Cortisol Chaos: The Missing Link in Your Hormonal Imbalance
If you’ve been struggling with fatigue, anxiety, mood swings, stubborn belly fat, or irregular cycles, your cortisol levels might be to blame.
Cortisol is your body’s primary stress hormone—and when it’s out of balance, everything else follows. Cortisol is produced in our adrenal glands, a small but powerful gland, that sits on top of our kidneys. Cortisol is not inherently bad. In fact, cortisol helps us survive stressful times, is anti-inflammatory and frankly, is essential for our survival. However, stress is meant to be short term and then we allow our bodies time to rest and recover. But when stress is chronic, cortisol will steal the show and hijack our hormones and body completely, which then throws key hormones like estrogen, progesterone, and insulin completely off track.
Here’s what happens when cortisol is hijacking your hormones:
🔸 Estrogen Disruption – High cortisol slows down estrogen metabolism, potentially leading to estrogen dominance. That means heavier periods, PMS, bloating, breast tenderness, and mood swings. Additionally, cortisol decreases sensitivity to estrogen, which can cause hot flashes. Hot flashes are typically a symptom of low estrogen under normal circumstances. However, if a woman with normal estrogen levels is under a lot of stress, it can cause the cortisol receptors in the brain to be altered by high cortisol. This can cause hot flashes in women that have reasonable estrogen levels.
🔸 Low Progesterone – Your body “steals” progesterone to make more cortisol under stress. This can lead to anxiety, insomnia, short luteal phases, and infertility.
🔸 Suppressed thyroid function – Cortisol works closely with your thyroid hormone at the cellular level and makes your thyroid hormones work more efficiently. We need balanced cortisol levels (not too high or too low) to have optimal thyroid function. This is often why women with high stress levels will have all the symptoms of low thyroid function (weight gain, can’t lose weight, fatigue, etc.) when they are under a lot of stress, even though their thyroid hormones look “normal”.
🔸 Insulin Resistance – Elevated cortisol increases blood sugar and insulin levels. It causes unstable blood sugar levels that can fluctuate throughout the day. This blood sugar rollercoaster can cause insatiable cravings, overeating, fatigue, and anxiety. Over time, this can lead to energy crashes, weight gain (especially around the middle), and even prediabetes.
The Bottom Line
These imbalances don’t just feel awful—they’re signals from your body that deeper systems are under strain. Prolonged high stress can lead to burnout, obesity, high blood pressure, diabetes and speed up the aging process. Therefore, keeping cortisol levels healthy is essential for overall good health and well-being.
The best cortisol testing methods are with saliva or urine with samples taken at 4 or 5 points during the day. My favorite test is the DUTCH test. This shows the cortisol pattern (curve) during the day as well as the levels of the hormone. The benefit of urine testing is that it allows a look at cortisol metabolites as well as cortisone (an inactive form of cortisol).
The good news?
Hormones can rebalance when we address the root cause—and that often starts with calming your nervous system and restoring healthy cortisol levels and adrenal health.
One of my best tips to help prevent your cortisol from spiking too high in the morning is to eat within 30 minutes of waking. I like to start my day with a smoothie that incorporates heathy fats, fiber, protein and berries. If the idea of eating first thing makes your stomach turn, then have a small snack such as a small handful of nuts (such as 7-10 almonds, cashews, walnuts, etc.) to break your fast and then have breakfast an hour later. How we fuel our body first thing in the morning sets the stage for our hormones all day!
P.S. If these symptoms sound like you and you’d like to explore your hormone balance, please use the click HERE below to book a complimentary consult.