Adrenal Insufficiency :: ACTH Test Bad Side Effects


Jan 6, 2016

I had an acth stim test about two weeks ago. I have been having a lot of health problems but they had calmed down some on the day of the test and the day before.  After the test, everything went to heck, ( body feeling "jerky", involuntary body movements-primarily at night,  muscle weakness at times- even causing me to limp around during the day, and lean on the wall one night due to weakness and fatigue, head ache like crazy-especially behind eyes/back of head, problems thinking, among other things). I had those problems before the test but was feeling ok for that 1.5 days then bam.   I am wondering what bad effects people have had.  Also wondering what all is affected from the stim test (what other parts besides adrenal/cortisol could it have aggravated.  I haven't gotten results but don't think they did the test right anyway.  I would be afraid to get it again cause how it affected me :(.

ps   They recently found a pituitary cyst on my posterior pituitary gland (they said its fine).  

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Adrenal Insufficiency :: Interpret ACTH STIM Test Results

I am 38 Year Old male, Have been an athlete and or worked out since the age of 12 (super active). For the last 10 years or so I have been super fatigued/tired, don't recover well from exercise, terrible reactive hypoglycemia, muscle twitches, tan year round (i used to be white/pail as could be, now I carry at tan year round) short temper, sleep like crap. I can't seem to handle heat or a ton of direct sun. I will get sick for a day or 2 nauseous/fatigued/headache (it is not water usually i will drink 2 liters of water while out hiking for the afternoon.

I have taken 3 different Saliva cortisol test and all 3 looked the same, cortisol was in the tank upon waking and slowing rose throughout the day. The complete opposite of what it should look like. I finally talked my doctor into doing an ACTH Stim test. I have only got back the Cortisol results at this point, But they are very interesting??

From all that I have read on intercepting ACTH results your baseline Cortisol should double at 60 minutes. According to this test is should be >18 at 60 minutes I only rose 8!!! Please see results below.

Baseline Draw- 19.7, Standard > 5

30 Minute Draw- 26.4, Standard >7 Above Baseline Result, JUST UNDER BY .3

60 Minute Draw- 27.7, Standard >18 Above Baseline Result, 10 UNDER THE BARE MINIMUM IT SHOULD HAVE RISEN!!!

I am a little confused on how to interpret these results?? Like I said I should have the rest of the numbers in a few days.

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Adrenal Disorders :: Cortisol Stim Test And Then ACTH Test ?

I was just wondering what comes after a cortisol stim test for diagnosing Addison's Disease ?

I had 2 Cortisol stim tests done one in the afternoon and one in the early morning .

Afternoon test read 2.8 out of 5-15
Morning test read 3.8 out of 5-25 Both low

Do i now have a Acth test done to see if its the adrenals glands or Pituitary or Hypothalamus Producing such low cortisol ?

I have abdominal cramping , hot flashes , constipation . tired , weak and major weight loss 35 + pounds in 8 months .

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12-13PM: 8,55 nmo/l (0,55-9,94)
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I am being tested for Addison's Disease and just received the below test results. I don't see my endo until 12/4/13, and wondered what the results might indicate. Any thoughts?

Historically I presented with low Cortisol and High ACTH.

* After a Dexamethasone Suppression test my blood cortisol was less than 1mcg (whatever that means)

* 17 Alpha Hydroxyprogesterone was 849

* ACTH Stim test results:

Baseline- 10mcg
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60 min.- 15mcg

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I have so many Addison's symptoms, and in March my AM cortisol was 8.75, so low-normal. I was sure I would have a diagnosis after my ACTH stim test. Unfortunately, I've hit another dead end. Here are my results:

8am baseline reading - 12.82 ug/dl
30 Min after injection - 20.88
60 Min after injection - 24.44

I was stressed about the procedure to begin with. Then the nurse who drew my blood could not hit my vein and it was a very painful process as she continued hunting for it. It hurt so much I was almost in tears. This happened for the first two draws, and then I finally asked for a different nurse for the third draw. She hit my vein with no problems as most do since I have very prominent veins. I was so upset. Also, they had me walking back and forth between the lab and the waiting area after each blood draw.

Is it possible that my results were skewed by these factors?

I experienced an adrenaline rush shortly after being injected with the ACTH, and until about 5pm my heart was pounding pretty hard and I felt lightheaded. Is this normal?

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Adrenal Insufficiency :: Low Morning Cortisol, High Afternoon Cortisol

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These are the exact results shown on my endo's site:  
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