"Your brain doesn't know if you are running from a bear or have a deadline at work."Įxcess cortisol increases your heart rate, makes you more alert by increasing norepinephrine (a neurotransmitter that can also make you feel anxious) and increases your blood sugar, Scott explains. Tara Scott, a functional medicine doctor. "High cortisol happens when the body perceives a stressor," says Dr. StressĬortisol imbalance can make you feel like you can't handle day-to-day tasks.Įxcessive and prolonged stress is the primary cause of cortisol imbalance, whether high or low. Regardless, there are some common culprits behind cortisol imbalances of every type. Having a cortisol imbalance can also mean your cortisol is too high at certain times of day or too low at other times, rather than a constant surplus or shortage. Importantly, cortisol imbalances aren't always a simple matter of high or low. "While there are clinical diagnoses of high ( Cushing syndrome) and low ( Addison's disease), which require medical treatment, there is a large spectrum of 'out of range' cortisol levels or inappropriate cortisol patterns that can affect our day-to-day lives," she explains. "Generally a cortisol imbalance can come about due to extremely high stress or prolonged stress," Azzarro says. Prolonged stress is the main cause of cortisol imbalance. Blood sugar and blood pressure instability.Trouble falling asleep and staying asleep.Weight gain, especially in the abdominal area.Signs of cortisol imbalanceĪnxiety and overwhelm are two key symptoms of cortisol imbalances.Įveryone's exact experience with cortisol imbalance will differ, particularly when it comes to differentiating between high and low cortisol.
The majority of your body's cells contain cortisol receptors, so it's a really important hormone, but like any hormone, too much or too little of it can be detrimental to your body and health. Helps control blood sugar levels and blood pressure.In addition to curbing any body functions that are nonessential in a fight-or-flight scenario, cortisol also: Most people know cortisol for its role in the "fight-or-flight" response, which is important, but cortisol actually plays many other roles in the body. The hormone is produced in the adrenal glands in response to internal or external stressors. Over- or under-functioning adrenal glands lead to symptoms of burnout.Ĭortisol is the body's primary stress hormone, says Melissa Groves Azzaro, a registered dietitian and author of A Balanced Approach to PCOS.
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