Saliva testing?

[OneGrassRoot]

Lab tests are so darn expensive, especially when ordered by a physician.

Has anyone done a DIY saliva test, sent away for results?

I know more and more docs are recommending saliva testing over blood tests for hormonal values. Not sure what all can be evaluated with saliva testing and haven't researched it yet. Thought I'd ask here first.

[Celebration]

1. yes my daughter did it once

We got four readings of cortisol levels and a consultation re: same. It was easy to do and pretty informative although the results were skewed (not good) because I happened to have her take the test a few days after she had a really scary car accident. She didn't have anything but a bad scrape on her arm but had spent several hours in ER with no treatment and had gotten dehydrated.

Anyway, when the nutritionist got the results the description he gave of her I realized did not fit her usual mode, but the traumatized mode that she was still in. It was helpful only in that I realized then that her odd behavior for the prior week had been due to the accident. That wasn't what I was looking for in the test, but that is what we got.

Cortisol levels are apparently really good to know at various times of day, which make the saliva test more informative than blood testing.

That is my only experience with it, and I think saliva testing has gotten more expensive in the past few years.

[OneGrassRoot]

2. Thanks, Celebration. I guess hair samples...

are more for vitamin and mineral content evaluation, and saliva for hormone testing?

I'm going to investigate both and see what I can find in the way of recommendations.

[Celebration]

3. well, hair samples wouldn't show the AM and PM readings, obviously

I don't know much about hair testing. For certain hormones though, like cortisol, the AM and PM levels are different, and the saliva testing shows that.

I recently looked at the cost of a home saliva kit, though, and it looked so expensive compared to what I paid just a few years ago! But I didn't actually do much investigation.

I'd be interested to know what you discover.

[GardeningGal]

4. Hi OGR

Here's what I understand about testing. Saliva testing is best for cortisol and that is best done 4 times in a 24 hour period to determine if your body is following the proper rhythm throughout the day. For other hormones, blood testing is best.

You can order the saliva test through Canary Club for around $100. Other hormones can be ordered directly through different websites that I'll link to below and you can look for the tests you want and figure out which is the best price. They all use Lab Corp for the blood draw and reporting.

http://www.saveonlabs.com/
http://www.directlabs.com/
http://www.econolabs.com/default.asp
http://www.privatemdlabs.com/index.php
http://www.personalabs.com/

I think I've used all but personalabs.com and haven't had any issues.

[OneGrassRoot]

5. Wonderful!

Thank you very, very much!

[Why Syzygy]

6. One more source

http://www.lef.org/Vitamins-Supplements/Blood-Tests/Hormone-Testing.htm

[OneGrassRoot]

7. *like*

Thanks.