Hi, I developed severe anxiety at 47 and was put on citalopram, which I've been on and off for years. The worst part is being woken by a massive cortisol spike every day at 4:30 am, as someone else described upthread.
There is a supplement called phosphatydylserine which regulates cortisol and has really helped me. I just take 100mg when I need it. It's popular on Survivingantidepressants.org.
Other things to try: blackout curtains. The body naturally produces more cortisol in the early morning to get us out of bed. For some of us it seems it produces too much! This is stimulated by light, so the blackout curtain helps calm it down. It takes a few weeks to work, but it's great.
L-theanine is also great at taking the jitters off caused by morning coffee, which I personally cannot give up. Good luck🤞 it's a tough one to crack.
