Re: Need help with cortisol testing...any medical professionals??

[Guest guest]

This is outside my area.... any other takers?

On Wed, 24 Mar 2004 14:34:38 -0500 (Eastern Standard Time) "Sales@bargain_hunters_dream" writes:

Hi all,

Seen the doc yesterday and requested some Cortef. I asked for 5mg twice a day and

that is what I got. However, he told me to hold off until I got a Cortisol test and said he has

never sent anybody for one before. The secretary filled on my lab papers and I stopped by

the lab yesterday afternoon to make sure they done the test and to see if they had the

items necessary. He immediately said yes they do the ACTH test and when I showed him

my paper he was confused by the way the secretary had written it down. So he told me he

would call the doc to find out exactly what he wanted b/c the way it was written didn't make

sense. Well, I called back today and he said he is waiting for the doc to get back with him

when he figures out what test he wants. Can someone who maybe knows alittle bit about

cortisol testing help me out with what I am needing and the corect way to write this up

so i can help the doc. He said this was all out of his expertise and asked me if no other doc within

100 mile radius I could go too that knew more. I said I didn't what to go to another

doc since the endo he sent me too was a nightmare experience. I always take him in a ton of

literature each doc visit supporting what I ask for. I would rather work with him since he

gives me the things I ask for but I know he is clueless about this test and i know I need to figure it

out and step in to help them figure it out.

Also, I am anxious to try this new prescription. Is cortef something that builds up in your system or

could I take it up until the day of the test and just skip it that day and still get an accurate reading

or is it best to just wait to after the test?

Thanks,

Dana

[Guest guest]

If you're going to take the tests, then don't take it beforehand, or you won't possibly have accurate readings of where you really stand. I have not seen these tests written on paper, but I'm wondering if what the tech saw written on paper is called the Dexamethasone Suppression Test, if it's not called the ACTH Test. An 8 a.m. Cortisol is good to start with, but it really needs to be drawn at least twice more in the same day to figure out what is happening in your body in a 24 hr period of time. Let's say 8 a.m. cortisol, then around 2-4 p.m., then again around 10 p.m. to midnite or so. I'm thinking that the dex suppression test is the last one they would do, but definitely gets to the heart of the problem. I don't know about what safety measures are to be taken with it, though.

Tx

Need help with cortisol testing...any medical professionals??

Hi all,

Seen the doc yesterday and requested some Cortef. I asked for 5mg twice a day and

that is what I got. However, he told me to hold off until I got a Cortisol test and said he has

never sent anybody for one before. The secretary filled on my lab papers and I stopped by

the lab yesterday afternoon to make sure they done the test and to see if they had the

items necessary. He immediately said yes they do the ACTH test and when I showed him

my paper he was confused by the way the secretary had written it down. So he told me he

would call the doc to find out exactly what he wanted b/c the way it was written didn't make

sense. Well, I called back today and he said he is waiting for the doc to get back with him

when he figures out what test he wants. Can someone who maybe knows alittle bit about

cortisol testing help me out with what I am needing and the corect way to write this up

so i can help the doc. He said this was all out of his expertise and asked me if no other doc within

100 mile radius I could go too that knew more. I said I didn't what to go to another

doc since the endo he sent me too was a nightmare experience. I always take him in a ton of

literature each doc visit supporting what I ask for. I would rather work with him since he

gives me the things I ask for but I know he is clueless about this test and i know I need to figure it

out and step in to help them figure it out.

Also, I am anxious to try this new prescription. Is cortef something that builds up in your system or

could I take it up until the day of the test and just skip it that day and still get an accurate reading

or is it best to just wait to after the test?

Thanks,

Dana

____________________________________________________

[Guest guest]

I answered to the best of my ability, but I have not actually seen these tests written on a lab sheet, so it was limited. I don't understand why, even as a family doctor, the doc wouldn't at least be familiar with a routine 8 am cortisol. I do understand that, even when the cortisol shows "normal", some doctors are still suspicious and do order the ACTH, which will show a rise in cortisol (if there is enough there to rise appropriately), in response to the ACTH, which I think, is administered to cause this rise.

Tx

Re: Need help with cortisol testing...any medical professionals??

This is outside my area.... any other takers?

On Wed, 24 Mar 2004 14:34:38 -0500 (Eastern Standard Time) "Sales@bargain_hunters_dream" writes:

Hi all,

Seen the doc yesterday and requested some Cortef. I asked for 5mg twice a day and

that is what I got. However, he told me to hold off until I got a Cortisol test and said he has

never sent anybody for one before. The secretary filled on my lab papers and I stopped by

the lab yesterday afternoon to make sure they done the test and to see if they had the

items necessary. He immediately said yes they do the ACTH test and when I showed him

my paper he was confused by the way the secretary had written it down. So he told me he

would call the doc to find out exactly what he wanted b/c the way it was written didn't make

sense. Well, I called back today and he said he is waiting for the doc to get back with him

when he figures out what test he wants. Can someone who maybe knows alittle bit about

cortisol testing help me out with what I am needing and the corect way to write this up

so i can help the doc. He said this was all out of his expertise and asked me if no other doc within

100 mile radius I could go too that knew more. I said I didn't what to go to another

doc since the endo he sent me too was a nightmare experience. I always take him in a ton of

literature each doc visit supporting what I ask for. I would rather work with him since he

gives me the things I ask for but I know he is clueless about this test and i know I need to figure it

out and step in to help them figure it out.

Also, I am anxious to try this new prescription. Is cortef something that builds up in your system or

could I take it up until the day of the test and just skip it that day and still get an accurate reading

or is it best to just wait to after the test?

Thanks,

Dana

[Guest guest]

The ACTH test is a test for determining the hormone level put out by

the brain. ACTH is the hormone that requests more cortisol from the

adrenals. If there is not enough cortisol, the brain detects this

and sends a message for more. So, in severe enough adrenal fatigue

ACTH will rise and may be a little elevated. In run-of-the-mill

adrenal fatigue the ACTH test will still probably come back in the

normal range, but possibly it will be a little high in the normal

range.

You can also have a one-time cortisol blood test. This type of test

is not very good at detecting adrenal fatigue. The reason is that in

adrenal fatigue, cortisol levels can fluctuate a lot throughout the

day. So, if you take the test at a point when it is up, the test

will come back normal. A 24 hour cortisol saliva test would probably

be a bit more accurate since you take 4 samples and average them. A

regular one-time cortisol blood test will only reliably pick up

s disease, since the test is geared toward finding failing

adrenals that produce very little to no cortisol. If you have to

choose between a one-time cortisol test and the ACTH test, I would

go with the ACTH test since it would tend to show more of an average

of adrenal output.

You can do two simple home tests to see if you have adrenal fatigue.

The first one is to measure your blood pressure lying down. Then

stand up and measure it again. If your blood pressure drops when you

stand, that is a pretty good indication of adrenal fatigue. A

healthy person should see their blood pressure stay the same or rise

when they stand. In bad adrenal fatigue, blood pressure will be

quite low.

The second test is to shine a bright light in your eye and have a

friend watch your pupil. Hold the light there for at least a minute.

If your pupil constricts and then after a while opens back up and

becomes larger or flutters trying to stay constricted, this is an

indication of adrenal fatigue. A healthy person's pupil should

constrict and stay constricted as long as the light is there.

For details on these tests get " Adrenal Fatigue, the 21st century

Syndrome " You don't really need tests to know if you have adrenal

fatigue. Adrenal fatigue has very characteristic symptoms. This book

has a good test inside that will tell you if you have it. Lab tests

for adrenal fatigue are not always particularly reliable because of

how the adrenals function in adrenal fatigue, often with wide swings

in output.

You don't need to get a prescription to treat it either. You can buy

a product called IsoCort, which contains 2.5mg of hydrocortisone per

tablet. Standard adrenal fatigue treatment is 5 to 10mg

hydrocortisone 2 to 3 times a day, mostly taken before about 2:00 in

the afternoon. So, you would need 2 to 4 tablets of IsoCort 2-3

times per day.

Tish