Cortisol results

Hi all,

I got my cortisol results back. As expected cortisol is pretty low.

My DHEA is pretty high though so I'm pretty anxious about that.

Can someone explain it to me please?

Thank you.

[SlowDragon Administrator]

Do you have PCOS?

mountsinai.org/health-libra...

What Abnormal Results Mean

An increase in DHEA-sulfate may be due to:

A common genetic disorder called congenital adrenal hyperplasia.

A tumor of the adrenal gland, which can be benign or be a cancer.

A common problem in women younger than 50, called polycystic ovary syndrome.

[Hidden in reply to SlowDragon]

Not as far as I know.

Spiralling a little bit because my maternal Aunt died of adrenal cancer...

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to Hidden]

So don’t sit there worrying

Make an appointment with GP

Email in the results and your Aunt’s medical history

[Hidden in reply to SlowDragon]

Thanks Slowdragon. I did call but can only make an appointment if I call at 8am tomorrow. Which I shall.

[Hedgeree]

Hi Witchinghour,

Sorry I can't offer any explanation for your high DHEA though I have a similar high result but I am post menopause.

I'll follow your post with interest to see what replies suggest.

As SlowDragon says make an appointment with your GP.

[Hidden in reply to Hedgeree]

Thanks Hedgeree. This was reassuring to read. Trying to make an appointment with the GP tomorrow to see what they say.

[Hedgeree in reply to Hidden]

Hi Witchinghour,

How did you get on? Did you manage to get a GP appointment?

[Hidden in reply to Hedgeree]

Not yet! 🙄 The initial panic subsided and I'll just keep trying.

Radd mentioned PTSD and raised DHEA and having looked into it a bit further today I suspect I have C-PTSD so that eased my mind somewhat.

[Hedgeree in reply to Hidden]

I know how hard it is when you go into a 'spiral of doom' ...that's what I call it anyway.

I've much personal experience of those spirals.

Yes your post brought some interesting replies. Glad your panic has eased slightly.

[Hidden in reply to Hedgeree]

I find it very difficult to make a GP appointment because of all the times I've been ignored or dismissed.

This forum is such a great support.

Thank you for checking in. ❤️

[HopefulMe23 in reply to Hidden]

Hi Witchinghour,

I wondered if you had been able to find out whether your results indicate that you would benefit from adrenal support? One of the things I have noticed with the adrenal testing is that it can be hard to know where to turn once we have the results (this amazing group seems to be the only place) unless we already have a great gp or endo, which is definitely not the case for most of us it seems. Just wanted to send my support to you.

[Hidden in reply to HopefulMe23]

I would guess that my adrenals need some support. Suspect that noon result is only green because I'd drunk 2 cups of caffeine tea before I'd realised I shouldn't!

I'm hopeful that with some support my adrenals will pick up and so will my thyroid but I'm not sure yet what 'support' looks like.

Thank you for the message though. I take a lot of strength from this forum filled with wonderful people. ❤️

[Josephineinamachine]

I don’t really understand cortisol or DHEA but I think if you’re worried you are probably best off getting yourself to the GP with all of this. I have benign adrenal tumours - they were found incidentally and are quite common I think? Big hug x

[Hidden in reply to Josephineinamachine]

Cortisol I'm not too worried about but DHEA got me in a bit of a spiral! Thank you for the reassurance. ❤️

[Beau55]

if it helps reassure you I’ve had mine back recently and they are very very similiar to yours, I can send you them in a PM if you like. I have been investigated for addisons in the past/adrenal tumours the whole lot and nothing found. My cortisol is just a result of being hypo x

[Beau55 in reply to Beau55]

I meant cortisol results not dhea I’ve just read your other responses, I do believe high dhea is to do with pcos x

[Hidden in reply to Beau55]

I don't think I've got PCOS, only other symptom I have is irregular periods. But that's what got me in a flap!

It's a minefield getting private tests!

[radd]

Witchinghour,

This saliva result although shows high DHEA this is only a tiny proportion of the total amount not bound to SHBG or albumin. It switches back and forth from DHEA-S which is the inactive reserve that the body uses to keep equilibrium of tissue levels. DHEA also has a circadian pattern so you might have tested it when it was at its highest. 

I seem to remember you have a little insulin resistance which can be tied into elevated DHEA and PCOS. If you don't have PCOS, you could ask for blood serum DHEA to be tested but I doubt if you GP will accept these saliva results.

[Hidden in reply to radd]

According to Google DHEA is highest in the morning so assuming they use the morning sample, which I took at 06:30 I could well have got it at its peak.

I've tried not to Google too much because I'm not in the right frame of mind tonight but I'm wondering about the impact of stress on DHEA.

The insulin resistance seems to have dissipated now and leading up to the Easter break I was truly running on empty. Absolutely exhausted. I wonder if the DHEA and insulin resistance are connected to that?

[radd in reply to Hidden]

Witchinghour,

Both cortisol and DHEA are tied into stress levels, also the immune system. I have previously read that elevated DHEA combined with low cortisol has been found in people suffering PTSD. Is this you?

I'm pleased the insulin resistance has righted itself. My Zoe kit is due any day now 🤞.

[Hidden in reply to radd]

I have often wondered about PTSD although there isn't one single event I could pin it to... Several lengthy events all at once though; severe bullying and lots of family dying in quick succession.

I'm excited for your Zoe results!!

They've introduced a feature on the app to import recipes from websites which makes life a bit easier.

[Purpledharma in reply to Hidden]

Hi Witchinghour,I can't contribute to your question about your results. However, I can offer information about trauma symptoms and what the brain perceives as trauma.

Your brief summary

Several lengthy events all at once though; severe bullying and lots of family dying in quick succession

These would be more than enough to result in you having symptoms that get labelled as PTSD.

Your response to tests of "spiralling" is an indicator of being triggered into survival responses. The upshot of which, unfortunately, is that our thinking brain goes off line while our survival, emotional R brain and auto pilot centres in the base of our brain, take over.

PM. me if you would like a couple of simple ways to feel a little bit more like your normal self.

Take care.

[radd in reply to Hidden]

Witchinghour,

I'm hoping Zoe will inspire me to eat a more varied diet as am in rut, albeit it a healthy rut but just boring. My gut is fine as recently had tests but looking forward to the fat tolerance test and the blood glucose monitoring 😊.

If you are worried about your high saliva DHEA resulst and don't want to approach your GP, why not do a private blood test. I recently had to do one before starting testosterone and it was about £50 from medichecks.

Personally I wouldn't worry, and I certainly wouldn't approach my GP with a saliva result. This is only a test showing a tiny free faction percentage of what is available from the DHEA-S within your body. If is was me I would concentrate on supporting adrenals and retest saliva in 6 months if you feel there has been no improvements.

Saliva tests are only good for evaluating what is 'free' at those times the samples were taken, so giving an excellent indication of circadian patterns, eg when 'free' levels are misplacedly too high or too low, or just right. It is not an indication of the total amount of DHEA within your body as the majority is within sulphurated form.

[TiggerMe Ambassador]

Not too wonky then even with you trying to scupper them! 😅 After I had similar results, except I'm older and lacking DHEA, I started on the Adrenavive and the cocktails to support mine and three months in I'm feeling much improved, stable temperature and less crashes 🤗

This last week I tweaked my T3 up a little and (dare I say it) 🙃 I might have found second gear for the first time in 2 years 🥳

What's your plan?

[Hidden in reply to TiggerMe]

No plan as yet 😂 It's been 3 years of nearly constant worry and research that I've almost run out of steam, if I'm honest.

The high DHEA frightened me senseless so I've tried to forget about it for a few days. Should get female hormone test back shortly so then I'll have a fairly well rounded picture of the state of my endocrine system!

Greygoose pointed out that I'm on 19mcg of T3 a day and my T3 was still only 56% through range so perhaps some absorption issues at play.

There's so many angles to this thing! I'm considering finding a counsellor to unpick the potential C-PTSD, I did find a lot of peace in reading about it. Lots of puzzle pieces clicked into place.

I'm so glad you're feeling improvements! The hard work is starting to pay off! 🥰