Visit to Endo

[Sylvia22]

Yesterday I saw an endocrinologist at the hospital. I had been feeling very tired T4 had been slowly going down and I have been having lots of aches and pains. My G P had put up my Thyroxine to 125 and I do feel quite a bit better. Been on higher dose for about 6 weeks. At the end of the consultation the endo said she would like to do a test to rule out Addisons as my Sodium level was a bit on the low side. This test entails having an injection of something which will make them able to measure cortisol levels. As I am very sensitive to most things put into my system I feel apprehensive about this test. I have looked up Addisons and don't appear to have any symptoms . Anyone on here who is familiar with this issue I would be grateful for your input.

[lc1973]

Hi Sylvia22

I think what the Endo might be suggesting is called an ACTH Stimulation test which is normally carried out in the morning whereby an initial blood test is taken to measure your baseline serum cortisol level and then you are given an injection which is supposed to stimulate your adrenal glands and then a further blood sample (cortisol) is taken again.

This is quite poorly written by me, apologies therefore im hoping someone else will be along who can better explain but if you type in ACTH in the search engine hopefully you will be able to understand it.

My test results were an initial low morning cortisol (baseline) but as the cortisol rose within the reference ranges given it was proven that i did not have addisons disease, but as others may comment it doesnt pick up adrenal fatigue which is not recognised by the NHS.

[Angel_of_the_North]

Most people come out of the test as normal. It's just the hormone that your brain should produce to tell your adrenals to make cortisol. It made me cry uncontrollably, so take tissues. If it isn't normal (like me), they'll probably send you for MRI or CT scan, ECG and Insulin stress test (that one is nasty). And you'll come back normal ... unless you are really, really, really ill.