You may be thinking you have adrenal fatigue but is there testing you can do for adrenal fatigue?
Yes there is.
So if you really want to make sure and put your mind at ease you will find this article helpful.
Self Diagnosis
One way of knowing is by monitoring how you feel and some of the symptoms that are commonly experience by people with adrenal fatigue. These include:
- If you are experiencing tiredness in the morning and need caffeine and stimulants to get you going
- If you have a slump in the afternoon between 2-4pm and need more stimulants to keep you going
- If you get your second wind around 6pm and feel more energetic at night when you are meant to wind down
- If you feel tired and exhausted all the time
- If you feel tired yet wired
- If you feel like you have to push through all the time
- If you have difficulty getting to sleep, wake up frequently, or don’t sleep well
- If you get dizzy spells when you stand from a sitting position
- Poor memory or inability to concentrate
- If you have strong cravings for sugar, refined carbohydrates and stimulants
- If you crave salty foods
- Feeling wrecked by the end of the day
- Lack of ability to stay calm
- If you feel generally rundown or overwhelmed
I also covered some other simple self tests you can do over here.
Lab Testing For Adrenal Fatigue That You Can Do At Home
One of the most accurate ways to test cortisol levels is with a saliva test that is taken over different time periods throughout the day.
Cortisol is what we want to be measuring because generally the effects of adrenal fatigue and dysfunction occur due to cortisol levels that are all out of whack. Following on from this, the rest of our hormones go awry in a chain of follow up events.
When you measure your salivary hormones it shows the tissue concentration of the hormones in your body. The great thing about measuring saliva in this way is that it shows the active component of the hormone in your body, whereas a blood test would show total hormone levels but not necessarily the active component.
You can ask your doctor for the tests but don’t be surprised if your medical practitioner does not recognise your symptoms and therefore not test you. It is unfortunate that many doctors only recognise the very end points of adrenal dysfunction, cushings and addisons disease.
So you can order a home test, do the saliva test yourself, then send it into the lab for analysis. And if you are the type of person who might get motivated more from the results of a test, then perhaps this option is a good one for you.
For my US readers, Canary Club has a home test you can purchase for $119 that gives you full instructions on when to take your saliva over a 24 hour period. You can check out all the details of the test over here.
For my AUS readers, Health Scope Pathlogy has an Adrenal Profile Self Testing kit you can purchase for $125. Check out the details here.
Cortisol Results
This is where it can sometimes get confusing because different labs have different ranges for cortisol levels, this is known as the reference range.
There are 2 tests results labs frequently use:
- nmol/l, which means nanomoles per liter.
- ug/dL or mcg/dL, which is micrograms per deciliter.
Here is a conversion calculator in case you need it.
The normal targets for cortisol are:
- 6am 25 nmol/l
- 12pm 15 nmol/l
- 6pm 5-10 nmol/l
- 10pm under 5 nmol/l
Your results will often contain a chart and you’re looking for a normal curve.
As you can see from the above image, the ranges are slightly different to the ones I provided above but what the image demonstrates is the normal cortisol curve.
As you can see it is higher in the morning and lower at night, but when moving through the continuum to adrenal fatigue, the normal curve can be affected. So it might be higher later in the day or it might be lower in the morning.
These curve changes are the indicators that can help you determine if you have adrenal health issues that need to be addressed.
Getting Well
Whether you decide to ‘self diagnose’ or do a more serious test, the getting well part of the process is going to be the same.
So in the meantime if you suspect adrenal fatigue, if your energy is flat, then start putting some of the dietary practices in place. Start putting some of the lifestyle strategies into practice.
It’s amazing how much better you can feel by simply changing a few things, such as giving up caffeine and sugar, or at least the majority of it.
So I hope you find this helpful
Have a great day
Jedha 
Nutritionist & Health Coach
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