Cortisol and Hormonal Imbalance Symptoms

Today I want to talk a little bit about cortisol. So what exactly is cortisol and where does it come from? Why is it important for our body? And what are some side effects if your cortisol is off balance? Cortisol is a stress hormone. that typically rises during times of stress to give us the appropriate energy we need to tackle whatever kind of stress that we're going through.

That's good in the short term, however, long term, chronically elevated cortisol levels can wreak havoc on our system and can cause a myriad of symptoms such as weight gain, especially in the abdominal area. It can affect your mood, is associated with anxiety and depression, it can cause insomnia and a poor quality of sleep for the night, and it can also interfere with optimal blood pressure and blood sugar control.

Cortisol is also known as a regulating hormone. Not only can it help regulate your blood pressure and your blood glucose level, but it can also regulate your other hormones - especially female hormones like estrogen and progesterone. So oftentimes if your estrogen and progesterone levels are off, it could be a cortisol problem.

Cortisol has a natural circadian rhythm. Typically, your cortisol level is your highest in the morning when you wake up in the morning and that gives you that oomf to get going and start your day. As the day progresses, your cortisol level naturally, steadily declines. Your cortisol level is the lowest at night during the light deprivation hours of the day, and it's at this time that when your cortisol is at the lowest, your melatonin level rises, and that helps provide a good night sleep.

Cortisol is something that we can measure and typically your primary care provider will order a cortisol level, but typically they order a serum one time cortisol level. This really is not useful information. At Virtual Hormone Clinic, we order a diurnal circadian cortisol panel. This covers your cortisol level measurements four times throughout the day.

So, first of all, the awakening cortisol level, then second, during noontimish lunchtime, third, in the mid afternoon, early evening, between 4 and 6 p. m., and then finally, a cortisol measurement at bedtime around 9 ish.

One of the best methods for testing your cortisol level is through saliva testing. Saliva gives your best measurement of the bioavailable hormones that your tissues can actually use versus serum in the bloodstream where it may be bound by carrier proteins and is not available for your tissues to use.

At Virtual Hormone Clinic, we send you a lab kit to your home, where you can gather these four saliva samples throughout the day. Once you've collected your specimens, you just place it in the bag that's provided in the kit, and simply mail it back. The postage is already paid.

So, if you're having any symptoms where you wake up in the morning, and you feel like you haven't even slept, or you sleep through the night, drink that cup of coffee, and get your day started, but then around lunchtime you crash hard, or you struggle through the day at work, and then finally in the evening when you're home with your family, all of a sudden you get a burst of energy, it could be that your cortisol circadian rhythm is off.