AS Connected to Low Cortisol Levels

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Interesting. My AS becomes more prominent when I'm under stress:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/hsn/20090402/hl ... isollevels

So do my issues.

I wouldn't be surprised if social interaction was hormone driven.

Can social skills really be skills if they're hormone driven?


I wonder if habits such as nail biting, are also linked to this kind of hormone generated anxiety?


It's actually cortisol not cortisone in the article though.
Don't trust the spell checker!

Cortisol really changes memories, which would explain the researchers results.

i pretty much feel anxious most of my day. but i have low bp and suspect i'm hypoglycemic. (very shaky if meal is skipped.) so--probably low cortisol.

so it's interesting. wonder if the anxiety a lot of ASD's experience has more to do with environment (ex: i find it confusing and unpredictable.)

and if cortisol is added to the mix: does the anxiety rise even further?

Yes, I read this indeed. It surprises me that low conrtisone levels are supposed to cause/agravate AS, while stress does make it worse. Or do they mean that people with low levels of cortisone could be overly-sensitive to stress hormones?

As someone who makes no cortisol (none. nada. zip) and has to take replacement steroids...you'd totally know if you were out of normal range.

Because you don't just get anxious and "more autistic", you get SICK. Loss of weight, loss of appetite, low blood pressure (with steroids mine is about 80/45), low blood sugar, nausea, hair falling out, etc. It's a fairly easily fatal condition.

Interesting that theyre saying low cortisol. they used to say high cortisol.

i'm thinking not, now that i've read this.

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/stress/SR00001

it's weird, this kind of paradox. most AS/ASD's seem to have such high levels of anxiety, even though our "stress hormone" (cortisol) levels are supposedly low.

what i'm wondering now--if cortisol levels are generally low, would surges in the levels (during stressful situations, etc.) be even more acutely experienced than if cortisol levels were normal?

From my reading of the original thread that was here awhile back, the research was fairly specific - that while typically people have a surge of cortisol in their systems in the morning (perhaps coping with the change) and then generally tapers off through the day, those on the spectrum did -not- have that same systematic response. Would explain some of the difficulties experienced by those on the spectrum with mornings, waking, and sleep disorders... and would also explain some behaviors, although this is purely conjecture: Without the stabilization of chemistry in the morning, I find myself almost seeking stress to be able to function properly. Perhaps I am self-medicating to get my system into a 'normal' set of parameters. I'm not familiar with literature that says that the system is not working, only that it is not working the same ways as those who are not identified as being on the spectrum.

Cortisol helps the body regulate its responses, and is produced in times of stress. An inability to balance would contribute (not likely causal) to anxiety issues... combine that with difficulties in perception and understanding, and it seems ripe for problems.


M.

I was termed a 'reactive hypoglycemic' while in high school; typically my blood pressure is slightly high (has improved with weight loss), but that has been taken almost exclusively in the afternoon after I've been pushing all day. The last morning pressure reading was slightly below normal. Interesting information, even if inconclusive.


M.