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Home › Lab markers › Cortisol

METABOLIC & HORMONE MARKERS

Cortisol explained — what low and high can mean

Also printed as: Serum cortisol · Morning cortisol · AM cortisol

Educational only — not medical advice.

What Cortisol measures

Cortisol is a hormone from your adrenal glands that helps regulate blood sugar, blood pressure, inflammation, and your response to stress. It follows a strong daily rhythm — highest shortly after waking, lowest around bedtime. The result is meaningless without knowing what time the sample was taken.

Why it matters

Cortisol is a rhythm, not a level. A single draw captures one point on a curve, which is why patterns and timed testing tell clinicians far more than one number.

TYPICAL ADULT RANGE

Many labs report roughly 6–23 µg/dL for a morning sample, with much lower values expected later in the day. Ranges vary by lab, and time of draw is essential to interpretation. Reported in µg/dL.

Reference ranges vary by lab, by method, and by age and sex. Always read your own result against the range printed on your report.

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What a low Cortisol can mean

A low cortisol on an afternoon or evening sample is expected and reflects the normal daily rhythm. A low morning value can follow recent steroid use — including inhaled, topical, and injected steroids, which people often do not think to mention — and that is a common and important explanation. Persistently low morning cortisol, especially with fatigue, lightheadedness, or salt craving, is worth raising with your doctor promptly so they can test it properly.

What a high Cortisol can mean

Higher cortisol very often reflects ordinary stress physiology: a stressful morning, poor sleep, acute illness, pain, or intense exercise before the draw all raise it, and the anxiety of a blood draw itself is a well-documented cause. Estrogen-containing medications and pregnancy raise the total measured cortisol without raising the active portion. Because of all this, an isolated high value is usually confirmed with timed or alternative testing before anyone reads into it — a step your doctor will decide on.

Questions worth asking your doctor

•What time was this sample drawn, and does that fit the range used?
•Could any steroid medication — including inhaled or topical — affect this?
•Would timed or salivary testing give a clearer picture?
•How does this fit with my other symptoms and results?

Your doctor is the one who can read this number against your history, symptoms, and medications.

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Educational only — not medical advice. Lab results only mean something alongside your history, symptoms, medications, and the rest of your panel. Bring questions to your doctor; they are the one who can interpret your results for you.

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