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What we help with · Stress & sleep

Stress, sleep & cortisol

Why we ask about your sleep, stress, meals, schedule and cycle — and how stress and your body clock can affect how you feel day to day.
Book initial consultation (opens in a new tab)Hormones & symptoms

Interactive

Cortisol and the stress response, connected

Tap an area to see how it relates. These are associations studied in conventional physiology — not diagnoses.

Cortisol + stress response

Cortisol + sleep

Sleep

Cortisol normally falls in the evening and rises before waking. Stress and disrupted daily rhythms can affect sleep timing and quality — and short or poor sleep can, in turn, affect the stress-response system.

Educational overview based on conventional physiology. Associations are not diagnoses, and many factors influence each of these.

From a biomedical perspective

What cortisol is, and its daily rhythm

Cortisol is a hormone made by the adrenal glands. Its release is controlled by the brain through the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis, and it helps regulate energy, blood sugar, blood pressure, inflammation and the body’s response to stress.1

Cortisol follows a daily rhythm set mainly by your internal clock. It rises sharply in the first 30–45 minutes after waking, then falls through the day to its lowest point around midnight.2,3

WakeMiddayEveningMidnightPeak after waking
Schematic of a typical daily pattern — not to scale, and it varies between people.

Stress and sleep influence each other

Falling asleep normally dampens cortisol, and waking stimulates it. Short or poor sleep can modestly activate the stress-hormone system, and activation of that system is associated with arousal and sleeplessness — which helps explain why stress and poor sleep often travel together.3,4

Shift work and your body clock

Working nights or rotating shifts shifts sleep away from your internal clock. Shift work is associated with sleep loss and with higher rates of some metabolic problems,5 and studies have found modest associations with menstrual irregularity.6,7 These are associations from observational research — they don’t mean shift work causes these problems for everyone.

From a Traditional Chinese Medicine perspective · a separate framework

How TCM describes stress and sleep

TCM uses its own diagnostic patterns.10 Tension, irritability, sighing and symptoms that worsen with stress are often described as Liver Qi stagnation. Restless or dream-disturbed sleep may be discussed in terms of the Heart and Shen (mind), and night sweats with poor sleep in terms of Kidney Yin deficiency.

These are TCM concepts, not biomedical findings. The TCM “Liver” is not the liver organ, and it does not “control cortisol.” Dr. Kristina uses these patterns to guide treatment choices, and explains them alongside conventional terms.

At Seven Medicine

Why we ask about sleep, stress, meals, cycles and schedule

  • They shape the whole picture Dr. Kristina uses to recommend care.
  • Acupuncture may be used as supportive care for sleep and stress. Evidence for insomnia is limited by trial quality,8 and recent reviews for anxiety are encouraging but call for better trials.9
  • Food and lifestyle suggestions are individualized — there are no universal rules.
  • Seven Medicine does not test or diagnose cortisol levels. If you’re concerned about a hormone problem, your medical provider can evaluate it.
See your doctor for sleep problems lasting more than a few weeks, exhaustion that rest doesn’t fix, unexplained weight change, or anxiety or low mood affecting daily life. In a crisis, call or text 988.
SleepStress & anxietyHormones & symptomsInternal medicine

References

Physiology sources describe conventional biomedicine; they are not studies of acupuncture.

  1. [1]Kaur J, Gandhi J, Sharma S. Physiology, Cortisol. StatPearls (NCBI Bookshelf NBK538239). 2025. PubMed 30855827 (opens in a new tab)· clinical reference
  2. [2]Stalder T, et al. Assessment of the cortisol awakening response: Expert consensus guidelines. Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2016;63:414-432. PubMed 26563991 (opens in a new tab) · DOI 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2015.10.010 (opens in a new tab)· expert consensus
  3. [3]Balbo M, Leproult R, Van Cauter E. Impact of sleep and its disturbances on hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal axis activity. Int J Endocrinol. 2010;2010. PubMed 20628523 (opens in a new tab) · DOI 10.1155/2010/759234 (opens in a new tab)· review
  4. [4]Nicolaides NC, Vgontzas AN, Kritikou I, Chrousos G. HPA Axis and Sleep. Endotext (NCBI Bookshelf NBK279071). 2020. PubMed 25905298 (opens in a new tab)· clinical textbook chapter
  5. [5]Kecklund G, Axelsson J. Health consequences of shift work and insufficient sleep. BMJ. 2016;355. PubMed 27803010 (opens in a new tab) · DOI 10.1136/bmj.i5210 (opens in a new tab)· review of meta-analyses
  6. [6]Stocker LJ, et al. Influence of shift work on early reproductive outcomes: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Obstet Gynecol. 2014;124(1):99-110. PubMed 24901274 (opens in a new tab) · DOI 10.1097/AOG.0000000000000321 (opens in a new tab)· systematic review and meta-analysis
  7. [7]Lawson CC, et al. Rotating shift work and menstrual cycle characteristics. Epidemiology. 2011;22(3):305-312. PubMed 21364464 (opens in a new tab) · DOI 10.1097/EDE.0b013e3182130016 (opens in a new tab)· cohort study
  8. [8]Cheuk DK, Yeung WF, Chung KF, et al. Acupuncture for insomnia. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2012;2012(9):CD005472. PubMed 22972087 (opens in a new tab) · DOI 10.1002/14651858.CD005472.pub3 (opens in a new tab)· Cochrane systematic review
  9. [9]Wang D, Sun J, Chuan EY, et al. Efficacy and Safety of Acupuncture for Anxiety Disorders in Adults: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Psychiatry Investig. 2026;23(8):963-975. PubMed 42613003 (opens in a new tab) · DOI 10.30773/pi.2025.0437 (opens in a new tab)· systematic review and meta-analysis
  10. [10]World Health Organization WHO International Standard Terminologies on Traditional Chinese Medicine. World Health Organization, Geneva. 2022. Source (opens in a new tab)· terminology standard

Initial consultation · 30 minutes

Start with a conversation.

Your first visit is a 30-minute consultation with Dr. Kristina Gacesa: your history, a TCM assessment, an AcuGraph baseline and a personalized recommendation with exact pricing. No treatment plan is required to book.

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Introductory rate · normally $249.99 · through Dec 31, 2026

If you continue: $159.99/visit, or $129.99/visit on a treatment plan.

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