Wired & Tired

HPA Axis Dysfunction

HPA stands for Hypothalamus, Pituitary, and Adrenal. Think of it as your body’s stress control center.

When it is working properly, it gives you energy in the morning and winds you down at night. When it breaks down, the rhythm flips. Your cortisol levels run high in the evening when they should be low. And they drop in the morning when they should be elevated.

Here is the science behind it.

When your brain is under stress, it produces a precursor hormone called POMC. Some call it the “mother molecule.”

When this mother molecule breaks down, it creates two important “children.”

The first is ACTH. This tells your adrenal glands to pump out stress hormones like cortisol.

The second is MSH. This tells your cells to make pigment.

Now think about this. If you are wired and tired and you look in the mirror and see dark circles under your eyes, that is a huge clue. Your HPA axis may be out of sync.

The same mother hormone is raising your cortisol levels and, at the same time, telling your cells to produce more pigment. This extra pigment shows up most around the usually pale skin under your eyes.

People often think dark circles are just shadows from poor sleep. That is partly true. But it is also a direct sign of a dysregulated HPA axis.

That is why you are awake when you should be asleep and exhausted when you should be alert. Your internal clock is out of balance.

So if you are feeling wired and tired, do not just blame insomnia. It could be that your stress control center is spinning out of control.

Authored by Gerard Guillory, MD

Gerard Guillory, MD, is a board-certified internist who practiced for nearly four decades with a focus on functional, root-cause medicine. He is the author of three books on irritable bowel syndrome and the founder of It’s My Health, where he and his team put current health news in context and help members understand the underlying causes of chronic symptoms.