Which Private lab do you prefer and why?

[OudMood]

It's me again...

just preparing for the possibility that the Lab has not tested TGab and FT3 and need to do it privately.

Which company do you use and why?

Thriva, Blue Horizon, Medichecks etc seem all the same price-wise and test wise..

All vitamins etc has been NHS tested, so will only need to test Thyroid..

Not sure how to choose the Lab though.

[sunsation1]

Monitor my health for cost reasons

[OudMood in reply to sunsation1]

I wanted to use them but I do need the antibodies tested and they don't offer that ☹️😭The fact they are NHS labs also attracted me, but.... 😐

[SeasideSusie Remembering]

I do use MonitorMyHealth for basic TSH, FT4 and FT3. They don't do antibodies or a thyroid/vitamin bundle. Also, as it's an NHS lab some doctors may be prepared to accept the results whereas they may not accept other private labs' results (but no guarantee).

I do use Blue Horizon for full thyroid/vitamin bundle. They are more expensive but we rarely hear of failures of some of the individual tests.

I've stopped using Medichecks for regular testing. They seem to have quite a few failures of folate and some other tests in their bundles. There have been many problems with their ferritin test results differing considerably from other labs.

I wont use Thriva. They have a way of displaying their results which confuses many members, giving nonsensical descriptions of "normal", "optimal", etc., and I don't find their website that user friendly.

Details of discounts here: thyroiduk.org/help-and-supp...

[OudMood in reply to SeasideSusie]

I've stopped using Medichecks for regular testing. They seem to have quite a few failures of folate and some other tests in their bundles. There have been many problems with their ferritin test results differing considerably from other labs.Yes, I've read the Medichecks disclaimer.. it was quite..confusing.

I wanted to do MonitorMyHealth, but I strongly suspect Hashi, so would want to keep antibodies checked out..

So it looks like Blue Horizon it is...

Their client website looks very....unappealing, so I was worried that the overall experience will be not user-friendly.

Do you guys change labs in between tests?

I assumed it would be best to stick to the same one to make it easier ti track tests overtime....

[SeasideSusie Remembering in reply to OudMood]

I use MMH for regular basic thyroid monitoring tests.

I use BH once a year for the vitamin element of their test.

BH, Medichecks and Thriva all use the same lab to process the tests, which begs the question why do they have so many failures with some of the tests? I think part of the problem is that Medichecks use a smaller microtainer for the fingerprick test - 0.6ml, whereas BH uses a slightly larger one - 0.8ml. I have no idea what size Thriva uses.

[OudMood in reply to SeasideSusie]

Thank you susie.I'll give BH a try and see how I get on.

I also wonder.. do you keep track of your results with excel or tables when they keep coming from different sources?

what else do you keep track of, if anything?

[SeasideSusie Remembering in reply to OudMood]

I put all my results on a spreadsheet and I have columns for percentage through range so that I can compare as my GP ranges are different from the private labs.

[OudMood in reply to SeasideSusie]

Sorry to keep bothering you... but what is the formula to calculate percentage through ranges?I can't figure it out 😂

Is it top range - bottom range and then calculate my result as a percentage of that?

[SeasideSusie Remembering in reply to OudMood]

I use this calculator

chorobytarczycy.herokuapp.c...

[OudMood in reply to SeasideSusie]

Thanks!!!

[m7-cola in reply to SeasideSusie]

Thanks for this useful summary. It’s so helpful to have an update: I tend to stick to firms I’ve used. Lazy I guess!!

[Gummybearx]

I use Medichecks and have never had a problem with any of my lab results. Have been using them for the last 2 to 3 years.

My endo is also more than happy to use the results from a private test as this was the only way i could get anyone to realise my levels were not right and just doing a tsh test was not enough.

[OudMood]

Sorry ladies and gents… which lab does the Thyroid Thursday/Tuesday discount??

Thanks

[SeasideSusie Remembering in reply to OudMood]

Thyroid Thursday is Medichecks when they have a random thyroid related test on offer. Normal 10% discount applies otherwise.

Blue Horizon 30% discount always applies.

Details of discounts linked to in previous reply above.

Nobody does a Tuesday discount.