Diagnosis

Diagnosis

    Diagnosing adrenal stress or adrenal fatigue

    Because cortisol levels are a good predictor of the stress response in most people we commonly measure cortisol and DHEA levels to assess what levels and type of stress you are experiencing. When cortisol levels are very low it is a sign of fatigue or exhaustion. When cortisol levels are very high it may mean there is an uncontrolled acute stressor present. Like chronic inflammation, or that the feedback loop that should be lowering your cortisol is not functioning properly.

    Cortisol can be measured from blood, urine or saliva samples. However saliva samples tend to be most accurate as we measure this at a 4 point sample through out the day. Typically levels are measured at 8am, noon, 4pm and 8pm to determine your individual cortisol response throughout the day. Salivary testing is very common and samples are collected 4 times "normal" day. The lab will evaluate the total levels of cortisol at each time point and the proper diurnal rhythm. In addition most labs will measure DHEA.

If you have questions, please feel free to call 518-786-7004 to speak to Dr. Allison Pontius or email her at DrPontius@williamsfacialsurgery.com and she will be more than happy to help you.

Thank you.