Wired but Tired: What Your Body’s Trying to Tell You
Have you ever felt like your mind’s racing but your body’s running on fumes?
That wired but tired feeling is one of the clearest signs that your nervous system has been living in overdrive — caught in stress chemistry for far too long.
As a neuro physiotherapist and health coach with over 18 years in the health space, I’ve seen this pattern countless times — in my clients, and in my own story. Years ago, I found myself pushing through exhaustion, relying on stress hormones to keep me going. I was tired but couldn’t rest, constantly alert, and unable to switch off.
If that feels familiar, you’re not alone — and there’s a clear reason your body feels this way.
What’s Really Happening When You’re “Wired But Tired”
When stress becomes chronic, your body stays in a state of high alert — releasing adrenaline and cortisol to keep you going.
At first, that can feel like drive or focus, but over time, your system begins to burn out.
Here’s what happens inside your body when stress chemistry takes over:
The frontal cortex, responsible for focus and problem-solving, starts to lose connection — leading to brain fog, poor concentration, and reactive decision-making.
The vagus nerve, which supports digestion, detoxification, and gut-brain communication, switches off. This can cause sluggish gut motility, bloating, reflux, and reduced stomach acid.
Your sleep becomes lighter or disrupted, because your body doesn’t feel safe to fully rest.
You may feel anxious, flat, or emotionally reactive — swinging between exhaustion and overdrive.
Your body is doing what it’s designed to do under threat. The problem is, it’s not meant to stay there for weeks, months, or years.
Why You Might Be Stuck in Stress Mode
The nervous system learns through repetition.
If you’ve been in a high-stress state for years — pushing through illness, pressure, or emotional strain — your system begins to see that as “normal.”
Even when life slows down, your body doesn’t always know how to shift out of survival mode.
You might rest but never feel refreshed.
Sleep but wake feeling wired.
Try to relax but still sense that underlying hum of tension.
That’s not failure — it’s conditioning. And it can be retrained.
Rebuilding Regulation
The nervous system is remarkably adaptable. Through gentle, consistent practices, you can rewire the patterns that keep you stuck in stress chemistry and teach your body how to return to safety.
In my 1:1 nervous system coaching, I guide clients to:
Identify their personal stress patterns
Reconnect the brain and body for better communication
Restore vagus nerve tone and gut-brain balance
Support sleep, energy, and digestion naturally
Build resilience without pushing harder
When the body begins to feel safe again, everything changes — energy steadies, thinking clears, and the constant feeling of being wired but tired finally starts to ease.
A Final Thought
If you’ve been living in “go mode” for so long that you’ve forgotten what calm feels like, your body is sending a message — not of failure, but of fatigue.
Learning how to regulate your nervous system is about more than stress management; it’s about retraining your biology to support your healing and energy again.
