Private Bloods

[Katherine0121]

Can anyone please provide recommendations for private bloods tests?

Thank you

[Hidden]

Hi Katherine I use medichecks as it’s simple and efficient- you can do the finger prick tests yourself, although I struggle with this so pay and extra £30 to get a venous blood draw from the local private hospital (walk in and never have to wait longer than 15 minutes), but there is also an option to have a nurse come to you to take bloods and you then post yourself via a priority post box.

I think a lot of others use BlueHorizon as well.

If you’re looking for thyroid panel, medichecks have an offer on on Thursdays I think 🤔 Thyroid Thursdays and it will do T3, T4 and TSH (£35 today as it’s Thursday) but there are other packages that test antibodies as well 😁 just Google Medichecks Thyroid! So if you get the blood draw, I believe some super drugs/ chemists offer this as well- but if you go on medichecks and pop your postcode in it will tell you who does them in your area!

I’ve always had results back in 2-3 days and you get an email notification so can log in to get results.

[Katherine0121 in reply to Hidden]

Many thanks. I shall have a look at both of these companies 😊

[Hidden in reply to Katherine0121]

You’re very welcome 😊 x

[SlowDragon Administrator]

TSH 0.02 mu/L (0.35 - 4.7)

T4 17pmol/L (7.8 - 21.0)

Ferritin 14ug/l

Important to test vitamin D, folate and B12

Presumably you are on iron supplements from GP for such dire level of ferritin?

Ideally you would stop iron supplements a week before test to get base level ……but with such low iron levels, probably just stop 2-3 days before

Always test as early as possible in morning before eating or drinking anything other than water and last dose levothyroxine 24 hours before test

As you normally take levothyroxine at bedtime/in night ...adjust timings as follows prior to blood test

If testing Monday morning, delay Saturday evening dose levothyroxine until Sunday morning. Delay Sunday evening dose levothyroxine until after blood test on Monday morning. Take Monday evening dose levothyroxine as per normal

What other vitamin supplements are you currently taking

REMEMBER.....very important....stop taking any supplements that contain biotin a week before ALL BLOOD TESTS as biotin can falsely affect test results - eg vitamin B complex

[Katherine0121 in reply to SlowDragon]

Thank you again for such an informative reply.

I am just about to finish another course of Ferrous Fumarate 210mg x 3 a day. I seem to have fallen into a cycle with my GP, my course will end and he will retest my levels in approx 5/6 weeks, levels are still low and he will prescribe again. I feel I need to establish the root cause of why they are persistently low. Yes I am a vegetarian and have been all my adult life, I do eat a very balanced diet and ensure I have plenty of iron rich foods.

I am currently not taking any other vitamin supplements. The only other medication I take is 20mg daily of Fluoxetine and have been since Feb 2020.

I have today ordered private tests from Blue Horizon. I’m trying very hard to educate myself and ensure I get the correct tests done, so I can try and get on top of the whole situation, hopefully with with assistance of a better informed GP. It’s only with the help of this site and people like yourself I am learning what questions to ask 😊

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to Katherine0121]

Then as vegetarian it’s extremely difficult/impossible to maintain good iron/ferritin on plant based diet, especially when hypothyroid on levothyroxine

List of iron rich foods

dailyiron.net

Links about iron and ferritin

irondisorders.org/too-littl...

davidg170.sg-host.com/wp-co...

Great in-depth article on low ferritin

oatext.com/iron-deficiency-...

drhedberg.com/ferritin-hypo...

This is interesting because I have noticed that many patients with Hashimoto’s disease and hypothyroidism, start to feel worse when their ferritin drops below 80 and usually there is hair loss when it drops below 50.

Thyroid disease is as much about optimising vitamins as thyroid hormones

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

restartmed.com/hypothyroidi...

Post discussing just how long it can take to raise low ferritin

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

Never supplement iron without doing full iron panel test for anaemia first and repeat 3-4 times year if self supplementing iron

Medichecks iron panel test

medichecks.com/products/iro...

Low Iron and low thyroid link

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

Posts discussing why important to do full iron panel test

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

Likely to need daily B12 as well

Don’t start any B12 or B vitamins before testing

academic.oup.com/nutritionr...

The present review of the literature regarding B12 status among vegetarians shows that the rates of B12 depletion and deficiency are high. It is, therefore, recommended that health professionals alert vegetarians about the risk of developing subnormal B12 status. Vegetarians should also take preventive measures to ensure adequate intake of this vitamin, including the regular intake of B12 supplements to prevent deficiency. Considering the low absorption rate of B12 from supplements, a dose of at least 250 μg should be ingested for the best results.3

[Katherine0121 in reply to SlowDragon]

Apologies for the late reply. Again thank you so much for your help and providing all the various links. It is greatly appreciated.

[SlowDragon Administrator]

Only do private testing early Monday or Tuesday morning and post back immediately