Monitor my health

Quick question!

Do they email to let you know they've received your sample or do they just email when your results are ready?

[Hidden]

Never mind - I've just received the email to tell me my results are in! 😂

[SeasideSusie Remembering in reply to Hidden]

plant_lady

You've probably realised they don't email you when they've received your sample 😊

But they're very good at following up with an email if you have an abnormal result, eg my TSH is always suppressed (has been for many years), but my FT4 and FT3 are are always well within range. Every time I do a test with them they tell me that I have a mild form of overactive thyroid known as subclinical-hyperthyroidism. (Of course, they don't know that the patient is already diagnosed and taking replacement thyroid hormone.) Then a few weeks later I get an email asking if I followed it up with my GP.

[Hidden in reply to SeasideSusie]

Very quick too! I posted my sample about 1:30 yesterday afternoon and got the result by 1:30 today! 😲

[SeasideSusie Remembering in reply to Hidden]

Yes, they're good. I did one a couple of weeks ago with them and had the results back the day after I posted the sample.

It's a pity they only offer the very basic thyroid test though (I wish they did full thyroid/vitamin panel) but at least as it's NHS they should be acceptable to a GP unlike Medichecks/Blue Horizon/Thriva which GPs sometimes refuse to accept.

[userotc in reply to SeasideSusie]

Susie. I'd be interested in your views about MMH and their vit D tests. Like me, I know you recommend people should be within the serum range 100-150nmol/l. But MMH consider 101-150 as Excess and "harmful".

I find that odd, particularly as NHS "Normal' range is 50-250 and also the other NHS lab (which you recommend) only considers >220 as high.

I've found them OK for thyroid results.

[SeasideSusie Remembering in reply to userotc]

userotc

I haven't had a Vit D test done with MMH, nor actually with my surgery, so have no idea what their ranges are, but I'm amazed that MMH thinks that 101-150 is "excess and harmful". It would be if it was ng/ml but I don't agree as it's nmol/L.

I always use the NHS lab in Birmingham that does the bloodspot fingerprick test but even their "adequate" range is so wide at 50-220nmol/L.

I don't take any notice of any of these, I just go by what the Vit D Society and Grassroots Health recommend, which is the same as the Vit D Council when they had a website, so I stick to 100-150nmol/L.

I prefer MMH for my thyroid tests now, I've just been increasing my doses after an incident with my GP last November which resulted in me experimenting. I've done 4 tests with MMH this year whilst increasing and the results have come back exactly as I expected them to be, whereas I became disenchanted with Medichecks over the ferritin business highlighted by one of our members, and looking at my iron panels with them it's hard to understand my ferritin results as they're different from what I expect them to be.

[userotc in reply to SeasideSusie]

Yes I thought you'd be surprised. We've asked them for evidence of the harms and I'll let you know if there's anything of interest/concern. With specific googling, I did find earlier in a 2010 report reference to study results that indicate >100nmol/l could double pancreatic cancer risk - but let's be honest, there's lots of data out there!

Re Medichecks, we use them for various tests eg serum zinc just ordered for mum. So hopefully they're OK for some.