09/08/2026
Cortisol isn’t one number … it’s a curve.
It should peak 30–45 minutes after you wake, drop through the afternoon, and fall overnight so melatonin can rise.
Most of what people call “high” or “low” cortisol is actually that curve losing its shape: peaking too late, staying flat all day, or spiking at 3am when it should be at its lowest.
Chances are, you probably already know if you’re stressed. You don’t need bloodwork to tell you that.
But a single number doesn’t show you the baseline or the trend, and it doesn’t tell you if your rhythm is intact or inverted. That’s why a single morning blood draw tells you very little.
Which is why we test cortisol across the day ➡️ waking, midday, evening, night : to see the actual pattern, not just one point on the curve.
Salivary cortisol is the standard for this : four timed samples that map the full rhythm, including the cortisol awakening response.
DUTCH (dried urine) does the same and adds cortisol metabolites, which can be useful depending on what we’re looking at.
Wired at night, flat in the morning? Our practionners can order this testing and build a plan around what your curve actually shows 📝
