morgan617 Posted February 26, 2007 Report Share Posted February 26, 2007 Remember, I live in covered wagonville here guys.My PCP, who is still my pcp for the moment, but who knows for how long (see previous post) has ordered a Plasma Renin Activity and an aldosterone concentration test. I know many of these types of tests require some prep. I called the lab here, where i will get it done and they said (of course) No, there's no prep.That is not what i am reading guys and i am so tired of tests being off because they are done incorrectly. Any input would be appreciated. The endos here are not to die for, and that's the truth......Thanks to anyone that can help me get this test as accurate as possible.....inthedarkmorgan I am having it done Thursday, and he did say 8 am. But that was it.....Oh and sorry, I am on beta blockers and 60 meq of potassium a day. Also, estradiol.....but that's it....I am done now... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lukkychrm42 Posted February 27, 2007 Report Share Posted February 27, 2007 Maybe it depends on the purposes for which you're having the tests as to what you need to do? Are they doing it supine and standing? The only time I've had mine tested like that was during my posture study at Vandy, and they could see how much they went up on standing. From what I found, it seems they want to know your sodium intake and excretion, because that can affect your results. If they're trying to determine it as a cause of hypertension, than it seems obvious that you should take this preparation, which also seemed to involve weeks off of meds. BUT if they're doing it for other reasons, then they MAY (and I might be optimistic here) know what they're looking for? Maybe contacting someone higher up on the totem pole might give you some more answers? I know nurses can be wonderful, but when they're not- they're really not. Take care! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lthomas521 Posted February 27, 2007 Report Share Posted February 27, 2007 http://www.labcorp.com/datasets/labcorp/ht...no/sr003300.htmThe instructions above say that the patient should be off meds for 3 weeks before the PRA test, but I think that might just be for antihypertensive drugs, such as diuretics. They also suggest a 24-hour urine specimen the day before the test, because salt intake matters. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
morgan617 Posted February 27, 2007 Author Report Share Posted February 27, 2007 Thanks guys. I am reading the same things.They are ruling out hyperaldosteronism. I have severe hypertension and a potassium they can't keep in normal range, no matter how much I take. In the last few months I have gone from 10 meq a day to 70 meq a day just to keep it at barely normal. These are hallmarks of this disease. He is convinced I don't have it, because it's rare. So I don't think they care whether it's done correctly or not. It's a cover your rear kind of thing.I am on a very low sodium diet because of an inner ear disorder and my hypertension. It says to eat about 3gms a day for 3 days. Good grief. I'm lucky to eat ONE gram and I hate salt.I am cutting off my estradiol (here come the flashes and headaches) and the half life of atenolol is only 7 hours or so, so I figure I can go 24 hours without it and it will out of my system enough. Or it will have to do.When I have stopped it in the past it only takes about a day or so for my tachycardia to return with a vengeance, so am hoping it will be enough.The lab said it wasn't even important about the time! My hubby says to take in the info sheet on how to correctly do this test for future reference for them. Yippee kiyaa Thanks again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DancingLight Posted February 27, 2007 Report Share Posted February 27, 2007 Hello morganofcoveredwagonland,I do not even know what hyperalodsterowhateveritscalled IS! So, I supposed that puts me on about the same page as the endos out there. Anyways, your test is Thursday? So, I wanted to wish you the best for it and that they do it RIGHT. I did that stupid water deprivation test for diabetes insipidus and they did it all wrong too and I am never doing it again darnit!Keep us posted.Em Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
morgan617 Posted February 27, 2007 Author Report Share Posted February 27, 2007 Em, you are too funny. It's a very rare adrenal gland problem, they produce too much aldosterone, which controls sodium, potassium and bp, by controlling how the kidneys deal with stuff. Simplistic, but that's pretty much it.You do not have to have an adrenal tumor to have this. they can do it for idiopathic reasons. Hyperplasia. Which would not show up on a CT scan. And less than 50% of the tumors even do.They only have a record of about 200,000 people in the U.S. having it, but believe the count is quite a bit higher, because of the lack of testing for it and the inaccuracies of testing. duhSo, I'm not holding my breath, but I am going to copy that link up above and take it in. The last endo i saw said she knew I didn't have any type of endocrine or hormonal problems, before any testing was done.....the really scary thing is, she takes care of my son for his parathyroids...... there's just no other choices. We only have three in town and the other two are even worse.......but thanks for making me laugh, despite my lack of hormone headache and crankrama mood......crankoramamorgan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lthomas521 Posted March 1, 2007 Report Share Posted March 1, 2007 Hi Morgan:Have they done a 24-hour urine catch and tested your aldosterone metabolites (tetrahydroaldosterone) by mass spectrometry? I think Quest Diagnostics offers that test. That will give you an indication of how much aldosterone you secrete in a 24-hour period. Aldosterone has a fairly short half-life. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DancingLight Posted March 1, 2007 Report Share Posted March 1, 2007 Hey morgan,How did the test go? Did they do it RIGHT? love, sweetieem Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
morgan617 Posted March 2, 2007 Author Report Share Posted March 2, 2007 I had the blood drawn this morning. I took myself off my estrogen and atenolol, but only for a couple days, as that's all I had. No salt loading, no urine sodium levels so they could adjust the numbers.....nothing.No sodium levels, no anything. It was not done correctly. I was in my w/c and asked the gal if she put that in the remarks, and she said, why bother? The test was not going to be accurate no matter what she wrote.....so it just didn't matter, they did the best they could, according to her....But as long as all butts are covered, but mine, anything goes, right?....it's the last test I ever plan on having...period. No more info to the doctor, no more investigation on my own, no more wasting my time, so they can do stuff wrong and then shrug and pat themselves on the back for a butt well covered.......Sorry, I have just given up, that anyone will ever care enough to even attempt to do things right. The same thing happened with my cortisol stim tests. They did it three times and it was abnormal everytime, but the 3rd time it was a more "acceptably" abnormal.So, I'm just not going to deal with this anymore, I am just too tired......but thanks for asking sweeties.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DancingLight Posted March 2, 2007 Report Share Posted March 2, 2007 Oh morgan,I don't have words....I am so sorry...so sorry....sweetieemwhoisspeechless (that's a new one! me, speechless!) Sorry, inappropriate humor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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