There was a remark about my adrenals after I had an abdominal CT scan last week. The CT scan looked to see how my kidney stones were doing. The CT scan report said my adrenals were "unremarkable." I guess that means my adrenals were doing okay.

I wish the report would have said my kidney stones were unremarkable. My kidney stones are getting bigger so I need treatment to shrink them again. Also, my prostate wasn't doing very well because it was enlarged.

I didn't really know how my cortisol level was doing the entire time I was on prednisone for PMR. A cortisol level can't really be checked if your prednisone dose is too high. A prednisone dose greater than 3 mg was what my endocrinologist said was too high of a dose. Prednisone interferes with your serum cortisol level and give falsely higher results.

"Patients treated with prednisone, prednisolone, and 6-methylprednisolone (especially higher doses) may show falsely elevated concentrations of cortisol. Patients with 21-hydroxylase deficiency may have elevated 21-deoxycortisol levels that can give rise to falsely elevated cortisol results.

The time of sample collection must be taken into account when interpreting results due to the cortisol secretion circadian rhythm. Severe stress can also give rise to elevated cortisol levels. For diagnostic purposes, the Cortisol results should always be assessed in conjunction with the patient's medical history, clinical examination and other findings."