Fingerprick versus blood draw test

[alchemilla12]

Hi

I'm thinking of doing either the Blue Horizon Thyroid Check Plus Eleven or the Medichecks Thyroid plus multivit but wondered if a finger prick test would be very reliable for so many perameters being checked or would it be better to have a blood draw?

thanks

[SeasideSusie Remembering]

alchemilla12

As long as you do a successful fingerprick collection (don't squeeze blood out as it damages it, let it drip into the tube) and fill the tube to the required limit then there should be no problem.

I have done many fingerprick tests for thyroid monitoring (TSH, FT4, FT3) and the results are virtually identical to my GP test results.

I do a Blue Horizon Thyroid PLUS ELEVEN once a year to check thyroid and vitamin levels and every one has been fine. I choose Blue Horizon over Medichecks because BH require just 1 x microtainer whereas Medichecks require 2 x microtainers. Medichecks have said that sometimes they can do all tests from 1 microtainer but they ask for 2 in case there's not enough in the first one.

[alchemilla12 in reply to SeasideSusie]

thanks! I know you replied to my previous query regarding this but wasnt sure how many " things " you had had done in one test. That's worth knowing though.I was considering the Medichecks as they test for active B12 whereas its not with Blue Horizon.

[SeasideSusie Remembering in reply to alchemilla12]

I was considering the Medichecks as they test for active B12 whereas its not with Blue Horizon.

I agree Active B12 is a better test, but I have done this separately with Medichecks (got it when there was an offer on, discounted by £10) so as all is very well in that department I don't have to worry about it now and as I struggle to fill 2 x microtainers but am fine filling 1 then I stick with BH for the full thyroid/vitamin test.

If you can manage fingerprick collection easily, and think you can manage to at least start a second microtainer, then you may be fine with the Medichecks test.

[alchemilla12 in reply to SeasideSusie]

also wondering when in the day you would do the test? I normally take my thyroxine about 6 am

Im not looking to have the highest TSH in order for GP to keep medication the same ( ie taking bloods before medication ) just want as accurate a picture of levels as can be expected .I realise it's just a snapshot in time but dont want to do the test when it might give a false high or low particularly of FT3.

[SeasideSusie Remembering in reply to alchemilla12]

It's normal to always do thyroid tests under exactly the same conditions, that way they can be compared. So how do you normally do your tests?

To get a result which gives the amount of normal circulating hormone (FT4 and FT3), we suggest taking last dose of Levo 24 hours before blood draw and T3 or NDT 8-12 hours before blood draw. If time gap is longer then it gives false low results and if hormone replacement is taken too close to the blood draw it gives false high results.

It's not possible to measure what is in the cells, only what is in the blood. We don't want false high or false low results, so the time gaps advised are what is supposed to represent the normal circulating levels, not the raised levels we'd get if testing too soon after taking a dose, or the depleted levels we'd get if testing too long after a dose.

Sometimes it means adjusting time of dose the day before to get the appropriate time gap.

[alchemilla12 in reply to SeasideSusie]

ok thanks - that all makes sense . since I am doing a home test then it will be easy to adjust dose timing.

[Treepie]

I only managed the finger prick once ,use nurse now.

[alchemilla12 in reply to Treepie]

thanks for reply - I dont find doing the fingerprick difficult so wanted to know if it gives as accurate results as blood draw