**WTO Wednesday**
Feb 11, 2015 11:07:56 GMT -5
Post by anonymouseliza on Feb 11, 2015 11:07:56 GMT -5
*snip*
Rants/raves/chartstalks: On that whole stress prevents you from getting KU... is that an old wives' tale? I feel like everyone says that. And then the people who are like "We finally stopped 'trying' and that's when it happened." I've just never heard people say that it DOESN'T, so if it doesn't, I'd love to hear that. It would probably make me stress LESS (I'm weird like that).
*snip*
So here's the thing with stress - for the most part it doesn't delay conception. Think of it - most of the stress in our lives is pretty manageable. It may feel overwhelming at times, but it's not the same stress that is faced in developing nations or by most people in history. We're not war-torn, we're not in a famine, we're not worried about suitable housing in winter and whether our next meal may be days away. And even with those big stresses - women still conceive and the birth rate carries on. Given that, stress is generally not a huge factor.
Now, having said that - chronic, long-term high stress can produce unfavorable reactions in the body such as high cortisol. That may or may not interrupt the normal functions of hormones, because it's not supposed to be there. So stress could impact a cycle, especially long-term high stress. More likely, though, that stress is impacting other bodily functions and regulations that cause issues - highly stressed people are rarely very healthy people (I'm a prime example), because if you have healthy habits, those naturally work to keep stress hormones at bay. Exercise helps reduce levels of cortisol, and helps you get good sleep, which helps your brain chemistry, which affects your mood and thoughts in a big way. Eating well makes a huge difference too. It all ties up together.
But most of us are not impacted by stress to the point of it affecting ttc. Stress certainly doesn't makes eggs harder to fertilize, or an embryo not implant. If stress levels are so high they are impacting your fertility, there are bigger issues at hand (like heart health and blood pressure) that need to be addressed.