adrenal testing

[cneal09]

hi all I'm new to the group, I was wondering where is the best place to have my adrenals checked and cortisol. I'm so fatigued lately and craving salty foods so wanted to get them checked as thryroid levels all ok. I had a full removal in 2014

[Lalatoot]

The endo requested this for me and it was done through the GPS surgery.

[cneal09 in reply to Lalatoot]

thanks my gp are reluctant to do this

[SeasideSusie Remembering]

Cneal09

If you want to do a private test then the one recommended tests both cortisol and DHEA. You can do this test with a 24 hour saliva adrenal test with Regenerus or Genova Diagnostics.

Details on how to order are on ThyroidUK's main website here:

Regenerus thyroiduk.org/getting-a-dia...

Genova thyroiduk.org/getting-a-dia... and the test code is END01

[cneal09 in reply to SeasideSusie]

thank you xx

[Hidden]

The fact thatyyou are craving salt could well be due to low cortisol, are you losing weight as well? Have a look on the Addison's disease website for information & how to go about asking your GP to test your cortisol levels. It should be tested around 8-9am in the morning & should be around 450-550nmol/Ls, under 400nmol/Ls there should be further testing.

[cneal09 in reply to Hidden]

thanks , I've put on weight since lockdown nearly 1st now 😧

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to cneal09]

So since stopping Thyroid S .....just levothyroxine dose is either inadequate or you need T3 prescribed alongside levothyroxine

[SlowDragon Administrator]

So you had total thyroidectomy

Are your thyroid levels optimal?

How much levothyroxine are you currently taking

Do you always get same brand of levothyroxine

What vitamin supplements are you currently taking

For full Thyroid evaluation you need TSH, FT4 and FT3 tested. Also EXTREMELY important to test vitamin D, folate, ferritin and B12

Low vitamin levels are extremely common, especially if you had Graves’ disease

Recommended on here that all thyroid blood tests should ideally be done as early as possible in morning and before eating or drinking anything other than water .

Last dose of Levothyroxine 24 hours prior to blood test. (taking delayed dose immediately after blood draw).

This gives highest TSH, lowest FT4 and most consistent results. (Patient to patient tip, best not mentioned to GP or phlebotomist)

If/when also on T3, make sure to take last third or half of daily dose 8-12 hours prior to test, even if this means adjusting time or splitting of dose day before test

Is this how you do your tests?

Private tests are available as NHS currently rarely tests Ft3 or thyroid antibodies or all relevant vitamins

List of private testing options

thyroiduk.org/getting-a-dia...

Medichecks Thyroid plus ultra vitamin

medichecks.com/products/thy...

Medichecks often have special offers, if order on Thursdays

Thriva Thyroid plus vitamins

thriva.co/tests/thyroid-test

Blue Horizon Thyroid Premium Gold includes vitamins

bluehorizonbloodtests.co.uk...

Low cortisol can be due to being incorrectly treated for thyroid

[cneal09 in reply to SlowDragon]

thanks . yea currently levels are all normal last tested end of April. t3 levels weren't tested I'm on levo 125 mg and before lockdown well March I was on thyroid s but I can't get hold of it now x

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to cneal09]

Well just testing TSH and Ft4 is completely inadequate

Obviously if had to go back to just levothyroxine this can cause complex issues ...low vitamins and cortisol upset