Help with Cortisol Results: Hi all, i'd love some... - Thyroid UK

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Help with Cortisol Results

Rachel1958 profile image
9 Replies

Hi all, i'd love some help with my results.

I got my cortisol results and they are well whacky.

Very high on waking and 12 midday (not surprising as i always have lots of get up and go even if i m totally exhausted! Weird i know).

Then normal for 4pm and high normal for bedtime.

Bedtime surprising as i have a lot of trouble getting to sleep and always feel totally wired no matter how tired/exhausted i am; but i think you recommend low normal is best for bedtime.

Since starting T3, I sleep deeply once i AM finally asleep, though.

Hope this all makes sense!

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Rachel1958
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9 Replies

It would be worth asking your GP to check an early morning blood cortisol to see if it is still high. Being on HRT or the contraceptive pill will also give a false "high". The fact that your reading is low at bedtime is good. If you have Cushing's disease/syndrome then cortisol is likely to be high at night. A normal early morning cortisol can be anything between 350-550nmol/Ls between 8-9am. Cortisol varies throughout the day but is at it's highest first thing in the morning.

Rachel1958 profile image
Rachel1958 in reply to

Thanks so much, Pauline.

I'm not on HRT or the pill.

So these don't look too bad?

I actually feel fine. My only problen now is getting to sleep at night, in fact!

in reply toRachel1958

It would still be worth getting your cortisol checked, but make sure you get a copy of your results as most GP's don't have a lot of understanding about cortisol levels.

Rachel1958 profile image
Rachel1958 in reply to

Thanks.

You mean with a blood test? I'd have to go to my GP early?

in reply toRachel1958

Yes a blood test between 8-9am.

Rachel1958 profile image
Rachel1958 in reply to

Will do my best. i don't tend to wake til 9 so could be tricky! x

SeasideSusie profile image
SeasideSusieRemembering

Rachel

The Medichecks adrenal test is pretty useless for a few reasons:

1) It doesn't include DHEA which is important as well as cortisol.

2) Two of the ranges have zero as the bottom end of the range, if anyone really did have a result of zero then I expect they would be very ill.

3) For the bedtime sample they don't give a level below 1.5, they just show it as <1.5 which is neither use nor ornament. Bedtime sample should be very bottom of range so just saying <1.5 tells us nothing because it could be zero and it could be 1.4 and there is a massive difference to interpreting the result then.

According to web.archive.org/web/2018083... optimal results for cortisol are

• Morning at the top of the range - yours is slightly over range and may be classed as OK.

• Noon approximately 75% of the range - yours is a long way over range

• Evening close to 50% of the range - 50% through that range is 2.75 so yours is fine

• Nighttime at the bottom of the range - yours is too high

A much better test which includes DHEA as well as cortisol and proper ranges for all samples, and a very similar price, is Regenerus or Genova Diagnostics.

Rachel1958 profile image
Rachel1958 in reply toSeasideSusie

Thanks.

It explains why i can't get to sleep anyway!

Rachel1958 profile image
Rachel1958 in reply toRachel1958

I did the Genova one a few months ago but they messed it up so i tried someone different. :)

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