Just had a Basal cortisol test

[Gaz227]

Follow to a question I asked a week or so ago , I have to wait till Nov to speak to Rheumy about my potential introduction to MTX. So I asked my GP for the Basal cortisol test , had blood taken yesterday day morning at 8am , they never told me if it was a fasting test so I did anyway just to be on the safe side . I had been on 3mg of pred for a few days at the time the blood was taken , is this going to be an accurate reading of my adrenal function , I know there is another which I can’t spell lol , just wondering how a Basal cortisol test compares to that one . Said I would have the results in 7 days , I hate it when they say test was fine , what figures should I be expecting and what are they measured in ? Thanks in advance 👍

[DorsetLady PMRGCAuk volunteer]

Synacthen test!...as for number etc, cant' help, but others who can will be along shortly.

[SheffieldJane]

I was only off Prednisalone for 24 hours when I had my test and I failed it. I can’t remember the numbers but I was over 100 under the minimum. This recovered with my next test when I was on less Pred.

[Gaz227 in reply to SheffieldJane]

Just saw on an earlier thread PMRpro had said, below 100 is adrenal inefficiency , over 450 is normal anywhere in. Anywhere in between needs an synacthen test or at least investigating .Got my 🤞 crossed .

[SheffieldJane in reply to Gaz227]

Good luck Gaz227. I think mine was something like 325 initially, but it did recover.

[PMRpro Ambassador]

If the basal cortisol is under 100, you have adrenal suppression, if it is above 450, you are perfectly OK, In between is equivocal and a synacthen test is advised

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl...