Posted by Larry Hoover on May 12, 2006, at 7:58:58
In reply to anxiety and adrenal function and wet fingernails.., posted by Racer on May 10, 2006, at 13:11:38
> Someone mentioned adrenal exhaustion, maybe SLS? That struck me as something to maybe get checked out, to see if it would explain some of my current problems. Does anyone know what tests to ask to have run?
If Scott didn't mention it, I just did, in a reply to an earlier post of yours.
The sense that you are "primed" could come from something as simple as being magnesium deficient. 90% or more Americans don't get enough magnesium. There are a host of common medical disorders which are linked to magnesium deficiency effects, but you never see it even mentioned in the literature. It's all about new drugs, but no physical maintenance done on the body itself. Doctors give drugs. <sigh>
As for testing, I don't know that there's any specific testing you could do. You can do inferential analysis by studying 24-hour cortisol, and doing diurnal sampling (urine every three hours), to detect patterns in hormone release. Your DHEA level might infer something, too.
Really, the best test of adrenal function is to load the body with specific nutrients, and see if there is a positive response. As with magnesium levels, for example, you can have a normal blood test, but still be grossly deficient. The test for magnesium deficiency is magnesium loading. That's what it's called. You take a bunch of magnesium, and if symptoms remit.....
This is a subject for another board.
> My GP is resistant to running *any* tests -- says Americans want too many unnecessary tests, and didn't even want to check thyroid until I pointed out that it should be routine for people being treated for depression. And even then, he was kinda clear that he was only ordering the test to indulge me. (I like him a lot -- except that I think he forgets that some people are outliers, you know?)
Now we're talkin'. I betcha there's more than a few outliers here, at Babble.
> Since I see my pdoc in a week, I thought I'd ask her to order thyroid, cholesterol, and something to check adrenal function. But I don't know what that would be? Anyone have any ideas?
The typical one is the 24-hour cortisol sampling. But, total cortisol doesn't tell you the hour-by-hour change in hormone levels, which is also critical information to obtain. Some people are "inverted". They have their peak cortisol late in the day, instead of in the morning. A 24-hour sample would be unable to detect that. Others don't have a peak; stable cortisol all day is not good, either. It's hard to get a doctor to order such a test, the one that involves multiple samples.
> Part of me says, "Let's do a dexamethasone suppresstion test, and see if it causes remission from depression for a while..." I don't know that's such a great idea for a test, though. But, I might bring it up.ACTH challenge is sometimes done, too.
> So, can someone here educate me on adrenal testing?
>
> Thanks!That's all off the top of my head. I'll take a closer look later, 'kay?
Lar
poster:Larry Hoover
thread:642173
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20060510/msgs/642926.html