Waking Cortisol

[Cassav]

Hi all, I'm about to do a 4-point saliva cortisol test. It says to test waking cortisol at 9am. I wake up around 4.30/5am and stay in bed until around 6.30/7am, sometimes going back to sleep if I'm lucky! Should I still the waking cortisol test at 9am?

[Fruitandnutcase]

I’ve never done one but I think it might be worth contacting whoever provided the ‘equipment’ for the test and ask their advice.

[Cassav in reply to Fruitandnutcase]

Thank you

[seveneleven]

That's a bit odd - which test are you doing (company)? Usually it's 30 minutes after waking, for that reason exactly, that people get up at different times, and the important thing is measuring the point after waking when cortisol is supposed to be highest.

[Cassav in reply to seveneleven]

Sorry it doesn't say test at 9am at all 😀! I thought that I've read on this forum to test at that time. It says to test 30 mins after waking. The thing is I tend to lie in bed after waking around 5am - sometimes falling back asleep/meditating/reading until actually get out of bed around 6 30 to 7am. So do I test at 5am or 7am when I actually get out of bed?

[Cassav in reply to seveneleven]

I'm using Regenerus in answer to your question

[seveneleven in reply to Cassav]

Ah! Yes that makes more sense. So it does need to be 30 minutes after waking - it has to be fairly precise to get an accurate measure. So on the day you take it, maybe set an alarm for 30 minutes after you wake up. If you wake up at 5 and then fall back asleep, that's OK, just take the second waking up time as the real one and do 30 minutes from there. So it's your final waking time, not when you 'get up', if that makes sense. So you might need to break routine slightly and stay in bed a shorter time, but you can just go back for reading/meditating etc. after you take your sample

[Cassav in reply to seveneleven]

Thank you so much for the advice..that makes sense!😀

[Bearo]

I think you’re confusing the blood test for cortisol - 9am, with the saliva test - first test 30 minutes after waking.