high cortisol

[kevieb]

my newest blood results are back and the doc said my cortisol levels are high.  it was 22 he said the ideal is 20  my free level was 4.2  he said the ideal was 2.0.   i don't know what to make of it.    how can i have ranges from 6.2 to 22?   I once had my highest level during a stim test be 22.  he may want to do a 24 urine test.

[horselip]

Hey
If you are in the early stages of Cushings (or any hormonal prob) and your diurnal rhythm is off you will feel like junk. It will make you feel more stressed and add to things. Just waking up will be "stress"

Dust yourself off and continue with this testing. It needs to be repeated and done in every way possible.

Try to keep blinders on and focus on getting testing, testing and more testing. Rules things in, rule things out.

If your doctors are not a good fit, then move on. Get a referral to a pituitary center and travel if you must.

This is what is going to help get you to a diagnosis.

Chin up
Horselip

[kevieb]

i don't know how long stress can affect your cortisol levels, i guess i was just thinking of the day my blood was drawn.  my husband has not been dealing well with me being sick all the time and i've had some real stress over the way he has been treating me lately.   it got really ugly several weeks ago---worse than he has ever been.

  he has improved over the last couple of weeks--but not until other people finally stepped in--even then, it has not been roses.  we have a long way to go--so stress and anxiety are always a constant for me.  i would say that i have had a LOT of stress and anxiety over the last several years, but especially the last few months.

[rumpled]

Yeah um... that is not exactly ... right... lots of docs say that but it would take a LOT of anxiety to make the test skewed.

BTW you never know with genes - I am the only blonde with blue eyes in my family - dad had dark hair, brown eyes, mom dark hair, green eyes, brother, dark hair, green eyes, all grandparents dark, dark eyes etc - I am all recessive genes... with all the mix of genes we have, you kinda just don't know.

Cushing's can vary greatly - I used to swing low and then high. I had friends that would go into AI and then go Cushie. It can go crazy. It is not that it *sets in* it is cyclical form, and it can just be that way.

There is no *one* test for Cushing's like some other diseases - and since cortisol normally varies - the diurnal rhythm and all - it takes a bit of work to test several times to see what the rhythm is. Also one has to test for source - be it pituitary, adrenal or other. A good doc would run blood urine and saliva cortisol testing as well as tons of hormone testing (cortisol wrecks the entire body and impacts other hormones, minerals, vitamins) and works you up over time - then imaging and stim testing to see what is up - then source. I did genetic testing on my own - and dang it, I am related to all of them...

If you look to the column on the right, there is a related forum, the I see a tracker thingy, then answerers etc - health pages the nicely moved to the very bottom... under some ads but above the bottom banner ad - gee, I don't understand why ya did not see it... (it used to be nice and up at the top)...

[kevieb]

where do i find the health pages?   i don't think i have any of the symptoms of cushing's-----this is the first time my cortisol has ever tested high.  the doc did tell me that stress and anxiety can cause raised levels--the tech and i had been talking about paternity testing---i don't think my grand daughter is really my son's child---beautiful little girl, but very ethnic looking--the way the eyebrows grow, dark hair above her upper lip, dark skin.  my son and his wife are both fair skinned and no one in her family or ours has any ethnic look about them.  we had also been talking about the corruption in our probation system locally--i was bothered when i heard who was possibly involved.  i don't know if that would have been enough to affect my cortisol levels.  however, i am almost always in a state of stress or anxiety unless i am medicated--and i went in fasting.

could cushing's cause cortisol levels to go very low and then very high--and various amounts in between before it finally sets in?

I assume you mean keep the jug of urine cold?   if one test doesn't rule it in or out, what would be the next step?

[rumpled]

Look up Cushing's syndrome. I have some links in the health pages - some of the information may help you.

Make sure to keep the jug cold the entire time. Capture everything. One test does not rule it in or out.