High Cortisol levels making life hell... What now?

I tend to have really high cortisol levels too- just really sensitive. I get flooded with cortisol at really low levels of stimulation. I lose the ability to think really quickly in stressful situations. But I know this about myself... it doesn't surprise me when it happens, it only surprises others when they haven't known me long.

I do have coping methods that I use.

Exercise really has an immediate effect on using those hormones so they don't build up in your body. Cortisol is produced by your body to give you energy to act in face of threats or danger.. if you aren't using it, it just builds up and becomes toxic.
Run! Lift weights! Chop wood, clean your closet... whatever you can find to do, force yourself to start.
I know it is not easy when you are in this state, motivation is hard to find. But usually, once you really start, it begins to feel so good you will find the drive to continue.

The mental attitude and perception can be adjusted and worked on to help you have less stressful reactions. Meditation, yoga... being in the company of people you love and trust and who make you laugh.

I downloaded some subliminal message music to give myself self confidence and inner peace and listened to that before going to bed for a couple nights- I actually saw myself transform spectacularly.

I find that sugar is the worst thing for this. I was eating Keto for a while (extremely low carb), and it was awesome.

Good luck, I hope you find whatever works for you and can start feeling better!

originally posted by: silo13
a reply to: rickymouse

Before my 'life changing for the worst experience' (that cannot be resolved) I was 125lbs, could do anything and worked hard. I ate a well balanced meals with very little anything processed. Made my own bread and ate as naturally as possible. All my meat was home grown and processed.

After the 'life changer'? Meals from the hospital cafeteria. No sleep. Faced terror on a daily basis. Began drinking a small amount at night to sleep when I was 'wound up'.

I have no issues with high BP or sodium and no infection. They've checked my WBC levels often.

At the moment I'm taking turmeric, 'mother' cider vinegar, 1 tsp cumin steeped with lemon and rind in a cup of water strained and drinking it warm.

Doing the best I can to eat - but can't.

Thanks Ricky - it was a response you posted in another thread that got me to start this one. You really seem to know what you're doing.

peace

You seem to be taking in sulfur chemistry in more than appropriate percentages. Turmeric is a sulfa spice. www.deepdyve.com... It contains curcumin just as cumin does.

Lemon is a sulfur based chemistry too. It also contains limonene which can have some negative effects if consumed regularly for some people.

Apple cider vinegar is somewhat broken down to aldehydes by body enzymes. Not all of it but some of it.

It seems that you are using too much sulfur/sulfonamide chemistry which can lead to lots of problems. If you have reduced enzymes for detoxing sulfur or have reduced enzymes for the molybdenum cofactors, you could be causing your own problems with those things. Sulfonamides actually knock out the molybdopten which is used to turn sulfites back to sulfates. Sulfonamides also block some enzymes which lead to lowering of dopamine levels which can make you feel stressed. www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov...

Turmeric and curry are good medicine, but I do not think most people should be eating them every day. Turmeric is also high in copper though, that copper might wind up not in the right place in the body.

I would get a multimineral tablet containing Molybdenum, manganese, Selenium, and copper. A little chromium wouldn't be bad in it either. You only need about a hundred percent of the RDA of molybdenum as long as you do not do too much sulfur food in your diet. Molybdenum coenzymes are needed to help with nitrogen too. They help to form the molybdoptrins on the blood cells. If you take a multivitamin with sulfur and nitrogen based B vitamins, then you may need two hundred percent RDA of molybdenum.

You cannot take the India and middle eastern food and spice chemistry and toss it into European diets without some ill effects. You can't toss it into the diet of some Asians on a regular basis either and I am sure all Africans are not genetically adaptable either. The people in the middle east and India have been eating this chemistry for a long time and need it because their food and water contains contaminants a lot of times. Some of their people cannot eat much of this either.

I would get some molybdenum supplements, just a small pill, a hundred fifty percent to two hundred percent of RDA and take that for about a month minimum and lay off consuming too high a percentage of sulfur containing stuff. Sulfur is necessary, but it also can become toxic to the body if you consume too much.

This is something to think about, a possible way of correcting things. I have a problem with too much sulfur, I have genetics that make it so I cannot break it down and excrete it, but sulfur foods are a good way to control my epilepsy so I learned ways to help it so I can eat a little more. I felt like crap when I was taking the meds, some were sulfur based meds.

I have to add that we need sulfur for things to work correctly in our bodies. I consider sulfur soap, it keeps things from sticking together by neutralizing the charge on things. The sulfur in onions will have the blood thinning effect of aspirin, they work the same way, they keep the platelets from sticking together by neutralizing the charge that causes agglutination of the cells. Sulfur is in most soaps, it loosens the bond of the food when we do dishes and it is often in detergents. Sulfate is constantly turning to sulfite in our bodies and then with the help of Molybdopterins it is converted back to sulfate. Too much sulfite and it tears apart organs and even though sulfites kill bacteria in our blood, too much sulfites can cause our own cells destruction.

When you eat too much sulfur foods it is no good, it also is not good not to eat enough. If I eat a lot of sulfur, my blood gets too thin, sulfite levels can rise to high and negatively effect my red blood cells and they die prematurely. Moderation and diversity is important. Milk also contains sulfur, sulfur is a part of all protein. Nitrogen being balanced in moderation with sulfur is important. Remember that nitrogen and sulfur may have anti-inflamitory properties but also form nitric and sulfuric acid if levels get too high in the body which can create an acidity in the blood. If I eat a lot of tomatoes or oranges I actually start having negative effects from the acid thing. I get a sort of a tendonitis where the tendons and muscles sort of burn ache. It took me a while to figure this out because most articles stated that tomatoes were anti-inflamitory. I found a few articles written by people who were experts in this field that stated that tomatoes can cause severe inflammation, it is not actually a real allergy, it is that some people cannot neutralize the chemistry and it leads to problems in the body.

Everyone is different, everyone needs to be their own food doctor and actually search till they find the correct answer. It is hard sometimes because most people and even those writing research just parrot what is most commonly accepted as real. If something gives a good effect to over half of the population, it is acceptable to say it is real, yet the balance of people are negatively effected. So the way things are set up is for the majority, even medicines are set up that way. If it is safe for seventy percent of people with non life threatening side effects for the approved prescribed time period,it is considered safe to allow as a medicine.

If you were able to eat, the amount of sulfur foods you are taking with the turmeric and such would be all right. If you eat cruciferous veggies or onions, they are also sulfur foods. Pork is higher in sulfur than beef, also it is higher in nitrogen near the bones. I am just trying to inform you of a possible conflict in your present diet that might be contributing to your problems. Turmeric can lower stress and is anti-inflamitory as long as it is used in balance, I keep some in the house myself but just put mustard on my sandwich if I start getting cramps. But when my blood annion gap goes too high, mustard actually makes things worse. I studied my blood tests from the past to figure this out. It sometimes pays to save copies of old blood tests. I also observe my grandkids and kids blood tests to learn what is going on, everyone seems to get sore when the anion gap is high. I hope I got the direction right in my brain

a reply to: kosmicjack

I don't do caffeine or chocolate - makes me get head aches.

Interesting use of herbs a couple weeks on and a couple a weeks off.

Your reasoning? Is it so your body doesn't become so used to it the effects are negated?

Thanks! Great response.

peace

a reply to: Bluesma

Great idea on the working out or getting physical.

Music too.

I hope you continue to find the best ways for you to help your levels.

peace

a reply to: rickymouse

Fascinating.

I’m going to print out your reply so I can read it off line and do some research also.

Thank you for sharing your brain so to speak.

Question about ‘hot’ stuff. I crave ‘hot’ like some people crave chocolate. I have to have HOT (and I mean really hot) on everything. Jalapenos (fresh), cayenne - special extra hot mix from a friend who has non gmo plants. Chinese hot mustard. I just can’t get enough.

My morning ‘coffee’? A cup and a half of boiling water. 1 tbs special hot cayenne, 1tsp turmeric and 1/4 cup vinegar with the mother. If I don’t have this? I can’t even get going in the morning. Sounds ugh, but I salivate just thinking of it. There has to be something behind this craving.

Meaning - I can ‘read’ my body pretty well (until now). If I was anemic? I would crave liver or the such. But when I’m not anemic? I can’t stand the look or smell of it.

For some reason my body is craving these ‘hots’ and ‘sulfurs‘.

Do you have any idea why? I know nothing at all about this side of medicine.

I’ll keep an eye open for anything that helps epilepsy but I’m sure you know about all there is to know.

Thanks again,

peace

EDIT TO ADD:

But when my blood annion gap goes too high, mustard actually makes things worse.

My level is very high. Noted in my last labs.

I'll sure look that up too.

a reply to: rickymouse

Thank you for your willingness to share your knowledge on issues such as these. My admiration for that generousity grows daily and you are truly a great asset to ATS, as others are as well.

Sorry for going off topic on this Silo , but just had to give kudos to those who are trying to help you with information one would probably have to pay a hefty price for .

Good on ATS for being a community that helps each other in many ways!

Of course it shouldn't replace real physicians advice but it may inspire them to look past their doctors tunnel vision and seek alternative diagnosis.

Sometimes I feel certain members on ATS could teach the odd doctor a thing or two and may indeed have already 🤔

originally posted by: silo13
a reply to: rickymouse

Fascinating.

I’m going to print out your reply so I can read it off line and do some research also.

Thank you for sharing your brain so to speak.

Question about ‘hot’ stuff. I crave ‘hot’ like some people crave chocolate. I have to have HOT (and I mean really hot) on everything. Jalapenos (fresh), cayenne - special extra hot mix from a friend who has non gmo plants. Chinese hot mustard. I just can’t get enough.

My morning ‘coffee’? A cup and a half of boiling water. 1 tbs special hot cayenne, 1tsp turmeric and 1/4 cup vinegar with the mother. If I don’t have this? I can’t even get going in the morning. Sounds ugh, but I salivate just thinking of it. There has to be something behind this craving.

Meaning - I can ‘read’ my body pretty well (until now). If I was anemic? I would crave liver or the such. But when I’m not anemic? I can’t stand the look or smell of it.

For some reason my body is craving these ‘hots’ and ‘sulfurs‘.

Do you have any idea why? I know nothing at all about this side of medicine.

I’ll keep an eye open for anything that helps epilepsy but I’m sure you know about all there is to know.

Thanks again,

peace

EDIT TO ADD:

But when my blood annion gap goes too high, mustard actually makes things worse.

My level is very high. Noted in my last labs.

I'll sure look that up too.

If your anion gap is high, it means possible acidosis. This can occur from many things. If you eat food containing nitrogen, along with coffee containing methyl, in your body and in your blood it turns to Ammonia. Ammonia being there is normal, as long as it is not there all the time or even for a high percentage of the time. The Anion gap is actually used to look for people who are using meth and hiding the meth from blood detection by using nicotinic acid to convert it into Ammonia. But this high anion gap is not always from nicotinic acid in foods, it is also from lactic acidosis and some other sulfur related issues. The conversion of the Ammonia to uric acid can be done by eating cinnamon, some cinnamon toast may make you feel better or maybe a cinnamon roll. We need some uric acid in our bodies too, some people do not have enough. It is the benoic acid metabolite in cinnamon that actually converts the ammonia to uric acid. Try eatimg a nice cinnamon roll and see how that goes.

By raising the nicotinic acid levels up and the sulfur levels, you might have lost proper cravings. Spicy food sometimes blocks cravings. We need companion food chemistry with lots of the things we eat to balance chemistry, if any of these get left out it can cause issues on a temporary basis but long term it can cause problems.

I cannot break down nitrogen chemistry well, boosting it too much can cause problems health wise and soreness will result. Even eating too much lettuce makes me sore. It has lots of nitrogen. According to my genetics I do not break it down and it stays in my system longer, a genetic correction caused because my ancestors actually did not have much nitrogen products in the winters in Northern Europe. So our bodies conserve it instead of excreting it. My son in law needs lots of nitrogen, he makes lots of enzymes to break it down. He is part Italian, part Guatemalan, and a little spanish and few other ethnic groups. Mostly considered American Indian, his mother is pure Guatemalan. His ancestors came from areas with lots of green year round. He needs to eat hot sauce or a high nitrogen diet or he gets sick easily, his mother eats a lot of veggies, he heats hot peppers every day.

Getting the genetics done and analyzing the information in a gene app is kind of interesting. Most everyone in my family is done except three of the five grandkids. even my son-in-law and my Ex-wife, I have studied this diversely. I am trying to figure out ways to identify genetic differences in people without having the genes done, it is kind of hard. If people did not eat all the attractant chemistry in prepared food, it would be a lot easier, but this chemistry messes up people's cravings, just like I mentioned about getting hooked on high spiced food.

If you put some hot sauce in coffee, you are essentually tying the nitrogen to the methyl and this actually creates ammonia in the cup. Now Ammonia is not all bad, we need some of that. It actually is present in the morning dew of plants, called mana from heaven in the past. It can be a medicine.

It sounds like your high anion gap is from a combination of methyl groups and nicotinic acid. Popcorn is even high in methyl groups. lots of things are high in methyl Niacin will also convert alcohol and make it less toxic and sober a person up. People will smoke a cigarette when drinking because of this reason and a hot pickles egg before leaving the bar will help to break down alcohol to aldehydes with some acid properties which will also show up as a high anion gap I think.

The doctor who took out my tonsils when I was fifteen went into the room next to the operating room all piggy drunk, he used a gas to sober up, that gas would have been nitric oxide. Boosting niacin increases nitric oxide creation.

Our bodies main defense against microbes including viruses is elevating sulfites and nitric oxide production. Overuse of these can actually deplete some of our other necessary immune system chemistry.

I am trying to simplify things I read, kind of translating it to make it easier to comprehend, so I may have some things a little messed up but in general this is how it works.

If you are going to be eating a lot of sulfur foods and nicotinic acid containing hot foods, you will need to have extra molybdenum in your body to help to detox these things. Eat oatmeal, cream of wheat, and cheerios. They have reasonable amounts of molybdenum. Or just buy a supplement and pop one a day, if you are eating turmeric, that already has copper in it, copper is uptaken by the plant readily. Mushrooms tend to have copper in them too, so does chocolate. So does water running through copper pipes. If you don't eat these things, then maybe a copper supplement is needed.

originally posted by: Sheye
a reply to: rickymouse

Thank you for your willingness to share your knowledge on issues such as these. My admiration for that generousity grows daily and you are truly a great asset to ATS, as others are as well.

Sorry for going off topic on this Silo , but just had to give kudos to those who are trying to help you with information one would probably have to pay a hefty price for .

Good on ATS for being a community that helps each other in many ways!

Of course it shouldn't replace real physicians advice but it may inspire them to look past their doctors tunnel vision and seek alternative diagnosis.

Sometimes I feel certain members on ATS could teach the odd doctor a thing or two and may indeed have already 🤔

A doctor does not have much time with you. You have a lot of time with yourself and being your own food doctor and noting how things effect you is critical to good health. It takes research to understand why. We have natural cravings and also some days we just don't feel like eating something. But when we get older, those cravings do not work right anymore, maybe because of meds some people are on or maybe because we start listening to what people say is good for us and we disregard our cravings. Society is getting so against salt that they ignore the salt craving and will eat more food till they get their needed salt. This can lead to weight gain. Most people I know who eat a lot of salt do not eat as much food.

Think about what I just said. Sugar, actually fructose, stimulates animals to store fat overall. Many foods that are harvested in the fall contain sugars, animals eat them to prepare for a cold winter. Berries which come earlier than apples have a different sugar chemistry, one that does not cause fat to be created unless greatly overeaten..

a reply to: silo13

I did some specific research on Chemicals in turmeric and cumin as to their effect on acetylcholinesterase. I also did some checking on hot peppers and even green bell peppers. A few of the peppers are neutral but overall all of these things inhibit acetylcholinesterase activity which means they block the breakdown of acetylcholine. The action was appreciable. This may have a protective action against alzheimer disease but it can lead to a person getting stressed out and this can lead to creation of stress hormones. These nootropic effects are real, you will think you feel smarter, but the problem is that things can twist around if you do too much for too long. Coffee works a different way as a nootropic than these chemistries do.

If you were able to eat more, the chemistry would not be so overpowering. I know someone who was eating too much buckwheat, that can really mess you up. It permanently inhibits acetylcholinesterase almost like a pesticide does. It is a natural pesticide. Turmeric chemistry and even nightshade chemistry is natural pesticide chemistry. The effect of the pesticide in the tobacco and potato is short term inhibition, not permanent. Permanent is not permanent, it is about two or three days before it comes back up, it refers to a cycle disruption. Temporary is like hours or minutes.

You could consume a acetylcholineesterase promotor to cancel the effect of the turmeric and peppers, that would be something like an antidepressant chemistry or even a water pill like fluoresimide. Half the entry level drugs doctors give actually are promotors of acetylcholinesterase, they lower stress and worrying but increase chances of alzheimers in those who have the genes for getting it.

a reply to: Sheye

Oh I totally understand. I've watched/read Ricky over the years and ATS would not be the same without this member.

Thanks for your support Sheye!

peace

a reply to: rickymouse

So I shouldn't be eating so much of the turmeric and 'hots'.

If they cause you to stress - that's new to me and I really appreciate your time. I was led to believe they stimulated dopamine and made you feel better. I guess that's a bust.

What I do know is I can't eat anything now but these stupid soup Popsicles. As of this morning even the rice cake and yogurt spread is out (plain yogurt).

Craving salt? Yep. I can only appease that with a little kosher salt once in a while.

Doc yesterday started tons more tests. Ultrasound on Sat. and back to her again on Wed. next week.

I just don't get it.

Going back to lemon juice and cumin seed tea - it helps but only temporarily.

Thanks again Ricky.

peace

originally posted by: silo13
a reply to: rickymouse

So I shouldn't be eating so much of the turmeric and 'hots'.

If they cause you to stress - that's new to me and I really appreciate your time. I was led to believe they stimulated dopamine and made you feel better. I guess that's a bust.

What I do know is I can't eat anything now but these stupid soup Popsicles. As of this morning even the rice cake and yogurt spread is out (plain yogurt).

Craving salt? Yep. I can only appease that with a little kosher salt once in a while.

Doc yesterday started tons more tests. Ultrasound on Sat. and back to her again on Wed. next week.

I just don't get it.

Going back to lemon juice and cumin seed tea - it helps but only temporarily.

Thanks again Ricky.

peace

Turmeric does stimulate dopamine, but it stops the breakdown of acetylcholine too. Hot, nightshade chemistry also stops the breakdown of acetylcholine, but it is not permanent so it only lasts maybe a day. Turmeric had a longer lasting effect, but not permanent like some commercial pesticides do. A bad one is buckwheat, it's plant defense system chemistry is pretty strong too, and more long term, almost like pesticides.

The properties of turmeric, hot peppers, and cumin are plant defense system chemicals. We can use them to help us some times to treat problems. But using them longer than needed causes side effects. Humans are no different than other animals, we cannot eat much of this stuff on a regular basis.

Gee, I did not even put the research articles on the posts above talking about the blockage of acetylcholinesterase by these plant chemistries. I am slipping, I should have linked these. Raising acetylcholine is good, it actually makes us more alert, as long as you can break it down appropriately. Too much from overconsumption of chemistries that block the enzyme that breaks it down can lead to an overload.

The strange thing is they overlook this property of turmeric and say it makes you happier. Now there are ways to block acetylcholine, do not eat any foods containing betaines or choline and you can't make it. But then the level will plummet after a while, nicotine would have to be utilized, or nicotinic acid found in hot peppers. It can also activate the acetylcholine sensors. But without blocking acetylcholine and still triggering the receptors, you can get overanxious. Potatoes block the neurotransmitter acetylcholine but give us a replacement of nicotine so we can think better.

If you can understand this, you can toy with adjusting some of these things in the diet. Too much dopamine without enough acetylcholine and you get dumbfounded and you get forgetful. This actually increases alzheimer risk. Too much acetylcholine and not enough dopamine and it is parkinson disease or stress. Too much of each can lead to stress and actual health issues and possibly something like paranoia or even a little psychosis like episodes. The thing is these are just temporary, not permanent.

If you have a little bit of nicotinic acid it makes you smarter, like nicotine it is nootropic. If you eat a lot, it overloads the receptors and can actually kill pain and make you act stupid. When athletes get injuries, they put icy hot on them and it overloads the receptors and they become numb. This acts the same way in the brain. If you smoke a little tobacco it makes you smarter, too much makes you dumb. Nitrogen chemistry has some interesting effects. Too much nicotinic acid from hot peppers actually blocks the methyl cycle, which can lead to some health problems if you cannot break down the chemistry. Not enough nitrogen and too much methyl and you can get palagra.

Acetylcholine is actually a high methyl product. It is tied to a nitrogen atom. Here is a picture of it, CH3 is methyl. www.chemspider.com... You would think that the nicotinic acid would break it down into ammonia, but it also inhibits acetylcholinesterase, which is what regulates the acetylcholine in our bodies. We need some of the acetylcholine, but not all the time. It causes problems if our body does not control it correctly.

I am getting too technical, I am afraid I may lose you with explaining this. I can see a problem but I cannot effectively explain this well to someone who doesn't know about how these neurotransmitters interact in the body. It sometimes takes me longer to learn how to explain something in laymans terms than to learn it.

cut back on using the Turmeric every day, maybe one day out of every three. Same with the hot peppers, maybe every other day. Then get some molybdenum supplements, not too big, a couple of hundred percent RDA a tablet and take one a day for about a month. Follow your cravings once proper cravings are restored. You should start feeling better after a couple of days, but might have some initial withdrawl problems from stopping the peppers.

I never asked you, what nationality are you. I should have asked you this first with the pepper deal. Where did your ancestors come from? This may help me evaluate your niacin needs, maybe you actually need a lot if you can detox it correctly.

A real lot of medicines people take are designed to treat problems with nitrogen and sulfur pathways.

a reply to: silo13

I did some more studying on the hot peppers and the effects as to stress go both ways a lot. I would have to say that in moderation they will relieve stress as an overall effect. The effect on ACHE is compensated by the nicotinic acid like it is in tobacco. But not all hot peppers are the same. Moderation should be observed, if you were able to eat there wouldn't be as much of a concern. These chemistries do not replace necessary minerals, but they do suppress appetite. Cigarettes actually suppress your desire to eat, so do hot peppers. As long as you are eating right and can properly break down and excrete the nitrogen products, then it shouldn't be a problem. The problem with excess nitrogen chemistry is it downplays the methyl cycle and unbalances it with the thyroid. This can mess up your thinking. The tests for thyroid can show it is working all right but it still is not balanced with other functions of the body.

a reply to: rickymouse

Thank you so much. Going back to the doc Sat. and Wed.

a reply to: silo13

Do an inventory of all detergents and fragrance, and cosmetic products. Most all the products on the shelves are endocrine disrupting. Hair spray, scents etc...get rid of it all.

Bartonella can cause hot flashes...and odd features. If you have cat's or lots of ticks or fleas in the region it's good to look at potential Lyme related co-infections...Not everything is lyme related, but all too often things get misdiagnosed.

H. Pylori is also a common infection...Candida, maybe with a stool sample if you can get it tested. Pylori is much more common.

a reply to: silo13

I just saw something about this actually. It was talking about how diet and stuff won't work if certain chemicals are being offset through other things. Cortisol was one of those things. I'll have to go back and see what it said exactly for better details.

I do remember it saying that Corisol once raised needs to be brought back down with stress reducing activities. It said what works best is first thing in the morning when you wake up to do stretches or yoga or something like that to lower stress levels and keep the Cortisol levels from wanting to rise. That if you do it first thing of the day before doing anything else your body will start keeping the Cortisol levels down and keep them there naturally.

That's about all I remember for now.

a reply to: Umberto
I hardly ever use make-up and I am so sensitive to scents - ugh - everything I have is scent free.
BUT - I'll check everything anyway as I already have a sensitivity.
From there - I'll ask the doc about the Pyloria!
THANK YOU!

a reply to: mOjOm

Yeah, that's something I didn't know about - stress is accumulative. As is cortisol. The adrenal glad can turn it on but not turn it off.

So - I'll keep working at it and see what the doc or everyone here can find.

All I know is it's getting worse - because of course - I'm like a dog chasing it's tail right now...

Don't get upset you're miserable - But I am miserable - But don't get upset - I can't not get upset I'm miserable... Etc.

Thanks tons for your input!