Survival Mode
The fight/flight or freeze response of our nervous system is meant to be short term and adaptive, which makes sense. When your body goes into that mode, your normal immune function is temporarily shut down. In the old days fight or flight was triggered by something like a tiger chasing you, pure survival – your body devotes energy and resources to running away, not to digesting the last thing you ate – or to helping your liver detox excess estrogen!
Returning to Safety
There is supposed to be a point at which you signal to your brain that you are safe, and you switch back to rest and digest mode. In
which case your body and organs return to normal functioning mode. It is when you are in that fight/flight/freeze mode chronically that the cascading inflammatory response is set up. It is this dysfunctioning response to stress that over time prolongs itself and can become implicated in chronic health problems like us Endo Warriors experience.
Inflammation is the body’s response to a threat whether it is a foreign invader, such as bacteria, virus or cancer, or even a psychological or emotional stressor. In response, the immune system sends out an army of chemicals, called pro-inflammatory cytokines, to attack the invaders.
When stress is chronic, the cycle of stress and inflammatory response gets stuck in the body creating a constant stress response inside. That is when inflammation starts to cause damaging effects on the body.
“Endometriosis is, at least in part, a disease of immune dysfunction” – Lara Briden
Stress can fuel a constant response inside the body. This can include inflammation or increased activity of the immune system or immune suppression as its new ‘normal’. There is also a complex interaction between the nervous system and the immune system called neurogenic inflammation, which I will share more about in another blog 🙂
Learning how to reduce stress
Endometriosis, as we know, is a condition of inflammation, so anything that makes inflammation worse makes endometriosis worse. The relationship between stress and pain is cyclical. Pain can increase stress levels and the body’s stress response can increase pain. The greater the inflammation, the greater the pain and symptoms.
Learning how to manage this is key for Endo Warriors!
Stay tuned yogis – I will be sharing more content around stress management for my Endo Warriors soon.