Seriphos is my favorite nutrient for lowering high nighttime cortisol in order to reduce night waking and nighttime anxiety. I’ve used it with success in the past and have just needed it again:
After coming back from Hawaii (I was there for just under 2 weeks), I was still waking a few times each night. Sometimes I would be awake for 2-3 hours! I’m a hot mess when I don’t get sleep through the night. With just 1 Seriphos before bed for 9 days I was sleeping through the night again. It was glorious!
High cortisol can be a temporary issue after international travel i.e. caused by jetlag and out of balance circadian rhythm. I will admit that I have a number of confounding factors – like my loss and grief (my darling mom has just passed away), being sprayed with insecticide on landing in Australia (which I suspect caused severe vertigo the day after I got back), and high blood pressure (and likely higher cortisol too) after drinking too much licorice tea for my voice loss. Whatever the causes of my high cortisol, Seriphos really helped me sleep through the night.
I ran out of Seriphos 2 nights ago and I was awake for 3 hours last night. I’ll be adding it back to my nighttime protocol as soon as my order arrives.
Seriphos is made by Interplexus and is a phosphorylated serine product. It is similar to the more recognized phosphatidylserine which is also used and known for lowering high cortisol – clinically and in the research. However, clinically, I have found Seriphos to be more effective and work more quickly.
UPDATE Feb 2024: I did end up tweaking my Seriphos dose a few times. After a few weeks I decided to trial 2 per night – this worked well. Then a few weeks later I trialed 3 per night – but after a few days I realized that even though it worked well for sleep it made me too tired the next day. For this reason I went back down to 2 Seriphos at bedtime.
UPDATE August 2024: I’m now using just 1 Seriphos at night and have added ox bile supplementation and a bright light panel in the morning because of bile issues. More on this below.
Seriphos for high cortisol due to trauma, loss of beloved cat and more
When I posted this on Facebook, I had a number of folks share how Seriphos has also helped them.
Kathy shared this: “I take two Seriphos at night for high cortisol that causes insomnia. It works well for me and helps me to relax. I have a significant trauma background that keeps me in fight or flight, so Seriphos is a must have at night. I do take a break from time to time if I am going through a less stressful time.”
Hopefully Kathy is also working on the trauma, doing trauma work and even incorporating other nutritional approaches which help so much with recovery – like zinc, vitamin D, a B complex, GABA and tryptophan etc. Taking a break from time to time is a good plan – I share more about this below.
Kim shared this: “Seriphos is a life saver – I started it when I was having cortisol/adrenaline issues a few years ago and have continued using it. I don’t ever want to be without Seriphos. A little over a month ago I unexpectedly lost my youngest cat. She was emaciated when I rescued her over 4 years ago and we turned around health issues. I feel so sad that she was dealt such a bad hand but we got her a loving home. My animals are everything to me and the grief is so difficult. She was a character and I love her so much.”
She uses one capsule in the evening but also uses a capsule during the day if she feels off. Hopefully Kim is also doing trauma work and other nutritional support too.
Janie shared this: “I have used it, years ago when my cortisol was off the charts, morning and at night. I was awake every night until 2am, unable to sleep. Seriphos certainly helped.”
She used 1 Seriphos per day for about 3 months.
Patricia said: “Please remember that there is Original Seriphos and the next gen Seriphos. I was one of thousands of people who had used original Seriphos for sleep and then they changed their formulation without telling us and then so very many of us were wide awake at night until we realized that they had changed the formulation.”
This happened in 2016/2017 and I blogged about that whole fiasco here – Seriphos Original Formula is back: the best product for anxiety and insomnia caused by high cortisol. You can read many other success stories on the blog and in the comments.
Address the causes of your high cortisol: jetlag, grief, toxins, licorice intake
As you can see from my example there can be a number of causes of high cortisol and you always want to address these causes while using Seriphos so you can eventually stop using it:
- International travel i.e. caused by jetlag and out of balance circadian rhythm. I’m home so this is no longer a contributing issue.
- Loss and grief can have physiological effects and high cortisol is one of many effects: “It appears that cortisol remains elevated for at least the first 6 months of bereavement. For some, cortisol elevation may become chronic”. The loss of my darling mom is going to take time but I am making time for grieving and I’m nurturing myself. As I navigate this period in my life I’ll continue to share what has helped me. I suspect I may need Seriphos for longer than the usual 3 months.
- Being sprayed with insecticide on landing in Australia (which I suspect caused severe vertigo the day after I got back). It’s well-recognized that environmental toxins are hormone disruptors and affect the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and cortisol. I’m addressing this with active detoxification and my portable infrared sauna.
- High blood pressure and likely higher cortisol too after drinking too much licorice tea for my voice loss. I have stopped the licorice consumption and my blood pressure is back to normal.
Other possible causes of high cortisol include day to day stresses, food sensitivities such as gluten, high sugar consumption, parasites and so on. Each factor needs to be addressed.
I do recommend Salivary cortisol testing before using Seriphos
Salivary cortisol testing is something I do with all my clients anyway. And I do recommend salivary cortisol testing before using Seriphos and the other cortisol-lowering nutrients mentioned below.
I will admit that I didn’t follow my own recommendation because I’ve had high nighttime cortisol in the past and recognized the symptoms. I had also identified all the above root causes and I desperately needed to sleep. I now have an adrenal saliva test kit on hand and will report back when I get the results.
Seriphos will only work for waking in the night if cortisol is high
One woman shared “I have never slept through the night in years. It would be delightful to get to the morning without waking.” Seriphos will very likely help if her cortisol is high.
Keep in mind there are many causes of not being able to sleep through the night and Seriphos will not help if cortisol is not high. Other root causes for insomnia/waking in the night (and nighttime anxiety) we consider and investigate are:
- Low GABA and low serotonin (I always start with these while waiting for salivary cortisol results to come back),
- Low melatonin
The following factors need to be addressed as root causes of sleep issues, anxiety and other symptoms (like gut issues, pain etc.), and also keep in mind that they are very possibly contributing to your high cortisol too:
- Gluten and other food sensitivities
- Caffeine and sugar intake
- Oxalate issues and/or toxins exposure affecting bile production (this affected my sleep last year)
- EMFs
- Parasites and other gut issues like IBS/SIBO etc.
- Disrupted circadian rhythms connected to liver/gallbladder/bile issues – more on that and bright light here. (Research does support a connection between high cortisol and cholestasis i.e. “stagnation, or at least a marked reduction, in bile secretion and flow.”)
A few folks reported they had tried Seriphos without success and it may well be that they don’t have high cortisol. Or they would possibly benefit from another approach to lower their cortisol (more on this below).
What are my options if I have high cortisol at night and Seriphos has the opposite effect?
One person said it had the opposite reaction. Joanne shared this: “Seriphos had the opposite effect on me. [One Seriphos] gave me extreme anxiety, kept me awake all night. Saliva tested consistently high cortisol at night so it should have helped. Been trying to work out why it would and how it might inform how I treat my insomnia.”
I’ve had a few clients do better with less than the recommended 3 per day and one not being able to use it at all. I suspect an allergic reaction or that it’s just too high a dose for some folks. The capsule could be opened and less could be used.
If this doesn’t work, other options for lowering high cortisol include lactium/hydrolyzed casein, Relora® (which contains Magnolia officinalis and Phellodendron amurense), essential oils such as bergamot and some herbal adaptogens. You can also read about some phosphatidylserine products I looked into when the Seriphos product was changed.
Forest bathing also helps to lower high cortisol levels and I recommend it for everyone.
Where does using Seriphos fit into everything else that I’m doing to address my insomnia and/or anxiety?
I typically don’t start with Seriphos right away with clients unless we know cortisol is high. As mentioned above I always start with assessing for low GABA and low serotonin and we do trials of the respective amino acids based on the symptoms questionnaire.
I also assess for low blood sugar and dietary factors like gluten, caffeine, sugar, quality animal protein intake etc. as covered in my book “The Antianxiety Food Solution.” More about my book here. It does include a chapter on the amino acids and how to use them too.
Then we start to dig deeper and would consider Seriphos or lactium for anxiety caused by high night time or even high morning cortisol or high cortisol at other times of the day.
With many folks all of the above often applies. And we continue with assessing for each of the 60+ nutritional and biochemical root causes of anxiety/waking in the night (which does include liver/gallbladder/bile issues).
Where do I purchase Seriphos and how much do I use? What about taking a break?
You can purchase Seriphos from my online store (Fullscript – only available to USA customers – use this link to set up an account) and you can also find it on iherb (use this link to save 5%).
The bottle states to use 1 capsule with water 15 minutes before a meal. Clinically, using 1-3 capsules a few hours before the high cortisol seems to be most effective. For 2-4am waking this typically means taking Seriphos right before bed. In some instances, taking 1 on waking in the night can help too (for a maximum of 3).
With high cortisol in the night and on waking, I have clients use Seriphos before bed and lactium on waking.
It is recommended to take a one-month break after 3 months of Seriphos use. Ideally, once the root causes of high cortisol are addressed, you should be able to stop anyway. Or take a break, retest cortisol and then continue.
I’ll share some research and how Seriphos differs from phosphatidylserine in a follow-up blog if there is enough interest.
I appreciate all the feedback from these women in my community.
Have you used Seriphos (a phosphorylated serine product) to help with high cortisol and waking in the night/nighttime anxiety caused by any of the?
What do you suspect the cause(s) of your high cortisol is or was? And have you confirmed high cortisol with a saliva cortisol test?
Have any of the other products mentioned above helped to reduce high cortisol? If yes, have you compared them with Seriphos?
Let me know if you’re interested in a follow-up blog that includes some research and how Seriphos differs from phosphatidylserine.
Feel free to share and ask your questions below.