Extremely high cortisol! Been ill for 6 months.

Posted , 3 users are following.

Hi all,

i have been experiencing a number of symptoms over the past 6 months, some are quite severe to the point that i have been off work for almost 6 months spending long periods in bed. Symptoms have been varied and are extreme exhaustion and fatigue, muscle weakness in arms and legs, severe constipation and digestive issues, nausea, issues with sleep, mood swings, inability to concentrate, pain in diaphragm and periods of struggling to take deep breathe, periods of dizziness to name a few. Doctors have said likely chronic fatigue and anxiety seem to have given up doing any more tests on me, i understand anxiety very well, have had it for years and it is under control and i know this is far more than anxiety, all i have had is a chest x-ray, endoscopy and your standard blood tests fbc etc, all came back clear. i have started some private blood testsone of which was a saliva cortisol test and the results are so far out of range i just dont know what to make them or if this could be the cause of my symptoms, has anyone else had results this far out of range, any help would be appreciated as I am really struggling feeling so ill every day and it is likely i am going to lose my job and house now and Doctors just dont seem to listen or care,i am hesitant to take these results to my doctor as i know he will just say its anxiety, many thanks for reading. I have attached blood results there are slightly blurry so if you cant read them they are as follows

cortisol (saliva)

waking - 118.00 normal range-6.0-21.0

12 pm- 56.70 normal range-1.5-7.6

4pm- 16.50 normal range- 0-5.5

11pm- 582 normal range-0-2.0

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1 like, 2 replies

2 Replies

  • Posted

    You really need to get proper blood tests for cortisol. Those figures are so wild and all over the place that, yes, your doc will not take them seriously.

    Have you got a 'moon face'? (the classic sign of Cushings Disease, hypercortisolism).

  • Posted

    your cortisol is to high. i would suggest seeing an endocrinologist for further testing to see if the cause is from your adrenals or pituitary. Have them check ACTH and do dexamethasone test. also CT scan for adrenals and/ or MRI for pituitary. i had an adrenal tumor removed low ACTH and high cortisol.

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