Use the Genova Adrenal Test, which is nice and simple but effective; I've used it for years. If you need to look at CAR, waking cortisol and need 6 cortisol samples, use the Labrix Comprehensive Adrenal test. If you want a more detailed look at how you are metabolising cortisol and other hormones, use the DUTCH test.

You can read a lot more about adrenal testing and see my video on the DUTCH test here. You can see the Adrenal Plan and Hormone Results Guide, including adrenals here.

Testing Tips…

Steroids like the pill, inhalers , creams etc and any adrenal or thyroid-boosting supplements might affect results. The lab advises you stop them 48 hours before taking the test unless monitoring yourself on them. Please be advised by your health professional before stopping anything.

Long term steroids may also affect cortisol levels and they can show artificially high. If you are on long term steroids, you may not get reliable results. If stopping a steroid medication (via your doctor), you are advised to wait 2 months before adrenal testing to allow them to come out of your system.

Always follow what the lab notes in your test kit tell you to do re avoidance of stuff before testing. There is a useful run-down of adrenal-affecting meds and foods etc here on STTM which might be useful too.

If you are on hormones or DHEA/& Keto-Zyme, ZRT have some useful instructions here for salivary adrenal testing: https://www.zrtlab.com/media/1144/saliva-testing-instructions.pdf.

Freezing time. Genova advises that frozen saliva samples are stable at room temperature for 3 days and frozen for 1 month. In other words, you can freeze your samples for a good few days if you have to hang on a bit before sending.

CAR: With CAR we want to get the measurement from when you naturally wake, so if you wake up at 4am, for example, take the samples then and 30 minutes later. The best is to wake naturally at your normal time, not measure an ‘odd’ day where you wake early or something.

Children: DUTCH do not have reference ranges for children. You wouldn’t test certainly before they’ve gone through puberty and a bit beyond.