Dr. Kurt Waples: What Chronic Stress Does to Your Body

There is a moment people in long custody cases describe almost identically. The case finally slows down, and instead of feeling better they fall apart. Dr. Kurt Waples has a physiological explanation for it, and it starts with the difference between cortisol and adrenaline.

Dr. Kurt Waples runs Bluestone Health Group in Stamford, Connecticut. He trained as a chiropractor and built the practice around lifestyle and functional medicine, with the stated goal of getting people into the top ten percent of their own health rather than merely out of the danger zone. His assessment starts with body composition, fat, muscle, frame, fluid distribution and tissue health, which he reads as a map of hormone function, and then goes to blood work. Lisa met him locally and brought him on because so many BTGO clients carry a physical bill from years of legal abuse and coercive control.

He lays out a triangle: the mental side, which is what most people mean when they say stress, the biochemistry, and lifestyle. Biochemistry is the corner he says is easiest to repair and least often measured. From there he explains GABA, the only calming neurotransmitter, and the catch people get stuck in, where prolonged stress depletes both the GABA and the nutrients needed to make more of it. He covers why breathing gets physically difficult when the ribs and diaphragm lock up, why he prefers an active breathing practice to slow meditative breathing for people whose minds race, and how cold showers work as small-scale resilience training.

The second half is about what stress does to the body over years. Cortisol burning out and adrenaline taking over. Why the adrenaline state becomes something people miss, and the parallels Lisa draws to trauma bonding and to clients who cannot stop engaging with an ex. Why stress breaks down muscle for fuel while preserving fat, which is why weight loss stalls in the middle of a case. What Kurt looks for in sleep, including one sign of shallow sleep most people would never connect. And why he tells people it takes close to two years to make a new state your normal, with the clock starting later than they think.

As always, this is strategic education, not legal or mental-health advice for your specific situation.

🎓 What you'll learn

• The three-part model Dr. Kurt uses: mental health, biochemistry, and lifestyle
• What happens when cortisol burns out and the body switches to running on adrenaline
• Why GABA runs down under prolonged stress, and the nutrients involved in rebuilding it
• Why deep breathing becomes physically hard, and an active method that is easier to stick with
• How cold showers and small annoyances build tolerance for the big stressors
• Why the adrenaline state gets hard to give up, and how that parallels trauma bonding
• Why chronic stress breaks down muscle and holds onto fat, and what that means for weight
• The two-year rule for making a new normal stick, and when the clock actually starts

⏱️ Chapters
0:00 Intro
1:00 The two parts of the body that don't readjust on their own
3:00 Bluestone Health Group, and reading hormones off body composition
5:00 Why regulating your emotions starts with feeling your body
7:30 The triangle, and GABA: the body's only brake
12:00 Breathing under stress, stiff ribs, and an active breathing practice
18:00 Cold showers as resilience training
19:30 When cortisol burns out and adrenaline takes over
24:00 Why the adrenaline state becomes hard to give up
29:00 Stress eats muscle, and why the weight won't move
32:30 The top ten percent, sleep, and the two-year rule
39:30 Testing timelines, and where to find Dr. Kurt

Keep going 💜
Book a free 30-minute discovery call and we'll help you map your next steps: https://beentheregotout.com/call
📘 Been There Got Out: Toxic Relationships, High-Conflict Divorce, and How to Stay Sane Under Insane Circumstances — https://www.amazon.com/dp/194627495X
📘 Been There Got Out: When Your Ex Turns the Kids Against You (our parental-alienation book) — https://www.amazon.com/dp/1967674183
🔗 Dr. Kurt Waples at Bluestone Health Group: https://bluestonehealthgroup.com/
🔗 Ask Dr. Kurt: https://askdrkurt.com/

About Been There Got Out
Chris Barry and Lisa Johnson are high-conflict divorce, custody, and co-parenting strategists, and the founders of Been There Got Out. They know these cases from the inside: both have successfully represented themselves in family court. Few attorneys have a playbook for a case like this — Chris and Lisa write yours with you, so you and your kids can get through it as unscathed as possible.