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High cortisol levels in the a.m.

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Posted 9/4/2014 10:53 AM (GMT 0)
Does anyone wake up feeling extremely agitated? I am realizing that not all of this is anxiety related. I take the same amount of Paxil/Lamictal every night and morning. At night I have no reaction. I wake up every morning around 4, feeling fine. Within 30 minutes, I feel extremely agitated, centered in my chest. Getting up and walking helps. It continues all day but dissipates by late afternoon. I usually feel fine in the evening. Has anyone had their cortisol levels checked? I am taking L-Theanine but it is not helping yet.
Posted 9/4/2014 11:19 AM (GMT 0)
I feel like this too. I wake around 4am as well. I initially feel fine but the anxiety doesn't take long to kick in. I have had a couple of panic attacks in the evening but for the most part I feel ok. I haven't had my levels checked but I may ask about this the next time I am there
Posted 9/4/2014 1:08 PM (GMT 0)
Yes, most mornings in fact, I feel jostled awake, forced into alertness.

It dissipates as the morning wears on, but it feels like getting a jump start out of the blue.












M.
Posted 9/4/2014 2:18 PM (GMT 0)
Recently I have been having a lot of night anxiety. It happened last night as well, around 4am too. Night anxiety is very new for me so of course I've been worrying about the cause. I also feel agitated for a while after waking.
Posted 9/4/2014 7:17 PM (GMT 0)
Oh yes, this is exactly what I get....I'm waking at around 4 and would love to sleep more but the anxiety, nervousness, agitation and crazy thoughts/half dreams keep jolting me awake. I guess I need to have my levels checked too. I'm usually better in the evening too but some days, like today, I've been anxious most of the day and always feeling tired, sleepy, shaky and weak. Do others get this too? Im so afraid I have leukemia or something. I used to have sooo much energy and since the anxiety kicked in I feel like I'm falling apart physically too. This afternoon I am particularly nervous and shaky...I did have Chinese food for lunch and wonder if they still use MSG (which I have a terrible reaction to) or if most places have stopped using that.
Posted 9/4/2014 7:35 PM (GMT 0)
Not sure what there is to do abt high cortisol levels.. But yes, ditto for me too. Ditto ditto ditto!

It's not like this always. It's just during my funk I've had this year. The worst is when you've had a weird dream and wake up still disoriented from the dream. It's just rude!
Posted 9/4/2014 7:46 PM (GMT 0)
Agreed, agreed....some dreams just leave you completely messed up for the day! And then when I try to nap I seem to have these weird nonsensical thoughts that are like dreams but you're still kind of awake....I absolutely hate that and it makes me feel even MORE anxious.
Posted 9/4/2014 11:37 PM (GMT 0)
Andwes do you mean the unconscious mind "talking" to you?
Posted 9/5/2014 10:42 AM (GMT 0)
Cortisol is produced by the adrenal gland ( I think). It peaks in the early morning to wake you up and get you going for the day. it starts to diminish around 4 p.m. to get you ready to go to sleep. if your levels are too high, caused by stress or medications, then you become very agitated in the morning and remain so until late afternoon or all the time.
Posted 9/5/2014 2:10 PM (GMT 0)
What kind of medications can cause this? I recently began taking a very small dose of klonopin and now I wake up every morning feeling anxious and I never used to wake up this way. I really really don't like it. I was thinking that maybe the tiny dose I'm taking has already become too little and so maybe my body starts craving it between doses? My doctor is pretty much like "yup you have anxiety no surprise" but my anxiety has never ever been like this. If it is cortisol levels can anything be done for that?
Posted 9/5/2014 2:58 PM (GMT 0)
How recently did you start taking the Klonopin? Your symptoms are the same as mine. I keep getting told the IT TAKES TIME for your body to adjust to new medication no matter how small the dose. I am just at the one week mark and still feeling very shaky and anxious in the early a.m. but stay nervous all day. I didn't have these symptoms before starting the meds. My anxiety attacks at 1 a.m. are gone. that is the one good thing so far.
Posted 9/5/2014 3:02 PM (GMT 0)
I'm at two weeks today. But when I say small dose I mean really small. Only .125mg twice a day. I'm sure I need to take more but it's something I'm having a hard time going in to. I also no long wake up in the middle of the night with anxiety but the morning anxiety is new.
Posted 9/5/2014 3:21 PM (GMT 0)
I am on 2.5 mg of Paxil twice a day. I have been told it could take a month. i want to get back to work so bdly but I have to be 100% functional at 5 a.m. which is not happening yet.
Posted 9/5/2014 4:07 PM (GMT 0)
Did you start the Paxil & Klonopin at the same time Circusdog? Did you mean 25mg or 2.5? 50mg Paxil is the typical dose although my friend took 100mg for years.

The morning anxiety was new for me this year too.

Circus- what's your occupation, I forget if you said. Also, prior to your illness last year & subsequent anxiety/depression for it, had you ever had anxiety or depression before?

Lisa
Posted 9/5/2014 4:38 PM (GMT 0)
I was mistaken. I have 20mg tablets of Paxil that I divide in 4. So I take 5 mg. twice a day.

I am a substitute teacher and after school activities adviser. i am able to do all my after school activities but the morning anxiety is preventing me from getting to school early to sub. Before my physical illnesses this past winter, I have never had anxiety before. i just turned 60 this week.

I so want to get back to work. I come into school every day and work on my after school projects. i just want t be able to get here early in the morning and get back in the classrooms.
Posted 9/5/2014 4:56 PM (GMT 0)
"Lucky" you to have not had this lovely thing called anxiety until age 59 eyes

The good news is you likely don't have years of habits of worrying so your recovery should be fairly swift and complete. Are you seeing a therapist? I think you would really benefit from this as your anxiety was illness related, not just "out of the blue" like some of us.

Have you had your thyroid and vitamins/potassium etc tested lately? I'm wondering if your illness could have messed with things. Worth checking into if you haven't. Vitamin D3 deficiency is really common.
Posted 9/5/2014 5:26 PM (GMT 0)
YES, I have had my thyroid checked several times. I am taking Vitamin D3. I am the healthy ill person I know. I hope it does clear up soon. I have had trauma before in my life but it never caused this anxiety reaction. My dad died and my husband divorced me and my dog died all in the same year. But, I was younger and, I guess, more resilient.
Posted 9/5/2014 5:34 PM (GMT 0)
Nothing like a mystery illness to upset your pts he though.. The other traumas were "concrete", if that makes sense. My whole life I feared my parents dying. When my dad passed suddenly and unexpectedly in 2008, I was of course devastated but I did not sink into clinical depression or intrusive anxiety. Go figure!

This time has been a but more mysterious. It started with an AD pooping out, switching to a different one that messed me up, and a subsequent "medicine dance" that I've been doing since February. Also, 3 of my few friends I have in the city I'm in, moved away. I took it super hard. Still struggling but dealing with it.

Like I said, check out therapist if you can or get a referral for one. You went through a traumatic event with the mysterious illness. Coping skills learned in therapy plus medication = best treatment. Wishing you wellness!!!

Lisa
Posted 9/5/2014 5:44 PM (GMT 0)
I forgot to mention that I m in therapy. At least I have met my deductible, as horrible as that was, thousands of dollars later and still not well, so I can get any test I want see as many doctors as want to see me. I will also throw in some physical therapy for unrelated injuries. I want my money's worth out of this. I have been at school all day working on fun projects by myself. one more hurdle to get back in the classroom with the kids I love. there is no logical reason why i shouldn't want to do that.
Posted 9/5/2014 5:56 PM (GMT 0)
Just read this quote: "the distance between you dreams and reality is action." That's "all" you have to do is take action one morning and get the ball rolling, despite your anxieties or fears.

I KNOW this is easier said than done, I struggle myself, but it's the action we fear most yet it's the action that will heal us and get us back on our A game!
Posted 9/5/2014 8:13 PM (GMT 0)
I so agree. I made it out of the house at 7:30 this morning. I am getting closer. i need to shave another hour off.
Posted 9/5/2014 9:17 PM (GMT 0)
You're still resilient.

Heck, I'm learning this on the fly, btw, as I'm in therapy myself for trauma (and we recently bumped my sessions up to twice a week), so yes, I understand wanting to be thorough and getting every penny's worth of goodies after a massive deductible. (That last sentence looks totally incoherent, but I know you know what I mean).

My deductible is also thousands of dollars. Huge. Big. Ugh. I dread every January 1st.

Anyhoo, what my new therapist is teaching me is that we truly *are* resilient. We just need to learn to reapply, or apply in a different manner, that resiliency.

We had to be tough for whatever reasons, and learned ways to diminish our selves or sense of self. To do that, we had to create tough skills.

We can take those tough skills and redirect them....and it helps with guidance. Again, I'm sharing it on here in real time (had therapy yesterday), so....yeah, there's that.











M.
Posted 9/5/2014 9:40 PM (GMT 0)
I had tea yesterday with my retired therapist. I am seeing someone new but she certainly doesn't have the insight that my therapist of 25 years with me has. The new therapist thinks I can change my partner's behavior. My old therapist knows that he will never change. So, I have to take the advice of the new therapist with a grain of salt and keep HAVING TEA WITH MY OLD THERAPIST AND NOW CLOSE FRIEND.
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