Adrenal fatigue can present in 4 different levels (more on that next week). Each level will show varying results of these tests and early stage or level 1 often times only shows some positives. Therefore, if you think you might have adrenal fatigue I highly recommend a saliva stress panel (#5) to help with staging your adrenal fatigue or ruling it out.
The top 4 Adrenal Fatigue tests are:
1. A pupil contraction eye test:
For this test I recommend you get someone to help. You begin the test by standing in very dark room, I find that a bathroom without windows or closet is best. Once in the room wait 1-2 minutes for your eyes to adjust to the darkness. At that point have your helper shine a flashlight at your eye. The eye should contract and then adjust slightly settling to a constant contracted size. If the pupil appears to contract and release over and over again or bounce back and forth this is a sign of possible Adrenal Fatigue.
2. Postural Hypotension Test:
Adrenal fatigue commonly will cause postural hypotension which simply means low blood pressure when standing up. To conduct this test you will need a blood pressure monitor. To begin you want to lay down for 5-10 minutes. While laying down measure your blood pressure. Once you have a good measurement for laying down stand up and retake your blood pressure immediately. A normal result would be a rise in blood pressure. However, if your blood pressure drops lower you may have Adrenal Fatigue.
3. Sergeant's White Line Test:
With your fingernail or the dull end of a spoon, draw a line across your belly with light to moderate pressure. If the line you draw turns red almost immediately this is a normal reaction. However, if the line stays white for 20 seconds or more or grows wider then you may have progressed Adrenal Fatigue.
4. Dr. Rinds Temperature Charting:
For this test you will use a thermometer to measure your temperature 3 hours after waking. You will then measure your temperature again every 3 hours until bedtime. At the end the day find the average temperature by adding all 3 measurements and dividing by the number of measurements taken the day (ex. 10 am = 97.3, 1pm = 98.1, 4pm =97.7 and 7pm = 98.3.....in this example I will add 97.3 + 98.1 + 97.7 + 98.3 = 391.4. I will then divide that by 4 because I had 4 measurements. 391.4 / 4 = 97.85) Do this same process for a minimum of 5 consecutive days. If the average of each day varies by less than 0.2 degrees you passed the test! If your temperatures vary more than this, then additional testing for the Adrenals and possibly the Thyroid would be needed.
5. Saliva Cortisol Stress Test
This test is the most in depth look at your Adrenal health and I highly recommend it. At my worst my Adrenal Fatigue was Stage 4 with nearly no Cortisol at any point during the day along with DHEA through the roof. I went to every kind of Dr., took blood tests and urine tests but the only test that could adequately identify my Adrenal Fatigue even at this level was a saliva cortisol stress test. If you have tested positive in 2 or more of the above tests then a saliva cortisol stress test is the next step to staging your Adrenal Fatigue.
Identifying the stage of your Adrenal Fatigue is crucial for recovery because each stage requires different types of lifestyle changes and treatment. For example, herbs that are given commonly to support the adrenals will quickly hinder a person is stage 3 or 4 of the illness.
There are several of these available but this is the one I personally have used several times in my recovery journey....