Kathy, Don't feel bad, I didn't know about the timing of draws, and no meds before for a long time. My son's first endo didn't believe they were issues. Here is what I have learned so far, but anyone feel free to contradict me, I know some doctors, like our first one, don't believe it matters. Blood should be drawn at the same time each draw because the body has hormone surges throughout the 24 hours day/night cycle. Most (all?) people have their highest cortisol concentration in the blood in the early, early a.m. Then the cortisol levels gradually go down throughout the day to a low in the night. There are some small peaks and valleys during the day, following circadian rythymns. So, if you had blood drawn once at 7:00 am and once at 7:00pm you would expect the 17OHP levels would be higher in the a.m draw because the body was trying to produce more Cortisol (and in CAH failing) in the a.m. Since the majority of cortisol is produced during the morning hormone surge, many (most?) dr.s want the blood drawn at that time to get an accurate picture of how the medicine is suppressing the adrenals. I think most dr.s say draw without meds so they can see how well the adrenals are suppressed without the "interference" of the hydrocortisone (or other steroid). However, I know people have posted in the past that their dr.s say to give the morning meds before the draw. I think the reasoning there is that the dr. wants to see how the morning med is affecting/suppressing the adrenals. They don't want to see what the adrenals do without meds. It seems like the most critical thing is that the same procedure is followed every time. If you have a 7:30 am draw without meds one time, you should have it every time after too, to make sure you are comparing apples to apples. Or, if you do a 11:00am draw with morning meds given, do it the same next time, and know that the levels will tend to be lower than they would be in the am without meds. I think reality also intrudes into the practice. Some labs just aren't open until regular business hours. Also, one thing we have found very helpful - my son gets his blood drawn 2 weeks before his dr. appt. That way we have the results to review at the time of his clinical exam and we can discuss med changes in person. It makes the appt much more useful. Sorry for the very long explanation. I don't seem to ever be able to put things simply. Good luck on the draw. PS - Someone on this board (Roberta?) knows of a web site that explains the importance of timing with the draws. I bet if you post a seperate thread on this topic you will get more info.