When your cortisol levels are off you often feel perpetually "wired and tired" or even feel entirely or completely drained.
The exact feeling when your cortisol levels are off will also depend on whether you have high cortisol or low cortisol.
When you have high cortisol, which is also known as hypercortisolism, your body is under chronic stress and cortisol floods your system and can lead to feelings of jittery anxiety, exhaustion and insomnia, brain fog, unexplained physical changes and even other physical signs like high blood pressure, muscle weakness, acne, and easy bruising.
Unexplained weight changes that can occur when your cortisol levels are high include rapid weight gain, especially a cortisol belly (waistline), a rounded "moon face" or a fat pad between your shoulders.
Brain fog is where you have poor memory, frequent headaches and trouble concentrating.
Exhaustion and insomnia with high cortisol include feeling wired at night, but waking up completely groggy despite sleeping through the night.
And the jittery anxiety with high cortisol is a constant feeling of being on edge, nervousness or having racing thoughts that make it hard to unwind.
In low cortisol also known as Hypocortisolism, your adrenal glands are exhausted and can't produce enough cortisol, so your body lacks it's natural energy and stress response mechanism, which can lead to profound fatigue, dizziness and low blood pressure, muscle weakness and body temperature and craving issues.
The profound fatigue in low cortisol can result in a constant and overwhelming exhaustion that gets worse over time.
Dizziness and low blood pressure, where you feel lightheaded or dizzy when standing up.
Muscle weakness, where you have a heavy, weak feeling in your muscles and body and temperature changes, where you frequently feel cold, lack stamina and have strong cravings for salt.
The symptoms of low cortisol are low blood pressure that causes dizziness when standing, persistent fatigue and unexplained weight loss and muscle weakness.
Low cortisol is also known as adrenal insufficiency and occurs when your adrenal glands do not produce enough hormones as it normally should.
The symptoms of low cortisol or adrenal insufficiency often develop slowly and can also easily be confused with other conditions.
The key symptoms and indicators of low cortisol include.
Irritability, depression and in women, irregular menstrual periods or even a loss of interest in sex.
Darkening of the skin also known as hyperpigmentation, which is most visible on skin folds, scars, pressure points and gums.
Nausea, diarrhea, vomiting and abdominal pain as well as low blood pressure, dizziness or lightheadedness when standing also known as orthostatic hypotension and very low blood sugar.
And extreme fatigue, unexplained weight loss, muscle or joint pain and decreased appetite.
If you experience these symptoms you should let your doctor know so they can test you for low cortisone levels and do a hormone test like an ACTH stimulation test to find the underlying cause of the low cortisol levels.
The best supplement for cortisol is Ashwagandha.
Ashwagandha is one of the best supplements for cortisol and it helps to regulate the HPA axis, which is your body's stress response system and studies have even shown that Ashwagandha can reduce cortisol by up to 23% to 32%.
The typical dosage of Ashwagandha is 250 mg to 600 mg daily.
And standardized extracts of Ashwagandha like KSM-66 or Sensoril are also highly recommended.
Other best supplements for cortisol are magnesium glycinate and L-Theanine.
L-Theanine is an amino acid that is naturally found in green tea.
L-Theanine promotes alpha brain waves, which induces a calm and focused mental state while reducing stress induced cortisol spikes.
The typical dosage of L-Theanine is 100 mg to 200 mg daily.
Magnesium Glycinate is good for cortisol as magnesium glycinate is a critical mineral that is involved in over 300 biochemical reactions, and it supports parasympathetic "rest and digest" activity.
Magnesium deficiency also makes stress worse and glycinate is also a highly bioavailable form that is gentle on your stomach.
The typical dose of magnesium glycinate is 200 mg to 400 mg daily.
Other good supplements for cortisol are Omega-3 Fatty Acids and Phosphatidylserine.
Phosphatidylserine is a fatty compound that is shown to blunt excessive cortisol spikes during or after intense physical or mental stress.
And Omega-3 fatty Acids help control inflammation and reduce the physical effects of chronic stress, which can also assist in lowering your morning cortisol levels.
Although supplements should only be used as a support mechanism for cortisol and lifestyle changes like better sleep, routine exercise and even mindfulness are the most proven ways of lowing cortisol.