Medichecks Adrenal Test Results

[jostafford0]

Hello, I've received my cortisol saliva test results from Medichecks and wondered if anyone could provide some advice on what adaptogens I should take?

Waking - 13.8 (6-21)

12pm - 5.78 (1.5-7.6)

4pm - 4.74 (0-5.5)

Bedtime - 2.13 (0-2) - over the threshold

Many thanks

Jo

[Linda543]

Ashwagandha at bedtime helps.

[jostafford0 in reply to Linda543]

Thank you - I will give it a go. Jo x

[JumpJiving]

Do you have any caffeinated drinks during the day? If so, I'd recommend cutting down or stopping those before adding anything else into the mix.

(I had the Medichecks 6 saliva test not long ago - since then, I've gone from multiple coffees, multiple teas, and a couple of cans of Coca Cola, down to 1 or 2 caffeinated coffees, no caffeinated teas and no Coca Cola. I am hoping doing that will have brought my cortisol down to reasonable levels without me having to take anything else in terms of medications, supplements, adaptogens etc).

[jostafford0 in reply to JumpJiving]

Hello, thank you for the advice. I normally have 2 cups of coffee in a morning and 1 tea in the afternoon but the day of the test I didn't have any coffee and just one tea. I also worked from home and had a relaxing bath in the evening so no external stress that day. I don't know how long it takes to get high cortisol, is it just a daily thing or does it take weeks/months to get a high reading?

[JumpJiving in reply to jostafford0]

I don't know how quickly cortisol levels change based on change of habits etc. In my particular case, I had a high stress job, high stress commute, and a work pattern completely out of synch with my body's own pattern, for more than 30 years. Throughout that period I survived on caffeinated drinks and adrenaline from the pressure. My suspicion (and I know my local NHS endo would dismiss this completely) is that the long term nature of that probably meant I did some damage that will take a while to get back into balance. I suspect that cutting out caffeine probably makes a measurable difference very quickly, but would imagine there would be quite a lag before any long-term damage is either fixed or moderated. Whether it's adrenal fatigue (dismissed by many), or something else, I think after so many years it's probably something I need to manage long term. I am planning to repeat the saliva tests after 6 months. A friend of similar age and with a similar background was recently given a "do something now or this will kill you" type of warning from her doctor because of adrenal problems.

Remember though, that my cortisol readings were significantly higher than yours, and over range throughout, not just one at bedtime. My layperson's interpretation of your results is that you have no reason to worry about this sort of scenario, but that you might want to make small changes to reduce your levels slightly.