Manage stress, fatigue, anxiety and avoid burnout!
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Manage stress, fatigue, anxiety and avoid burnout!
Stress → inflammation → ↓ serotonin → ↓ emotional regulation → ↑ stress.
Melatonin is derived from serotonin. Serotonin is a central regulator of mental and physical well-being, connecting the brain, gut, sleep, and emotions. Serotonin is a neuromodulator with contextual effects, capable of being excitatory or inhibitory depending on the receptors and neural networks involved, according to a sleep/wake cycle that modulates/tunes its amplitude. It regulates the inhibition of other brain regions, which explains its complex role in mood and impulsive behaviors. Put on another way: an untuned, and often excessive, serotonin secretion is seen as a stress factor.
We must therefore ensure a smooth transition from wakefulness to sleep and maintain an appropriate level of adaptation (switching off) in order to keep adrenaline and cortisol levels under control. A period of approximately one ultradian cycle (≈ 90 minutes) is often necessary to allow a return to homeostasis after a stressful event (adrenaline), but this duration frequently varies according to the individual and the context (adaptation).
And as if that weren't "disruptive" enough, disrupting homeostasis and therefore recovery, cortisol also disrupts serotonin availability. Indeed, serotonin depends on its precursor: tryptophan. However, cortisol (and especially the associated inflammation) activates the kynurenine pathway (via TDO and IDO, two enzymatic pathways). Under chronic/latent stress, this diverts tryptophan from serotonin synthesis, contributing to a neurochemical and metabolic imbalance. This point is probably THE main crux of the disruption, allowing a cascade of depressant, neuro-modulatory factors to spread and thus "contaminate" metabolism via the vagus nerve (the stomach/brain connection). The vagus nerve is not the starting point, but a shock absorber that fails… Far from being the initial cause, the vagus nerve becomes a pathway for the propagation and amplification of imbalances between the gut, brain, and metabolism.
The breaking point will often come when you try to compensate by pushing yourself too hard because you have professional deadlines, you can't accept a lack of performance, a temporary weakness, even though you've always been very efficient in the recent past…In summary: What is the most important upstream factor?
Primary upstream causal factor:
Chronic stress not compensated by sufficient recovery periods, leading to:
• prolonged hyperactivation of the HPA axis;
• a reorientation of tryptophan metabolism towards the kynurenine pathway.
Secondary Consequences and Reinforcing Loops
• Low-grade inflammation
• Microbiome alterations
• Latent anxiety and emotional control disorders
• Compulsive behaviors
• Blood sugar imbalances
Useful information: Gelatin, Stress, Longevity – Ray Peat
https://raypeat.com/articles/articles/gelatin.shtml
See a more developed concept about prolonged hyperactivation of the HPA axis and the diversion of tryptophan away from the serotonergic pathway, on the link below (in French, translator needed).
Serotonin becomes unavailable because the brain is kept in survival mode for too long. Before the breakdown, the most reliable marker is not fatigue, but the loss of emotional flexibility and restorative sleep. Using 5-HTP as a crutch when one leg is missing is not the appropriate approach. Not the right time.
=> https://mirzoune-ciboulette.forumactif.org/t2155-gerer-le-stress-la-fatigue-l-anxiete-et-evitez-le-burn-out
Impact du dérèglement du cycle sérotonine – mélatonine
