Stress...

So I told you I'd try to check in more often...how am I don't so far? lol...well a lot has been going on with me lately...mainly stress related. Haven't been feeling well lately and the only un-related stress item in my life is hardly ever around...and it gets kinda iritating that I can't get what I want at times. It feels like I'm not supposed to or something. Or it's a trial on my part to see how I will deal with it. Anyway, with all this stress and wicked headaches I have been trying to come up with things to do to de-stress me, since my stress-reliever is hardly around. So came across this article, stress is a growing trend among people so this might help you as well, wanted to share it with you. It's from Ladies Home Journal...

What's Your Stress Weak Spot? By: Susan Seliger

Unless, perhaps, you make your permanent home on a beach in Tahiti, stress will affect your body sooner or later. But it may not affect your body the same way it does someone else's. Each of us has a characteristic way of reacting to stress - our very own stress weak spot or place in the body where igns of stress first pop up.

One person may get indigestion under stress, another may have back pain. Some people react by getting a pounding headache or acne. Your particular stress weak spot has a number of possible sources. Genetics is one predisposing factor, says Kenneth R. Pelletier, Ph.D., a clinical professor or medicine at the University of Arizona School of Medicine. For example, you may have a family history of gastro-intestinal disease, heart disease or migraine. Or you might have habits that predispose you to experiencing stress in a particular spot, such as tensing your neck in a rigid position (which can cause a tension headaches.) Being out of shape might predispose you to feeling stress in the form of a backache.

These different health effects all stem from the flood of hormones, including adrenaline and cortisol, that your brain tells the body to release when you feel threatened. These speed up heart rate and breathing, constrict peripheral blood flow (in your hands and feet) and slow down digestion and immune functions so the body can fully devote itself to action, says Beverly Thorn, Ph.D., a professor of psychology at the University of Alabama. "Stress challenges all of our organ systems and eats away at our immune system."

A short-term stress response is healthy, unless you trigger it so often that your body has little chance to recover. Chronic stress results in the body breaking at its weakest spot first-like a chain giving way at is weakest link.

But people don't always make the connection between the pain they're feeling and the stress that caused it. When recurring headaches or backaches drive them to seek medical care and the physician can't find a physical cause, patients sometimes wind up being told, "It's all in your head," without being offered solutions to handle the stress triggers or the genuine pain they're in.

In fact, self-care solutions exist, through many are known chiefly to stress experts. The latest research shows that all of us can learn techniques that significantly reduce the physical and mental impact of stress as well as the release of stress hormones. What's more, these can be targeted to your individual stress weak point.

We asked stress experts to recommend doable remedies for the most common stress weak spots. Most of these techniques are twofers: They are effective not only in treating their primary target but also in causing stress throughout the body. None of them preclude resorting to physical remedies as well, such as taking aspirin for a headache. The more skillful you become with these stress-fighting techniques, the close you can get to a healthier, more pleasurable, stressless life.

Number 1: Stomach

Stress Symptoms: Queasiness, Heartburn, Abdominal pain, Diarrhea

When people see a doctor for GI (gastrointestinal) distress, chronic stress is frequently the underlying cause, says Wendy Warner, M.D., an ob-gyn in Langhorne, Pennsylvania, and president of the American Board of Holistic Medicine. Treating the pain won't solve the problem more than temporarily.

Your Stress Response: Stress hormones temporarily slow down digestion of food in the stomach, then increase the secretion of stomach acids. They also increase the speed at which food moves through the intestines. The result can be various upper GI complaints, increased inflammation of the stomach lining, diarrhea, or intestinal spasms that worse irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) or ulcerative colitis in those who have it. Stress hormones also make the body release glucose, which can raise blood sugar, especially if you already have increased insulin resistance. If this occurs repeatedly, it can bring on or aggravate diabetes.

Health Check: If you experience acute or chronic stomach distress, see a doctor to rule out a serious condition such as ulcers or heart disease.

Stress Relievers:

• Yoga for IBS: Yoga has been shown to be effective in helping treat distress from IBS that can come about with chronic stress. In one study from the department of physiology of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, in New Delhi, doing yoga poses plus right-nostril breathing twice a day was even more effective than conventional drug treatment for people with diarrhea resulting from IBS. One of the poses used in the study is shashankasana (sometimes called the hare of moon pose). To do this you can sit on the floor or bed, knees bent with your feet tucked under your buttocks, so you are sitting on the soles of your feet. Hold on to your ankles and bend forward while exhaling and let your forehead tourch the ground in front of you (while keeping your buttocks on your heels). Hold this position for as long as you feel comfortable, then slowly and gently come upright. Repeat 10 to 15 times.
• Focused Meditation: Meditation can help reduce the symptoms of abdominal pain (bloating, gas and diarrhea) that can result from stomach distress, according to two studies at the Center for Stress and Anxiety Disorders at the University of Albany State University of New York. It can also potentially ease the discomfort of excess acid, says Dr. Thorn. Sit in a quiet place, breathe deeply and regularly, and repeat a simple calming phrase, over and over: My stomach feels warm and calm.

Number 2: Head

Stress Symptoms: Tension headaches, migraine headaches

Stress is one of the commonest triggers for both types of headaches. "I have migraines myself," says Dr. Thorn. "I was born with the predisposition for the blood vessels to squeeze shut and then dilate, which causes the headache pain. But stress is absolutely what starts the process." But you-not your genetic endowment-can have the final word. "Too often, people ignore the warning signals," insists Dr. Thorn. "They don't respond to the cues before they get out of control such as by taking a break or relaxing."

The same holds true for people who get tension headaches, Dr. Thorn says. They do nothing to counter the eyestrain, clenched jaw, teeth grinding at night or tightness in the head and neck that often precedes a painful tension headache.

Your Stress Response: If you get tension headaches, you probably tend to clench the teeth or tighten the muscles of the brow, jaw or eyes. For migraine sufferers, the blood vessel expansion that's part of the stress response causes the arteries in the head to spasm, resulting in severe pain, usually on one side of the head, negative response to light and/or noise and often nausea or vomiting.

Health Check: In rare cases when a headache comes on suddenly and is very severe - or doesn't go away - it could signal a stroke or brain tumor. Consult a doctor pronto. It's also the best way to get access to powerful medications to ease the pain.

Stress Relievers:

• For tension headaches: Temple and Scalp Massage: At the first signs, breathe slowly and deeply, then place your thumbs on your cheekbones close to your ears and use your fingertips to gently apply pressure and rub the temples, advises Dale Grust, a licensed massage therapist in New Paltz, New York. Next, using firm pressure and a tiny circular motion, inche your fingertips along the base of your skull.
• For migraines: Cool Head, Warm Hands: Dr. Pelletier recommends this autogenous technique: "Think of your limbs as heavy and warm and your forehead as cool." After training with a therapist and using bio-feedback equipment, many patients learn to relieve pain by redirecting blood flow from the brain and head to the arms and legs.

Number 3: Neck, Shoulders and Back

Stress Symptoms: Neck and shoulder tightness and pain, lower back pain.

Not all back pain is caused by stress. But stress makes nearly all back pain worse, Dr. Thorn says.

Your Stress Response: If you routinely tense the muscles surrounding your neck, shoulders and back when you're stressed out, you're a candidate for stress induced back pain. "When sitting, many people under stress tend to slump from the waist and hunch their shoulders," says Dr. Warner. "They walk and drive that way, too, and then they wounder why they get neck and shoulder tension and backaches." Try the following messures to counter the tendencies:

Stress Relievers:

• Posture Adjustments: Correct your posture many times throughout the day. Gently stretch-shaking your head (yes and no) and rolling your shoulders forward and back. Cross and uncross your legs. Don't always sling your purse over the same shoulder. Shift your weight often when standing. Get up every 30 minutes to stretch or take a walk.
• Chest-Muscle Strenghtening: Weak chest muscles make your back muscles tighten to compensate, says Dr. Warner. Do this exercise for your pecs several times a week: lie down. Hold a one to two-pound dumbbell in each hand with arms straight up in the air, palms forward, toward each other. Slowly lover your arms to chest level, then slowly raise them straight into the air again. Repeat 10 times.
• Progressive Relaxation: Hunch your shoulders to tighten shoulder and neck muscles, hold for three seconds and release. Repeat five times. This works on the physiological fact that a muscle has to be tensed before it can be relaxed, says Dr. Pelletier.

Number 4: Skin and Hair

Stress Symptoms: Exzema, Acne, Hives, Hair loss, Dandruff or an itchy scalp

Although it is a link doctors often fail to make, stress is actually a major trigger of skin and hair problems.

Your Stress Response: When your brain registers a stress alarm, one effect is heightened sensitivity in every organ, including the skin. Unfortunately, if stress becomes chronic, it can spark a host of responses in susceptible indivudals, including inflammation, allergies and imbalances that lead to acne, rashes, hives and eczema. Inflammation affecting the scalp can produce dandruff and itchiness. And stress-induced hormone charges can cause hair loss.

Stress Releivers:

• Visualization: Deep breathing while visualzing something cool can reduce blood flow and inflammation in that area, Dr. Pelletier advises. "Try imagining an ice-pack or a cool breeze or cool water flowing over the irritated skin," he says.
• Skin-Soothing Excercises: Vigorous excercise encourages sweating, which can help clean out pores and stimulate blood circulation, another way to promote skin healing. It also stimulates the release of endorphins, which elevate mood and enable your entire body, including an overactive immune system, to calm down. "Excercise cures a lot of stress-related ills because it makes you feel good," says Joan Borysenko, Ph.D., founder of Mind Body Health Sciences and cofounder of the Claritas Institute for Interspiritual Inquiry.

Ok - that's the article, and if you're prone to stress like me, hopefully this will help you a bit. I don't know if it will help me or not, but I guess it's worth a shot.