Advanced Neurotransmitter & All Day Cortisol Test | 30 Markers

Test ID: SU-843 | Sample Type: Dried Urine + Saliva | Technology: Advanced LCMS analysis with specialist laboratory interpretation included | Laboratory: ZRT Laboratory (CLIA-certified) | Test Result: in 3-5 working days | Suitable For: Adults and Children | Collect Sample At Home: No Clinic Visit Required

Neurotransmitters and the Stress Hormone Cortisol — Measured Together

This combined at-home kit measures 26 urinary neurotransmitter-related markers and saliva cortisol at four times during the day. It brings together neurotransmitters, metabolites, amino acid precursors and creatinine with a daily saliva cortisol profile.

Hormones and neurotransmitter signalling interact in functions involving stress, mood and sleep. Reviewing these measurements together gives your healthcare practitioner two sets of biochemical information to consider alongside your symptoms, medical history, medicines and supplements. Results do not establish the cause of symptoms or directly measure neurotransmitter levels in the brain.

What This Test Measures (30 Markers)

The 30 total comprises 26 urinary markers, including creatinine, plus four measurements of the same hormone, cortisol. It does not mean 30 different substances.

Dried Urine — 26 Neurotransmitter-Related Markers (LC-MS):

Saliva — 4-Point Diurnal Cortisol:

Follow the exact collection times specified in the instructions supplied with your kit.

Not Sure Which Test Is Right for You?

Email us at info@hormonelab.co.uk with your gender, age, symptoms, medications, and any current treatments. We will forward your enquiry to our doctors and respond within 24 hours with a suggestion.

Why Measure Cortisol Alongside Neurotransmitters?

Four saliva measurements show cortisol levels at the specified collection times. Your practitioner can review the daily pattern alongside the urinary neurotransmitter-related results and your sleep, routine and symptoms. This profile does not, by itself, establish overall HPA-axis function, stress-recovery capacity or that cortisol has depleted neurotransmitters.

Measuring neurotransmitters alongside their metabolites provides a broader biochemical picture than considering parent neurotransmitters alone. For example, this profile measures dopamine with DOPAC and HVA, and serotonin with 5-HIAA.

Who Is This Test For?

This combined neurotransmitter and four-point cortisol profile is for people seeking additional biochemical information to discuss with a healthcare professional when experiencing:

• Feeling stressed, anxious, overwhelmed or unable to switch off
• Persistent tiredness, low energy or low motivation
• Low mood, irritability or mood changes
• Difficulty falling asleep, staying asleep or waking refreshed
• Brain fog or difficulty concentrating
• Premenstrual mood changes or irritability

It combines your daily cortisol pattern with urinary neurotransmitter-related measurements to help guide a personalised review of your symptoms, lifestyle, nutrition and next steps.

Understand Your Symptoms and Plan Your Next Steps

Ongoing stress, tiredness, mood changes and poor sleep can make everyday life harder. This combined profile measures 26 neurotransmitter-related urinary markers and cortisol at four points throughout the day, providing information you can review with your healthcare professional to guide a personalised approach.

Feeling stressed, anxious or unable to switch off
Four cortisol measurements show how your cortisol levels change from morning to bedtime. Alongside urinary markers related to GABA, glutamate, adrenaline and noradrenaline, they provide information about pathways involved in relaxation and the stress response. Your results can support a discussion about stress management, recovery, sleep habits and any further assessment needed.

Persistent tiredness, low energy or low motivation
Your cortisol results show your daily hormone pattern, while dopamine and related urinary markers add information about substances involved in motivation and alertness. Reviewing these findings alongside the times you feel tired can help your clinician decide what to investigate next and discuss appropriate changes to your routine.

Low mood, irritability or mood changes
The profile measures serotonin, dopamine, their building blocks and breakdown products. This gives your healthcare professional additional information about how your body processes these substances, supporting a more individual discussion about your mood, nutrition and care.

Difficulty sleeping or waking refreshed
Evening and bedtime cortisol measurements show whether cortisol falls towards the end of your day. The urinary panel adds markers related to sleep and wakefulness, including GABA, glutamate, serotonin and histamine. Together, the findings can guide a review of your sleep schedule, caffeine use, evening routine and further sleep assessment.

Brain fog or difficulty concentrating
Markers related to dopamine, norepinephrine and glutamate provide biochemical information from pathways involved in attention and alertness. Combined with your cortisol pattern and symptom history, the results help inform the next steps in investigating concentration difficulties.

Premenstrual mood changes or irritability
The profile includes markers related to serotonin, dopamine and GABA—pathways involved in premenstrual mood symptoms. Reviewing your results alongside a menstrual symptom diary can support a more focused discussion about managing recurring changes.

Use Your Results as Guidance

Your report highlights urinary measurements and cortisol results outside the laboratory’s reference ranges. Used alongside your symptoms and health history, it can help you and your healthcare professional prioritise further investigations and make informed decisions about lifestyle, nutrition and care.

How It Works

1. Order your kit — delivered directly to your door
2. Collect 4 saliva samples at specific times during the day
3. Collect 4 dried urine samples throughout the day using the provided collection strips
4. Post your samples to the laboratory using the provided instructions
5. Receive your results by email within 3–5 working days of the lab receiving your samples

What You Receive With Your Results

• All 30 measurements in clear graphics and easy-to-read values
• Diurnal 4-point cortisol curve with interpretation
• Full neurotransmitter pathway analysis including metabolites
• Specialist PhD laboratory interpretation
• Guidance on what your results mean and recommended next steps
• Laboratory analysis included; customers pay return postage to the laboratory

View a Sample Neurotransmitter Profile Report. This example shows the neurotransmitter profile, not the complete combined cortisol and neurotransmitter report.

Important Considerations

• Follow the current instructions supplied with your kit for collection times and restrictions on food, drink and nicotine
• Maintain normal fluid intake — avoid excessive drinking, which may dilute samples
• Record all medicines and supplements on the requisition form
• Do not stop prescribed medication without advice from your prescribing clinician
• Test kit valid for 12 months from purchase date
• A return envelope is supplied, but it is not prepaid. Customers pay return postage to the laboratory

Saliva and Dried Urine Collection Instructions

Collect your samples at home using the materials provided in your SU-844 kit. This panel requires four saliva samples and four dried urine samples. Saliva and urine samples can be collected on separate days.

Before You Begin

Read the full instructions supplied with your kit. Record all current medications, supplements and hormone treatments on your Test Requisition Form.

• Three days before collection: Avoid anti-ageing or anti-wrinkle facial creams and biotin (vitamin B7), including hair and nail supplements.
• The day before and the day of testing: ZRT recommends avoiding bananas, pineapple, nuts, nut butters, alcohol, nicotine, protein powders and protein shakes.
• Before saliva collection: Do not eat, drink anything other than water, or brush your teeth before the first sample or during the two hours before subsequent samples.

Choosing Your Collection Day

Men, children and women who do not menstruate: Collect on any day of the month. If you use hormone treatments, also follow the guidance below.

Women with regular periods: For saliva hormone testing, choose your collection day according to your usual cycle length. Day 1 is the first day of menstrual flow, rather than spotting.

Women with irregular or infrequent periods: Collect on any non-bleeding day.

For dried urine collection: Avoid menstruation or any time blood could enter your urine sample. Urine collection does not require a specific menstrual-cycle day.

Saliva Collection Timing

Begin your morning saliva collection within 30 minutes of waking, using the large 10 ml tube. Use a small 5 ml tube for each later collection.

How to Collect Saliva

• Wash your hands with soap and water and dry them with a clean towel.
• Rinse your mouth with water, then wait five minutes.
• Allow saliva to pool in your mouth and transfer it into the tube. Fill the tube at least halfway, excluding bubbles. Collection usually takes 15–30 minutes.
• Screw the cap on securely.
• Write your name, collection date and time on the tube label, then return the tube to its bag.
• Repeat at the remaining collection times required for your panel.

If you make a collection mistake, rinse the tube with hot water without soap, shake out the remaining water and allow it to air-dry before restarting at the appropriate time.

Freeze saliva samples if they will not be shipped within 24 hours.

Dried Urine Collection Timing

Collect four urine samples:

Before the first urine collection, do not eat, drink anything other than water, or take vitamins or supplements. Follow your healthcare provider’s advice about medication timing.

Limit fluid intake to no more than approximately 240 ml (8 oz) during the hour before each urine collection to avoid diluting your sample.

How to Collect Dried Urine

• Remove a collection card from its bag and write your name, collection date and time on it.
• Open the cover and fold it away from the filter paper. Avoid touching the filter paper.
• Fully saturate the paper by urinating directly onto it, or collect urine in a clean cup and dip the paper up to the top black dashed line.
• Hang or tape the card somewhere secure, ensuring the wet paper does not touch anything.
• Allow it to dry completely for at least six hours. Once dry, refold the card, place it in its bag and seal it. Do not leave samples outside the bag for longer than 24 hours.
• Repeat for each collection time.

Missed a urine collection? Collect that sample at the same time the following day. Record the actual date and time on the card and Test Requisition Form.

If You Use Hormone Treatments

Record all hormone treatments on your form. Do not stop prescribed treatment without your healthcare provider’s advice.

• Topical or oral hormones: Follow the kit’s timing instructions. The previous evening’s dose should generally be at least 12 hours before morning collection; oral progesterone may be taken at bedtime.
• Prevent contamination: Use gloves or an applicator for topical hormones for at least two days before collection. Avoid applying hormones to your face, lips or neck. Change sheets, pillowcases and towels the night before collection and avoid surfaces that may contain hormone residue.
• Patches, vaginal rings, pellets or injections: Follow the laboratory’s guidance to collect halfway between doses.
• Troches or sublingual hormones: The laboratory does not recommend saliva testing with these therapies. Discuss blood spot testing with your healthcare provider.
• 7-Keto DHEA: The laboratory advises avoiding it for three days before collection. This does not apply to regular DHEA.
• Steroid medicines: Ask your healthcare provider about appropriate collection timing.
• On the urine collection day: Take your morning hormone dose after the first urine sample and wash your hands thoroughly. Collect the bedtime sample before nighttime hormones. The laboratory advises avoiding vaginal hormone use until after the final urine sample; discuss any timing adjustment with your healthcare provider.

Returning Your Samples

Complete the Test Requisition Form in full. Place all labelled samples, the completed form and any additional paperwork into the test kit box. Ensure urine cards are completely dry and sealed, then return the kit according to the supplied return instructions.

A return envelope is provided. It is not prepaid; customers are responsible for return postage to the laboratory.

Important: Urine samples that are wet, unsealed, excessively diluted or more than 30 days old will not be processed, replaced or refunded.

Read the full laboratory collection instructions.

Why We Use ZRT Laboratory

All testing is performed by ZRT Laboratory — a globally recognised, CLIA-certified diagnostic laboratory founded in 1998 by Dr. David Zava, PhD. ZRT has performed over 11 million tests and is trusted by healthcare professionals in 96+ countries. ZRT pioneered salivary cortisol and dried neurotransmitter testing for at-home use.

Hormone Lab UK (Testfield UK Ltd) is the official UK test provider for ZRT Laboratory.

Frequently Asked Questions

How is 4-point salivary cortisol different from a single cortisol reading?
A single reading measures cortisol at one collection time. Four timed saliva measurements provide a daily profile for your practitioner to review alongside your symptoms, routine, medicines and collection times. This schedule is not the same as a dedicated cortisol awakening response assessment and does not diagnose burnout or adrenal fatigue.

How are chronic stress, cortisol and neurotransmitters related?
Stress responses, hormones and neurotransmitter signalling interact. This kit brings together timed saliva cortisol measurements and urinary neurotransmitter-related markers for review with your practitioner. The results do not directly demonstrate that cortisol has depleted neurotransmitters or prove that stress caused your symptoms.

Can this test diagnose anxiety, depression, or ADHD?
No. This test cannot diagnose medical or psychiatric conditions. It provides biochemical information that may help you and your healthcare professional better understand your symptoms and guide personalised interventions. Seek professional assessment for diagnosis.

Is this test suitable for children?
Both the saliva and dried urine collection methods are non-invasive and suitable for adults and children. 

Does the price include the laboratory fee?
Yes. The full laboratory analysis fee is included. Return postage to the laboratory is not included.

How long is the kit valid for?
The kit must be used within 12 months of the purchase date.