For years and years I operated at 100 mph without a second thought. I went through all the motions, I took on way more than I could acommodate in a healthy way, and I always went above and beyond.
During high school I got straight A’s in all AP classes and danced competitively 20+ hours per week. In college I graduated with both my bachelors and masters degrees in engineering in 4.5 years, was captain of my college dance team, held a position in my sorority, and held a part-time job. After college, I hit the ground running with a fancy new job and apartment in NYC. I studied to pass my engineering licensure exams, traveled back and forth to MA most weekends, and worked 40/50/60 hours per week.
When I became a mother for the first time four years ago, this pattern repeated itself but it looked a little bit different. I was caring for my baby full-time without utilizing consistent outside childcare, working full-time, running a successful craft business on the side while starting another engineering consulting business, trying to keep my home/family looking exactly how I thought it should – clean, laundry and dishes done, freshly cooked meals, date nights – you get the gist. It was a textbook recipe for disaster.
I would love to say that I turned things around and slowed down one random day when God put it on my heart, but that was not the case. I had ignored so many signals for so long. I was exhausted, irritable, and overwhelmed all the time. I couldn’t lose the weight after having my son, I couldn’t sleep more than a couple hours at a time, my digestion was horrible, and I was having debilitating migraines.
When my son was almost a year old I suffered recurrent miscarriages and received a diagnosis of Hashimotos, an autoimmune condition that attacks the thyroid. I was a complete wreck both physically and emotionally. I was completely burnt out and for the first time I could see that the years of chronic stress and neglect for myself had led to.
Chronic Stress Over Time
Chronic stress over a long period of time leads to:
- Deregulation of the HPA axis (the body’s feedback loop that controls stress response)
- Inflammation
- Large blood sugar swings
- Disrupted sleep and limited restorative sleep
- Depletion of minerals
- Slowly of the thyroid conversion hormone
Hashimotos, like all autoimmune conditions, thrives under chronic stress and often goes found hand in hand with burnout. For myself and other women that I have connected with, it became apparent that many of us shared the same “Type A” personality and though we noticed some symptoms, kept pushing through qualifying it as “normal” to feel awful 99.9% of the time. I want to shout from the rooftops that feeling exhausted, bloated, irritable, miserable, etc. is common but not normal.
How I Began My Healing Journey
The desire to be present and full of energy for my son, as well as to have more children, lit a fire in me like I had never experienced before. Several doctors that I met with early on told me that there was nothing that I could do to stop the progression of Hashimotos. They told me that it could lead to other autoimmune conditions, that I would be on medication for the rest of my life, and that I would struggle to get pregnant.
This was like a punch to the gut if I’m being honest – but I refused to accept it. I read every medical journal that I could find, I scoured blogs, read books, reached out to nutritionists, doctors, etc. and learned everything that I could about Hashimotos so that I could start healing.
It was tempting to overhaul everything in my life at once, but I knew that would not be sustainable. I decided to start with three actionable items to start healing from the chronic stress that I had been under for so long.
- I Started Prioritizing Sleep
I stopped setting my alarm unless I absolutely had to and I started getting into bed at 8 o’clock every single night. I would put my son to sleep and immediately go to bed myself, usually reading for a bit before lights out at 8:30. On average I was getting 10-11 hours of sleep per night (minus the times I was up with my son which was still nightly at this point). Other things in my life definitely fell to the wayside (laundry, a clean house, my favorite nighttime shows) – but sleep is necessary for healing. Whenever I start to feel myself slipping back into old patterns, this is the first thing that I focus on.
2. I Stopped Drinking Coffee on An Empty Stomach
This was hard for me as for years and years I have basically stepped out of bed and walked directly to the coffee maker. I never realized the damage that I was doing with this seemingly lovely morning ritual. Caffeine on an empty stomach hinders digestion and spikes cortisol – which leads to nervous system dysfunction. Now I have a warm cup of lemon water with a sprinkle of salt first thing while I prepare my breakfast. After I have eaten, I enjoy my coffee guilt free (this really gets me out of bed in the morning if I’m being honest!)
3. I spend 5 – 10 minutes with sunlight on my face upon waking
This one stumped me for a long time because I certainly wasn’t schlepping my kids outside in the 30 degree whether at 7AM to stand in the sunlight for 5 minutes. If you are able to do this – great, this is truly the best option. For those of us who are not able to get outside first thing, standing by a window with natural light for those 5 – 10 minutes works too. Getting sunlight in your eyes first thing is proven to lower cortisol and your stress response throughout the day. For me, I usually stand by the back door while I let my dog out and do a couple deep breathes or try to think of three things that I am grateful for to start the day. If you cannot get to a window – try turning on all of the overhead lights in the room you are in to signal to your brain that the day has begun. It’s not about perfection – it’s just about small progress steps that all add up overtime.
If you are interested in this type of content please keep following along! I will share more about my journey in healing from Hashimotos in this space as well as over on Instagram!
xo,
Jaclyn