Cortisol high, estrogen LOW?

florida2001

New member
Hi,

I have question, ( im female 33, 5'6" 128lb) is there some relationship between cortisol and estrogen? I have done some test and it shows that my cortisol is high ( done in the morning) and my estradiol is Low. Also progesterone is low, right below the normal range. Are those hormones affecting each other somehow? I have been gaining weight without changing diet, exerci. I do every day cardio.

thank you
 
Its a bit early for menopause so my first guess is low thyroid function.

Check your tsh, t4, and free t3 levels.

If tsh is high and t4 and t3 are low, then you have your answer. Go to an endocrinologist and he will take care of you.

Low thyroid can cause the high cortisol and weight gain and suppress estrogen and progesterone, as well as raise testosrerone in women.
 
ripped_one said:
Its a bit early for menopause so my first guess is low thyroid function.

Check your tsh, t4, and free t3 levels.

If tsh is high and t4 and t3 are low, then you have your answer. Go to an endocrinologist and he will take care of you.

Low thyroid can cause the high cortisol and weight gain and suppress estrogen and progesterone, as well as raise testosrerone in women.
Click to expand...

thx, im already on 150 mcg synthroid and 12.5 mcg cytomel, on the test
in the range.
 
If we rule out thyroid being the cause, it's either Cushings or menopause.

Do you feel like you need to sleep a lot? Any depression? Irregular period? Don't recover from workouts well? Muscles getting weaker? If so, then I'm probably correct.

The difference is that Cushings will be caused by a pituitary / adrenal gland malfunction (or tumor), and menopause is caused by ovaries that are no longer working. Your endocrinologist / obgyn should be able to diagnose this with some blood tests.
 
Have you tested thyroid antibodies (TPO-Ab and Tg-Ab)? Hashimoto's is the number one cause of hypothyroidism and is predominantly in females, yet very few doctors ever test for it (which is incredibly frustrating). I would look at that, if you haven't yet, because as you can tell, just having your thyroid numbers "in range" does not mean everything is all right.

Down the line, they do have estrogen and progesterone creams that you can use, but I would want to find the root issue, first, before throwing in more variables.
 
hi,
i have check antibodies and everyt is OK except cortisol that was elevated..i have done morning blood test, also progesteron was below the normal range and estradiol right on the bottom line. I did my blood test 12 th day of my cycle.

Also , if my adrenals are somhow damage... elevated in the morning, cant sleep well, wake up around 3-4 AM. Does cytomel make it even worse? Should i than rather be only on synthroid?

any input appreciate, thx
 
florida2001 said:
hi,
i have check antibodies and everyt is OK except cortisol that was elevated..i have done morning blood test, also progesteron was below the normal range and estradiol right on the bottom line. I did my blood test 12 th day of my cycle.

Also , if my adrenals are somhow damage... elevated in the morning, cant sleep well, wake up around 3-4 AM. Does cytomel make it even worse? Should i than rather be only on synthroid?

any input appreciate, thx
Click to expand...

Glad to hear you don't have hashimoto's; if that's the case, I'd venture to guess your hypothyroidism is secondary and there is something else that's triggering it. For your own sake, though, make sure that it was TPO-Ab and Tg-Ab that were checked (if either are elevated, it means autoimmune disorder/Hashimoto's). I only say that because I know most people just let doctors run lab work and then never look at it, which is a careless thing to do.

I don't know of any reason that synthroid (T4) or cytomel (T3) would be interacting with your sleep patterns. Ideally you take them first thing in the morning, but even if you weren't, it shouldn't bother anything.

A good endocrinologist should be able to figure out what the issue is. Like I mentioned earlier, progesterone and estrogen cream would be an optimal way to raise both of those hormones, but I'm not a fan of throwing more variables in without finding the cause, first.
 
thx, i have started use progesterone cream as i saw my progesterone was below normal range, so will see if it help
 
The cortisol is more than likely the cause of your low estrogen and progesterone. Get that fixed instead of patching it with estrogen and progesterone creams. Once you lower the cortisol, the estrogen ans progesterone should bounce back as long as you don't have failing ovaries or a sluggish hypothalamus.

You need to get checked for cushings. If left untreated, it poses some serious health risks.
 
I would get xrays done to check the size of your adrenal glands, as well as do a night time saliva test. If your adrenals are enlarged and your saliva test comes back high, then you will know...
 
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