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1026561 tn?1396107693

Saliva Cortisol testing

My health insurance will pay 100% of my saliva cortisol labs for a maximum of two tests per day, not four which I want to obtain. I would like to know if I could start my lab draws in the late afternoon on day one finishing before midnight, then resume on day two early in the morning finishing by mid-day? I assume this would be okay, since the test is running a complete 24 hours, or is it important to test adrenals in the same day starting at 6 am?
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Avatar universal
It matters very much the time of testing for cortisol.

Cortisol varies throughout the day. In a normal person on a normal sleep schedule, it is supposed to peak at 8am, and fall throughout the day, falling to near zero at midnight. Then it rises again to wake you up again in the morning. So it wakes you up and puts you to bed at night. This is a circadian or diurnal rhythm.

A loss of diurnal rhythm (such as a reversal) can indicate Cushing's syndrome.
Helpful - 0
1026561 tn?1396107693
Thank you for helping me with this. I was hoping it didn't  matter what time I would start testing just as long as it was completed in the 24 hour timeframe. It makes sense, especially if I will need to be given adrenal support.
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1026561 tn?1396107693
Thank you for helping me with this. I was hoping it didn't  matter what time I would start testing just as long as it was completed in the 24 hour timeframe. It makes sense, especially if I will need to be given adrenal support.
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Avatar universal
If you only have two, do 8am, and midnight. Those are diagnostic times and well known peak and ebb periods for cortisol.
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1530171 tn?1448129593
Hi lellie2.

In all seriousness, the 4 x cortisol  saliva testing -am/noon/evening/night
is the only way to determine circadian profile, so an effective & workable treatment plan can be implemented.
But again, within the conventional medical system and insurance, these
options usually are out, leaving a lot of the patients in limbo.

My opinion is to pay the difference-it's not that much money, even if you pay for the whole test, and then find a Functional Medicine Doctor or ND who really knows how to treat low adrenal function properly.

You cannot put a price on your health, because ...your life depends on it!

Take care.
Niko
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