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Dexamethasone Suppression test.

E

Emmaroo

Milky
When I first went to see the surgical consult he sent me to have some blood work done. I'm due to meet with the surgeon on the 19th of Oct but I've had a letter through today from the Endocrine Doctor who has requested that I have a dexamethasone suppression test to exclude an over production of cortisol (steroid production).

Is this something everyone gets tested for or do you think the doctor suspects there may be something wrong with me?
 
I understand that it is a standard test for a syndrome known as "Cushing's Disease" (which is a disfunction of the thyroid/pituitry gland)

I don't think that it is a common test to have done but it is a standard exclusionary test to do when the patient is significantly overweight (if that makes sense :() . So it sounds as if your surgeon is just covering all of the bases before operating - and I also think that it is something that particular doctors will test for and others won't bother. (I had only heard of it because my sister was tested for Cushings years ago and when she described me to her doctor he said "well, she should definitely be tested to" but my endochronologist at the time completely pooh poohed the idea)

If you are concerned about why you are being sent for a specific test you should always feel able to ask why - it is your health after all

Good luck

TillyBob
 
Hun the test you are having done is to rule out if u have cushings disease which if you do have can be one of the reasons why you have a weight prob.
Hun i had this blood test done a few yrs ago by my endocrinologist it was a fasting blood test.
Pls dont worry about it, i know that is easier said than done but like tillybob said your surgeon could just be very thorough.
Take care luv Roch xx
 
hi emmaroo, ive had this test done about a month ago..
I have severe polycistic ovarian syndrome (pcos), went to see a new endo and because of some high levels of hormones he said he wanted to check any problems with pituritry gland or like has been said, testing for cushings disease ( turned out the probs where due to severe pcos)

So, the test for me was blood drawn before,during and after a 5 day course of high levels of steroid tablets (dexamethosone)

During the 5 days on the pills i felt fantastic, almost a bit jittery, like adrenaline type thing, but mainly felt great! The prob i had was when i stopped them, i felt very anxious, a bit paronoid, apparently it can make u feel this when stopped abruptly. Ask your doc about the withdrawel, but i dont think its that way for everyone.

I was a bit confused and worried about it the test too, but apart from the bit of stuff after stopping takin them, it was fine. In my opinion your doc is thoroughly checkin u over, which is great!
Good luck with it,keep us posted how u get on, dont worry, im sure u will be just fine xxx
 
I had this done to test for cushings syndrome as well.I went to the hosp say on day one and had blood test @9am and then every 6 hours for 48 hours I had to take the steriods tabs and then on day 3 I went back @ 9am again and repeated the blood tests.................Its as simple as that...Its just to make sure u dont have it as that alter your weight etc...

All the best xxMeJuliexx
 
Hiya emma I had this test done also they were checking for cushions on me due to the fact I had put nearly 4 stone on in a year:eek: my G.P did mine though I was instructed to take this tiny tablet at 11.00pm just before bedtime and then I had to go and have my bloods done with the nurse at 8.30am. That was then sent to the lab and the results faxed through to salford royal Manchester. I didnt hear anything after that and my op went ahead 2 weeks later. I would `nt worry its just them being thorough which is a good thing eh!! Gail.x
 
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