I want to see my GP today to ask if he would check my bloods as I am hypothyroid and have been getting sore joints and hairless recently. I am currently on 100 mcg levothyroxine. She agreed to do this, however, I asked her if I could have a vitamin d test at the same time because of the aches and pains and the fact that my dad had osteoporosis. Well I was asked to explain why I thought this was necessary and told her the above. She told me that this test costs the NHS a fortune, shrugged her shoulders and said oh well it's not my money. She then went on to say that they would not provide the supplements on prescription.. I told her that I did not need them to provide any supplements, that I was happy to do that myself all I wanted was the test done. I came out of there really aggravated and feeling like some sort of scrounger.. Her parting shot to me was that the results would take weeks to come back.. Sorry I bothered going.
Went for advice and got a lecture.: I want to see... - Thyroid UK
Went for advice and got a lecture.
Never mind, as long as you get your results!
She must have been having a bad day. Probably got her ears pulled for over-prescribing/testing, or something. Don't take it personally. 
Don't be sorry. You're not the only one. I get lectures too
Vit D does take a while to come back. But if you need it, it's worth it. It has made a difference to me. When you get your results post them and ask for help. Or do a quick search on Vit D - it comes up regularly.
napiers the herbalists supply nhs blood test kits for vid d testing. they are £25 and only take a week to get back to you by email and offer advice on the reading. very helpful
I decided I wasn't going to beg for vitamin D any longer and just bypassed the doctors. I used City Assays as mentioned on Thyroid.org.uk but now I get my thyroid tests, vitamin D and B12 done by Blue Horizons. It cost me but I look in it as my little extravagance.
I do the home fingerpick test, I order and pay for the test online. It drops through the letterbox next day. I prick my finger early the following morning and post it back to them, the results (vitamin D too ) pop up in my inbox within three days - it was two days last time. The fastest turn round yet. Blue Horizons are an accredited lab so I've got no reason to think the the fast turn round on my vit D should be a problem.
I agree with GG - sounds like your doctor must have had a bad day - I have to say I'm curious about how much they pay for it if I can afford it. I bet with all the recent publicity about vitamin D everyone is coming in askng to be tested. Still you're on your way, well done. Have you had your B12, ferritin and folates checked too and are they well up in their ranges - if not then you know what to ask for on your next visit 😉
Can you really get thyroid tests done by a finger prick? Please can you tell me how much the cost is for this home blood test service? Thanks
The finger prick method doesn't work for everyone 😕 I couldn't get sufficient blood - nowhere near! Wasn't that surprised as even experienced phlebotomists have trouble with me!
However Blue horizons have been amazing. The next day they sent me a vacutainer.
When I sent my blood early on Mon am, I got the results back Tues lunch time!!
Flowers2 Take a look at this page :
thyroiduk.org.uk/tuk/testin...
and this page :
thyroiduk.org.uk/tuk/testin...
You can get a Thyroid Check Plus Eleven test from this site for £99 :
There are cheaper tests too, with fewer tests included : The Thyroid Check Plus Ten and the Thyroid Check Plus Six.
You have to order the tests online. For a finger-prick test you need to order the microtainer version of the test, and for a full sample taken from the elbow you need to order a vacutainer version of the test. For the full sample from the elbow you have to organise someone to take the blood for you.
You get sent the kit that is required to do the test - lancets for pricking fingers, test tubes, full instructions. Once you have your blood samples you have to package it up and send the blood back through the post, paying for "guaranteed next day delivery by 1pm" at the Post Office.
Results are sent back to you via email.
Thanks for the info. Where would I find someone to take blood from the elbow¿. If I'm bypassing the gp surgery I wouldn't know where to go. Is the finger prick test just as effective and accurate? I don't think I could fill a bottle from my finger. 🤔
I've never done a finger prick test myself, but if you ask for tips on how to get enough blood I'm sure people will be able to help. I don't know anything about the accuracy of the tests to be honest, but lots of people seem happy with them.
To get blood taken from the elbow you need a phlebotomist. This can be difficult and may be expensive, depending on where you go.
Some people get blood taken by a phlebotomist at their GP surgeries. I don't think it's common, but that is just my impression, and I could be wrong.
I get blood taken, when necessary, by using my local NHS hospital phlebotomy department. The first time I did it I phoned up the department first and asked if they would take blood for me for private testing, and what the cost would be. I told them I had the necessary equipment with me and full instructions. The last time I saw a price for private blood taking at the hospital it cost £18, but I wouldn't be surprised if it had gone up in price. Once the blood was taken I was given all the tubes to take away with me. I took all the packaging I needed with me to the hospital, packaged up the blood tubes and forms in the waiting room, and then took it straight to the Post Office.
Some NHS hospitals won't take blood, even for a fee.
You could ask any local private hospitals if they will take blood for you, but be aware that not all of them will do it unless you see a doctor too. And that costs a fortune.
There is this link, that might be helpful, but it is expensive :
thyroiduk.org.uk/tuk/testin...
And finally, the only other choice I know of is to ask Blue Horizon if they can point you in the right direction.
Make sure you know who will take blood for you before you order a vacutainer test.
Some private hospitals (Spire and Nuffield, see links below) do blood testing in association with Blue Horizon. In those cases the blood taking is included in the price for the tests. They tend to be expensive though.
Look in the BH website. They also do options where you can go to a aspire Hospital to have blood taken.
I find it helps to be warm - I'm always fresh out of my nice warm bed when I do mine. I always lay the contents of the kit out in the order I will use everything before I start and read the instructions a couple if times - even though I've done it lots of times.
I usually have a glass of water before I do it too. I've found by trial and error not to use the lancet too close to the side of my finger - the blood runs down my fingernail which makes it kind of tricky to get it all into the tube.
I never do it at the end of the week - to try and make sure my sample isn't left lying in the post somewhere.
I stand up when I'm doing it too and I don't squeeze my finger to get blood out, I sometimes gently 'milk it' by running my finger gently up towards where I used the lancet.
I definitely have a 'good' arm for donating blood (the hand I write with) and one that is more of a challenge to get the blood from so I always use a finger on the good arm and usually start with my ring finger, then if I have to (which isn't often) I will do my middle finger, my next choice would be my little finger - I test my blood sugar regularly and that's the order I do it for that.
PS - the results have always been at a similar point within the lab ranges as any NHS tests. The lab uses different ranges to my NHS lab but my position within the range is always similar and I figure it is all relative.
I did a search around went on to NICE website etc. The cost to NHS is around £17 for the vit d test.
It is done as part of the BH 'bundle' and I think it was £20 something last time I had it doe by City Assays.
It always amazes me that the NHS is such a huge customer yet they never seem to get a good (cheap) deal on the things they purchase.
On the other hand if everyone had their vit D topped it they would probably save that £17 many times over. My Pilates teacher says its vit D3 and K we should be taking for strong bones so having enough vit D is very important - and not just for oldies like me either.
@doris59 if you are found severely deficient you will get a prescription for your supplements otherwise they risk you going into hospital, and depending on the cause it can come out of the GP's budget.
Just makes sure you take any vitamin D supplements with vitamin K2 and magnesium citrate.
Funny you should say that Bluebug, I had a similar experience here in the US. My most recent Endo very kindly did a good range of thyroid tests for me but refused to do vitamin tests and Ferritin/selenium/magnesium tests. I asked him why on earth not since these are needed to generate the catalysts for the most important T4/T3 reactions. He said that he doesn't do those any more because he did it for one patient once and who was found to be very deficient in a couple of them and he was told to fix the problem! Well, Duh, if I was low in vitamin x I would take a supplement pill for vitamin x or eat food that contained vitamin x! Oh, well, he is pretty good so far, but obviously not perfect.
I think any good form of magnesium supplement will do, taking specifically magnesium citrate isn't essential. There are various opinions expressed on different magnesium supplements in the following links.
naturalnews.com/046401_magn...
My vitamin D/C is provided on prescription. At the beginning my levels were so low they gave me a high dose of vitamin D to take on top of it. I hate the way I'm made to feel like a hypochondriac when I go to the doctors and mention symptoms
IT took me 8 months of begging to get the test. The GP agreed that the pins and needles could be low VitD, then the labs decided not to do them. When I finally got the results, I was very low and got VitD on prescription. Now they will not test again so will just keep taking the pills - now how much is that costing?
And that's so crazy because if you're severely deficient you need a loading dose and then your maintenance needs monitoring.
I just booked a blood test with the Nurse, took all the paraphernalia in and she just did it - no questions asked, though I was prepared to pay if necessary.
Others have had success with their local hospital who may do it for a fee.
Or do you have a nurse in the family ?
I have just done the finger prick testing did it monday am test results in my in box today very impressed got the thyroid 10 done for me and my daughter, I have posted another note re her results as confused by thyroid that came back. The process was fine, in fact the bottle is quite small so you dont need a lot of blood. I washed the dishes by hand in hot water before i took mine to get the blood flowing. Worked a treat....too well I gushed everywhere...lol
Have to say sometimes I drip blood all over the place too. I like the idea of washing up first - good thinking
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