Cortisol?

[kath138]

Can anyone give any information or advise on Cortisol? I have anxiety and wake up every morning feeling nervous, anxious, stomach upset, sometimes a bit shaky, poor appetite, poor sleep. I don't know if it is a Cortisol problem has I haven't spoken to my GP but have researched it. CBT didn't help me although I do meditate and that is calming but not a permanent fix.

I do find that exercise helps and it fades quicker if I go to the gym. But does it mean I have to cope with this awful feeling every morning unless I visit the gym. I'm 65 with arithritis and sciatica so I do my best to exercise but if their is any remedies or advise much appreciated. I realise that I do need to speak to my GP at some point but you guys are very helpful with information and experience.

PS I take Mirtazapine 15mg but don't find they help and trying to be brave enough to wean off them as I have had bad withdrawl in the past.

TIA Kath. :unsure:

[Velvet]

Hiya. Katy

Sorry to hear of your struggles.
Hope someone comes along who maybe has some experiences similar to yours.
I’m afraid I don’t have any experience of it.
So would just recommend you speak to your gp see what they recommend. I know different meds’ affect us all differently..

Hope you manage to sort it out ��

[lior]

LOL I saw your picture and got confused - I was trying to remember when I'd written this post on cortisol for a split second! Haha.

May I say, you have excellent taste in imagery... :)

So... how long have you been experiencing anxiety for? Do you know the root cause?
I've found that CBT, meditation, and medication have all helped me along the journey, but none of them were the solution. For me, the solution has been learning self-compassion, and simultaneously unpicking my childhood and early adulthood traumas with a psychotherapist.

I'm not a scientist, but as far as I understand, cortisol is a naturally occurring hormone, just like oestrogen, progesterone, and testosterone. Cortisol is the stress hormone. It's released when we are unhappily stressed. It is also released when we are happily stressed - for example with exercising.

Cortisol isn't bad on its own - cortisol production is normal. The problem seems to be when it's too much.

As far as I understand, anxiety sufferers may well produce more cortisol. That doesn't mean that cortisol itself is the problem. The problem is why we're getting stressed in the first place - what's the stimuli. We can make a difference to this through how we perceive the world (inner) and what we do in our lives (outer).

You might like this article about things you can do to combat high cortisol levels:
https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-athletes-way/201301/cortisol-why-the-stress-hormone-is-public-enemy-no-1

[kath138]

Hiya. Katy

Sorry to hear of your struggles.
Hope someone comes along who maybe has some experiences similar to yours.
I’m afraid I don’t have any experience of it.
So would just recommend you speak to your gp see what they recommend. I know different meds’ affect us all differently..

Hope you manage to sort it out ��

Thank you for your response. I'll keep up the fight!! lol :shades:

---------- Post added at 19:32 ---------- Previous post was at 19:30 ----------

Many thanks for your input interesting reading. I suppose it's true in some respects mind over matter. I wish I knew why I feel like I do nothing in particular has set it off just have to hope it disappears as soon as it came.

Kath x