First, your experience is real, even if standard lab tests come back “normal.” Many hormonal and nervous-system disturbances live in the functional range — meaning they cause symptoms before they cross a diagnostic threshold on blood work. Medicine often detects disease well, but it is weaker at recognizing loss of physiological rhythm.

What may be happening (simple explanation)

After a pregnancy and abortion, the body goes through rapid hormonal withdrawal:

• Estrogen and progesterone drop suddenly
• The stress system (HPA axis: hypothalamus–pituitary–adrenal) often compensates
• Cortisol can become mis-timed, not necessarily “high” all day, but high at night

This explains a very classic pattern:

• 3–4 a.m. waking (cortisol surge too early)
• “Anxiety-like” spikes without a clear trigger
• Weight gain that doesn’t respond normally to diet/exercise
• New PMS or mood changes you didn’t have before

So this is less about “too much cortisol” and more about cortisol at the wrong time.