Saliva cortisol test/ menses

Also...
what would treatment be?
Would the treatment for an abnormal result be adaptagens or something more specific based on results?

Hi Lightlife -
Over the past year I delved deep into hormone information, which included a surprising amount of NEW info on what a normal cycle looks like and what an abnormal cycle indicates about other health issues. Thanks to much of this research, the mainstream medical industry (outside of the "infertility" opportunists) are starting to realize that (fixable) imbalances in a woman's cycle are the primary reason for troubles conceiving. But more importantly, these imbalances could potentially be the most important measure or indicator of her overall health. For instance, certain PMS symptoms indicate liver or kidney struggles, or heart problems.

As you probably know there are many critical hormonal changes that occur throughout the month that gear up for ovulation--it's the ovulation process that drives our trains not menstruation. When you have symptoms during the two weeks between menstruation and ovulation, they are communicating to you that something is not quite balanced with the particular hormonal shifts associated with that corresponding cycle process.

It's fascinating when you start mapping your cycles and symptoms compared to how you feel throughout the month. And tiny little adjustments to your diet or supplements or lifestyle can not only have a huge impact on cycle symptoms but also support your overall health in ways that are greatly underappreciated.

Assuming you are not eating significantly different at any particular time of the month, anxiety could be associated with a hormone shift. But we crave carbs before our periods for a reason--nearly every female hormone starts with cholesterol and many other hormones it converts into. So our bodies are trying to help us eat the right foods it needs for that part of the cycle, although unfortunately in our modern age, we're eating sugary simple carbs instead of more good carbs. So those inferior foods can cause all sorts of imbalances that can contribute to anxiety and other PMS symptoms--especially sugar.

Also, the liver does incredible things for us, including the storage, stockpiling, detoxing, flushing and creation of female hormones. So if the liver is a little backed up or not quite keeping up with our demands this can result in symptoms.

Cortisol is a hormone and is associated with so many endocrine processes as well as insulin levels (another reason to respond to cravings with increased good, complex carbs instead of sugary stuff that spikes insulin, creating a whole other series of demanding processes on your body when it's trying to gear up for ovulation.)

And just a little note on fertility--I'm learning that it's most often simple imbalances that create a situation in your body where it decides it needs to triage and conserve energy for more important or immediate functions (healing from illness or accident, gearing up for stressful situation) and shifts this away from less critical processes like reproduction. This might not be a concern for you--but symptoms are usually information that could be useful.

I think the fact that many women experience increase in Lyme & Co symptoms during their periods is interesting, suggests the body is struggling in multiple ways, and also it's not detoxing as much as it needs to. It could also be helpful with clarity in diagnosis.

Anyway, back to your questions--
Women are at a bit of a disadvantage with these types of tests since our hormones are fluctuating constantly--for good reason.They can try to calibrate your results (kinda) based on your cycle but I think regardless of when you do the test, you're getting good info.

Treatment can get complicated. Yes, it's usually adaptogens but natural forms are so broad that they can shift other levels than the ones you're targeting and synthetic ones aren't very effective and could also cause imbalances. If you follow natural fertility specialists (not specifically for fertility but because they seem to have the best understanding of what "balance" should look like and how to achieve it) they suggest to start with the diet and see how that can correct things and then it might take some effort to try out adaptogen herbs. I've had pretty good success with a maca product called Feminessence -- they make 3 different versions depending on your cycle stages.

Sorry this post is so long--hope there's something helpful in it!

-p

Pirouette - Can you please share which sources you found most helpful about hormone balancing using diet and other alternatives to synthetic hormones? This is something I have been working on for years and have not found many good resources.

Lightlife - Four-point cortisol tests are better than single-point cortisol tests, but any single day isn't going to tell you definitively how your cortisol is overall. If it's way off, then sure, that's helpful, but you could have spikes or dips on other days. It's a good idea to do the test, just saying don't worry too much about finding the perfect day to test. There isn't one. Also consider other hormones. I have normal cortisol but ridiculously low everything else.