Private doctor or other recommended able to TAKE blood for tests ie vitamins and minerals and thyroid /adrenal, then treat.

[islandgirl1986]

Live in South Wales, but will travel. Thankyou.

[fixit]

I use Medichecks and Blue Horizon. These tests can be ordered online and then you do a finger prick test at home and return by post for testing.

[islandgirl1986]

Thankyou. I'm aware of them,but a little worried about whether they would be accepted as a proper blood sample. I've rung them and left message.

[humanbean]

Phone up the phlebotomy department of your local hospital. Ask if they will take blood for you for private blood tests if you supply all the necessary tubes and instructions, and how much it will cost. They might do it for free or they may charge. I was charged less than a tenner to get mine done by my local hospital.

[islandgirl1986]

I will do that thankyou. I have asked 'Spires' Private Hospital and they said I would have to have a referral. I also asked nurse at the gp surgery, but said couldn't do it. I don't hold out much hope, there seems to be a tight control and my gp also refused to repeat tests done in OCT 2013. When she last asked for T3 hospital ignored request. Can only assume down to money and being Wales. I wouldn't know where to get tubes/what ones etc even. Rang Medicheck and they didnt get back to me, and not sure fingerprick testing recognised as norm in nhs. Even then I have been told they don't know whats wrong and can't help me, that's why I have to go private, like so many. I'm not new to this as I have seen a couple of private docs, very nice, in the past, but I seemed to react to armour and adrenals. I suspect, if I had kept at it I may have been feeling a little better after 9 years. Now I have so many symptoms and worse since meno. Doesn't help I was diagnosed with ME in 1995, then nhs won't touch you with a bargepole.

[humanbean in reply to islandgirl1986]

If you are getting private tests done, the company analysing the blood for you should supply everything you need - needles, lances, tubes, instructions, packaging of a suitable standard for sending through the post etc. You wouldn't normally have to source those things for yourself.

However, I've never done finger prick tests myself, I've only ever done private testing that required full blood test tubes, so I don't know what differences there might be.

[puncturedbicycle in reply to islandgirl1986]

Will your gp accept private tests full stop or are you possibly going to have to use the tests to self-treat? Just a thought - you might want to ask if they'll accept them anyway before you get too worried about it. In other words, if your aim is to get your gp to change the way they treat you, make sure that private tests will be accepted, and if they say they won't accept any private tests you might as well make life easy on yourself and go for the fingerprick tests. (I hope that makes sense, not sure if I'm being clear or not.)

[islandgirl1986]

Hello. My gp just retired, She has been patient, but not someone who accepted requests well. I have to hope new gp will be more open. I agree. If I see a private doctor, which I think I will have to do, and if they suggest maybe trying T3, then I have to go back to gp and ask for same treatment. What do you do if they refuse. I asked for trial of T3 with endo 5 years ago and he refused.Just an example,could be anything. The gp is the gatekeeper. I'm not sure I've made sense! Thankyou for your input.