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Adrenaline

Adrenaline: Also known as epinephrine, is a hormone and medication which is involved in regulating visceral functions. Adrenaline can increase the heart rate, increase blood pressure, expand the air passages to the lungs, enlarge the pupil in the eye, redistribute blood to the muscles and alter the body’s metabolism.

I think throughout my separation, divorce, child arrangement orders and financial settlement adrenaline was my fuel. They say that adrenaline has a duration of action of just a few minutes. For me it was approximately 4 years. Admittedly aided by the regular use of “Red Bull” and a “Mars Bar”. 

From the night my daughter and I finally left the family home for the last time with blood running down my face and my precious child crying and concerned for me, my diet was sugary drinks, chocolate and a very unhealthy dose of adrenaline.

I tried to hold down my job, be both mum and dad to my daughter and generally hold it all together. To balance parenting with work I had very little time for sleep. When my daughter slept, I worked, because I was the boss but when she was awake, I was the parent.

In those four years I endured hundreds of letters from Ex’s solicitor, mediation, 18 hearings, a section 7 report, professional assessments, family group therapy and so much more.

At the time, nobody and least of all me, understood how I managed to keep going. Working hard, enduring the constant set-backs, the new challenges, the disagreements, the attempts at co-parenting and the many failed attempts to agree something, anything.

People joke of the “Divorce Diet” well it is a thing. I lost weight like small change in the car. I didn’t want to eat I didn’t feel the need to eat. Even my diet of energy drinks and chocolate could not sustain any weight. The adrenaline was working a treat. It effected every organ in my body. Sleep was non-existent even when I wanted to. I spent years looking like a rabbit caught in the headlights.

I am not sure when the adrenaline stopped coursing through my veins on an hour-by-hour basis. Maybe it was after the last court hearing, maybe it was when the solicitor’s letters stopped. I am not sure. But I do know, after 4 years of this hormone always in your body, doing its thing, when it stops, it takes a lot of getting used to.

The exhaustion kicked in, my strength left me and my body started to fail. The adrenaline for me had kept me upright, kept me moving, walking and talking. As the levels dropped off my superhuman strength was gone.

Looking back, I needed to have controlled this hormone in me, it could have killed me!

If you are interested in finding out more about how to stay healthy starting with your diet, then feel free to attend our ‘Cooking on a Budget’ workshop on Saturday 15th May. To book or for further information, just click on the link: https://ducookingonabudget.eventbrite.co.uk Dads and your children welcome.  

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