High cortisol. Do I have it?

Hi.

I'm not sure if this is the correct forum for this message, but since I believe that my problem is adrenal related I figured I'd try and post it here.

I'm a 31 year old male.

After going through an episode of alcohol withdrawal 6 months ago (first time it happened for me), I have been suffering from many uncomfortable symptoms.

Some of them include: pounding heart beat, high resting heart rate, weight loss, poor appetite, anxiety, depression-like symptoms, muscle weakness, sleep difficulties (long time falling asleep, waking up in the middle of the night and being unable to go back to sleep)

When I started researching these symptoms I came to 2 possible explanations for these symptoms: high cortisol and/or hyperthyroidism.

I went to my doctor and I've been able to rule out hyperthyroidism completely. So what remains is the possibility of it being high cortisol.

My most noticable symptoms right now are:

- Anxiety. I have a constant uneasy and agitated feeling in my body and gut area. It feels like there's a tight knot in my stomach.
I feel wired and wound up. It's almost like I've had 10 large strong cups of coffe. Only the effect doesn't ever wear off.

- Depression. I don't feel like doing anything. I don't feel any joy. The only thing I feel is constant anxiety and discomfort.

- Mild palpitations. These vary intensity. Sometimes my systolic blood pressure goes up to 150-160, but usually it stays between 130-140.

- Some muscle weakness. It's not as intense as it was initially. but it's there in the background.

- Occasional and short lived pain in the joints on my hands.

- Poor quality sleep.


I have been taking Seriphos in an attempt to get relief, but the only thing I've noticed when taking it is that if I take too close to bedtime, it keeps me awake. I've been guessing the dosage and timing, but so far I have not felt any relief.

I should also mention that I had no health problems prior to this. I felt great. There are no external stressors in my life. It just feels like my body can't wind down.

I have not had a 24h cortisol test yet to confirm this.

I'm curious if anyone here has experienced these symptoms and had a cortisol test to confirm that they were in fact caused by cortisol and not something else.


Please tell me what I should do to fix this. I'm slowly becoming more desperate and depressed :(

My doctor has prescribed me Zoloft but I'm afraid to take it because I don't want to risk making it worse.

Thanks.

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