High Stress & Low Energy

You know the feeling of charging forward with adrenaline pumping only to be followed by days when you feel like you don’t even have the energy to move? You can thank the let-down effect for that.

When you’re stressed and on high alert, your stress hormones are doing their job supporting you. Once the stress dissipates, your stress hormone levels also decrease, often leading to bothersome symptoms.

This is often a time when people will get sick, feel fatigued, depressed, experience a flare-up of their chronic disease, or a reactivation of the notorious EBV.

Think of the last time you had high stress, whether it was a positive or negative stress. For me, I last noticed this a few days ago during Hurricane Milton. After the hurricane passed and I knew my family, friends, and home were all okay, I felt exhausted and emotionally down. I actually took a 45-minute nap because I was so exhausted. Anyone who knows me well knows I can normally nap for only 5 minutes, if that.

Instead of pushing myself to do things I would normally do, like exercise vigorously and organize the house better (toddler mess!), I rested as much as I could.

Know that these symptoms are common. Practice your calming stress reduction techniques, prioritize sleep and healthy food, while allowing your body to rest and recover.