nick_newbie said:The single most useful discipline is bringing the whole panel to a clinician rather than one flagged value.
PSA: get baseline labs BEFORE starting baseline bloodwork therapy. You need a "before" picture to measure progress. My recommended pre-treatment panel:
- CMP + A1C + fasting insulin
- Complete lipid panel with particle count if possible
- hsCRP, ferritin, B12, vitamin D
- Thyroid panel (TSH + free T4)
- CBC with differential
- Liver panel (ALT, AST, GGT)
- DEXA scan or body composition
Total cost at Quest without insurance: ~$200. Worth every penny for the data.
One thing that is still open after traveltech_sara’s answer:
How often to repeat it, because quarterly seems to be the convention and I cannot find the reasoning?
stefan_berlin said:PSA: get baseline labs BEFORE starting baseline bloodwork therapy.
Shot day Friday report relevant to baseline bloodwork:
Week 50. Currently on 1.0mg. Down 26 lbs from starting weight of 238 lbs.
This week's observations: Slight injection site redness, resolved in 24h.
Labs due next week — looking forward to seeing the metabolic panel. I'll post results in the Lab Results section when they come in.
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View ResultsOP back with an update, since a thread like this is useless without one.
Took the whole panel in rather than the one flagged line, and the conversation lasted two minutes instead of generating three more tests.
paige_pharma said:Shot day Friday report relevant to baseline bloodwork: Week 50.
Agreeing with paige_pharma, and the qualification matters more than the agreement. One addition: if the lab changes analytical platform between your draws, the comparison breaks and nobody tells you. It is worth asking when a value moves inexplicably.