Posted by davpet on May 22, 2003, at 15:44:57
If your cortisol is too high and you believe it is responsible for your depressives symptoms, you cannot solve the problem by decreasing cortisol levels directly , as cortisol is involved in the negative feedback inhibtion of the HPA axis . If you take drugs to interfere with your cortisol synthesis the HPA axis will remain activated .
If your cortisol is too high it is probably due Glucocorticoid-Receptor (GR) down-regulation . You see in order for the HPA axis to be de-activated your GR must must be stimulated by cortisol . If they have been exposed to chronic cortisol the GRs would have been down-regulated , and are therefore resistant to cortisol .This is why your levels are too high as your body produces more cortisol than it needs in order to trigger the resistant GRs.
If you want to lower you cortisol you should look for drugs that cause GR Up-Regulation . Which means your GRs are more sensitive to cortisol, and as such less cortisol must be produced in order to trigger the GRs.
Helpful links on this issue :
http://www.thedoctorwillseeyounow.com/articles/behavior/depressn_5/
poster:davpet
thread:228381
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20030520/msgs/228381.html