wellbeingwizards)