High Cortisol Levels

[[An...]]

Can anyone tell me whether the high cortisol levels I wake up with on a regular basis, even though I sleep well, are part of withdrawals and whether they will eventually go?

 

I never had this pre-benzos.  The high cortisol is the cause of my morning jitters and is very uncomfortable.  I know this seems to be a common problem.

 

Thanks.

 

Angel

[[re...]]

How do you know your cortisol levels are high?

[[Th...]]

Hi Angel,

 

As you probably know Cortisol production is at its highest between in the morning, and then rises and falls throughout the day and at its lowest in the night hours ... a lot of people who have poor mornings and the jitters in recovery have elevated cortisol, my mornings are always the worst even after 3 years off ...

 

How high are your cortisol levels and did it correlate with a Normal / low ACTH as I presume you had a short synacthen test to see how your adrenals respond in the mornings .. some people have oral cortisol readings done on swabs but these are not very accurate unfortunatley and are prone to contamination 

 

Mike

[[An...]]

Thanks Redevan and Thundercats

 

No, I have not had any test for cortisol level.

 

I just presumed they are high as the symptoms seem to fit in with high cortisol levels and I know it is something many seem to suffer from in benzo w/d.

 

Even if I do have a test and the result is high cortisol, is there anything I can do or take to bring them down do you know?

 

Basically I would like to know if the mornings are now ever going to improve or am I stuck with this for life??

 

Thanks.

 

Angel

[[ve...]]

Hi Angel.

About a year ago (I was a little over a year off the benzo).  Morning anxiety was quite high and I suspect I may have had high cortisol too.  Also, I had embarked on a few months of rigorous exercise which may have played some role too (losing 30lbs a little quickly over three months).  Also, getting a young puppy pushed the limits on stress and lack of sleep. A year later, the morning anxiety is much lower although I think it's just how I'm built.  I used to have some morning anxiety before benzos and it's really no more today than back then.  I think the CNS must heal on it's own time frame.  That may be a few months for some, I suspect at least six months for most.  Others may need to take a full year or 18 months to get there.  I don't believe this will be forever, Angel.

 

Hang in there,

 

Vertigo

[[An...]]

Hello Vertigo my friend

 

That is exactly what I was hoping to hear.  Thanks so much.

 

It is not so much morning anxiety but the cortisol rush, which I presume it is, although I do experience anxiety attacks during the day - not every day.

 

Thanks again for the encouragement as always

 

Angel xx

[[ve...]]

Hello Vertigo my friend That is exactly what I was hoping to hear.  Thanks so much.

It is not so much morning anxiety but the cortisol rush, which I presume it is, although I do experience anxiety attacks during the day - not every day.

Thanks again for the encouragement as always

Angel xx

 

Hi Angel.

I would also add that the strain and stress of my father's cancer, hospitalization, ongoing health issues... led to an increase in my "worry" and "anxiety" at various times.  It is why I tried that valium in the first place back in 2008 . By end of 2009, I was in pretty weak shape as he was seemingly on his last legs with pneumonia and a staph infection.  After getting him back home with caregivers and settled, I ended up with Shingles a month later.  I believe it is essential to find some practice of mindfulness and acceptance to help cope with the recovery period off the benzo, particularly if one suspects high cortisol/anxiety.  The book "The Mindfulness and Acceptance Workbook for Anxiety" by Forsyth was quite helpful to me.  Also, more recently, "The Mindful Way Through Anxiety" by Roemer. One of the points made in the latter book, is that criticizing oneself for having anxiety or other emotions can be worse than the anxiety itself!  An attitude of acceptance and self compassion is essential to healing.  With the strain of having a parent with dementia and being primary caregiver, I suspect you will have some challenges in the coming months to deal with.  The CNS is likely going to be sensitive to those strains and stressors, especially if your mother becomes belligerant or mean in the process.  The good news is that you will get through this and you will come out of this stronger and maybe more healed and healthy than you expected, but it may take a while longer than you'd like it to!

 

 

Vertigo

[[An...]]

Thank you again Vertigo. I know it has been rough for you too and you are right about my own problems which haven´t even begun!  Once the room in the Care Home becomes available and the "kidnapping" takes place, that is going to be real stress!

 

My brother bought me a book called MINDFULNESS - A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO FINDING PEACE IN A FRANTIC WORLD by Mark Williams and Danny Penman.  It comes with a CD too and I am going to settle down and read it.  Ruby Wax quotes "If you want to free yourself from anxiety and stress, then read this book" 

 

Thing is I am not aware I do have stress.  I am currently in Spain again away from any problems, weather gorgeous, very relaxing lifestyle here.  It is just my physiological symptoms of the morning "anxiety" and general daytime anxiety which don´t seem to be triggered.  When I go to bed, I am usually calm and relaxed.

 

Will try to hang in here.

 

Angel xx

[[ve...]]

Sounds like a good book.  Keep pin mind that it's a paradox, Angel.  The goal is actually not to free oneself of anxiety but to change your relationship to it.  The harder one resists and tries to get rid of something, as I'm sure you've learned in life, sometimes the more it persists.  Viktor Frankl, author of Man's Search for Meaning had a technique called paradoxical intention where one learns to embrace the things one fears the most.  It's counter intuitive but sometimes can work in different situations, such as stuttering and other maladies.  In mindfulness and meditation, whether a formal or informal practice, one learns to accept all thoughts and emotions, including the difficult and anxious ones.  One can learn to defuse the thoughts, but not get rid of them.  They can actually be helpful in warning us of danger.  The key is to not over react or at least be able to observe when our reaction is initially over the top and that alone can calm oneself down.  Yet if one is trying to consciously do the mindfulness to achieve a calm state, then it can backfire.  The goal is to have an attitude of acceptance towards whatever is happening.  that does not mean to give up or give in, but to be more in the flow.  Once one can be more accepting of what is happening, an after effect seems to be that things often can calm down.  Other times, we have to accept that whatever grief or stress is going on needs to be experienced now, knowing it will not last forever.

 

V

[[...]]

Hi Angel -

 

Sorry to hear that your mornings have been tough lately.  I'm dealing with the same problem, and it has gotten worse of late; this morning I actually experienced the fear that so many have mentioned, a symptom that I've never had during all of this.  Every morning has been a challenge but to have the fear in addition to the anxiety really concerns me at just past 9 months out.  I'm thinking about seeing an endocrinologist regarding all of this. 

 

I hope the anxiety starts to lift for you soon.

 

Rico

[[Th...]]

Thanks Redevan and Thundercats

 

No, I have not had any test for cortisol level.

 

I just presumed they are high as the symptoms seem to fit in with high cortisol levels and I know it is something many seem to suffer from in benzo w/d.

 

Even if I do have a test and the result is high cortisol, is there anything I can do or take to bring them down do you know?

 

Basically I would like to know if the mornings are now ever going to improve or am I stuck with this for life??

 

Hi Angel,

 

Its suprising just how many people in everyday life who have never had benzo's have high cortisol production that leads to anxiety and they just feel that it is an anxiety related response when it can be the other way round ... Cortisol production brings you awake from sleep and usually a good guide to whether cortisol is high is the inablilty to drift back off to sleep past 8 - 9am in the morning even if you are really tired and have had no sleep in the night cortisol prevents you from getting back to sleep when it is elevated .... it even follows the daylight changing times, sadly there is no simple solution to lowering elevated cortisol other than removing the cause ... simple exercises like swimming are a good way to burn off the excess levels in the blood stream any simple aerobic exercise (not strenuous) helps ... the anxiety that you say returns is that around late afternoon or is it random?

 

If it remains problematic have it checked but chances are that it will be normal you would need to see an endocrinologist ...

 

Hope this helps

[[An...]]

Thanks Redevan and Thundercats

 

No, I have not had any test for cortisol level.

 

I just presumed they are high as the symptoms seem to fit in with high cortisol levels and I know it is something many seem to suffer from in benzo w/d.

 

Even if I do have a test and the result is high cortisol, is there anything I can do or take to bring them down do you know?

 

Basically I would like to know if the mornings are now ever going to improve or am I stuck with this for life??

 

Hi Angel,

 

Its suprising just how many people in everyday life who have never had benzo's have high cortisol production that leads to anxiety and they just feel that it is an anxiety related response when it can be the other way round ... Cortisol production brings you awake from sleep and usually a good guide to whether cortisol is high is the inablilty to drift back off to sleep past 8 - 9am in the morning even if you are really tired and have had no sleep in the night cortisol prevents you from getting back to sleep when it is elevated .... it even follows the daylight changing times, sadly there is no simple solution to lowering elevated cortisol other than removing the cause ... simple exercises like swimming are a good way to burn off the excess levels in the blood stream any simple aerobic exercise (not strenuous) helps ... the anxiety that you say returns is that around late afternoon or is it random?

 

If it remains problematic have it checked but chances are that it will be normal you would need to see an endocrinologist ...

 

Hope this helps

 

Thanks Mike - the anxiety strikes randomly but is more tolerable than it used to be.  It´s interesting what you say about the endrocrinologist.  Rico mentioned he may go so I shall be interested to hear what he is told.

 

I guess I am lucky if these are my only symptoms.

 

Angel

[[An...]]

Hi Angel -

 

Sorry to hear that your mornings have been tough lately.  I'm dealing with the same problem, and it has gotten worse of late; this morning I actually experienced the fear that so many have mentioned, a symptom that I've never had during all of this.  Every morning has been a challenge but to have the fear in addition to the anxiety really concerns me at just past 9 months out.  I'm thinking about seeing an endocrinologist regarding all of this. 

 

I hope the anxiety starts to lift for you soon.

 

Rico

 

Hi Rico

 

I hope your anxiety lifts soon too.  I think this is all pretty normal though and I hope it will go at some stage.

 

If you do go to an endocrinologist, I shall be very interested to hear what he says.  Please PM me.

 

Thanks

 

Angel

[[sh...]]

Hi all

 

Feeling really weak lately and had some blood work done.  High cortisol in morning...my heart does race and I do wake up jittery and stressed.  This is such an improvement though that I was just dealing with it.  My thyroid also came up with some difficulties...one thing I think contributed to my difficult withdrawal.  So instead of treating the thyroid, the doc is making me take some tests to see what the increased cortisol is from.  I told him it was w/d and of course he didnt believe me...actually chuckled.  No point in getting another doc though, because it will just be a different chuckling face   So the test was a dose of a prednisone type drug and not too surprisingly I am a nervous wreck today.  Hopefully there isnt some crazy reading to this test...tired of being treated like I am making symptoms up.  I did print some stuff up to take to him.

 

Hope today is a good one for everyone

Shell

[[Th...]]

Hi Shell

 

Sounds like you had a Dex Test (dextamethasone) because your cortisol is up, because your Thyroid is struggling often this can point to a pituitary problem ... often this test can show whether the cortisol is being caused by the adrenals being forced to manufacture too much cortisol by the pituitary gland or whether the adrenals are just making too much independently .. hope that it comes back ok ..