Are you feeling overwhelmed, drained, or constantly on edge? In today’s fast-paced world, stress seems to have become an unwelcome and overly familiar companion.

Stress infiltrates every aspect of our lives. It is unavoidable.

Do not worry! There are many ways to help manage stress. One of my favorite ways to manage my stress, and is the number one thing I recommend to all my patients, supplements! In particular, Ashwagandha and L-theanine*

Want to test your “stress levels”?
Really we are testing your adrenal glands which are primarily responsible for producing the ‘stress hormone’ cortisol. Cortisol dysfunction can impact every system in the body with symptoms including fatigue, irritability, headaches, insomnia, low libido, intestinal issues, weight gain and anxiety. This package includes an adrenal stress salivary profile test along with two 15 minute consults to go over results and create a customized treatment plan.

Adrenal glands are located directly on top of the kidneys. They are mainly responsible for producing the stress hormone cortisol in addition to other hormones such as adrenaline and dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA). Combined, these three hormones play a large role in our bodies’ stress response and overall vitality.

However, of these three hormones, cortisol is perhaps the most important. Cortisol is responsible for rebuilding your bones, determining your immune response, stress response, blood sugar, weight, protein synthesis, sleep, mood thoughts, anti-inflammatory response, sodium reabsorption, balances DHEA (the precursor for testosterone), improves resistance to viruses, bacteria, parasites, allergies, and cancer, prevents osteoporosis, lowers total and LDL cholesterol, and increases muscle mass and decreases body fat.

Blood levels of cortisol will vary throughout the day. Typically, you see levels elevated in the morning (upon wakening) and then fall as the day continues. However, when we are stressed, our bodies will release extra cortisol!

When it comes to determining if your cortisol levels look normal, we expect to see a healthy curve look something like this:

If you happen to be experiencing adrenal dysfunction, however, your cortisol curve will likely look different. Depending on which stage of adrenal dysfunction you have, your cortisol curve will not spike appropriately or at the appropriate times. Your morning values might be too high, while the rest are normal. Or, your cortisol levels could spike at the wrong time of day, such as evening when you need to wind down for bed. Worse, you may have low levels of cortisol all the time, feeling like you have no energy at all.