The Dreaded End-of-Year Burnout

A Beer-Man’s Guide to a Healthy Liver: A Series?

Intro

In November 2017, I was working at Lagunitas Brewing Company amid the peak sale season. As the state sales manager, I was walking a narrow path towards complete burnout, an annual event for me, but this year was different.?

Our team sold so much beer that year that these final holiday months would be the icing on the cake for “Team Lagunitas”. I always looked forward to the holiday break but the success of the past year had kept me on a constant grind that I had no desire to stop. This way of living worked until it seriously put my life at risk.

?You would think we were trained athletes, competing the entire season hoping for a championship win, stressing our bodies to their breaking point. Similarly to professional athletes, we have physicians on the sidelines, ready to treat us, but only if we let them. Let my story serve as a reminder to all professionals, at any age or phase of your career, that no short-term gratification is worth the cost of your health. Call your doctor and lean into your healthcare provider if something seems off.?

Story

In Q4 of 2017, I was in the middle of onboarding a new teammate and suddenly felt disoriented. I struggled to form sentences and remember apologizing, “Sorry I am not myself today,” ending my work day at that moment. I was tired all the time and could not remember what having “normal” energy felt like. I then checked in with Dr. Google and diagnosed myself with severe fatigue. Before that experience, my body was already showing signs of damage. I just chose to bury them with work.?

I felt like I was fighting a losing battle inside while the world kept on. My blood pressure was elevated and worsened with stress; I was operating at 40% capacity while thinking I was at peak performance. My health was a mess, and I had no clue.

What the hell is happening to me? Why can't I think without feeling like I’m wearing a clamp around my head that tightens with every word I try to deliver?

I couldn’t believe I was losing control of my speech and went home to ease the stress. Fast forward to lying in bed at 11:00 pm, there was an intense pressure in my head. I asked my girlfriend to take me to a nearby Urgent Care, “Something is wrong,” I told her.??

Imagine what a computer hard drive would feel like when you keep trying to add more files, ignoring that the storage is at max capacity.

I remember the doctor asking me if I was in any pain. My response was “No, I am not in pain, just have pressure around my head and can’t think”. He responded, “You have pain, Mr. Reyes, pain is when you are trying to overcome a discomfort or when something is not feeling right. Mr. Reyes, you think pain is when something hurts, but not all pain hurts, do you understand?”

An hour later, my Urgent Care doctor returned with test results: “Good news Mr. Reyes, you do not have a brain tumor and your heart is good. What you do have is elevated blood pressure. You need to see your primary to figure out the root of the problem. Go home, rest, and have a good night”. As my girlfriend drove us back home, I tried to shake the nerves and anxiety my imagination had compounded, but the pressure around my head remained.

For years, I was so concerned about hitting my sales targets, that I shoved my health to the bottom of my priority list. In January of 2018, I hit my biggest numbers, sadly, they were not sales-related, it was high blood pressure that triggered the alarm. My poor diet, compounded stress, lack of exercise, the beer-drinking culture that went hand and hand with my work, and anxiety that finally did me in. In my case, I was eating and drinking more than my liver could process so it moved the excess to the belly, which eventually turned into visceral fat. No number of Tylenols was going to do the trick any longer. My body was suffering in silence, and I did not have the information at that time to see what the obvious symptoms were.?

Call a doctor if you have any of the following symptoms, even mildly. You deserve to be and feel 100%?

• Brain Fog - Forgetfulness, lack of focus, and mental clarity
• Pressure in your head - Blurred vision, lack of energy, headache
• High Blood Pressure - Headache (not always), red ears?
• Change in vision - Floaters, eye strain and twitching?
• Fatigue?
• Irritability?

To better illustrate the shape I was in, the following is an excerpt from my first article, Liver Die: How the Common Beverage Industry Career and Lifestyle Nearly Killed Me.

“My day as a field sales guy was still chugging along. My mood: let's say excited - something I manufactured earlier with the help of a few lunch beers. Armed with a corporate credit card and a thirst for the sale, I clocked into the night shift and introduced myself to a new community of servers, bartenders, and chefs.”

My lifestyle had a shelf life, and it was about to expire. Take my close call with liver disease to help yourself or your loved ones overcome similar challenges to your health and well-being. In hindsight, overcoming a life-threatening problem was a great accomplishment, but I am haunted by the embarrassment of my past. I lost many years because of my weight, and unhealthy habits, and existed in a state of anxiety under the careful eyes of my doctors. I hope you can’t relate to my story, but if you do, let this article serve as an important reminder that nothing is worth sacrificing your health.?

About the Author?

A few years ago, I was broken but functioning, fighting off liver disease. I entered the world of beer sales at 27, now 37, I share my stories of life as a high-octane beer salesman. These are unfiltered and personal journal entries. My past is a blueprint for others to learn how to reverse a decade of drinking alcohol and add more years to their metabolic health through community, exercise, and nutrition. I truly hope you don’t relate to any of my stories but instead, take the information about my close call with liver disease and the symptoms that led to the diagnosis to help yourself or others overcome it.?

Works Cited

• Cleveland Clinic, Liver Disease. Published 10/04/2023.
• Yan-Ci Zhao, Guo-Jun Zhoe, Ze Chen, Zhi-Gang She, Jingjing Cai, Hongliang Li. Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease An Emerging Driver of Hypertension. Published AHA/ASA Journal 12/19/2023.