Is it ever a good idea to retest for PA?

July 6, 2012

I recently asked my endo to retest me for PA. He kind of laughed at me and

replied, " Dude, you have PA! " . I am on pretty good terms with him and trust his

opinion. He elaborated that since my urine sodium at Mayo was over 400 and my

aldosterone was high there is no doubt in his mind that due to that salt loading

test result I have PA like it or not.

However, at Mayo I only salt loaded for 3 days. I ate a lot of crappy food and

salted everything. I am concerned that perhaps my results were off for some

reason.

I was out of shape when this testing took place. I had a 5 mm brain lesion on

an MRI. I also had low K under 3.0 on a random blood test. This triggered 1

year of testing and a final diagnosis of PA based on the salt loading test I

described.

I now exercise on a regular basis, eat healthy, watch sodium, and try to eat at

least 5 servings of veggies and 5 servings of fruit per day (not exact DASH but

same idea). My blood pressure is 118/76 average for the last 3 months on 50mg

of Spiro 25mg morning and 25mg night. I feel fine.

On a recent follow up MRI the 5mm lesion on my brain has disappeared.

My thoughts are that the salt loading test was not done accurately (due to my

salt loading). I think my results might have been skewed due to only being off

beta blockers for a couple of days before the salt loading started.

The spiro seems to work great, but it could also be my better overall fitness,

lower weight (40 lbs down), and better diet. My endo wants me to get an AVS due

to my age and my response to Spiro. I am wanting another round of tests before

the AVS just to make sure I have PA.

Has anyone ever retested to confirm PA? Is this recommended? Would Spiro tend

to work well on someone without PA?

Thanks in advance for your help!

35 year old male. Diagnosed April 2011. CT Scan normal. Abnormal pituitary on

MRI. Low testosterone at times (either over 400 or under 200). Tested for GRA.

Results negative for GRA. 50 mg Spiro (25 mg morning/25 mg night).

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