This is my story of how I was able to reset my nervous system, rebalance my cortisol, regain my energy and STOP the WIRED and TIRED cycle for good.
If you are new to my site, welcome from the bottom of my heart!
I have spent the last 6 years blogging about my journey because I know I am not the only one that has gone down endless rabbit holes and spent thousands of dollars on bloodwork and treatment options only to end up back at square one.
Prior to that I had spent 4 long and painstaking years of trying to figure out why I was experiencing:
- Brain fog
- Memory loss
- Feelings of anxiousness
- Unexplained weight gain
- Extreme fatigue during the day
- A sudden feeling of “wired” at night
- Feelings of just wanting to get through the day
- A jittery nervous system in chronic state of “high alert”
If this is you too … its no accident you are here and I want you to know there is hope.
How The WIRED and TIRED CYCLE began …
10 years ago, I was having a hard time remembering what I was about to do or say and I started to experience things like memory loss and extreme daytime fatigue …
I was 3 years in to living an alcohol-free life, eating super clean, working out, using nontoxic cleaning and skin care products, taking good quality whole food supplements, prioritizing reducing stress and nurturing my meditation practice.
Wasn’t giving up alcohol suppose to help me feel better? More on this later.
The wakeup call came when my husband started saying things like, don’t you remember having that conversation yesterday? or Don’t you remember us going there?
Scary.
Was I at the beginning stages of Alzheimer’s in my early 40s?
The fatigue was nothing like I had experience before. I would wake up feeling like I hadn’t slept and my husband would often find me on the couch passed out when he got home from work.
Then come time for bed, despite the extreme fatigue I felt all day … I suddenly felt wired.
It was like my nervous system was stuck in a chronic state of “high alert” that I was unable to get myself out of.
As if my adrenals were producing cortisol in reverse, giving me a boost of energy at night instead of in the morning.
That wired feeling left me unable to get restorative sleep …
And I found myself stuck in a perpetual state of feeling wired and tired.
Getting through the day became monumental task.
I was at my heaviest weight ever and my hair started to fall out …
There was no way I could go on living like this.
This marked the beginning of a lengthy journey to try to figure out what was wrong with me …
COULD MY WIRED & TIRED SYMPTOMS BE RELAED TO HYPOTHYROIDISM?
Comprehensive blood test panels showed slightly elevated thyroid (around 2.2 TSH) levels, along with low testosterone levels.
I cycled through 5 different thyroid medications that actually made my symptoms worse and eventually threw my body into hyperthyroidism. The medication made me feel as though there was a low vibrating ringing sensation in my head and behind my eyes. Then extreme insomnia set in.
The lack of sleep turned into bouts of extreme anxiety and depression for the first time ever in my life and I didn’t want to leave the house.
Next thing I know I am in urgent care. Not good.
July 20th 2017 was one of the darkest days of my life. Honestly, I didn’t want to be here anymore.
I did another round of comprehensive blood work and I acutely remember the doctor saying “if its not metabolic then it must be psychiatric and that I should prepare myself to go down the psychiatric medication route”.
In tears.
No I refuse to accept that.
Something is wrong with my body and I just need to figure it out.
Check hyperthyroidism off the list, that obviously was not the issue.
COULD MY WIRED & TIRED SYMPTOMS BE RELATED TO CANDIDA OR EPSTEIN BARR?
I kept coming back to Candida and Epstein Barr because 1. my bloodwork indicated that I had had prior infections and 2. my symptoms seemed to parallel those conditions. Out of desperation to feel better, I found myself listening to a book by the Medical Medium on it.
I did countless rounds of Candida antifungals, 4 months of homeopathic tinctures for Epstein Barr and followed exhaustive AIP and Candida eating plans.
None of which made me feel better.
Check Candida and Epstein Barr off the list.
Knowing what I know now, I often wonder if I did permanent damage to my body going down all of those crazy rabbit holes.
Feeling defeated I started to think to myself maybe the doctor was right … maybe it was psychiatric.
Maybe I should entertain the idea of getting on an antidepressant and sleep medication.
And then I got a phone call that forever changed the course of my life ….
THE ROOT CAUSE OF WHY I FELT WIRED AND TIRED
A dear friend who knew what I was going through, reached out to me and asked if I had heard of the concept of the gut brain axis.
Despite my vast knowledge in nutrition and holistic health … I hadn’t …
She went on to explain that she had met one of the worlds leading experts specializing the gut brain axis and suggested that I connect with him to see if this could be the missing link for me.
What he taught me during our initial meeting completely changed the trajectory of my life.
The first thing he asked me was “does it feel like your brain is low on cell phone bars?”, finally someone who could articulate what I was feeling … maybe I wasn’t crazy after all.
He explained to me how 60-90% of our feel good neurotransmitters such as serotonin (happy/sad), dopamine (motivation), GABA (stress resilience), norepinephrine (focus/concentration) are produced in the 2nd brain, the gut.
And that in order for your gut to be able to produce those feel good neurotransmitters you have to feed it right strains of probiotics … the ones shown to improve the production of those neurotransmitters.
That was the first time I heard about the importance of matching the probiotics strain to the health outcome I was looking to achieve.
All this time I was taking the probiotic strains that were correlated to digestive health, not the ones for nervous system regulation, anxiety, cortisol balancing or memory/concentration.
And then for the even more mind blowing part … our gut talks to our brain through something called the gut-brain axis (GBX).
The gut-brain axis (GBX) consists of bidirectional communication between the central nervous system (brain) and the gastrointestinal system (gut) connected by a network (axis) of nerves, hormones, and neurotransmitters that link the emotional and cognitive centers of the brain with gastrointestinal health.
And when any part of that process is impaired or not functioning properly, whether it be:
- the gut lining (gut lining / leaky gut)
- the neurotransmitters production (gut diversity)
- or the communication pathway between the gut and brain (gut-brain axis)
things have a tendency to go haywire across the brain, body and nervous system resulting in all sorts of mystery health symptoms.
Ding ding ding … everything started to finally make sense.
He suggested that I start on a simple protocol to address any gut disfunction or gut-brain axis impairment that I might be experiencing, one that I now refer to as the Wired & Tired Protocol.
Over the next 30, 60, 90 days … much to my surprise … one health issue after another started resolve itself …
- My brain fog dissipated
- My energy levels improved
- I found myself sleeping better
- My memory started to improve
- My focus and productivity skyrocketed
- My cycles became regular again? who knew
- I could remember what I was about to do or say
- My overall outlook on life felt way more positive
This transformation brought me full circle back to why I started to self medicating with alcohol and drugs as a teenager – as it turns out the serotonin and dopamine weren’t producing/communicating properly between my gut and my brain which is why I started to self medicate as a teenager.
THE WIRED & TIRED PROTOCOL
The Wired and Tired Protocol contains a combination of 2 natural supplements and 3 powders helped me to feel better right now while also addressing the deeper lever gut brain axis impairment, 3 of which I mix together into a yummy drink (as shown above).
NUTRITIONAL SUPPORT TO FEEL BETTER RIGHT NOW
- Mood+ – balances cortisol and reduces stress by 70% within 20 minutes – think if it as a Yoga Class in a Bottle
- Edge – nootropics to increase motivation, improve mental flow and endurance so you can get stuff done
- Energy+ – clean mental & physical energy without caffeine
NUTRITIONAL SUPPORT FOR DEEPER LEVEL GUT REPAIR
- Mentabiotics – most comprehensive combination of unique strains of probiotics, prebiotics, and phytobiotics that have been scientifically shown to improve mental wellness
- MentaSync – repairs gut lining, optimizes gut-brain axis communication and nervous system functioning and balances the signaling between cells of the gut, brain, and immune system
This simple protocol was the missing link for me and my hope is that is for you too. To date its been the least expensive thing I have done thats gotten to the the root cause of all of my mystery health symptoms, even ones I didn’t know I I had.
I have put a link to a preloaded shopping cart containing this protocol below along with discount codes for $10 off and free shipping.
HOW THE WIRED & TIRED PROTOCOL WORKS
MENTABIOTICS
INGREDIENTS
How IT workS
Mentabiotics (Gut)
Contains the probiotics strains, prebiotics, and phytobiotics shown to improve mental wellness.
Lactobacillus rhamnosus R0011 – reduces stress by lowering cortisol exposure and improves GABA neurotransmission
Bifidobacterium longum R0175 – Enhances calmness by decreasing anxiety indices and improves cognitive function
Lactobacillus helveticus R0052 – improves mood by decreasing neuro-inflammation and increasing serotonin
Edge
INGREDIENTS
How IT workS
EDGE (Brain)
Nootropics botanicals shown to improve cognitive function, focus, memory, creativity, and motivation,
Mango Leaf (Africa) – reduces inflammatory response, provides mental flow and improves motivation and physical energy
Lychee Fruit (Asia) – increases endurance while improving glucose metabolism
Palm Fruit Bioactives (Central America), sourced from sustainably harvested palm fruit – improves neurotrophic factors (BDNF) which promotes neuron regeneration, increases dopamine, improves mood and improves gut health
MENTASYNC
INGREDIENTS
How IT workS
MentaSync (Axis)
Contains the nutrients needed to repair gut lining (leaky gut) and improve the communication of chemical messengers between your brain and your gut.
Calcium & Magnesium Butyrate – repairs and strengthens gut lining
Alpha & Beta-Glucans – optimizes communication of neurotransmitters, immune cytokines and hormones across the gut-brain axis
Zinc Carnosine Complex – enhances immune system & mental energy
MOOD
INGREDIENTS
How IT workS
Mood + (Cortisol)
Plant-based adaptogens shown to reduce cortisol, occasional feelings of depression, anxiety, tension, nervousness, and sleeplessness..
Ashwagandha – enhances mood, mental focus and stress resilience
Kanna – elevates mood and mental clarity, lowers stress, decreases anxiety
Rafuma– increases happiness and improves mood
Magnolia Bark – supports adrenals and stress response
ENERGY
INGREDIENTS
How IT workS
Energy+ (Mental & Physical Energy)
A next-generation mental energy product that delivers rapid improvements in brain and physical performance, without the jitters or crash you might get from many high-stimulant or high-sugar energy drinks.
Roobios Powder – boosts energy and alertness without caffeine
Pomegranate Seed Extract – prevents free radical damage
Asian Apple Polyphenols – increases mental and physical energy
New Zealand Pine Bark – supports cardiovascular performance, boosts memory and mental acuity, reduces fatigue
French Grape Seek Polyphenols – reduces gut inflammation
If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to reach out.
Much love & aloha ~
Jess
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