Dr. in the San Francisco Bay Area who would order a 24-hr saliva test

[bakaroni]

I've been to half a dozen different doctors and none of them will hear of the 24 hr saliva test.

I have elevated ACTH (59; should be < 50), insulin (20, should be < 17), c-peptide (3.7; should be < 3.1) & triglycerides (around 190). I'm also hypo, and am taking 37.5 dose of Levothyroxine, and my TSH now is 2.97. All other numbers are fine, including Na, Ca, K, cholesterol, etc. I need to test my cortisol levels, but my endo is insisting on the ACTH stimulation test, which will measure only how much my cortisol increases in a 1 hr period in response to ACTH. It won't measure my cortisol levels over a period of a day. And I think there's something wacky about it since my symptoms of intense hunger & confusion are random (or I have not been able to correlate it to any external factors after years of experimentation and elimination) and can (and often do) occur in the middle of the night.

So I'm looking for a Dr. in the bay area whom my United Healthcare PPO would cover, who's willing to listen to all the self-diagnosis I've done over the years and is open to trying out new things. Willing to travel up to 100 miles for that.

Thanks in advance.

[bakaroni]

Hi, thanks for your response.

I have already made all the dietary changes I can. I have completely cut out grains. My diet almost entirely consists of fruits, vegetables, nuts, eggs, cheese. I've tried all kinds of experiments over the years, and none has yielded any positive results.

[Red_Star]

I live in Australia so I'm no help with Dr's.

I have reversed my severe insulin resistance but cutting out refined sugar. But to add, being hyperthyroid worsened my insulin resistance so make sure you aren't over medicating.  

C-peptide is generally found in amounts equal to insulin so that explains why that test is elevated as your insulin levels.  The number one cause of high triglycerides is too many carbs in the diet.  Eating too many carbs can disrupt cortisol and a certain group of corticosteroids and is a "perfect recipe for destroying your adrenal glands" to quote Dr. Kalish.

In short, change your diet and you will no doubt see all your labs normalize.