RECENTLY, I'VE HAD MY SALIVA TESTED. MY CORTISOL LEVELS ARE THROUGH THE ROOF. THE PHARMACIST CALLED ME AND WONDERED IF I WAS ON ANY STEROIDS THAT COULD HAVE ALTERED THE RESULTS (I AM NOT). I FORGET THE EXACT NUMBERS BUT MY AM CORTISOL WAS AROUND 90 AND HE SAID MY OTHER LEVELS THROUGHOUT THE DAY WERE ABOUT 10X THE NORMAL. THE ONLY OTHER THING HE SAID WAS MY ESTRADIOL WAS ELEVATED??? HE'S GOING TO CALL MY OB GYN AND MAYBE RERUN THE TEST OR DO FURTHER TESTING. MY STRESS LEVEL AND ANXIETY HAVE BEEN HORRIBLE FOR THE PAST 6 MONTHS (AND HORRIBLE IS A MILD WAY TO PUT IT). I'M WONDERING IF MY ELEVATED CORTISOL IS MAKING MY ANXIETY AND STRESS OR IS MY ANXIETY AND STESS MAKING MY ELEVATED CORTISOL LEVELS? IVE BEEN READING A LITTLE ABOUT ADRENAL FATIGUE BUT TO ME THAT SOUNDS LIKE LOW CORTISOL LEVELS. WILL BY ADRENALS EVENTUALLY BURN OUT AT THAT LEVEL (IS THAT WHAT CAUSES ADRENAL FATIGUE?) IM JUST REALLY CONFUSED SO IF ANYONE HAS ANY INSIGHT OR CORISOL LEVELS THAT WOULD BE APPRECIATED.

Hey Shelby,

when you are testing with saliva, the reading I have done suggests that only the cortisol reading is accurate. The estrogen reading is probably wrong. I also did the salive testing and it read my estrogen was elevated when in fact it had bottomed out!! So be careful trusting a saliva test where anything other than cortisol is concerned.

Your high cortisol reading probably is from stress. I don't know what is going on in your life, but if you have big stress, you should try and eliminate as much stress as possible. And yes, you adrenals can burn out if your cortisol levels stay high for a prolonged period. You might want to try some relaxation, through yoga or mediation, try drinking some green tea or taking some L-Theanine (a derivative of green tea which increases the alpha brain waves and is harmless). Also try getting some exercise, even if it is just walking to burn off some of the cortisol, and also bring the stress down.

I went through a period in my life where the stress was over the top and I am sure my cortisol plummetted and I was a wreck for quite some time, it takes a long long time to recover from adrenal fatigue so you want to avoid that situation at all costs!

I hope you get things under control quickly!