Cortisol is a hormone with a vital job.
It helps your body respond to stress, maintain blood pressure, regulate metabolism, and manage inflammation.
But when cortisol levels remain elevated for too long, the effects can move from helpful to harmful.
This condition, sometimes referred to as Cushing syndrome, can gradually disrupt your health in significant ways.
Recognizing the signs of high cortisol is the first step toward taking back control of your wellbeing.
The symptoms of high cortisol levels can show up in many areas of your body.
These may include unexpected weight gain, particularly in the face or abdomen, acne, slowed healing, and persistent fatigue.
Some people notice thinning skin that bruises easily or muscle weakness that makes everyday tasks more difficult.
You might also experience high blood pressure, headaches, difficulty concentrating, or increased irritability.
These symptoms can be subtle at first, and because they overlap with many other conditions, they can be easy to overlook.
But taken together, they often signal a deeper imbalance.
To understand what might be causing high cortisol, it helps to look at how the hormone is regulated.
Under normal circumstances, your brain and adrenal glands communicate through a delicate hormonal feedback loop.
If the brain senses that your body needs more cortisol, it initiates a signal to your adrenal glands to produce it.
Once the need has passed, the system winds down and cortisol levels drop.
But stress can override this rhythm.
When you are under continuous psychological or physical stress, your body may stay stuck in this “alert” mode.
Prolonged exposure to cortisol can lead to long-term changes in your body’s systems.
Other causes of high cortisol levels are more structural.
Noncancerous tumors in the pituitary or adrenal glands can produce excess hormones, disrupting the body’s feedback loop.
A pituitary tumor, for instance, might overproduce ACTH, a hormone that signals the adrenal glands to keep producing cortisol even when it’s not needed.
In rarer cases, adrenal tumors themselves can produce cortisol directly.
There’s also a more controllable cause to consider: certain medications.
Long-term or high-dose use of corticosteroids like prednisone can artificially raise cortisol levels.
These drugs are often necessary to treat inflammatory or autoimmune conditions, but their use must be carefully managed.
According to the Cleveland Clinic, sudden withdrawal from steroids can be dangerous and should always be done under medical supervision.
If you’re experiencing symptoms that seem consistent with high cortisol, testing can offer clarity.
Common diagnostic tools include blood tests, 24-hour urine collections, and late-night saliva samples.
These methods help determine whether cortisol levels are consistently high and at what times of day.
If tests confirm elevated levels, further imaging — such as MRI or CT scans — may be recommended to check for tumors in the adrenal or pituitary glands.
Treatment depends on the underlying cause.
For some, lifestyle adjustments to reduce stress and improve sleep and diet may help.
For others, medical or surgical interventions may be necessary.
If you suspect that high cortisol may be affecting your health, don’t wait.
The earlier it’s addressed, the more manageable the solutions tend to be.
A trusted healthcare provider can guide you through testing and treatment options that align with your needs.
Your body communicates constantly — and cortisol is one of its loudest voices when something is out of balance.
Learning to listen to those signals is one of the most powerful steps you can take toward better health.