Lived Experience Forum

[StanD]

  

 

Hello & Thankyou for reading with me!!

All,

I am on page 36 & fascinated to finally learn the relationship between cortisol & CPTSD.

In contrast to my thoughts - cortisol levels are abnormally, chronically low in people with unresolved PTSD. (In the blood stream)

The body is actually absorbing the cortisol.

This is what gives us all the symptoms.

Eg. High blood pressure, addictions, insomnia,

The body creates more & more cortisol because it thinks that the levels in blood stream are too low.

It is continuous cycle.

The body can also have 'cortisol outbursts'.

The book explains, that this is why we can feel either overwhelmed (high cortisol) or shutdown (low)

Cortisol affects the immune system inversely.

Therefore when cortisol is low, the immune system is ' over activated' ( the body tries to fight a disease that isn't there eg. Attacks itself, auto- immune diseases)

When cortisol levels are too high, the immune system becomes suppressed.

Cortisol levels are also related to sleeping patterns.

'Normal Cortisol ' fluctuates high & low throughout day. (Lowest in middle of night)

People with chronic stress have flattened fluctuations - leads to insomnia, or fatigue.

@Shaz51 @PinkFlamingo @saturnzoon @Appleblossom @creative_writer @PeppiPatty (@StuF @TAB @MDT ) I wasn't sure if you wanted to be in the 'club'😎 I wanted to tag you anyway.

Please, everyone, help me to tag anyone else who I have forgotten.

@PinkFlamingo full permission to moderate this thread for me please, if you are interested. You are more than welcome to ask questions, & guide this thread. I value all PSW input. I don't know sh*t😊 I am only learning. @tyme  @Jynx You likely understand how to assist me with direction. 

For anyone new who wants to join, please comment & subscribe to this thread. All welcome.

Here is the book, again, we are all reading together.

There is no pressure. I have had it maybe 2 months & only on page 36! I go at my pace.

 

I hope this is good for me, & others too xx 

Thankyou, Everyone 

[TAB]

I had been reearching cortisol from another angle recently @StanD  ie thyroid and weight gain. am playing around w diet , trying to introduce more iodine in seaweed, nuts, berries etc. i have had massive wieght gain over last 5 years , also had thyroid op , but drs say oh levels normal.. apparently cortisol can mess things up while things still appear normal in basic tests

[Shaz51]

Very interesting @StanD 😀

Love to know more about it all 

[tyme]

Thanks for starting this thread @StanD . I believe we have quite a few interested members! @PizzaMondo 

[defaultusername]

Thank you very much for starting this thread @StanD, what a wonderful idea.

And thank you for sharing, I am studying trauma at the moment and have a very strong interest in complex trauma. So, thank you! I will definitely be asking my local bookshop to order a copy for me.

[creative_writer]

@StanD the connection between mind and body is so real

[MDT]

@StanD does the book have any info on trauma?

[PinkFlamingo]

Hey there @StanD 🙂

Thanks for sharing, I have now downloaded the workbook to my kindle, and will be reading along with you.

I have the ability to use the workbook interactively on the kindle app, so it's just like having the workbook at home! 🙂

Thanks for starting a great thread, what you have mentioned already from the thread is very informative - there's loads to put together about how the body responds in moments of stressors, and over the longer term.  

Looking forward to reading more about this, and the upcoming discussions we can have!

We have our @tyme and our @Jynx and our moderators here to keep an eye on things, which is awesome! I am not in that realm of things in terms of moderating, however we can always get in touch with them by tagging anytime 🙂 xx

Take good care and I hope you are having a lovely evening 🙂

[Hope2Recovery]

Hi @StanD, thank you 🙂 very informative resource, take care. 

[Katz42]

Hey, I just downloaded this book to my kindle too. I hope that it helps everyone that has a go at reading it. Working on it at your own pace sounds like a good idea. Thankyou so much for drawing my attention to a book that I didn't know existed. I am fascinated about the cortisol aspect. I did have a blood test once, that showed ridiculously high levels of cortisol. I rarely get much sleep at all and my moods can be all over the place. So something I shall look into and discuss with my GP and psychiatrist. Thanks again. I really appreciate it.

ps to everyone. Sorry I am not very good at navigating this forum site.