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Comment by leoh | Hacker News Reader

Does anyone know a good way to test cortisol on one's own?

Get a blood test? If you’re in the US and don’t want to have to convince your doctor why you need/want this test, just order it yourself from a place like healthlabs.com - I don’t work for them - I’m a satisfied customer.

Cortisol levels vary all the time... a blood test would only measure cortisol at one point in time.

There are cortisol tests which which require you to submit urine sample of the whole day - from morning to evening.

Does it have to be done in a lab or is there a ph or ketostix like device that could measure it at home?

I don't know of a device that can measure it at home, but there are mail-in saliva cortisol kits from companies like Genova Diagnostics, Labrix, and ZRT Labs. You usually send them several samples collected at specific times throughout the day.

They're mostly designed to be ordered by a healthcare professional, but you can get a few of them direct on Amazon, or through companies that order on your behalf (similar to healthlabs.com mentioned above).

I was given a big plastic jar with a certain kind of acid in it. Had to pee straight into the jar the whole day. Next day, the jar had to be handed over to the lab.

I've had my cortisol tested quite a bit (I had a pituitary tumor. Most recently they tested with a salivary cortisol test which is supposedly good now. Previously they'd do a 24hr urine test for the best results. That's in addition to a blood test for cortisol.

Seconding this. I did a 24-hour saliva test years ago when I seemed to be having issues related to adrenal function.

It seems that it's important to get separate samples spaced evenly throughout the day, as it is not just a single reading at any time that matters, but the relative levels at different points during the day.

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