Hockey,

I'm not sure if adrenal glands relate to saliva glands or not, but the fact that you have malfunctioning saliva glands could mean a pituitary dysfunction. The pituitary gland is the "master gland" that regulates all of the other glands in the body. Although the pituitary gland is well protected in the skull, it often becomes damaged from a TBI. So, it may be worth getting either an IGF-1 test (to test your anterior pituitary functioning) or an ACTH stim test. The latter is a very involved and expensive test that should be covered by your insurance provider. This test is considered the gold standard for assessing pituitary function.

You can perform two simple home tests on your adrenal glands. For the first test, get a good thermometer, preferably a mercury thermometer although these are hard to come by these days, and take your temperature orally three hours after you wake up, then two more times every three hours. Then average the temps for the day. Do this for 5 consecutive days. If your temps vary by more than 0.2 degrees Fahrenheit, then your adrenals are not functioning properly. The second test involves a mirror, a dark room and a small flashlight. Go into a dark room with a mirror and your flashlight. Stare into the mirror and shine the flashlight about 1 inches in front of your eyes from the side angle. Your pupils should constrict and stay constricted. If your adrenals are not functioning properly, your pupils will constrict then dilate after about 10 seconds.

And your Neuro probably has no clue about these tests. Remember, most medical doctors are not taught to treat the body holistically. It has only been in the last 5 years that doctors are being taught to do this based on the research that is coming out. So, it probably never even dawned on your neuro to test your endocrine system. And my guess is that if you asked him/her, he/she would probably tell you there is no relation. Your best bet is to find a hormone specialist or anti aging specialist. Most of them offer free consults so you can get a feel if they would be knowledgeable enough to treat you.

This is actually a very important topic to bring up. A lot of the research involving TBI recovery is now geared towards hormone imbalance. They are finding that a lot of people who don't make good recoveries from mtbi's have hormone issues. Once the hormone issues a dealt with, the person makes a good recovery.