Cortisol Saliva Test - Order question

[joey82]

Hi,

Can you order cortisol saliva tests yourself, or can only a practioner order on your behalf?

Many thanks,

Joe

[inthedoldrums]

You can order privately yourself, no problems. Best Wishes.

[Blue_Lagoon]

Hi Joe,

I don’t know if this is still the case but you used to be able to list Thyroid UK as your practitioner although I’ve forgotten the company that this was with 🙈 bloomin thyroid brain! Sorry.x

[RedApple Administrator]

See info here thyroiduk.org/testing/priva...

[humanbean]

There are two worthwhile saliva cortisol tests that I know of - the one from Regenerus Labs and the one from Genova Diagnostics.

There are other companies that offer saliva cortisol tests that may be cheaper but they are not worth the money - they usually have uninformative reference ranges that often include zero as a valid result which is obviously nonsense. Having zero cortisol would never be healthy. Another problem with them is that they rarely include DHEA.

This is a good link :

thyroiduk.org/testing/priva...

Click on Genova Diagnostics :

* thyroiduk.org/testing/priva...

** thyroiduk.org/wp-content/up...

In the link above with 2 stars the saliva cortisol test they offer is the Adrenal Stress Profile which is apparently £75, which is a lot cheaper than Regenerus. I don't know if that price is current. Info on how to order is given on the link with 1 star and there is also info at the bottom of the 2 star link.

...

The Regenerus saliva cortisol test is this one :

regeneruslabs.com/products/...

Sadly, in recent months the price of the Regenerus test has gone up by about 50%. But the company itself is easier to deal with than Genova.

[TiggerMe Ambassador in reply to humanbean]

This one is often overlooked (first test in list) but is very good and cheaper than Regenerus... they did the Webinar with Lyn, TUK10 discount still works... thyroiduk.org/testing/priva...

[humanbean in reply to TiggerMe]

Thanks, I've bookmarked it.

[joey82 in reply to TiggerMe]

This is the test I have ordered.

[joey82]

Thank you all, much appreciated

[JumpJiving]

 joey82 Yes you can order them yourself, but before doing so, why are you considering them? If you think your cortisol might be high, then yes, they're fine for that. If you think your cortisol is low, medical professionals that you interact with are likely only going to take cortisol blood tests seriously, and even then only those with the blood drawn between 8-9am. You can order those yourself too (it was a MediChecks test that first identified my adrenal insufficiency).

For completeness, there is one major hospital (Sheffield, if I remember correctly) in the UK that is using saliva testing for checking low cortisol, and they are reporting good results, but that is not done elsewhere and results are unlikely to be accepted if you try to get your GP to do anything based on them.

I noticed that one of the other replies above refers to DHEA. The science around DHEA is still a bit murky - it is agreed that it is important for women (although there are risks if it goes too high), but it is unclear how important it is for men. I am male, and when my adrenal insufficiency was diagnosed my DHEA was well below range (it had previously been within range). I did start supplementing which brought it back into range, but I have since tapered the supplementation and finally (today) come off it completely. As the science is so unclear, I cannot be certain, but I suspect that it was messing with my body in various ways. I will re-test my levels soon, but as long as my level is in range I will keep off the supplements.

[joey82 in reply to JumpJiving]

I strongly suspect I have low cortisol as I feel very unwell in the mornings and improve as the day goes on. I've not responded very well to T3 being added to my T4 either and I am wondering if that is because of low cortisol.

Current dose is 40t3 x 75t4. Being on higher dose on either t3 or t4 just made me worse.

I do agree with your comments regarding practitioners only paying attention to a blood cortisol test, but I do have access to an FMP if the cortisol saliva test shows an issue.

I've always struggled to have a good basic understanding of how the adrenal system works, I've tried reading about it a number of times but I find it quite complex to understand. But if I proceed with the adrenal testing then I will test my DHEA. I've had it tested before but that result is void now as it was in the past on a different dose to what I am at now.

I'm male to and see from your profile you suffer with tinnitus, I have for 2 years now but fortunately it is much better now than when I first had it.