Short Synacthen Test Results
Posted , 3 users are following.
Hi all,
I hope someone will be able to advise me. I have just received my results for my Short Synacthen Test. The specialist tells me everything is normal but I am still experiencing a lot of issues like; Dizziness, Fatique, Lack of concentration and extreme headaches. My friend who is a GP told me that he things that the results are not normal. The results are as follows:
Test undertaken at 11:30am
ACTH 53ng/L
Baseline Cortisol 182nmo/L
30 minute Cortisol 415 nmo/l
60 minute Cortisol 446nmo/l
Many thanks!
Jeffrey
0 likes, 5 replies
adesa11340 Jeff212
Posted
Hi Jeffrey,
I'm by no means an expert, but these results seem suboptimal to me. The baseline and the response cortisol are both low. And acth is on high normal side of things. Why not take your test results to another endo for a second opinion?
I hope you find answers and start feeling better soon
Roddy999 Jeff212
Posted
I suspect what the consultant is saying is that this test suggests that the cause of your symptoms is not your adrenals or your pituitary. They are not telling you what it is but they are telling you what it is not.
Your baseline cortisol is in the normal range, which if wouldn't be if your pituitary is on strike. The synacthen (= synthetic ACTH) test showed that your adrenals are producing cortisol when prompted [via ACT Hormone] by your pituitary to do so. So both organs are behaving as they should.
I'm no expert either but I don't see any value in a second endo consultant. If I were you, I'd ask to be referred to a neurologist.
adesa11340 Roddy999
Posted
Peak cortisol levels below 500 nmol/L (18 µg/dL) (assay dependent) at 30 or 60 minutes indicate adrenal insufficiency.
https://academic.oup.com/jcem/article-lookup/doi/10.1210/jc.2015-1710
Roddy999 adesa11340
Posted
I was looking at the baseline figure, which is ok - I should have checked the 30 & 60 ACTH responses figures too.They are lower than they should be (though not by much), so there is definitely a case to answer.
A second opinion from another endo might do no harm but what I'm wondering is whether the weak response is "just" another symptom rather than the underlying cause. Jeffrey's baseline cortisol is ok so he should experience a normal llife except in case of illness, inflamation or trauma (when his pituitary should prompt his adrenals to produce more cortisol to compensate). Maybe the headache is inflamation related - but why? .
Jeff212
Posted
Hi all,
Many thanks for your comments.Very usefull! What I forgot to mention is that I am diagnoses with Crohn's Disease. Because of this I had to take Prednisolone for a duration of 3 months. Started of with 60mg and weaned it down to 5mg. During the time of the test I hadn't taken any for 24 hours.
I am currently not taking Prednislone anymore.
Hope this clarifies it a bit.
Thanks,
Jeffrey