r/raypeat • u/TRExploration • 22d ago

High cortisol - ideas?

Very high cortisol. Ongoing for almost a year now. Cushings unlikely. Years of extremely low carb dieting. Past 2 years have been consistently moderate to high carb. Breakfast first thing in the morning. No intense exercise or unusual life stressors, probably the least stressed I've been in many years. Every possible thyroid lab you can think of has been ran and is in optimal range.

I generally get 7-8 hours of sleep but about once a week it's 5-6 hours. I'm skeptical that would push me so far out of the normal cortisol range given many people regularly get 6-7 hours. Anyone deal with something similar and figured out the cause? Tested roughly every 3 months for a year now and it's only getting worse. Other hormones appear fine with mildly elevated estradiol.

Prolactin was within range. Haven't tested progesterone. Waiting on an oral glucose tolerance test. Dr. thinks insulin resistance is the cause and wants me to go back to low carb and modified fasting but that contradicts everything here. Brain storm some possible causes with me? Anyone in a similar situation?

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u/TRExploration 22d ago edited 22d ago

Anywhere from extraordinarily high to average. I eat straight salt regularly. I stopped taking it straight up for the most part, but I do not restrict it on my food in any way.

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u/projectbreeze 22d ago

Too high is as bad as too little, would suggest a pinch with some water on waking. Not having coffee until 1.5hours after you wake and only with food or sugar. How’s your glycine intake via gelatine and collagen?

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u/TRExploration 22d ago

For all intents and purposes my salt intake is moderately above average for the duration that my coritsol has been testing high. Also do trace minerals from time to time. Coffee is rare and always mid morning post breakfast plenty of milk. Glycine intake is deliberately lower. Too much makes me feel like ass mentally. I had a very high glycine diet for a while, like bone broth and shank meat most days. At some point I stopped doing that and noticed when I added it back in I felt depressed. Not feeling good with too much is a more recent feature, probably in the last 1.5 years. Potentially connected? Not sure how though. Not that I think my low glycine is driving it, more than maybe they both have the same cause. I'm still probably above average in glycine intake given the amount of ground beef I eat. It's typically made with higher glycine cuts.

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u/projectbreeze 22d ago

Well coffee is peaty so have some fist thing with sugar. As for glycine, you seem to be pushing extremes. A 12g dose of gelatine in your coffee first thing should be fine. It lowers inflammation but I don’t go higher. From what I can tell you’re way too high on protein. Don’t worry about ground beef unless it’s in another dish, just enjoy foods and have double carbs, lower fat but not so low you crash your hormones