If you believe that you might be suffering from adrenal fatigue, then there are steps to ensure that you are properly diagnosed. After all, a proper diagnosis will separate whether you are actually suffering from the symptoms of adrenal fatigue or something else that may be harmless and temporary or more sinister and in need of immediate treatment.

However, there are simple tests that can be performed quickly to see if you do indeed have adrenal fatigue. One of the more popular is saliva testing which can be done relatively quickly and with some degree of accuracy.

What is Saliva Testing?

The adrenal glands in your body respond to the stresses that you endure. Their activity is represented by the amount of adrenal hormone known as cortisol that is present in your blood and other bodily fluids such as your saliva. How much cortisol is in your saliva is an indication of the activity of your adrenal glands. A standard DHEAS saliva test will measure the amount of stress hormones as well as cortisol in your saliva. The results will be evaluated to determine if indeed you may be suffering from adrenal fatigue.

The test itself is performed four times in a single day simply by spitting into a test tube. Generally speaking, the test happens in the morning, noon, early evening and late at night to get an accurate representation of a complete day and the level of stress hormones and cortisol in the body. Once completed, you simply send the test tubes back to the lab for analysis. In about 2 weeks time, the testing will be complete and you and your doctor can evaluate the results.

Are Saliva Tests Reliable?

Saliva tests are generally very good indicators of the levels of all the stress hormones in your body and saliva cortisol is actually covered by Plan B Medicare as well. The National Institute of Health and the World Health Organization recognizes saliva tests as being quite accurate. Plus, many insurance plans outside of Medicare cover this type of testing as well.

Saliva testing is often done by independent labs that do a wide variety of testing for doctors around the world. The advantage of the saliva test is that no refrigeration or special instructions are needed for the preservation of the saliva once it has been sealed in the test tubes. They are simply mailed to the lab for testing under normal conditions.

However, saliva tests are not the end-all, be-all when it comes to your physical condition. This is especially true if you have not suffered from a long-term event that would have caused the adrenal fatigue in the first place.

Remember that saliva testing should be considered the first step and not the final indication that you are indeed suffering from adrenal fatigue. While adrenal fatigue is relatively benign, the symptoms and the saliva test may cover you to a more serious condition that may be developing in your body. You should always double check the results with another test performed by a physician that will also scan for indications of anything that is more serious developing in your body.