Hormone Testing?

[Daffodil]

Hi all. I would like to get some hormone testing done. Does anyone know what type of doctor I should see? There are no CFS specialists here other than maybe a naturopath. I asked my doctor to refer me to an endocrinologist...but would I need any special testing unique to CFS?

Thanks!

 

[taniaaust1]

From own experience of endocrinologists thou they specialise in hormones, have been fairy poor just due to their lack of knowledge of ME/CFS and hence usually not really interested in giving us much in the way of tests which would be useful to most who have this.

Many naturopaths seem to be more of a help.

Yes the ME abnormalities are in tests they usually dont tend to think on doing on us eg free testosterone is one I can think of, testing cortisol levels at different times is another (they tend to just do simple morning cortisol test. Many have better cortisol tests done throu naturopaths).

I suggest to find a doctor who has an interest in CFS and in hormones to probably really make it worth while

 

[minkeygirl]

@Daffodil I totally agree with @taniaaust1 I went to endocrinologist in 94 because my hormones were a mess. He diagnosed me with what i now know was a non-existent adrenal disease, put me on cortef which eventually crashed my adrenals. At the same time I got some virus which I never recovered from.

Look around for a naturopath, mine does BHRT. I don't think CFS requires special testing just some additional ones. I think a good NP who gets CFS will know.

 

[Daffodil]

thanks a lot guys. i just didn't want to spend a lot of extra money on this, but it looks like it cannot be avoided.

i keep hearing about people feeling a lot better with hormone supplementation if they need it, and its been several years since i have had this tested.

xoxoxo

 

[minkeygirl]

@Daffodil in 2009 I was seeing a doc who does BHRT. My hormones were balanced for about 3 hours and it was miraculous! The birds sang and angels wept! I never knew I could feel like that, calm and at peace. Unfortunately I had a bad reaction to one of the estrogens and never got back to it because i was doing chelation.

it's a lot of trial and error but the way I felt was worth it. I had urine hormone testing from some lab in Oregon I think.

 

[Daffodil]

hi minkey. that sounds awesome. i am going to ask if they do BHRT before i go! thanks!!

xoxo

 

[minkeygirl]

You definitely want BHRT. I found my NP online and her website talks about what she does. BHRT and Methylation were two of them.

You could google BHRT for you city and see what comes up.

 

[Leopardtail]

Hi all. I would like to get some hormone testing done. Does anyone know what type of doctor I should see? There are no CFS specialists here other than maybe a naturopath. I asked my doctor to refer me to an endocrinologist...but would I need any special testing unique to CFS?

Thanks!

There are several points here:

1. I would echo Tania's comment that unless an endo has a special interest in ME they are likely to be of little use.
2. Most endos test for releasing hormones first (e.g. TSH or FSH) - they are or questionable use for ME patients since they assume all is well in the hypothalamus and pituatory gland (a poor assume for ME patients).
3. which hormones you need to test for really depends upon your symptoms. Personally I had a complete panel done, but it costed circa £700 to have it done privately.

hope that's helpful,

Leo