I'm a 35 year old woman. I've had most of the symptoms of PTSD since I was a small child, and have had a stressful life since then. Now I'm taking control of my health physically and spiritually and working toward a cure.

I have suffered from adrenal fatigue in the past, and it was to an advanced stage where I needed to raise--not lower--my cortisol. Now I have a less stressful life but my cortisol is way too high. This, of course, is the common paradox of adrenal fatigue, where overactive adrenals work themselves to a frenzy and then can't produce enough cortisol, and as they heal they go back into their frenzied state. I've stopped all the supplements that were raising my cortisol and am now taking supplements to lower my cortisol.

For most of my life I've had insomnia--trouble falling asleep and also middle-of-the-night wake-ups with my heart racing, in a panic state, starving as if I haven't eaten in 3 days. This is typical hypoglycemic insomnia.

I've been taking seriphos, holy basil, ashwaganda to lower my cortisol throughout the day to lower my cortisol production in general, and drinking a protein shake an hour and a half before bed to help counteract nighttime hypoglycemia. (I've been tested for pre-diabetes many times, but I tend to eat a balanced diet, and the tests are always negative. However, I get hypoglycemic very easily if I don't eat every 4 hours.)BTW - my thyroid levels are normal. I take 800mcgs of GTF chromium per day, but stop taking it at 2pm, so it won't cause insomnia.

Like many people, I find seriphos wakes me up when I take it at night, so I have to take it in the morning and take 3 caps at 4pm, 5pm, and 6pm, but none after that. Since it tends to come into effect 4 hours later, this doesn't stop me from waking with my heart pounding between 2 and 4am as usually happens.

Also, the trouble with the protein shake before bed is that you're supposed to take most sleep aids on an empty stomach. Ironic, right? I take the shake an hour and a half before bed, even though I'm still full from dinner and don't want it, and then 45 minutes before I want to get into bed I take huge handfuls of sublingual melatonin, lemon balm, holy basil, lithium orotate, etc. It takes an hour to an hour and a half for the supplements to have an affect, so I always lie in bed trying to sleep for at least 45 minutes, but that's the best I can do.

My question is, does anyone else have similar issues, and do you think it's possible to lower the body's production of cortisol in at least a semi-permanent way? I'm spending large amounts of money on all these supplements, and taking them at specific times and trying to meditate, stay calm, and keep a detailed sleep journal is taking over my life. I have almost no social life, I'm only able to work part-time, and can't afford to keep buying expensive supplements that aren't covered by insurance, with my part-time salary. I understand health is our greatest treasure and it needs to come first, but my situation is unsustainable, and I need some hope that there is a cure and that I won't be spending most of my salary on expensive supplements for the rest of my life.

Has anyone successfully gotten their cortisol levels back down to normal, permanently?

I'm about to start using a 7-Keto DHEA transdermal cream to help lower cortisol, but I hope it doesn't make me jittery. I know I should have a hormone panel done to see what my levels are, but I just don't have the money right now. Supplements are consuming much of my income and I'm so tired that I'm only able to work part-time. 7-Keto is supposed to lower cortisol without changing hormone levels, but I've heard of some women having an androgen response from it. We'll see.

I hope everyone with these symptoms finds a cure and heals! If you have any advice for me, I'd love to hear it. Maybe we can help each other.