The Hidden Deficit

Chronic stress, nutrient depletion, and the quiet dismantling of hormonal balance in midlife.

The Hidden Cost of Doing Too Much

An unbalanced life, constantly doing, always on the go, driven by people-pleasing tendencies, is a recipe for burnout in itself. And that’s before you factor in the reduced capacity that comes with hormonal changes.

Add to that a nervous system worn thin by undiagnosed neurodivergence, and you’ve got the perfect storm: a spectacular, bewildering kind of exhaustion.

I often visualise this, like a graph tracking a bank balance but instead of money, we’re dealing in currencies of energy and nutrients. Most of us start life with decent reserves: vitamins, minerals, stress buffers. Even a sensitive nervous system (as is often the case for those of us who are neurodivergent) has some level of padding and protection.

Photo by Ibrahim Rifath on Unsplash

But over time, with every instance of overextending ourselves, every imbalance between input and output, rest and effort, we deplete that system. Every time we say yes when our body needed us to say no, every time we override what we need in the moment, another £ is withdrawn from the energy bank.

And unsurprisingly, we end up BROKE.

Here’s what’s even more interesting (and sobering): chronic stress actively drains specific, vital nutrients from our bodies nutrients we need to feel well:

👉 Magnesium – Essential for muscle relaxation, nerve function, and stress regulation. Stress causes increased magnesium loss, which can lead to tension, anxiety, and fatigue.

👉 Vitamin C – A powerful antioxidant that supports immunity and helps manage cortisol. Prolonged stress lowers vitamin C levels, leaving us more vulnerable to illness.

👉 B Vitamins (B5, B6, B9, B12) – Crucial for energy, nervous system function, and adrenal health. Stress depletes these, resulting in fatigue, mood changes, and poor concentration.

👉 Zinc – Supports mood, immune health, and healing. Chronic stress reduces zinc levels, which weakens immunity and recovery.

👉 Omega-3 Fatty Acids – Key for brain function, mood balance, and reducing inflammation. Stress increases inflammation and can lower omega-3 levels, contributing to anxiety and depression.

On top of all this, when stress is high, your body prioritises producing cortisol (the stress hormone) over making sex hormones. It makes sense from a survival perspective, the body chooses staying alive over reproduction. But in modern life, that high-stress state rarely ends, and our systems never get the chance to recalibrate.

This has a particularly negative effect on progesterone, the hormone that typically declines first in perimenopause. Progesterone supports mood, promotes calm, and acts as a natural sedative that helps us sleep. So if we enter perimenopause already running a nutrient and hormonal deficit, while continuing to push ourselves to perform at the same pace, the consequences can be intense.

Implosion. Explosion. A breakdown of the mind and body that delivers one message, loud and clear:

Enough is enough.

Your nutrient reserves aren’t just low, they’re overdrawn. Your nervous system is frayed, the electrical current of your body’s stress response is now live at the surface of your skin and senses.

It’s as if your outer protective layer has been stripped away, exposing a rawness only you can feel.

And so you find yourself staring down the abyss of burnout, illness, and deep exhaustion, with no real choice left but to stop.

How long recovery takes is deeply individual. But what many women report is this: healing begins only when you remove everything from your plate and truly, unapologetically rest.

And of course, finding ways to support our hormones, top up our missing nutrients, can all help too.

There is a message here, that I’d really like to leave with you and that is this:

So often we carry a guilt, a shame around illness of an unseen nature, exhaustion that we feel we have no reason for and managing the difference between the ‘YES’ woman that we were and the person we are now.

But.

This.

Is.

Not.

Your.

Fault.

We are human beings, that have a limit. Our resources are not limitless. And when they have been continuously drawn on to give out to others, there is a cost.

This is your sign, to start refilling your energy account. To even work towards savings. Imagine.

That is one of the powerful lessons perimenopause is teaching us.

A different way to live.

Big love

Sophie x

I’d love to know if this hit home for you, let me know in the comments below : )