Anne-MarieSo I am unable to cut and paste it here. You can see it in html version though here:
It basically says that cortisol rises by 50-60% within the first 30 minutes of rising independant of when we wake. That means no matter when you wake up it rises by this amount. This level is maintained, and I presume it rises to maximum shortly after. Since cortisol can take an hour to peak, although the minute you take it it can start working, it therefore makes complete sense that you take your first dose where you regularly wake. If you wake early once or twice in a blue moon, I guess you would not want to really change your routine. I would still take the dose early.
If you were sick and needed to increase your dose because your body was trying to make more cortisol, you would delay that no more than you should the first dose when rising.
We all have the same basic rythym. High cortisol in the morning, lower in the afternoons and lowest at midnight. Providing that we are in bed at midnight. ;)
However, those peaks and troughs do not all occur at the same times exactly. That is because we all have different sleep wake patterns. If you wake earlier than 7am, you should be dosing ealier than 7am logically. Well according to that study---because as we know if a child cannot make cortisol--they are making androgens. If your going to switch to this regime because you want to cut the possible exposure to androgens down---then it makes ultimate sense to me not to delay the morning dose rigidly to the abstract when your child’s routine is obviously different.
I’m not saying that circadian dosing is wrong. I am saying that we all differ, and to optimise this dosing regime, you need to be applying it to your own child’s circumstances. Being flexible---which is no less than what your childs HPA axis would be doing if it could anyway believe me. I would read that abstract. The rest will click into place.
Cheers
Anne-Marie