Re: Very worried about AF and low aldosterone, need advice

Hi mrcrow,

From my experiences, the pupil test is bogus. Chances are though that if you have thyroid issues then you've got adrenal issues too. If you want to see whats going on with your cortisol levels I would suggest a 24 hour cortisol saliva test. It won't test your aldosterone, but you'll know about your cortisol and it's a way more reliable test than the archaic ACTH test your endo will give you. And if you see that you've got cortisol issues, testing aldosterone won't be necessary. You can order it yourself without a doctor from canaryclub.org for like $100 bucks.

And BTW with that ACTH test you could be super low and they will tell you you're fine. According to endos, you've got to have Addison's to have a problem with your adrenals. That's if you can even convince them to give you the test.

I had very very bad renal salt wasting syndrome last year that landed me in the hospital with flatlining aldosterone levels. Not saying this will happen to you because it's actually a dysautonomia syndrome rather than an adrenal issue (so don't panic!). Only when I was practically dead (I actually did die for a few minutes) did they finally test my aldosterone levels which were low because my kidneys were not holding salt. They put me on Florinef, which I threw in the trash after a couple weeks due to horrible side effects.

I ultimately brought my aldosterone back up with SALT. Not just any salt, but a type called Hawaiian Bamboo Jade Sea Salt . A gal on this forum with Addison's named Marie64 recommended it to me because it helped her tremendously.

You can get it on Amazon. Eat this salt like your life depends on it! I'm talking GENEROUS amounts on food, and also put some in your water. It's been about 7 months since I've needed any salt water, but I still eat the salt like it's going out of style. Last time they checked me in January they gave me the all clear for the salt wasting. They were pretty amazed and equally pissed off because I did it without their crap meds.

The moral of the story- get yourself a saliva test and get yourself some salt :)