In Sickness & In Health - Women, Fibromyalgia/CFS & Marriage
Here's how cortisol works in a healthy person: the level starts high in the morning and then drops off steadily throughout the day, with occasional spikes during stressful situations. The steeper the drop-off rate, the better you're dealing with stress. Some experts believe cortisol imbalance could be a key component in why prolonged stress can trigger both mental and physical problems, including fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome.
While I think this study is interesting for a lot of reasons, what really grabs me is that is shows a quantifiable, physiological difference between the sexes when it comes to cortisol. It seems like this could help explain why women are so much more likely than men to develop fibro and CFS. Also interesting, this study's researchers speculate that the happier women may be under less stress at home because household duties are shared, while the less happy women may shoulder more of the burden. Living with that kind of stress, they say, makes cortisol levels constantly go up and down and essentially puts wear and tear on the system. The end result of that is that you don't deal with or recover as quickly anymore. Hmm. Sounds familiar.
I have to wonder whether my former job, which put me in a high-stress situation every day, lead to exactly the same cortisol fluctuations faced by women in stressful marriages. I know a lot of women who end up with these illnesses are (or at least used to be) highly driven people. Perhaps the message in this for all of us -- especially women -- is that we need to pay more attention to how we're dealing with stress and make time to relax and take care of ourselves.
Comments
fantastic article as a male who has had the same stresses i agree
How do we get this cortisol regulated? Are tests available that check levels, prescription drugs to bring the levels to normal levels, or anything?
By the way, when I was pregnant, 17 years ago, all fibro symptoms disappeared. My Dr. (one of the good ones) told me it could have something to do with the hormone that allows the tendons to stretch during childbirth. He said some of his arthritis patience also experienced NO symptoms during pregnancy. He’s a Rheumatologist. Interesting, no?
Interesting indeed - my husband and I went to Retrouvaille this weekend - it is a lifeline for marriages in trouble. My life is fairly difficult with an adopted son with attachment disorder and then our marriage took a hit from living with a child with a mental illness.
My pain has been something profound this past year and maybe now that at least my husband and I are on the same page again - perhaps I will feel less pain and fibro symptoms.
During pregnancy, the pelvic joints and ligaments are relaxed and capable of greater range of motion (Bird, Calguneri, Wright, 1981). The hormone responsible for this change in range of motion is relaxin. After pregnancy, relaxin production decreases and the ligaments tighten up. In the case of FMS, you do not have to get pregnant to experience this type of relaxation. Each person must address diet, stress, exercise, and sleep. A good doctor should be able to coach you through this restoration process. A good doctor is vital so you don’t have to worry about your cortisol or whatever else might be out of wack. The doctor will check and presrcibe if needed. This will leave you free to address your specific mental, physical and spiritual challenges because of how the symptoms have affected your life. When you can work through these issues, you can cope better and you will enjoy life more.
Babs,
You can talk to your doctor about cortisol testing. My understanding is that it’s a pretty simple test.
For those of you still searching for help with this problem, I’ve found a terrific article about preventing/manageing chronic fatigue. Has anyone else tried this approach??