Adrenal supplement

[Lucylockett30]

High anyone use Adrenal Cortex and if so how much

[SeasideSusie Remembering]

Yes.

Have you had a 24 hour saliva adrenal test done to test both cortisol and DHEA? You need that before deciding on an adrenal supplement.

[Lucylockett30 in reply to SeasideSusie]

Thanks have just got the cortisol one but not ordered the DHEA one yet xx

[SeasideSusie Remembering in reply to Lucylockett30]

They come as one test with Regenerus or Genova Diagnostics, at virtually the same price as Medichecks. I hope you haven't got the Medichecks one, it's pretty useless, they don't have proper ranges for two of the samples. Is it Medichecks? If so when did you order it?

[Lucylockett30 in reply to SeasideSusie]

Oh no I have got the medicheck one I’ve got it this week 😔

[SeasideSusie Remembering in reply to Lucylockett30]

Can I suggest that you return it.

You've either bought the 4 sample at £79 or the 6 sample at £99.

The problem with the Medichecks test is that two of the samples (the last two in the 4 sample test, I'm assuming the same in the 6 sample test) is that the range starts at zero. If anyone did actually have a level of zero I doubt very much that they'd be standing, I expect they'd be extremely ill!

Their bedtime sample is 0-2 and they only give an actual result in number form if it's above 1.5. If it's lower than 1.5 they just put <1.5 so the result could be anywhere between 0 and 1.4.

The optimal bedtime result is close to the bottom of the range. With the way they report it you can't possibly know that if they put <1.5 because it can be anywhere up to 70% of the range and you just wont know where.

Also they don't do DHEA which is important to be done when cortisol is tested.

Medichecks Terms and Conditions state that you have 30 days to cancel the order

medichecks.com/terms-and-co...

9. CANCELLATIONS AND REFUNDS

(2) Once your testing kit has been despatched, you have up to 30 days to cancel the order. You must return the testing kit if we have sent one to you to the address below at your cost:

Medichecks.com Limited

MediCity

Thane Road

Nottingham

NG90 6BH

If the testing kit you return is complete, unused and undamaged, we will give you a full refund. If the returned kit is incomplete, used or damaged in any way, you may incur a cancellation charge of £5 to cover the cost of the kit. This charge will be deducted from the total amount refunded to you.

Read on below that as well on their Ts & Cs page under section 9.

Regenerus and Genova Diagnostics do both cortisol and DHEA, they have proper reference ranges (Regenerus also put the optimal range) and they include a graphic so that you can see how your results follow the natural curve (which Medichecks doesn't).

Information on how to order them are on ThyroidUK's main website, you need to say that ThyroidUK is your "practioner" when ordering as they don't deal direct with the public, they require a "practioner".

I use Regenerus because they email you directly when your results are ready, Genova send them to ThyroidUK who then send them on to you when you've filled in the form on TUK's website

Regenerus test £83: thyroiduk.org/tuk/testing/r...

Sample report: cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0...

Genova test £82: thyroiduk.org/tuk/testing/g...

Test code is END01 which will be seen in the pdf document linked to on that page

Sample report: gdx.net/uk/core-uk/one-page...

[Lucylockett30 in reply to SeasideSusie]

Thank you sooooo much is

[bookish in reply to SeasideSusie]

Thanks for the timely information - I am just about to order a retest with Regenerus as I used them before and was pleased with process but useful to know drawbacks with Medichecks, who I've successfully used for other stuff.

[SilverAvocado in reply to SeasideSusie]

SeasideSusie, thanks for this amazing detailed information.

I believe Bluehorizon's test is the same story as Medichecks. They also don't do DHEA, and the final two measurements are incapable of showing low results.

[SeasideSusie Remembering in reply to SilverAvocado]

I know, but I didn't want to make my reply any more depressing than it already was 😞

I find it quite disappointing that these two companies, who offer the general public such an array of great tests which help us in our efforts get well when our doctors let us down, offer a test that seems to be not a lot of use.

[SilverAvocado in reply to SeasideSusie]

Yes, it's a very strange situation. DHEA is one thing, but I can't understand how anyone looked at those last two measures and thought they were usable tests. With any measure you want to know if the result is low, optimal, or high, but the only thing those measures can tell us about is a high result! If you might be low you just have to guess

[Foxtrot89]

I agree with the above comment by SeasideSusie you need to know your levels first.

If they come back low enough to need some adjustment then I’d recommend Thorne’s adrenal cortex. It’s 50mg and I started off on 1 a day and worked up to 4 a day.

If the boost needed is only subtle you could possibly try a supplement of liquorice root, (provided you don’t have high blood pressure, as it can raise it).

I found Solgar’s Rhodiola Complex handy for when I just needed a little help. You take it 2h before the low cortisol reading.

[SilverAvocado in reply to Foxtrot89]

Foxtroy89, altho Rhodiola is an adaptogen, theoretically balancing any number, I believe it is one associated with reducing cortisol not raising it.

[Foxtrot89 in reply to SilverAvocado]

Yeah sorry I didn’t write that end bit very clearly. Just saying what worked for me as there are various ingredients in that supplement that people would need to check.

[SilverAvocado in reply to Foxtrot89]

Its a bit of a minefield supplementing with adaptogens!