(no subject)

[the_rck]

Well, it looks like my a.m. cortisol is higher than it should be and my percent transferrin saturation is just a little more than half what it should be as a minimum. I'm guessing more cortisol testing and some iron supplements are in my future. I haven't heard from my doctor yet, so I'm not sure about the next steps. I just sent her an email via the patient portal because, if I need more tests, today is the best day to do them this week because I'll be at UHS between 1:00 and about 2:30 for the eye exam anyway. My numbers for iron are as follows: Iron Level: 38 ug/dL (range: 33-150 ug/dL) Iron binding capacity: 336 ug/dL (range: 220-440 ug/dL) Percent Transferrin Saturation: 11% (range: 20-50%) There's a lab note saying that percent saturation values <15% are consistent with iron deficiency anemia, so that's why I'm assuming supplements and/or additional tests. I'm not sure that I've ever had this tested before. ETA: I have had it done, back in 2016. Everything was fine then. My cortisol level is 25.3 ug/dL with an expected range of 7.0-22.0 ug/dL. I'd only been up for half an hour when the blood was drawn and had not yet had anything but water (we went for breakfast after). I asked my doctor in the email if that needs follow up or not. My suspicion is that it might, but who knows? I found a paper from 1996 on nih.gov that seems to indicate that higher cortisol levels can go with being perimenopausal, but given everything else going on with me, well... I'd like more information. I hope we don't need to go for saliva swabs because I'm not sure I've got enough saliva to manage it. I have dry mouth as a side effect of a medication, and I'm not sure I can actually manage sufficient moisture to wet a swab, not with adding water.