I would typically suspect apnea for someone who gets enough hours of sleep, but their sleep is not refreshing in the slightest. If they can fall asleep easily in a dark room, at any point during the day, this can be a telltale sign of sleep apnea fatigue.
Workplace Stresses
Another huge factor can be workplace stress levels. If someone has a good cortisol level on a weekend morning, this is typically a huge sign that workplace stress is playing some sort of role in your cortisol production.
If you can leave a situation where you are under an undue amount of stress, that would be great. But that is not always the case. In those instances, we should consider re-framing your stresses and understanding your goals and priorities.
PTSD And Low Cortisol
There is most definitely a relationship between PTSD and low cortisol levels. In fact, a low cortisol response can be driven by chronic anxiety, or what we might otherwise call post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The solution here is to seek help in order to come to terms with your anxiety levels, and what is plaguing you deep down.
Cognitive behavioral therapy is a proven way to help with chronic anxiety and PTSD. It can also help with cortisol levels. Mindfulness meditation is also extremely effective, easy to do, and can make a big difference in your life.
Hopefully, after seeking help, it will be able to balance out your PTSD and low cortisol levels. I truly hope this helps.
Fuel Overload
This is the kind of trigger that you really might not be paying attention toward. We call this metabolic syndrome, and it is a state where there is too much:
- Glucose
- Triglyceride
- High blood pressure
- Bad cholesterol
These are findings which predict things like:
- Diabetes, and
- Heart disease
Why would that correlate with low cortisol levels? Well, one of cortisol’s many jobs in the body is to regulate your blood sugar by raising it. If you are getting prediabetic, your body might try to fight that and push back on it.