Hashimoto and adrenal fatigue

[ChrissyS1]

I have recently been diagnosed with hashis and was reading an article about individuals should have adrenal testing. Should I ask my doctor for this test and what does it involve.

[greygoose]

Well, you can try. But doctors know nothing about adrenals. And the will only do an a.m. blood cortisol test, which isn't the best one to do. But better than nothing, I suppose.

The best test is a 24 hour saliva cortisol test. But, you would have to do that privately. And, the problem is, GPs won't know what to do about it if a problem does show up. You would have to see an endo.

[SmallBlueThing]

You're likely to already have had urea and electrolytes (U&Es) tested -- check whether your sodium is low and potassium level is high.

[Bird-Girl in reply to SmallBlueThing]

Is that enough to prove to an Endo SmallBlueThing that you have adrenal issues? As my Endo doesn't want to admit there is anything to suggest I have low cortisol levels?!

[SmallBlueThing in reply to Bird-Girl]

Not enough, but certainly a clue, which should be followed up.

[Josiesmum]

You can ask your GP for a cortisol blood test which should be done fasting at 9am as levels change throughout the day and the NHS reference value is based on 9am value. Saliva test is apparently better but GPs don't usually do this.