Cortisol will go up temporarily with stress - but if it stays up that is a disease process usually unless you are taking corticosteroids.
To treat it you have to find the source - as in the pituitary tumor, adrenal tumor or other - and remove it. It takes testing and imaging.
what is the treatment for high cortisol?? I have eliminated stress from my life but it still won't go down...
High cortisol can cause depression - but from experience all I know is that some antidepressants interfere with testing causing them to be lower. But I don't know any that cause high cortisol.
It is more likely a symptom of high cortisol.
A lot of my friends, including me - are diagnosed with depression - and some were diagnosed even with bi-polar! It was all hormones.
Do you think antidepressants cause high cortisol? I have been on AD's for 10 years and I read something about them effecting the HPA axis. I want to quit the AD's so bad but the doctor doesn't want me to do that till I have my thyroid/adrenals in check but I fear that if the AD's are causing the results then I'll never know until I try to get off them. I am also afraid of cortisol spiking when I try to get off. I tried weaning off in two months last time and withdrawal was hell. This time I will take about a year to wean off but that doesn't mean I won't experience withdrawal or high stress.
Those tests show hypercortisolism - Cushing's disease. Alas, it cannot be treated with herbs. You have to locate the source of the cortisol - be it taking steroids, a tumor on the pituitary, adrenals or elsewhere, and remove it.
Cushing's can cause inflammation - and that can raise ANA or you can have another issue as one auto-immune disease does usually mean you are prone to others and you have Hashimoto's as well.
You need to see an endo - like a pituitary endo.
also should i have renin, aldosterone and potassium tested???