Had lots of blood drawn will get results in a few days.
Thursday I am having a cortisol reaction test?
I always thought my major stress was the cause of my fatigue and was going to go this route until I received the Lyme diagnosis. I began treatment with LLMD in June this year.
Now I'm getting this checked out due to my local Dr. suggested it. (plus testing from my local chain of Dr. is run through my insurance.)I read here and other sites that lyme can affect the adrenal glands, just wondering what will turn up.
Has anyone had this area tested?
Just comparing notes...
THanks Cindy
Posted by Pinelady (Member # 18524) on :
I did. But I reacted normal with the challenge.
Forward 3 years now I don't think I would as I am
now having malabsorbtion of thyroid replacement. If
you do have a reaction it could cause you to not be
able to drive so I would take a buddy. The
challenge alone is usually a indicator and should
be interpreted with the rest of the labs. And
values adjusted for different times in the day.I
believe you are npo on this, can't remember for
sure.
Posted by Cindy Ss (Member # 20797) on :
Thanks Pinelady,
My husband is going with me, I don't drive much now because I got a "redlight" ticket and feel like I don't have my mind on what I'm doing behind the wheel:)
What do you mean by "reaction"? I am having done in a hospital so I would hope they are ready for that type of thing...
I tryed to find out info online but couldn't really find any side effect info?
They said it takes about 1 1/2 hours. I guess blood drawn, injection, then more blood drawn, etc...
Thanks for the info...
Cindy
What is malabsorbtion of thyroid replacement?
Posted by gwb (Member # 7273) on :
I had this exact test two weeks ago and it came back normal. They give you a shot of something called Cotrosyn and retest you every fifteen minutes for one hour. No side effects since it is such a small amount.
Interesting thing is, when I went to the endo I was very sick and weak (have been for weeks). After he gave me the shot of Cotrosyn I felt energized and felt like I was almost normal again.
However, the test results showed that my adrenal gland was fine and producing the right about of cortisol. I told the doctor that the shot made me feel so much better and he said that happens sometimes.
Sadly, it only lasted a couple of hours and then I was back to feeling lousy again. Don't know why it made me feel better but I told the doctor I would pay to have a shot of that stuff daily if I could feel like that again.
Anyway, simple test and nothing to worry about. Let us know how it turns out for you.
Gary
[ 08-25-2009, 11:32 AM: Message edited by: gwb ]
Posted by Cindy Ss (Member # 20797) on :
Thanks Gary, Always seem to worry about what they are shooting into me...
Hope I have good reaction...
CIndy
Posted by bettyg (Member # 6147) on :
cindy,
since they are doing that; have them check to see if you have CELIAC disease; they'll snip alittle of i believe.
anyway this is the best test to find out if you are allergic to gluten, etc!!
also, they have to sizes mouth pieces; they used large on me for my SMALL mouth; painful.
2nd time they used correct size, and it was tolerable. best wishes
Posted by Cindy Ss (Member # 20797) on :
Bettyg
What do you mean mouth pieces, I thought it was an injection with blood draw only?
I'm little confused. How is Celiac disease test done?
THanks Cindy
Posted by bettyg (Member # 6147) on :
endoscopy is when they go DOWN YOUR THROAT into that area
that's what i mean when they need a mouth piece to put the scope down your throad
i do NOT know how celiac test is done; i learned of this AFTER BOTH OF MY ENDOS...sorry; few min. left at library.
Posted by seekhelp (Member # 15067) on :
Celiac is Dxed with an upper GI (endoscopy) where they take biopsies of your villa looking for evidence of damage. That's the 'gold' standard.
There are also antibody blood tests, but they are not as reliable. A great starting point though.
Posted by Cindy Ss (Member # 20797) on :
Oh no I meant Endocrinologist
SOrry,
Just got word all regular blood work for adrenal, thryoid, hormones, cortisol reaction test, aldosterone. All normal!
Good news, Dr. thought that my symptoms were probably all related to Lyme Disease.
I did tell him about the Lyme DX I have and that I was being treated but wanted all the Endoctrin glands and areas check out. He did checked it all out and all is good.
(Had the Endoscope in April that was ok too just a little irritation (I take nexium for reflux)
My LLMD took aldosterone test and he thought it was on low end of scale and prescriped fludrocortisone? Haven't taken it yet will see what my test result numbers actually are when I get my copy.
If all my test are "good" then why do I feel soooooo bad
Posted by aklnwlf (Member # 5960) on :
My GP suggested that I see an endocrinologist a couple of years ago.
I finally went last year, and it was the best thing I could've done for myself.
I had a ton of bloodwork done.
I had severe fatigue, weight gain, insomnia, early menopause, etc.
Course, quite a few of my results were abnormal but the one I'm being treated for is low HGH.
Did you endo check your pituitary function? I had some kind of HGH stim test done.
I've been on HGH injections for over a year now and my fatigue is getting less severe and I'm able to sleep more.
Good luck finding out what's going on.
Posted by Cindy Ss (Member # 20797) on :
I will be getting copies of the results with numbers but nurse said all were in normal limit.
I didn't have saliva or urine hormone testing, I think he just did basic throid, corisol, aldosterone, and Human Growh Hormone, and a few others.
I know there are other more accurate test with uring panel or saliva, may ask LLMD for them soon along with a few other test.
I am really supporting hormones and adrenals with supplements so maybe whatever was depleted is good enough for a normal reading.
We will see what my LLMD Dr. says.
Thank for comments.
Cindy
Posted by notkrazybrian (Member # 10621) on :
a cortrosone test from a Endocronologist is the best way to see how your adrenal glands are actually running better then saliva, etc.. interesting i think it basically comes down to this and most of you all may know any pro-longed illness will start ravaging systems of the body, but for some reason it does a nice job on the endocrine system. Aldosterone depletion seems to be common around here, if you crave salty things that might be a part of your problem
Posted by aklnwlf (Member # 5960) on :
Just to let you know, my endo wouldn't even look at the very expensive saliva tests recommended by my LLMD.
My saliva tests were even worse than the bloodwork done at the endo's but my LLMD prescribed no treatment outside of supplements and bio-identical hormone replacement.
Unfortunately in my case, this route was totally ineffective for me due to the very low HGH levels which affected my other hormones.