cortisol blood test

[ColdBanana]

hey,

it use to be that i felt awful in the morning, and felt progressively worse as the day went on.... i have derealization, and a brain foggy feeling where i feel underwater, tired and too hot. it's really awful - recently though i have been feeling this way in the evening instead of morning, and my problem is that the only blood tests i can find online to buy are supposed to be done in the morning, which is when i don't usually feel as bad. anyone got any ideas? i tried to find a home blood test with multiple samples , but no luck. thanks

edit: doc seemed to only want to test morning cortisol which is why i ask - thx

[seveneleven]

I think the best sort of test for a picture of cortisol is a four-point saliva test. A GP will only pay attention to a serum blood cortisol result if you're well below range and about to have an adrenal crisis, and even then it's not necessarily reliable. They're only done in the morning...something to do with the difference between circulating and stored cortisol, so no use at night.

A saliva test will give you the full picture across the day, including evening and just before bed. I think ones like Medichecks are best avoided because they don't have ranges or test DHEA, so less useful. The Regenerus one is generally considered the best I think and usually recommended on here (I did one last month). Depending on what that tells you, you can also do a morning blood test, or just let your doc do that anyway if they're open to it. Cortisol symptoms seem to be a bit tricksy, and your morning levels will be just as important as evening, especially if you feel it's all flipped recently.

[ColdBanana in reply to seveneleven]

Yeah thanks for your insight. I guess the morning cortisol will have to do then - but it explains why they only do morning cortisol tests i guess. I had a saliva test done and it came back slightly high. Didnt reflect how i felt at all - have heard from quite a few people recently though that found the blood cortisol to be of more use than the saliva. I think they both have their place - but i just want to check both to be safe. If it came back slightly low or high i would just probably self treat accordingly - because my gp told me for example that my thyroid is fine unless my tsh is over 10 , so id probably be dead by the time i did it their way with how i feel now. Thanks for letting me know

[seveneleven in reply to ColdBanana]

Ah, fair enough. I'd go ahead and do the blood test then if it'll give you useful info and doc is willing. You may well be right though about how far it'll get you. I did the same, saliva showing bad low results, asked for morning blood test on NHS, came back under range, but she decided borderline and therefore absolutely fine🤦‍♀️ Good luck!

[Fizzyinch]

agree, the Renegerus one gives you a picture for a full day. I think you have to do 6 saliva samples from 6am if I remember correctly.

[ColdBanana in reply to Fizzyinch]

Thanks. I've already done a saliva test though - was trying to find the best place to do a cortisol blood test but i ended up choosing medichecks