Adrenal testing

[marlow7]

Hi everyone

Could anyone advise me on which is the best online laboratory to use to have my cortisol levels tested. Am I right in thinking it must be a 24 hour saliva test that also includes DHEA as well?

Also, would anyone be prepared to help me interpret the results when I receive them as I doubt I will be able to? My GP does not believe in adrenal insufficiency so can not go to him with them

Thank you. Any advice will be gratefully received

[humanbean]

My GP does not believe in adrenal insufficiency

It's adrenal fatigue that doctors don't believe in. They do believe in adrenal insufficiency. You can see the differences in how the two are discussed in wikipedia.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adren...

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adren...

would anyone be prepared to help me interpret the results when I receive them

I'm not a doctor nor do I have any medical training of any kind.

I have gone through some people's cortisol results and produced these kinds of posts :

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

Personally, I do believe in adrenal fatigue (AF). But it is a different condition to adrenal insufficiency (AI).

In AI the adrenal glands cannot produce enough cortisol and the condition can lead to adrenal crisis and possibly death if it isn't caught and treated soon enough. Even with treatment AI cannot be cured, it can only be managed.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adren...

In AF the adrenals can produce cortisol but not enough for good health. If the appropriate treatments and supplements are used the adrenal glands can recover and produce normal amounts of cortisol again.

Edit : I should also point out that there is a strong relationship between adrenal function and thyroid function so cortisol is often mentioned on this forum.

paulrobinsonthyroid.com/hig...

paulrobinsonthyroid.com/sym...

hypothyroidmom.com/cortisol...

[humanbean]

The two saliva cortisol tests that are suggested on this forum are these two :

regeneruslabs.com/products/...

gdx.net/uk/products/adrenal...

For more information on how to deal with these two companies read the relevant sections of this link :

thyroiduk.org/help-and-supp...

...

If I was going to do a saliva cortisol test I would go with Regenerus because they deal directly with the public. Genova don't and it's more complicated to get your results.

[marlow7 in reply to humanbean]

thanks for replying to me and thank you for explaining it to me

it is adrenal fatigue that i believe i have.i have not had a decent nights sleep in over 10 months and my brain is fuddled and confused at the moment.i seem to have many symptoms of adrenal fatigue,chronic insomnia being the worst.thanks again