Hello everyone
I am planning to do a cortisol saliva test next week. There are several instructions about what not to eat and it says to avoid food and supplements. I’m wondering whether I should continue to take my T3 and T4 tablets as usual. Can anyone advise please? Thank you.
T3 and T4 are essential medication not supplements. You don't stop essential medication .
Thank you for confirming that. That's what I thought/hoped but I didn't want to get it wrong and mess up the test. It is quite expensive after all.
Hi Andie222,
Don't forget no caffeine on the day! That was the thing that nearly caught me out when I did my test as I love a cup of strong tea. I very nearly forgot!
Ah yes, I think I will write myself some reminders on post it notes!
I'd also recommend to read the instructions through a few times.
I'm dyslexic so have to regularly reread things as I often misunderstand what I've read. So I need to be thorough.
But like you say it's not a cheap test so best trying to get organised before you start.
If I've remembered correctly I think SeasideSusie said you can rinse tubes out and start again if need be.
Are the timings clear in your instructions? They weren't, very, in the two I've done, especially around whether the midday one was before or after lunch. I think it was clearer in the interpretation notes so the example available on the order page would have helped me there...
Hi. The instructions say 12noon before lunch. I'm going to read through again this weekend to make sure I'm completely sure what I'm doing!
Andie222
Is this a Regenerus test? If so by "Noon" they don't mean you have to do your test at noon [they don't mention 12pm on the instruction leaflet, they just say "Collect before lunch in the GREEN TUBE (NOON)], they're just calling that particular 2nd collection "Noon", they don't give specific times for any of the collections they just tell you the AM30 is to be done 30 minutes after waking (the 30 minutes is important not the waking time), then collection 2 is before lunch, collection 3 (called "Evening") is before your evening meal and collection 4 (called "Night") is just before you go to bed.
Hello SeasideSusie. Thank you for your reply. Yes it is regenerus. I’ve had another look at the instructions and you are absolutely right about the timings. I’m assuming it really does mean 30 mins after waking, not 30 mins after getting up. It often takes me about 30 mins after waking to find the energy to get up! I’m also hoping that half waking up at 4am or 5am for a toilet visit won’t affect my results. I plan to do the test after my proper waking up at 7am.
Andie222
I’m assuming it really does mean 30 mins after waking, not 30 mins after getting up.
Yes, definitely 30 minutes after waking. When I've done it I wake up naturally, put 30 mins on alarm clock and stay in bed (I never get up straight away after waking normally anyway).
I’m also hoping that half waking up at 4am or 5am for a toilet visit won’t affect my results.
If you normally go back to sleep then it's fine. I always have to have a toilet trip and as long as I've gone back to sleep I do the test 30 mins after waking again naturally. If I don't go back to sleep at all then I delay test until next day because it wouldn't be 30 mins after waking.
If you do need to abandon the test for some reason later in the day (I had to once because I'd done the first sample but later on had an episode of tachycardia which lasted for a few hours) then you can rinse out any tubes you've used, let them dry naturally, and use them again. I phoned Regenerus and they told me to do that. There's nothing in their tubes like there is in blood tubes.
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