BUMP Re: private test for arenal antibodies?

[Guest guest]

***My adrenals are fatigued and I'm starting on Dr P's regime, but I'm concerned tocheck whether my adrenal problem is primary rather than secondary to the thyroid- I have 2 AI diseases so I'm thinking it might be sensible to check for adrenalantibodies. I very much doubt my doc will do this on the NHS as my bloodcortisol is 'normal' so I was wondering if anyone had managed to track down akit like the ones you can order from Genova for thyroid?

Hello Susie,

I am not sure that there is a specific check for adrenal antibodies as such - at least I don't know of one. If your adrenals were the primary problem, I assume this would mean either primary 's disease (which is an autoimmune disease) or Cushing's disease (which is not an autoimmune disease). Primary 's and Hypothyroidism very often go hand in hand, but assuming that you are already on thyroid medication .....- if you had primary 's, you would have crashed badly by now, as you would not be able to tolerate any thyroid meds on top of non-functioning adrenals - therefore 's seems unlikely. Cushing's is also unlikely, as that would mean you'd have a excess of cortisol ... and you said that your adrenals were fatigued, which indicates rather low cortisol levels.

Secondary 's is not quite as rare as Primary AD, but that would mean a malfunction of the pituitary gland causing the adrenal insufficiency, making the pituitary gland the culprit for malfunctioning thyroid as well as malfunctioning adrenals. However, people with secondary AD would also struggle badly or crash on thyroid meds until the adrenals have been stabilized with HC.

The only way I know to reliably check the adrenal function is with an ACTH (Synacthen) test, which has to be ordered and carried out by a doctor. This test would diagnose or rule out Primary as well as Secondary 's and also Cushing's. Perhaps somebody else knows differently, but I am not aware of any specific adrenal antibody tests.

Btw - which are your other two autoimmune diseases?

Best wishes,