Stress and Fertility Health

Stress and anxiety can take a huge toll on our bodies. We know this to be true, but often don’t realize it until we feel like we are crazy or out of control. We may have a racing heart, high blood pressure, insomnia, issues with our weight, acne. Often we chalk it up to this or that and don’t address the root cause of our problems. Sometimes when we are struggling with stress and anxiety and we are not sure why or what questions to ask ourselves to dig deep and find out what is causing them.

I’ll be honest with you. Lately, I have been struggling with stress and anxiety and could not figure out what was causing it. I decided to talk to my husband and a good friend of mine to let them know how I was feeling. Both of them asked me hard questions and helped me to see what could be causing these feelings of inadequacy, feeling like my heart was going to burst out of my chest, and why in the world I have had an influx of acne breakouts again.

I admit I have not been keeping myself in check the past few weeks for whatever reason. I have been worried about things that have been present in my life for awhile now and for some reason decided these were of mass importance lately.

Stress

When stressors impact our lives in the form of chronic stress, our immune systems will react. This, in turn, triggers an inflammatory response to our bodies and can cause leaky gut and hormone imbalances. There are several systems that work together to keep things balanced. Our Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA axis), Hypothalamic-pituitary-thyroid axis (HPT axis) and sex hormones all work together and the stress hormones, cortisol and adrenaline/noradrenaline, can affect them. 

The stress hormones affect the balance of our gut flora and the way our neurotransmitters communicate to our guts and brain. Did you know that many women claim to feel less anxiety when their gut health is in check?

Some things to consider if you are feeling overwhelmed:

• Is your blood sugar balanced?
• Are you taking time to meditate?
• Do you exercise?
• Are you eating a balanced diet?
• Do you take any supplements to support your bodily systems?

When it comes to a balanced diet, it is important to make sure you are eating enough cholesterol. This, of course, is in moderation. But did you know that cholesterol is an important nutrient to keep our hormones in check? Both stress and sex hormones are made by cholesterol! If you are on cholesterol medications, always check with your doctor on what the healthy amount for YOU is and if you have any hormone imbalances that could be a contributing factor to stress.

What’s next?

Ladies, it’s time we check in with ourselves and ensure we are in taking care of us. We spend a majority of our lives caring for other people and making sure they have all their needs met that we neglect our own. If you are feeling stressed, do you know the cause of it? Can you reduce that stressor in your life in any way? Are you eating a balanced diet to get the proper nutrients needed for proper hormone production? Is your exercises you are doing, right for you? Are you taking the time for yourself to just be and not think about anything else? I know that the last one is a very hard thing to do!

Infertility can be a huge stress on our lives and impact us further in the anxiety department. This can further complicate things and make conception an even harder thing to achieve. Check in with yourself and your spouse about your feelings, your worries, and even what makes you happy. Try not to focus on the negative all the time. What can you do to stay positive on this journey and keep your stress levels in check? If doing this or that to “improve your fertility” or if you are thinking “we have to do this, this and this RIGHT NOW to get pregnant”, I encourage you to take a step back and evaluate your mentality and your perspective.

How can you reduce your stress load today and this week to get back in balance?

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