Wonder if anyone else has had this ( or got prof.expertise to advise), did the Full Health Screen blood test from the NHS lab so I’d be well equipped to have phone appointment with GP next week re. Thyroid and vit/ min levels, and they only did 2 tests ( HbA1c and cholesterol) others said ‘not enough blood’. But as I had had problems with finger prick tests in the past I had contacted Monitor my Health and they had agreed just use venous draw to fill two phials…I got dr.son to do this etc, so definitely not too little blood ( he says filled to upper line)… Weird thing was they did one test from each phial, but no more…so an awful not done, why? Got proof they got the bloods by 9.29am following morning after 9 am blood draw on Monday. Complained to Monitor, but doesn’t help with my frustration of 7 weeks on lower thyroid hormones. etc just to prove that TSH stays suppressed even when Ft3/4 lower than 50%. I had returned to ‘normal’ T3 dose Monday night…would I have to do a whole 7 weeks from scratch if they offer to retest, or could I skip this in anyway? Grrrrrrr…
Monitor my Health results , or lack of them! - Thyroid UK
Monitor my Health results , or lack of them!
I have had this happen with a GP blood draw. When I asked it turned out the blood in one vial clotted this getting labeled as "not enough blood".
Ok, but why can they get one test from each phial before they say not enough blood, as presumably clotted for those too?
I don't know. I suspect they have some order they run tests and each may require a different amount of blood.
When it happened to me they managed half the tests from one vial the rest I had to reschedule a blood draw for.
It is very frustrating as no one feels the same urgency we do. It's never one thing for us, it's a stack of incidents slowing us down.
Thought people might be interested in Monitor’s reply:
‘’Blood is made up of two parts, which are cells and serum. The cells are the red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets. The serum is the liquid part of blood. Most of our tests are done on the serum. In general, a blood sample is about 40% cells and 60% serum. However, sometimes a blood sample contains more cells than serum. This can mean that even though the sample was fully filled there is not enough serum to do all of the tests. The most common reason for this happening is dehydration or not quite enough fluid intake prior to taking a sample. "
Not convinced when they had two phials well filled with venous blood, so queried again as want to be satisfied same won’t happen again!
Ha! Sounds like as more customers are challenging them on this, they are making up some scientific reason!
Quite! If there was a known problems with filling phials from venous syringe then they should warn you for eg ‘don’t overfill’, as I had specifically asked them re this and got a ‘no bother reply’…which is what I included in my second complaint to them. I notice a query on this site two from mine whether to use Monitor my Health or Medichecks…I normally do Medichecks but thought I’d give MMH a chance, as a bit cheaper…perhaps they are better on a simple TSH and Frees test!
Here’s the thing…. It’s a NHS lab so what do we expect?! I only used them as they were recommended on forum etc. Ended up with more stress then I’d like with them on each occasion I used them.
I wouldn’t be put off by googling for tests from companies other than those recommended.
Aren't you missing the point about hydration? When I've had to travel half a day for a hospital appointment and then been sent for a blood test the phlebotomist has often said I must be dehydrated, just from the flow of my blood. I've had a test kit replaced by MMH and made sure to drink plenty of water during the hour before I tested.
This may be the answer, but very odd when no one has previously commented on it drawing venous blood say on average 3 x a year over last 25 years, with most taken c9 am as this MME one just down the road. In fact regularly praised on ease of blood draw. 1/2 plus pint water by bed overnight drunk, and 1/2 pint green tea and no food beforehand. Might have a ‘dry run’ on Sunday just to see if I can get blood out with finger prick and not collect to see if I do that Mon.or opt for another venous blood draw!
Could they be two different vials??? I know hba1c we use EDTA (purple top) but all thyroid is gel clotted. So hence why one from each. I’ve not used company so don’t know. X
Yes there are two phials one with yellow top , the other purple…the purple should have the HbA1c and haemoglobin tests, the yellow everything else so cholesterol, Thyroid, b12, folate, ferritin etc etc…only HbA1c and cholesterol tested.
as i understand their reply , how full /or not the vial was, is not the problem . The problem was that the amount of serum within the blood is sometimes not enough ... (ie. too much blood cells, not enough serum) and they suggest inadequate fluid intake as a common reason for this..... is this likely in your case? , did you drink plenty of extra fluids the day before testing ?
i accidentally overfilled both tubes (yellow and purple tops, last time i did a MMH fingerprick. ( blood flow was very fast)... and all my tests were run without issue. however i had drunk a lot extra the day before.
when i haven't done this it has been difficult to get enough blood out of my finger ,having extra water on the morning of the test doesn't seem to cut it for me.
But they were venous samples filled from syringe!
yes , i saw that , but i assume that has no bearing on how much serum vs how much blood cells your blood was made up of.
So is the usual method of testing venous blood somehow totally unrelated to this serum%, as I have never ever had any problems with blood taken in larger venous phials?
no idea, sorry
I am hoping for MMH to reply re.this, and filling a blood prick phial with venous blood if they would normally test the 2 differently…will keep everyone informed!
just looked at my GP (venous) results, says "serum TSH" ,serum fT4 ,serum fT3, so i guess that means they use the serum part of the blood for these thyroid tests ... i'd never given the word 'serum' much thought before and just assumed it meant 'blood '... evidently not.
No not blood used, the gold tubes have gel in them. They all get spun and the gel forms a layer between serum and red cells in the bottom. Machine samples top serum to test.
Ah , i see ,, thanks , very helpful to be able to picture what happens .
So does that make sense of MMH explanation when blood was venous draw more than adequately filled? I am concerned because they have already sent a replacement yellow topped phial but I will once again have to fill it via a venous syringe…the only time I tried filling from pricked site , having done all the recommended tips( drink more, wash in warm water etc etc), I had all 10 digits pricked producing a mess rather than drips to collect!
Yes sometimes we got very little serum for amount of blood. Definitely keep well hydrated day before. I’m the worst with drinking. I’ve never done a finger prick test, if you’re hydrated and it still fails I’d go for blood draw. Good luck.
This is the exact ridiculousness I have had with them. I definitely had enough blood in the tubes, and they said there wasn’t. That was the last time I used them. They clearly can not handle the level of tests they are getting (as good as confirms when I spoke them to over the phone). Never again!
Random Health all the way!
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